January 5, 2018

Orlowski fastest in 4WD practice

Reigning DHI Cup Champion Michal Orlowski set the quickest time in 4WD practice, the Schumacher driver leading the times from Karri Salmela and Jesper Rasmussen.  Second fastest behind David Ronnefalk in the earlier 2WD practice, Orlowski would end 4WD with 6/10ths of a second advantage over Salmela while Ronnefalk, the only other driver in the Top 8 to improve his time in the final practice, ended up P4.

Running the same prototype car that he raced at the World Championships but which has undergone a number of parts tweaks, Orlowski said ‘the car felt good from the first practice and given I have not had much running with this car I am happy with the pace’.  With Schumacher doubling the weight of its factory team for 2018 with the signing of Joern Neumann, Orlowski highlighted the fact that he has been trying to help Joern Neumann get familiar with the prototype.  Asked about the sharing of set-up info, the Pole said, ‘we are running similar set-ups to one another but our driving styles are very different’.  Having switched to a thicker roll bar and softer spring he said this ‘worked real good’ and the plan for Q1 tomorrow is to leave it unchanged concluding, ‘I don’t know what more to change because the car already feels good’.

‘Surprisingly good’ was how Salmela summed up setting the second fastest time.  The Team Associated driver continued, ‘we finally have a good track in Finland and maybe that is why it so good here’.  Having spent two weeks helping with the completion of his home club’s new indoor track he then spent the week ahead of the DHI getting in practice.  While also using the EOS carpet which the DHI is using for the first time this year, he said his home track’s carpet is older and has less grip but the higher grip in Odense wasn’t much of a problem so much so ‘I haven’t done anything to the 4WD since getting here’.

Having set the fifth fastest time in 2WD, Rasmussen summed up his P3 pace in 4WD as ‘better than 2WD’.  The Dane said having started out with his base set-up on his Associated, it proved too soft. Improving the car by changing to thicker oil, he said that other than that how to cut the pins on the tyres was the only other thing he needed work on adding ‘I think we are on the right way now’.

‘So, so’ was how Ronnefalk summed up his pace, the Swede being over a 1-second off Orlowski on his best 3-consecutive laps.  The HB Racing driver continued,’ the car was very difficult to drive in the first few rounds so I tried to adapt the set-up for the track’.  Having, like Salmela, used his local track to test for the DHI he also found the grip levels higher in Odense.  Describing his car as having ‘got better in the last one’ he concluded, ‘we still need to improve quite a lot to match Orlowski’s pace.  The car is nervous to drive and wants to flip easy so we will see what can be done for qualifying’. Behind Ronnefalk fellow countryman Elias Johansson set the fifth fastest time with David Hassel completing the Top 6.

For Neumann, P8 was the best he could manage as his final practice lasted just two laps due to a loose pinion in the car’s prototype drivetrain.  Engineer Tristram Neal put his hand up for the German’s lost valuable track time but Neumann said even with the short run the car ‘already felt better’ over the previous runs.  He concluded, ‘I am still learning but the car works very good, Michal shows it has the pace’.

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January 5, 2018

Ronnefalk tops 2WD practice at DHI Cup

David Ronnefalk set the fastest time in 2WD practice at the DHI Cup this morning in Denmark, the HB Racing driver quickest from back to back reigning champion Michal Orlowski.  Winner of the event in 2015, Ronnefalk set a fastest 3-consecutive lap time of 57.514 compared to Orlowski’s 57.597 with the Top 3 completed by 13-year-old Elias Johansson with a time of 57.955. With the event marking 7-time DHI Offroad Champion Joern Neumann’s debut for Schumacher, the German kicked off this new partnership with the 6th fastest time.

With drivers getting four rounds of practice, Ronnefalk said, ‘my car was good from the start but was lacking a little speed in the lap times so I made some changes to make it easier to drive and that brought down the laps times’.  Having changed the rear diff oil and the position of the rear shocks, he plans to keep the prototype car, which is the same car he took to a podium finish at the World Championships in China, the same for the first qualifier which is scheduled for later this evening, following 4WD practice.  The 1:8 World Champion, who is making the move from Sweden to Spain on Tuesday in order to allow him run 1:8 all year round, lead compliments on the switch to EOS carpet by the DHI organisers this year saying,  ‘the carpet is a huge improvement, before the tyre wear was too fast’.

Like Ronnefalk, Orlowski said, ‘the car felt good from the first run, we just changed to a thinner diff oil and lowered the car and after that I was just driving it around’.  Adding the DHI Cup title to his CV in 2016 with 2WD victory, the Pole is chasing three titles in a row and summed up practice performance by saying, ‘Overall I am pretty satisfied with the pace and consistency’.

Team Associated driver Johansson was pleased with his seeding pace.  The Swedish National Championship podium finisher summed up practice as having gone ‘pretty good’ adding he had been able to ‘stick with the same set-up as we arrived with’. A 2017 Finalist, he is a fan of the switch to EOS carpet and the track layout however he did highlight the corner table top as being ‘difficult’.

Former Top Qualifier Oscar Levin would post the fourth fastest time, the HB Racing driver running an Xray chassis due to the limited availability of their prototype 2WD.  The laid back Swede said he was ‘just trying to find my way around and get confident for qualifying’.  Making a shock oil change, he said the only other work over practice was on preparing tyres and overall he is happy with his start to the weekend.

Posting the 5th fastest time, Danish driver Jesper Rasmussen declared practice as ‘pretty good I think’.  The Associated driver said having started out with his basic set-up he changed to a shorter camber link which improved things.  Running the final practice with the front rollbar off he said he will put it back on for Q1 finding the car too nervous with it off.

Having only had one run with his new cars prior to his race debut here in Odense, Neumann said, ‘I’m definitely still getting used to the car’.  Trying both a carbon and alu chassis over the four practices, he has opted to continue with the alu version ‘for now’ having found it ‘easier to drive’.  The inaugural winner of the DHI Offroad titles when it was introduced in 2012, Neumann also made comments on the switch to the EOS but unlike others his main positive of the carpet was the colour. ‘I like it even more then at an EOS.  You can see the car better on the grey.  Maybe the EOS should change from the black’.

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January 5, 2018

Track Focus – DHI Cup Odense

Host Club – Odense R/C Minirace
Country – Denmark
Location – Odense
Venue – Stadium Arena Fyn
Track type – Temporary
Surface – Carpet (both Onroad & Offroad)
Direction – Anti-Clockwise for Onroad, Clockwise  for Offroad
Previous races hosted – 17 Onroad, 6 Offroad

A classic on the electric touring car calendar, 2018 marks a big anniversary for the DHI Cup as the Danish event takes place for the 18th time. While the hay days of when the entry read like a whose who of the best touring car drivers in the world has passed, the event still enjoys a capacity entry and leading the entry this year is the reigning World Champion Ronald Volker. With defending champion Viljami Kutvonen absent, as are the whole Xray team, the main opposition to Volker going for an 8th DHI Cup title looks set to come from Marc Rheinard and fellow Germans Christopher Krapp and Yannic Prumper. Asked for his thoughts on the track layout, Volker said, ‘It is the same as last year. Normally they contact me to help with the layout but I heard nothing (from the organisers) so I thought they had got someone else to do the layout so I was surprised to see they used the same layout as last year but I think its a good layout’. With the layout ‘familiar territory for everyone’, the Yokomo driver said the big difference this year is getting used to the new handout tyre from LRP, the main difference being the different material insert being used.

On the Offroad track, in a change from the tradition of using the carpet from the previous year’s touring car track, the organisers have bought EOS carpet for the event opting for a grey rather than black colour.  The 7th year Offroad has been included at the DHI Cup, the new carpet has made for a much cleaner looking track with the slightly revised layout having been given an extra jump section. Having done the double here last year, Michal Orlowski welcomed the new carpet saying, ‘A big improvement finally.  It is more fun to drive and we don’t have the same tyre wear problems as before when we needed new tyres every run’.  On the layout, the Schumacher driver said, ‘the base layout is the same as last year just they have moved the jumps. The table top is tricky, you can land pretty weird but the EOS carpet is the big difference this year.  Its a really good change’.

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November 18, 2017

Maifield comes to China empty handed but leaves as double World Champion

Ryan Maifield came to the 1:10 Offroad World Championships in Xiamen, China, empty handed in terms of the sport’s biggest prize. Declaring early on he was not a fan of the track, 7 days on the Yokomo driver leaves as a double World Champion becoming only the fourth driver in the 17 runnings of the championship to do so. Having claimed his first ever World title when he wrapped up the 2WD title in A2, the deciding of the 4WD title would go down to the wire with A3 throwing up one of the craziest World finals ever with Maifield himself admitting he didn’t really remember what happened.  In the end, it was hard to follow the chaos of which car was flying off where, it was his protege Spencer Rivkin who would win the decider from 5th on the grid as Maifield got by Tessmann on the final lap. The third of the title contenders going into A3, David Ronnefalk would lead from after the first lap, staying there for 2-laps until a mistake.  With further mistakes ending his chances of a first EP World title, he opted to pull up for the final two laps and watch the thrilling finish, his win in A2 & 3rd in the opener enough to secure second overall. With his surprise A3 win, Rikvin snatched the final step of the podium on tie break leaving Top Qualifier Tessmann with fourth, with Xray team-mate & outgoing champion Bruno Coelho ending up 9th despite lining up 3rd for his title defence.

‘I don’t really remember what happened. It started off rough and I fell back to sixth and then all of a sudden I was in second. It was insane out there’, was Maifield’s summary of a race that even stretched race announcer Scotty Ernst’s voice box to its limits.  He continued, ‘when me, David and Ty where 1,2,3 but then Spencer got first. Ty made a great move on me and went after Spencer. I let it happen because I knew even if he got Spencer the time wouldn’t be good enough. In the end I got the second back when Ty made a mistake on the last lap’.  Having poured out his emotion when he finally took the title so many felt he was long over due when he took the 2WD title on Tuesday, asked how it felt to do the double Maifield replied with a more expected summary saying, ‘When we got here and it started I was like oh this is over but then it turned to oh I’ve got a shot at this’.

Going one better than he achieved in Japan 2-years ago, Ronnefalk said, ‘right now it feels weird, being so close and almost touching the trophy.’  The reigning 1:8 Offroad World Champion continued ‘it was a messy start and there where cars flying everywhere. When Tessmann rolled I got to the front I stayed there for 2 or 3 laps. I don’t know if I took a bad line or the wind pushed me but I landed in middle of the corner and dropped to fourth’.  With a mistake on the straight ending his hopes of bettering his points he ‘pulled into watch’ with about 30-seconds to go. ‘It was a great race and I wanted to see and I knew I had enough points to make the podium’.  Summing up his podium finish, he said, ‘I have no words really. It fees weird. I’m sure it will seem ok in a couple of days that we finished 2nd at the worlds with a new car. We lacked experience of these races over the last 2-years and also maybe I was a little impatient.  This is my third podium in 3-years so I suppose I can’t complain at the end’.

’To come off the drivers stand 3rd (overall) and not knowing was spectacular’, was Rivkin’s reaction to making the podium having not even made the A-Main for his 2WD World title defence earlier in the week.  Posting a surprise TQ run in the opening 4WD qualifier, ending up 5th on the grid with less competitive runs over the remaining 3 rounds, the Team Associated driver said, ‘I was right there all the qualifiers but couldn’t put everything together. I just wasn’t focused enough’.  On his A3 win, he said, ‘I had the lead and then blew it but a lot of drivers were making mistakes so I kept the head down was able to get it back and it got me a podium’.

Clearly disappointed to miss out on the podium, Tessmann said, ‘I don’t really know what happened, its all a blur now’.  He continued, ‘on the straightaway I hit a bump, the same one Bruno hit before but I wasn’t so lucky.  I landed on my wheels but everyone caught up and then there was chaos for two laps’. Making contact with Maifield during the race but immediately giving back position, allowing Rivkin to take up the lead, he said, ‘alone the track is challenge enough but when four cars are racing together no one is absolutely in control. My car and tyre were good that time and I drove the best I could but it wasn’t enough I guess’.  A driver who regularly finds himself locked in battle with Maifield, the Canadian offered his congratulations to his rival saying’, ‘he drove well and earn it and to go & do the double is amazing’.

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