Coelho takes first A-Main in South Africa

Bruno Coelho has taken the opening A-Main at the Electric Touring Car World Championship in South Africa.  Qualifying second on the grid, the Xray driver immediately put the pressure on Top Qualifier Ronald Volker weaving left and right to try and find a way passed the reigning champion.  A side by side drag down the straight was the first warning from Coelho but Volker had the inside line but just after the halfway mark Coelho got the inside in the corner before the chicane with the two cars touching.  Once in front Coelho quickly established a comfortable lead eventually crossing the line 1.4-seconds clear.  Behind, contact between Viktor Wilck and Freddy Sudhoff in the middle of the race played into the hands of 6th place starter Christopher Krapp.  Getting by Alexander Hagberg in the opening corners, the Yokomo driver took advantage of a mistake from Wilck which resulted in him giving Sudhoff’s Awesomatix a body tuck for which the Serpent driver waited to give back position.  Sudhoff would finish 4th with Wilck fifth.

‘A very intense final’, was how a much more confident looking Coelho summed up his A1 win.  Top Qualifier at the Worlds in China 2-years ago but ending the finals 2nd overall, the Portuguese driver said, ‘I started very well. The car was very reactive and had good traction unlike the Warm-up Final when it was not so good.  So I felt confident for the race and started to put pressure on Ronald.  I saw he was having difficultly with his car and tried different lines to get around.  We went side by side down the straight but he had the inside so that pass didn’t happen but then I was able to make a good pass and was able to pull away’.  He concluded, ‘I hope the car is the same in the next final and I can challenge again and try to make it happen’.

Commenting on A1, a disappointed Volker said, ‘it was not a good run. I need a bit more pace’.  The Yokomo driver continued, ‘I defended as good as I can but he found a way to get by’.  ‘Its two out of two now so I have to deliver and just give him no opportunities at all’.

‘A lucky third’, was Krapp’s thoughts on the opening A-Main but the Yokomo driver was very happy with the performance of his car.  He said, ‘finally we got the car the way it should be pace wise. We improved it’.  On his race he added, ‘I got by Hagberg in the 2nd or 3rd corner and was staying with the top pack and then Freddy and Viktor tangled which put me third.  Then it was quiet to the end. I hoped something happened up front but it looks that Bruno made a clean pass’.

In the Formula World Cup opening A-Main, Top Qualifier Jan Ratheisky took an easy win.  Behind the Xray driver the big battle was for second between Dominic Quek, David Ehrbar and Martin Hudy.  Quick, Ehrbar’s race was full of mistakes and a challenge into the last corner saw contact with Hudy but crossing the line before serving a stop and go, Ehrbar was given a 10-second penalty.  This meant Hudy got third behind Quek with Ehrbar fifth behind Florian Joos.

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Coelho takes final qualifier as grid is set in South Africa

The concluding round of qualifying at the Touring Car World Championships in South Africa saw Bruno Coelho take a confidence boosting TQ run ahead of today’s title deciding triple A-Mains.  With the overall TQ already decided yesterday in Q5, with reigning champion Ronald Volker securing his first Worlds TQ, and Coelho already locked into 2nd on the grid, the sixth & final qualifier was about deciding the rest of the grid in particular 3rd place.  A battle between 2016 Podium finisher Viktor Wilck and Freddy Sudhoff, it was Wilck who would keep the position he held overnight taking third for the round once again behind Coelho and Volker.  Fifth in Q6, Sudhoff’s fourth on the grid means four different manufacturers will be represented at the front of the grid for this the 10th running of the IFMAR World Championships.  Completing the top half of the grid at Welkom RC Arena will be newly crowned 1:12 World Champion Alexander Hagberg ahead of Christopher Krapp.  The 2018 line-up will be completed by Loic Jasmin, Meen Vejrak, Jan Ratheisky and Nicholas Lee with Yokomo having the bragging rights of the most cars in the final.

Having struggled to match Volker in yesterday’s four rounds of qualifying, Coelho was clearly more upbeat following his second TQ run of the event.  The Xray driver said, ‘That was a very good qualifying run.  We changed quite a lot on the car today and came up with some good ideas. I had one mistake when I did a donut and lost 7/10ths I think but still it was a good run’.  Looking to the finals, the Portuguese driver went on, ‘I am much more positive today for the finals.  Yesterday I was negative, not negative, but I was not feeling good with the car.  Now I am much more comfortable with the car. It does what I want so for sure they will be good finals’.

‘It was an ok qualifier but Bruno was just a bit faster’, was Volker’s summary of Q6.  Finishing 6/10ths off Coelho, the Yokomo driver continued, ‘we tested something different in the morning practice but then went to our Q4 set-up and it wasn’t what we expected and now we will make another change for the final practice which is important to have’. He concluded, ‘then we are good to go.  Bruno is going to challenge hard but I’m ready’.

Wilck was pleased to keep his P3 on the grid saying, ‘It was a clean run. I just had to defend my third place against Freddy’.  Asked about the finals, the Serpent driver replied, ‘I think there can be a good chance, it depends what happens in front.  It should be pretty close. Worst case they are 1-second faster at the end of 5-minutes but I hope I can stay with them and be there if something happens’.

‘It was ok but the car was a little too easy to drive and of course I was hoping for 3rd overall’, was how Sudhoff summed up his final qualifier.   The Awesomatix driver continued, ‘I’m sure on this layout a lot can happen.  The curbs are not so forgiving’.  On his car the German said, ‘we will try to find a little more mid corner steering in the final practice’.

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Volker is Worlds Top Qualifier

Ronald Volker can finally add World Championship Top Qualifier to his list of achievements after the perfect day at Welkom RC Arena in South Africa today.  Having qualified second for the last three World Championships, the Yokomo driver wrapped up pole position in style with his fourth TQ run of the day in the penultimate round of qualifying.  With 2016 Top Qualifier Bruno Coelho the only driver with a chance of denying Volker, the Portuguese driver’s quest to take the final two qualifiers came undone early as contact with the the corner flipper at the end of the straight caused him a body tuck which after a few laps he was forced to stop and have marshalled.  With Coelho out of contention, Volker no longer had any pressure but he did still have a battle with both Freddy Sudhoff and Viktor Wilck taking turns at the top of the time screen.  In the end Volker crossed the line with 0.486 of an advantage over Wilck with Sudhoff another 1/10th back.  With Coelho pulling off, Alexander Hagberg would be the top Xray with another P4 run ahead of Christopher Krapp with Meen Vejrak completing the Top 6.

Reacting to his TQ, Volker said, ‘right away after 1-2 laps I saw Bruno was having issues and I knew the TQ was safe. It was a nice relief, the pressure was gone’.  The reigning World Champion continued, ‘I didn’t expect to win all four qualifiers today and lock up the TQ.  The last three Worlds I started 2nd and now I finally got the important pole position but there is nothing won yet.  Bruno wont give me an easy time. Passing and racing is possible on this layout but my goal is not to have him enough room for that.’  His first World Championships working with Hayato Matsuzaki, the German said, ‘I have to give a big thanks to Hayato for figuring out how to improve the car to get the edge over Bruno for today’.  He concluded, ‘Now I want to get a good night sleep’.

Explaining the switch from his signature orange colour scheme to an all white bodyshell for Q5, Coelho said, ‘we changed body because of the orange curbing and to try to make the car contrasting against the curbs because with my own colours I can’t see 100% the car. Unfortunately I hit the flipper at the end of the straight and it tucked the body and I had to stop to be marshalled’.  Asked about tomorrow’s final day, the Portuguese driver said, ‘the track is big and many places to pass but Volker is very confident and his car is working well so it will be difficult for sure’.  He added, ‘we will try things on the car in the morning practice and last qualifier. Second (on the grid) is already secure so we need to try to improve the car to fight with Volker but right now it looks very difficult’.

‘That was important for overall 3rd place’ was Wilck’s reaction to his P2 run.  The Serpent driver continued, ‘when Bruno went out I knew I had to push maximum to keep Freddy behind.  At the beginning the car was really good but then the steering started to fade off and I needed to change my driving but it was still a pretty good run. I was not to far behind Ronald’.  Asked about the grid, the Swede replied, ‘Freddy still has a chance at 3rd. I have a 2,3,3 and he has a 2,3,4 but I have the better time so he needs to get a second to beat me’.

Sudhoff summed up his battle with Wilck by saying ‘It was a close one. Everything was possible, from the TQ to P6. In the end I missed out to Viktor by a tenth’.  Commenting on his Awesomatix he said, ‘the car is easy to drive.  We made a small roll centre change which suits better my driving style. I am looking forward to the last qualifier in the morning and will try to secure a good spot on the grid’.

Holding fifth overnight going into the sixth & final qualifier, Hagberg did have a good start to the penultimate round. ‘I spun out on the first lap on the curb so I had no chance to fight for the win.  I am surprised to get fourth after such a big mistake’.  The Swede continued, ‘the car is still lacking corner speed but hopefully we can get a good last qualifier to move up the grid’.  Krapp was clearly down beat about his P5 for the round having shown such good pace earlier in the event.  The Yokomo driver said, ‘it was the same as before. Its just pushing’.

In the inaugural Formula World Cup, the class not yet awarded World Championship status, Jan Ratheisky took a very dominant overall TQ taking all 5 of the qualifiers that have been run.  The Xray driver’s greatest competition is coming from team-mate Dominic Quek and the all new Serpent of David Ehrbar, both drivers tied on points counting a 2,2,3 each going into the final qualifier. Holding fourth overall is Martin Hudy ahead of France’s Jean-Michel Varinard and with South African Pedro De Gouveia completing the provisional Top 6 on the grid.

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