Ronnefalk is Euros Top Qualifier

Defending Champion David Ronnefalk is Top Qualifier at the 1:8 Offroad European Championships. The Kyosho driver claimed the honour with a third convincing TQ run in the penultimate round of qualifying at the Sand am Main event in Germany this morning.  Again the only driver to run a 27-second lap time, the Swede took the round 3.1-seconds up on Mugen’s Robert Batlle with Koysho team-mate Elliott Boots backing up his Q3 performance with another Top 3 time.

Having taken the overall TQ on the way to his first European Championship title in France last year, Darren Bloomfield also Top Qualifier when he took his first title a year earlier in Austria, Ronnefalk was pleased to wrap up qualifying with one round to go.  Full of confidence in the performance of his Orion powered MP9, the 18-year-old said he just went into his heat aiming for a clean run as he knew the car had the pace to get the job done. Having left his car unchanged throughout qualifying including sticking with AKA’s Catapult tyre he said with qualifying decided he could now change his focus to tyre options for the final which he was surprised to find is listed as being 1-hour long, the European Championship traditionally decided over a 45-minute encounter.  Asked about his advantage in qualifying, he said ‘as always come the final the same guys will have found some extra pace’ and he is expecting a ‘tight race’.

Having qualified only 5th when he won his second European title here in Sand am Main, Robet Batlle is not concerned by Ronnefalk’s distinct speed advantage.  The Mugen driver is focused on working on his set-up for the finals adding that in Q4 they further improved his MBX7 with the World Champion describing it as ‘so comfortable’ to drive.  For Q5 he will make some minor tweaks to the set-up which he said is already ‘very good for a final’ with him seeking just a little more rotation in the tracks 180 degree corners.

Describing the traffic as an ‘absolute nightmare’, Boots said other than that it was a good run.  Having struggled in the opening two qualifiers, mainly due to his style of driving, he said having backed it off a little together with little improvements to his Reds Racing powered MP9 he feels he is now ‘there or there abouts’ in terms of overall pace.  Switching from Pro-Line’s Blockade to Suburb tyre in X2 compound for Q4 he said the change worked well and he will continue with everything as is for his final heat.  With only two good rounds to his credit the British driver is conscious that he needs another strong round so cant afford to take many risks.

Setting the fourth fastest time Teemu Leino described Q4 as a good tyre test.  Running a used set of HB Megabyte tyres on his Novarossi powered D812 he said it felt ‘pretty good’ highlighting that the run was his quickest of the event.  Having done little with the set-up on his buggy throughout both practice & qualifying, the Finn said the buggy is already good enough for a final and so for his last heat he will just continue his tyre testing.

‘I put on the right set of tyres’, that was how Ari Heinonen described his sudden form.  Posting the 5th fastest time, the Finn made the switch from soft to medium soft compound Beta Freeride tyres which he said gave his Alpha powered Kyosho a lot more stability.  Planning a small camber adjustment for his final heat he said with the buggy now more comfortable to drive he will also push a bit harder.

Top Qualifier the first time the track held the Euros in 2011, Jerome Aigoin described his Kyosho as ‘much better’ as he got his first Top 12 run with 6th for the round.  The French National Champion completely copied the set-up of Kyosho/AKA team-mate Ronnefalk describing his Novarossi powered example of the MP9 as now being ‘so easy & fast’ to drive.  With no intentions of changing anything for Q5, his focus is on repeating the result so as to give him the best possible starting position in the Semis after some poor earlier qualifiers.

Jerome’s twin brother Yannick Aigoin would go seventh fastest.  The 2-time former champion said the run was ‘OK’ as while his prototype Team Associated was good he had to drive safe due to two bad rounds yesterday.  A ‘stupid’ mistake in Q1 and the loss of a shock pin in Q3, he said while he has a good car with such problems things can quickly become a ‘critical situation’ leaving him with no option but avoid any risks and drive safe today.  Running Diamond Back tyres he said having watched fellow Pro-Line drivers enjoy good Q4 runs on Suburb’s he will switch to them for his final heat.

Better known for his electric offroad racing exploits, racing for Team Yokomo, Mugen’s Lee Martin enjoyed his first Top 10 run of the qualifying.  Setting the 8th fastest time, the British driver said he his MBX7 has been good but he just keeps making ‘stupid mistakes’ finding the shouting on the driver stand a big distraction to his concentration.  Having done a lot of work with shocks over qualifying and reverting to a standard Mugen bodyshell they have got the buggy now very balanced.  Having run Pro-Line’s LockDown tyre, like Yannick Aigoin he said having seen some good runs on Suburbs he will switch to them for the last qualifier.  Behind Martin, German’s Carsten Keller and 2011 Podium finisher Daniel Reckward, now racing an RB buggy, completed the Top 10.

Round 4 Qualifying Top 12
1. David Ronnefalk – Kyosho/Orion – 11/5:11.729
2. Robert Batlle – Mugen/Novarossi – 11/5:14.834
3. Elliott Boots – Kyosho/Reds Racing – 11/5:16.160
4. Teemu Leino – HB/Novarossi – 11/5:16.574
5. Ari Heinonen – Kyosho/Alpha – 11/5:18.986
6. Jerome Aigoin – Kyosho/Novarossi – 11/5:18.999
7. Yannick Aigoin – Associated/Ultimate – 11/5:20.924
8. Lee Martin – Mugen/Beat – 11/5:21.029
9. Carsten Keller – Kysoho/Bullitt – 11/5:22.5:22.562
10.Daniel Reckward – RB/RB – 11/5:22.651
11.Fabrizio Teghesi – Kyosho/OS Speed – 11/5:22.876
12.Darren Bloomfield – Agama/Bullitt – 11/5:22.920

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‘From Race Control’ – Day 4, Qualifying/Lower Finals

It is a beautiful sunny start to Day 4 of the 1:8 Offroad European Championships in Sand am Main, Germany, with the continuation of qualifying getting proceedings underway.  With 3 of 5 rounds to count the remaining two qualifiers mean that there is still a lot up for grabs in terms of directly qualifying for the Semi-Finals. Once qualifying has been completed the first finals of the 34th running of the championship’s will get underway running up to and including the 1/128 finals.

Ronnefalk holds overnight Euros TQ

Defending 1:8 Offroad European Champion David Ronnefalk leaves the Sand am Main track in Germany this evening in the best position possible after the Kyosho driver took his second TQ run of the first day of qualifying to hold the overnight TQ.  Having taken Q2 by 3 seconds over Robert Batlle, the Swede would again take the third qualifier by an almost identical margin this time from 2012 Champion Darren Bloomfield.  It would be a good Q3 for Team Kyosho as Ronnefalk’s team-mate Elliott Boots having not featured in the first two rounds took his Mp9 to the third fastest time.   In terms of the overall points standings it is Q1 pace setter Teemu Leino who sits second in the ranking followed by Batlle and Bloomfield.

A very composed and on form Ronnefalk said ‘for sure I’m happy to be leading overnight but I would be a lot happier if I had also TQ’d the first one’, a result that would have secured him the overall TQ for the event.  Only 3rd fastest time in Q1, as a result of his heat being the first to run on the damp track this morning, the 18-year-old said its not the securing of the overall TQ that concerns him but rather the chance to be able to use both of tomorrow’s qualifiers as a tyre test session.  Running AKA’s Catapult tyre in Super Soft compound on his MP9, to which he has made little or no set-up changes since early practice, he said the tyre is providing tons of traction and the buggy feels perfect on them but he is concerned about wear.  While good for the 5-minute qualifiers he said they will not last the distance of the Semi-Final.  While he knows a harder tyre will be slower he said its how it effects the overall feeling of the car that he is concened about.  Planning to go for a third TQ run in the morning he said he will use the fifth & final qualifier to test compounds.

Enjoying his best performance of the day, Bloomfield put the improvement down to a change of his driving.  After two crashes in Q2 left him 12th fastest, the current British National Championship points leader said he ‘minimised (his) heroics’ and the time came to him.  The Agama driver said having struggled mentally with traffic on a track he says ‘always feels busy’, on watching his rivals face similar problems in their heats he really worked on trying to get it out of his head.  Feeling this did help his driving he said he still had some moments, jumping over ‘3 cars that were going wrong’ as he went up the hill.  Unlike before he said the loss this time round was only fractions adding it certainly wasn’t the 3-seconds to Ronnefalk but looking to tomorrow he hopes to build on his Q3 approach.

Boots adapted a similar approach to his fellow Brit, also backing off a little in terms of his driving.  Making a number of changes to his Reds Racing powered MP9 moving closer to the set-up being run by Ronnefalk, he said this made the car easier to drive.  Conscious he needed a good round, 3 of 5 to count and his opening two not having faired out well, he drove more conservatively with the net result a competitive third.  Switching from Pro-Line’s LockDown tyre to a set of X2 compound Blockades, the World Championship Top Qualifier said this also added to the mix providing more side bit.  Pleased to end the day in the mix he said he hopes to build on that tomorrow and try go a little quicker.

Suffering two rolls and again having issues with the same driver as he did in Q2, Leino said while 2nd was again possible he was happy to get 4th as this give him a third result that will lock him into a Semi-Final starting position.  The factory HB driver left his car unchanged between rounds and said he plans to continue that way tomorrow as running the same car is helping in terms of him improving how he is driving it.

Only 51/1000ths off Leino, Renaud Savoya claimed his second 5th fastest time of the day having started off with a sixth in Q1.  The Team Xray driver said his Orion powered XB8 is getting better every run although a clutch combination change for Q3, which used a softer spring, meant the power delivery was not as good as earlier in the day.  Going up in the centre diff oil, the French ace, who saw his run of three European title come to an end here in 2011, said this improved the buggy albeit at making it a little more nervous to drive.  Also switching to a harder compound Sweep Mirco Contact tyre he said while at the end they felt good they took time to come in.  With three solid runs in hand now he said tomorrow they will use the remaining qualifiers to test things for the Semi Final.  With the car already easy to drive, him ‘pretty happy’ at running all three qualifiers with no crashes he said the main focus will be to find a little more corner speed.

Ending up 7th in Q3 behind the Kyosho of former Austrian Champion Martin Karner, Batlle was rather annoyed with the driving of former World & European Champion Daniel Reckward.   Catching the RB driver on his 8th lap he said the German blocked him and when he did get alongside they made contact, the Spaniard coming off worst and losing over 4-seconds.  In terms of his MBX7 set-up, the reigning World Champion said they further improved the car for Q3 with it now more consistent adding tomorrow they will continue to test for the finals.

After an impressive third in Q2, Joseph Quagraine completed a successful day with the 8th fastest time in the third qualifier which sees the Finn sitting 6th in the overnight ranking.  The JQ driver felt the day had gone ‘kind of how (he) expected’ and he was happy with how his creation is performing, French team driver Rayan Medjoubi taking his similarly Reds Racing powered example of ‘The Car’ to 12th in Q3.   Running everything the same as he did in the second qualifier he said due to the warmer condition of the day’s final qualifier the track was slower and should it be the same tomorrow he is going to have to find a better compound.

Behind Quagraine, the Top 10 was completed by Christoffer Svensson and 1:10 Electric European Champion Joern Neumann.  Having missed the first day of practice due to a lip infection, Neumann quickly got to terms with the track in seeding practice yesterday posting a Top 3 time in the second round but struggled in the opening two qualifiers.  Finally breaking into the Top 10 in Q3, the Team Durango driver will be hoping to build on that over tomorrow’s remaining two qualifiers.

Round 3 Qualifying Top 12
1. David Ronnefalk – Kyosho/Orion – 11/5:13.193
2. Darren Bloomfield – Agama/Bullitt – 11/5:16.123
3. Elliott Boots – Kyosho/Reds Racing – 11/5:17.700
4. Teemu Leino – HB/Novarossi – 11/5:19.608
5. Renaud Savoya – Xray/Orion – 11/5:19.659
6. Martin Karner – Kyosho/Alpha – 11/5:21.966
7. Robert Batlle – Mugen/Novarossi – 11/5:22.349
8. Joseph Quagraine – JQ/Reds Racing – 11/5:22.463
9. Christoffer Svensson – Kyosho/OS Speed – 11/5:22.463
10.Joern Neumann – Team Durango/FX – 11/5:22.704
11.Alex Zanchettin – TLR/Novarossi – 11/5:23.011
12.Rayan Medjoubi – JQ/Reds Racing – 11/5:23.148

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Commanding performance sees Ronnefalk take Q2

David Ronnefalk put in a commanding performance in the second round of qualifying at the 1:8 Offroad European Championships in Germany to top the times by an impressive 3-seconds over arch rival Robert Batlle. Having been hampered by a damp track for his opening qualifier, ending up 3rd fastest, the defending champion send a clear message of his intentions here at Sand am Main as he posted the first and only 27 second lap of the track.  Behind the two champions an impressive drive by JQ boss Joseph Quagraine gave him third for the round, the Finn just pipping fellow countryman & Q1 Top Qualifier Teemu Leino by 87/1000th.

Running everything the same as he did in Q1, only changing back to AKA’s Catapult tyre for the dry track, Ronnefalk said his Orion powered MP9 was ‘so easy to drive it, so it was very easy to push’.   Getting away with one mistake when he landed on the track border coming up the hill having over compensated for touching the opposite side a lap earlier he said the rest of the run was good.  Looking to Q3, which brings Day 2 of the 34th running of the Championships to a close, he said he was going to ‘just keep driving it’ his father & mechanic joking that the are almost afraid to change anything the buggy is performaning so well.

Batlle said they were able to find even more steering from his Novarossi powered Mugen and he declared himself happy with another second place run adding that other than some traffic the run was quite clean.  Describing his MBX7 as ‘consistent & easy to drive’, the Spaniard is already starting to focus his attentions to adjusting the car in preparation for the Semi Finals.

Ninth fastest in Q1, declaring afterwards that there was a lot more to come from the car which he designed himself, Quagraine was understandable pleased with his competitive run to 3rd.  The straight talking JQ Racing boss said his White Edition of ‘The Car’ has been really good all along and up to now the problems have ‘all been mental and nothing else’.  Describing Q1 as a ‘nervous’ drive he said he got it together for the second one and he hoped to be able to repeat it again now in Q3.  Running what he called a ‘standard set-up’ on his Red Racing powered buggy he said he will leave it the same and just choose the most suitable compound of AKA Impact tyre based on the weather conditions nearer the time of the run.

Leino was content with his fourth for the round describing it as ‘pretty good’.  Leaving his HB unchanged other than going to a harder compound Megabyte tyre, he said without a last lap incident with traffic it would have been very close between him and Batlle for second.  Leading his heat, on the last lap he twice got balked by the same backmarker resulting in the loss of almost 2 seconds.  He said the traffic here makes it hard to get a clean run but planning to leave everything the same for Q3 he said hopefully he can end the day with one more good result which would lock him into the Semi-Finals and give him the opportunity to use tomorrow’s Q4 & 5 to prepare for the finals.

Fifth fastest was Renaud Savoya.  The 3-time former Champion said from the first lap he knew it was going to be a difficult run.  The French ace said the main problem was he went for too soft a compound Sweep tyre but also having discussed set-up changes they played it too safe and opted against them when they would have suited the conditions.  With two solid runs he said this would allow them to go risky with the set-up for the next round. Behind Savoya, Kyosho driver Carsten Keller completed the Top 6.

Team Associated’s Yannick Aigoin claimed the 7th fastest time, the former Champion saying he was also on for a similar run in Q1 until he messed it up himself.  Catching a slower car he said in his own mistake he crashed into it result in him losing 5-seconds.  Describing his prototype RC8, similar to the one he raced at the World Championships in Argentina, as good in both runs, having left it unchanged, for Q3 he will run a different diff set-up to try and improve corner speed.  In terms of tyres having run Pro-Line’s X2 Diamond Backs, the compound being too hard, he will switch to LockDown feeling the new tyres extra side wall flex will be an advantage.

Round 2 Qualifying Top 12
1. David Ronnefalk – Kyosho/Orion – 11/5:14.193
2. Robert Batlle – Mugen/Novarossi – 11/5:17.130
3. Joseph Quagraine – JQ/Reds Racing – 11/5:19.521
4. Teemu Leino – HB/Novarossi – 11/5:19.608
5. Renaud Savoya – Xray/Orion – 11/5:21.596
6. Carsten Keller – Kysoho/Bullitt – 11/5:22.094
7. Yannick Aigoin – Associated/Ultimate – 11/5:22.172
8. Martin Bayer – Xray/LRP – 11/5:22.558
9. Dominic Bauer – Mugen/Alpha – 11/5:22.844
10.Fabrizio Teghesi – Kyosho/OS Speed – 11/5:22.886
11.Darren Bloomfield – Agama/Bullitt – 11/5:23.386
12.Davide Ongaro – Mugen/Novarossi – 11/5:23.834

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