- Red RC Network:
- Red RC Events |
- Red RC
Cavalieri, Matsukura & Volker win opening RROC encounters
The opening round of racing at the Reedy Race of Champions produced pretty straight forward wins for Ryan Cavalieri, Naoto Matsukura and Ronald Volker, with only World Champion Matsukura forced to work for his win. Starting the opening race of the 19th running of the iconic event from 3rd on the grid, early patience from Cavalieri would pay with mistakes from pole sitter Rick Hohwart and early leader Eric Albano on the same lap handed the Associated driver the lead. Hohwart would get second followed by Reedy Race debutant Viljami Kutvonen who came through from 6th on the grid. Race 2 would prove to be the most entertaining of the 3 as a recovering Chrstopher Krapp put in a huge charge in the final minute to catch his Tamiya team-mate Matsukura who probably wouldn’t have held off the German had the race gone an extra lap. Having started on pole Andrew Hardman would complete the Top 3. The most heavily loaded of the races, Race 3 would see reigning champion Marc Rheinard and Volker go head to head. Volker had the advantage of starting from pole and dominated the race while contact at the start from P4 left Rheinard at the back. The Tamiya driver would recover to take a distant 2nd with team-mate Akio Sobue 3rd.
Commenting on the first of the 12 races that make up the Reedy Race, 10 counting for the final standings, Cavalieri said, ‘it was actually really good’. The reigning US National Touring Car Champion, a title the Cali driver won at Tamiya Raceway, the Offroad star said despite the track being ‘looser’ his TC7 had ‘good steering and overall feeling’. On the race action, the multiple Offroad Reedy Race Champion said, ‘I was just being patient behind Rick. He got a bit out of shape and I got through and then on the same lap Albano made a mistake so I went from 3rd to first in one lap ‘.
‘Good start’ was how Matsukura summed up his opening race but the Japanese driver added his car was ‘super difficult to drive’. With ‘super traction at the start’, he said towards the end his TRF419 was ‘loose and pushing’. Running an aluminium chassis when all his team-mates are using carbon, he said ‘on this type of track I prefer carbon but its my mechanic’s decision to run alu so we will try a different set-up for Round 2 to try improve it’. Providing the main entertainment of Round 1, Krapp said, ‘for the first one I will take 2nd’. Star of the event last year on his RROC debut, the German who started 6th would get caught up in an error by Felix Law on the opening lap. Making his way back through the field he said he was ‘surprised (he) reeled in Naoto so fast’ so he ‘pushed like crazy but needed one more lap’.
Champion in 2014 when the Mike Reedy created race returned to the popular Tamiya Raceway track in 2014, Volker said they were ‘difficult track conditions’ adding ‘but I expected that due to the 9am start as there was no sun and the track was sugar watered this morning’. Starting on pole with team-mate and 2015 podium finisher Meen Vejrak alongside the ETS Champion said ‘I knew I had to win the first and after 2 corners I was out front and just kept it going to the finish’. With Vejrak retiring Volker was ‘disappointed for Meen as we had a chance of a 1-2’. Admitting Rheinard’s first lap drama made things easier he said the win was a good start but added ‘there is a long way to go’. Commenting on his recovery to 2nd, Rheinard said, ‘I’m not fast enough to beat Ronald’. Suffering a ‘pretty shit start’, after getting spun out which left him at the back, the 5 time RROC champion ‘just focused on finishing 2nd to get points’.
View our event image gallery here.
Track Focus – Tamiya Raceway
Track Name – Tamiya Raceway
Country – USA
Location – Aliso Viejo, California
Surface – Asphalt
Direction – Anti-Clockwise
Previous Reedy Races hosted – 8
Tamiya Raceway hosts the Reedy Race of Champions for a 9th time in 2016, the iconic touring car race continuing to enjoy a revival since it returned in 2014 to what many drivers describe as the best onroad track in the World. Built in 1994 as part of Tamiya’s then US headquarters facility, the track hosted its first Reedy Race in 2002 but after a run of 6 years the site was put up for sale leaving the famed race format of one of the sport’s great pioneers Mike Reedy to move elsewhere. While Tamiya would move their HQ 8-miles away to Irvine after the sale of their huge building, they would retain ownership of the track but with no offices the obstacle now was an issue of parking. With drivers constantly seeking the race to return to what is actually quite a small track, their hopes of racing there again finally happened when Scotty Ernst took over the running of the event 3-years ago and a temporary parking area was created.
Built in an area 170 ft wide by 70 ft deep, the first observation one makes on seeing the track in the flesh is how small it is but mention that to the drivers who have driven it before and they don’t care. The size is irrelevant, they just love it because of the overtaking opportunities making it perfect for the 12 rounds of heads up racing that make will determine the Reedy Race Champion. Unfortunately last year the surface of the track had come to the end of its life and meant there was a very narrow race line which effected the quality of the racing. The track subsequently had the top layer resealed and while reigning champion Marc Rheinard said ‘it is an improvement’, the Tamiya star added ‘the grip is not as good as I was expecting and its still dirty off line’. Making his Reedy Race debut at this the 19th running of the event, factory Awesomatix driver & star of the recent first outdoor ETS encounter Viljami Kutvonen’s first impressions of the track are ‘it’s quite different’. The Finn added ‘I like it but its quite challenging to get a perfect lap’. Commenting on the track’s famous centre kink, a corner that has seen the demise of many a driver’s Reedy Race title aspirations, he said ‘it’s fun and you want to take it as fast as you can but then it’s dangerous’.
Image Gallery
Volker shows advantage in RROC practice
Ronald Volker showed himself to have the advantage in terms of speed going into this year’s Reedy Race of Champions. While being quickest at the iconic heads up racing event doesn’t count for much when it comes to getting the overall success, being fastest over the four rounds of practice today at Tamiya Raceway does provide Volker with a phycological boost over his 23 rivals. The 19th running of the Reedy Race, Volker would be the only driver to record a legitimate 11-second lap with reigning champion Marc Rheinard closest to the Yokomo ace some 2/10ths of a second off his long standing rival. Rheinard’s Tamiya team-mate Christopher Krapp, one of the stars of last year’s event before a costly mistake at the famous kink in Race 10 cost him a shot at the title, would make it an all German Top 3.
Happy with his day’s work, Volker said, ‘coming here we made a lot of set-up changes following the ETS and so far in practice they are very good’. The 2014 Champion continued, ‘the Reedy Race is not about speed but luck and making the right decision at the right moment but of course the advantage of being fastest in practice is you feel confident going into the first days racing’.
Rheinard was clearly feeling unimpressed by his practice pace saying he was ‘too slow’. The Reedy Race’s most successful driver with 5 titles to his credit, the 4-time World Champion described his TRF419 as ‘not aggressive enough’. Adding it felt ‘lazy’, he said, ‘Ronald’s car just bites and somehow we need to get our car like that for tomorrow’. Not completely defeated by Volker’s advantage he said, ‘in the end its the Reedy Race so a lot can happen but right now the pace is not there to go from 8th to the front’. With 24 entries for the invitational class, each round of racing will consist of 3 heats of 8 drivers.
While America’s most successful Reedy Race Champion Barry Baker makes a return to the invitational class this year, his last of four wins being in 2003, there is high expectations of the Reedy Race Trophy possibly staying on American soil this year. Putting in an impressive showing last year before going on to become the US National Touring Car Champion at the very same track, multiple Offroad World Champion Ryan Cavalieri is being widely tipped as one to watch. A multiple Offroad Reedy Race champion, the Californian driver is famed for his ‘Pudge luck’ and was happy with how practice went gone today. Not pleased at being ‘taken out in the final practice’, the Team Associated driver said it was a ‘pretty good’ day with them able to ‘make good improvements’ to the his TC7 over the day.
Video – Modified A-main Leg 3
Volker & Groskamp complete podium in China
Ronald Volker has taken the runner up spot at the opening AOC in Shanghai, winning the 3rd A-main ahead of Jilles Groskamp. With JJ Wang wrapping up the overall win in A2, he sat out the final encounter and this meant Volker had clear track ahead of him at the start. Groskamp would take 2nd in the race, after another coming together with Naoto, for the final step on the podium while Jan Ratheisky once again took 3rd to end up 4th overall in Modified.
On the tone, Volker pushed hard to pull away and had a small gap, but a coming together between Matsukura and Groskamp left him with a larger gap. Pleased with 2nd overall he said it ‘could have been better but also a lot worse’. Complimenting the RCI V2 crew, Volker is now looking forward to the asphalt season, which will kick off at ETS Rd4 in mid May in Italy.
‘Good to be back on the podium’ was Jilles Groskamp’s reaction to A3. Ready to settle for 3rd in the race, when Matsukura got sideways in front of him they touched, the Japanese driver’s body tucking. Race director Scotty Ernst called for him to carry on and so the Infinity was promoted to 2nd. With traffic proving difficult on this tight track and Ronald being too far ahead, the 2012 World Champion focused on getting the car to the finish.
View our event image gallery here.
