Kutvonen takes final qualifier

Viljami Kutvonen has TQ’d the final round of qualifying at the DHI Cup.  The result secures the Awesomatix driver 2nd on the grid behind Top Qualifier Ronald Volker, the defending champion having wrapped up pole position with a third TQ run in the previous round.  While Volker would make two mistakes as he used Q4 to test a set-up for the finals, Kutvonen topped the times posting the second fastest time of qualifying with a 6/10ths of a second advantage over Alexander Hagberg.  Hagberg as a result will start tomorrow’s three A-Main encounters from third on the grid ahead of 2013 Champion Adrian Berntsen.  Making the trip to the famous Danish event for the first time, a somewhat frustrated Bruno Coelho completes the top half of the grid.

‘It was good, just liked I planned it’, that was Kutvonen’s response to delivering a TQ run.  The 2014 runner-up said reverting back to his Q2 set-up along with running stiffer flex settings on his LRP powered A800 left the car ‘unbelievably good’. Planning to leave the car unchanged for A1, the Finnish driver is confident ‘the car is good enough to battle with Ronald tomorrow’ for the win.

Commenting on what was essentially a 5-minute test for the finals, Volker said the changes made to his BD7 ‘made it very easy to drive’ but the car suffered from understeer.  Catching a dot sending the car into a roll just after the first minute mark, Volker said he then drove over the limit trying to make back the time.  Getting back on the TQ pace with the fastest lap of the weekend he would make a second mistake with four laps to go leaving him to end up P3. Looking to the finals, he will go back to his Q3 set-up.

‘I thought I drove really well but I was still slightly off the pace’, was Hagberg’s reaction to performance, Q4 his fastest qualifier.  The Xray driver said, ‘Ronald and Viljami have faster cars and we have to find something for tomorrow if we are going to be able to compete with them in the finals’.

Having shown promise in practice when he debuted new Danish manufacturer Gizmo’s GZ-1 at the ETS season opener in December, Adrian Berntsen gave the team reason to celebrate as he secured 4th on the grid.  One of the company’s co-founders Martin Lissau, a former 1:5 World Champion, said they were ‘very happy’ to be so well placed on the DHI Cup A-Main grid with the result showing they have a good idea in the car design.  The Dane went on to explain that the high traction this weekend is not something they have been able to experience before so it has added to the learning curve.  Asked about Berntsen’s final qualifier he said fitting a new bearing set from a different manufacturer to the car for the heat they tightened up as the race went on slowing their star driver. With Steen Graversen making up arm set-up changes to the car prior to bearing issue Berntsen was ‘quite happy’ with the feeling of the car.

A driver who many expected to put Volker’s quest for a 7th DHI Cup under treat this weekend, Coelho himself was miffed by his lack of pace.  Having tried three different bodyshells, the set-up of Hagberg, Cerny and Hudy but with no improvement the World Championship runner-up said the problem had to be down to a bad set of tyres.  While drivers get two sets of tyres for the weekend, Coelho said the tyres improve with each run and while he has a second set they are not going to solve his problems as they have no running on them and are there going to be even slower.  He said while his T4 is drivable it has no traction compared to his rivals.  Starting behind Coelho will be Xray team-mate Marek Cerny followed by Yokomo’s Meen Vejrak. The grid is completed by Serpent’s Marc Fischer, Schumacher’s Elliot Harper and young Japanese talent Naoki Akiyama.  Former Champion, his 2008 win launching his international racing career, Viktor Wilck finds himself with the unenviable BQ honours at this year’s event.

In Super Stock, Kyosho driver Tim Benson gave the Japanese manufacturer’s new TF7 it first international race honour.  Debuting the car at the ETS season opener but the event proving ‘tough’, in Odense the German was on the pace from the start setting the pace in practice.  Carrying that through to qualifying he would TQ’d the opening qualifier but TQ runs for Xray’s Jan Ratheisky and Marek Cerny in Q2 & 3, meant it was all to play for in the final round.  Recovering from his set backs in the 2nd & 3rd round, Benson would deliver in style in the final round to TQ with the only 23-lap run of the weekend. Behind Benson, it is reigning champion Cerny who will start second followed by 2015 podium finishers Ratheisky and Mike Gosvig.  Awesomatix driver Tony Streit completes the Top 5 line-up.

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Volker is Top Qualifier at DHI Cup

Ronald Volker is Top Qualifier for the DHI Cup, the Yokomo driver securing his fifth pole position at the Danish classic when he made it three from three in the penultimate round of qualifying.  Chasing a 7th win at the Odense based event, the German topped the times in Q3 from Xray’s Alexander Hagberg after an early mistake by Viljami Kutvonen ended the Awesomtaix driver’s expected challenge of Volker’s reign on proceedings.

‘It always nice to start off a new season with TQ’, said Volker of his latest pole position at the DHI Cup.  Having won 4 of his 6 titles as Top Qualifier, While he qualified 3rd when he won in 2012 and started second when he was victorious in 2010, on the other four occasions victory came from starting at the front of the grid.  Commenting on his Q3 performance, the fastest of his three TQ runs, he said ‘the car started quite edgy and for the first 2-minutes I didn’t feel comfortable but then it was on pace’. Setting the fastest lap he said despite how his BD7 2016 started out the set-up changes made ahead of the run were an improvement for the final 3-minutes having previous struggled in the latter part of the heat with the car getting loose.  With the car getting ‘up on 2-wheels’ a number of times he said Q4 will be a test of some changes to try & get rid of the edginess in preparation for tomorrow’s finals.

Over four and a half seconds off Volker’s pace, Hagberg said he started off well but for the second half of the qualifier his T4 became ‘very difficult to drive’. Having to open up for a recovering Kutvonen he ‘also lost time for that too’.  The European Champion said the problem is that they need to make the car more consistent over 5-minutes and this is something they need to try to find for the final qualifier which he believes if they can do will give him a good chance to race Volker for the win tomorrow. For team-mate Bruno Coelho and Marek Cerny it was a tough round.  Two mistakes for Coelho left him with a P9 while an error that hindered Meen Vejrak left Cerny 18th fastest.

‘Not a very good run for me’ was how Kutvonen summed up a disappointing run.  The Finnish star said going to a harder front spring brought on traction roll and with it striking on the second corner after starting the heat.  For his final attempt and P2 on the grid up for grabs between himself & Hagberg, he will go back to his Q2 set-up when he got to within 4/10ths of Volker.

After starting out with a P6 in Q1 but only 11th in P2, 2013 Champion Adrien Berntsen would run the fourth fastest time in Q3.  The Norwegian said after bad driving and a difficult car in Q2, a different tyre prep made this a little better.  Describing his Gizmo GZ-1 as ‘still a little too aggressive’, he said he needs to discuss his options with his mechanic & Gizmo co-founder Martin Christensen and find a way to get the car easier to drive.

Changing to a solid front suspension mount on his Yokomo, Meen Vejrak said he was ‘happier with the car’.  Running a Top 3 pace, on the sixth lap the former nitro touring car World Champion would get caught up in an error by Cerny.  Making contact with the BD7 it would cause a body tuck losing the Thai driver 3-seconds.  For the final qualifier Vejrak plans to change his tyre prep with his mechanic & Yokomo team-manager Robert Itoh also consider rising the cars diff position.

Completing the Top 6 was Schumacher’s Elliot Harper but the British Champion was not celebrating the result. ‘I managed to stay on the track this time’ was his reasoning for the improved performance.  Describing the car as ‘really aggressive initially and then having understeer’ he rambled off a list of things he changed on the car adding ‘I don’t know what else to change to be honest’.  Currently 8th in the qualification ranking he needs another good run to book his place in the A-Main.

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