Big come back from Batlle

Robert Battle has made a huge comeback in the the first of the Semi finals, the Associated driver getting the better of Top Qualifier Yannick Aigoin who made a number of mistakes during the 20-minute encounter. Aigoin set the fastest lap of the race but Batlle, who started 6th, was really on form and was the only one to record 29 laps which means he now holds provisional pole for the 45-minute title deciding race which is due to start at 16:00.  Having bumped up from the 1/4 finals, outgoing Junior Champion Elliot Boots has secured himself a place in the Main for the first time finishing third ahead of 2009 podium finisher Martin Bayer. After a disastrous opening few laps to the race which saw him fall right back down the order, No.2 starter Miguel Matias worked his way back up to 5th, with massive encouragement from the local crowd, to ensure Portugal’s only European champion is still in the game here in Guarda.  The final driver of this Semi to book himself a place in the final is British driver Lee Martin.  The race saw the demise of two more of last year’s finalists with Darren Bloomfield finishing only 8th while Daniel Reckward failed to finish.

Semi Final A results
1. Robert Batlle – 29 Laps in 20:40.247
2. Yannick Aigoin – 28 Laps in 20:04.621
3. Elliott Boots – 28 Laps in 20:16.459
4. Martin Bayer – 28 Laps in 20:28.177
5. Miguel Matias – 28 Laps in 20:31.740
6. Lee Martin – 28 Laps in 20:32.273
7. Linus Thern – 28 Laps in 20:36.607
8. Jörn Neumann – 28 Laps in 20:41.007
9. Darren Bloomfield – 28 Laps in 20:44.182
10.Antonio Jesus Gomez – 27 Laps in 20:11.684
11.Daniel Reckward – 25 Laps in 18:34.027
12.Borja Hernandez – 25 Laps in 20:05.208

Full results can be found online here.

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1/4 Final B Update

The second 1/4 Final has been run and it is Alberto Garcia, Rodrigo Luis, Javier Puche and Carlos Duraes who progress.  A slower race than the 1/4 A Final, Garcia headed a Mugen 1-2 taking the win by just over a second from local driver Rodrigo Lusi who started 11th having bumped up from the 1/8 final. Driving a Bergonzi, Puche took third followed by Euro B Championship Runner-up Duraes who is driving an Xray.  The big casualties of the 1/4 B were two times Champion Davide Tortorici, 2009 finalist Riccardo Rabitti and former World Champion Guillaume Vray.

Semi Final B Lineup
1. Jérôme Aigoin (FR)
2. Renaud Savoya (FR)
3. Jérôme Sartel (FR)
4. David Ronnefalk (SE)
5. Daniel Vega (ES)
6. Teemu Leino (FI)
7. Neil Cragg (GB)
8. Bruno Coelho (PT)
9. Alberto Garcia (ES)
10.Rodrigo Luis (PT)
11.Javier Puche (ES)
12.Carlos Duraes (PT)

Full results can be found online here.

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1/4 Final A Update

The first of the 1/4 Finals is just over and the four driving moving up to the Semi A are British duo Darren Bloomfield and Elliot Boots along with Antonio Jesus Gomez, who came through from the 1/8 final, and Jörn Neumann.  Starting from pole, Losi driver Bloomfield took the 20-minute encounter heading home the Mugen of fellow countryman Elliot Boots by 2.5 seconds.  In the earlier 1/8 Finals we lost the first of our 2009 Finalists with Hupo Honigl exiting the event as he could only managed 8th position.  In the same race, Touring Car World Champion Marc Rheinard just managed to pip Federico Ruggeri for the last bump up position after he got by the Italian for fourth with 1:20 left on the clock.

Semi Final A Lineup
1. Yannick Aigoin (FR)
2. Miguel Matias (PT)
3. Martin Bayer (CZ)
4. Borja Hernadez (ES)
5. Lee Martin (GB)
6. Robert Batlle (ES)
7. Daniel Reckward (DE)
8. Linus Thern (SE)
9. Darren Bloomfield (GB)
10.Elliot Boots (GB)
11.Antonio Jesus Gomez (ES)
12.Jörn Neumann (DE)

Full results can be found online here.

View our event image gallery here.

Yannick Aigoin Top Qualifier in Portugal

Yannick Aigoin is the Top Qualifier here in Portugal and going on the form of the previous four European Championships, is on target to lift his third EFRA title.  Since 2006, when Aigoin last won the Euros, the Top Qualifier has gone on to take the overall victory.  The factory Losi driver secured the No.1 spot after recording his third TQ run of the five rounds in the last qualifier of the event, much to the delight of Losi top man Bill Jeric who has traveled over from the US to support his drivers.

Commenting on his Q5 run, Aigoin said he made a stupid mistake in the chicane but otherwise the run was good following the change of oil in the centre diff of his Novarossi powered 8ight 2.0EU. Reminded by David Spashett of the fact that the Top Qualifier has gone on to win the previous 4 championships, the French ace said he was just ‘very happy’ to have stage 1 of his campaign complete.

Second at the end of qualifying was Yannick’s twin brother Jerome. The Kyosho team driver was fourth fastest in the last qualifier but thanks to his Q2 TQ run will start pole in the Semi B Final.  The brothers achieved the same 1-2 qualifying result in 2006 in Spain where Yannick took his second title but on that occasion Jerome didn’t make it passed the Semi’s, something he hopes will not befall him again tomorrow.  Jerome is very happy with the set-up on his MP9 saying it may be lacking a little speed but its easy to drive which is going to be important for what he expects are going to be very difficult conditions in tomorrow’s finals.

The only driver to deny the Aigoin’s total domination of qualifying with his Q4 TQ run, Miguel Matias took third overall.  Carrying all the hopes of a home win here in Guarda, the 2003 Champion did not have a good last round when he collided with a back marker who crashed ahead of him.  The Losi/RB driver said he is very happy with third and his goal for tomorrow is to bump up to the Main.  He said if that is successful he can then start to think about achieving a dream result.

For defending Champion Renaud Savoya he is obviously disappointed with fourth having been the Top Qualifier for the past two years but the Frenchman hasn’t given up on taking his third consecutive title just yet.  Having looked at the qualification ranking after four rounds he said he was unable to improve his position and so used the round to test a cut Proline Caliper M2 tyre. Very happy with his MBX-6 he has struggled to get a tyre to his liking and his latest attempt also didn’t work, the car lacking traction and steering.  Summing up his day the ‘Shark’ said ‘I would prefer not to TQ and instead take the win.  Tomorrow is another day so let’s see what happens’.

The final qualifier saw Jerome Sartel put in a very competitive run finishing second just one second adrift of Yannick Aigoin.  The French Xray driver said his 808 has been really good all week but this was his cleanest run of the event and he was very happy with it.  Changing to a harder front insert and adjusting the rear shocks to a more upright position, he said he had more steering and the car was better over the bumps.  Having not made the final since 2007 Sartel, who ended up 6th overall behind Martin Bayer, said he hopes he can end that run of bad luck tomorrow.

Q5 signalled a big turn around of fortunes for Darren Bloomfield and outgoing European Junior Champion Elliot Boots, the British pair setting the 3rd and 5th fastest times for the round.  Losi driver Bloomfield, who finished 7th last year, finally found some grip and a more controllable car and declared after the run that his Euros campaign could really start now.  After terrible runs in the opening four heats the 21-year-old just missed making the Semis securing pole for the 1/4 A Final but with a good car now he is confident he can progress.  For Boots the first four qualifiers also proved difficult but taking a totally different approach for the final qualifier the 17-year-old produced his first competitive 5 minute run.  Changing to a more ‘relaxed’ RB engine in his Mugen MBX-6 he also backed off from his attacking driving style and the combination worked.  Describing this as his worst Euros so far he said making the 1/4 is not such a bad thing as it will give him extra needed track time.

While Day 4 of the 30th running of the European Championships is over for the big names its the start of the lower finals from which 8 lucky drivers will get to progress to the big day here in Portugal tomorrow.  Our coverage which has been made possible thanks to Team Durango, LRP and Mugen, will continue with news from the 1/4 finals right through to the deciding race of the 2010 Championships.

Top 16 qualifiers
1. Yannick Aigoin (FR) – 474pts (Losi/Novarossi)
2. Jérôme Aigoin (FR) – 466pts (Kyosho/Novarossi)
3. Miguel Matias (PT) – 465pts (Losi/RB)
4. Renaud Savoya (FR) – 460pts (Mugen/RB)
5. Martin Bayer (CZ) – 459pts (Losi/Novarossi)
6. Jérôme Sartel (FR) – 458pts (Xray/RB)
7. Borja Hernandez (ES) – 456pts (Mugen/RB)
8. David Ronnefalk (SE) – 449pts (Kyosho/Team Orion)
9. Lee Martin (GB) – 448pts (Losi/Novarossi)
10.Daniel Vega (ES) – 444pts (Agama/Team Orion)
11.Robert Batlle (ES) – 441pts (Associated/Novarossi)
12.Teemu Leino (FI) – 439pts (Xray/Team Orion)
13.Daniel Reckward (DE) – 437pts (Mugen/RB)
14.Neil Cragg (GB) – 437pts (Associated/Reedy)
15.Linus Thern (SE) – 435pts (Kyosho/Novarossi)
16.Bruno Coelho (PT) – 434pts (Mugen/Sirio)

Full results can be found online here.

View our event image gallery here.

Matias tops penultimate qualifier

Former Champion Miguel Matias has TQ’d the penultimate round of qualifying here in Portugal this morning ahead of defending Champion Renaud Savoya, ending the Aigoin brothers domination at the top of the time sheets.  The only Portuguese driver to have ever won the European title, he said track conditions were more difficult today but he was very happy to take the round.  Running AKA Crossbrace super soft compound on his Losi he had one stupid mistake as he tried to avoid a back marker who had crashed but other than that the run was good and his RB powered 8ight 2.0EU was working well.

Savoya was slightly disappointed to miss out on TQ’ing a round for the second time but said he is hopeful he can pull it off in the fifth and final round later today.  The factory Mugen driver ran Proline Caliper M3 and was happier with his MBX-6 today having changed sway bars.  Describing his run as safe and clean he said the big challenge are the jumps which have become very unpredictable as the track conditions continually change.

The changing track conditions caught Yannick Aigoin by surprise this morning.  The Losi team driver adjusted the rear roll centres on his 8ight 2.0EU which he said should have given him more rear grip but it didn’t, making the car a bit difficult to drive.  Having TQ’d rounds 1 & 3, he still managed to set the third fastest time.  Working now on his race set-up, he plans to leave the roll centres as is and change diff oils as he believes this will suit the track conditions he expects to face in tomorrow’s finals.

Kyosho’s Jerome Aigoin was fourth fastest despite parking his MP9 on its roof during the run.  The pace setter in Q2 yesterday, he found the track very dusty today but feels a switch from AKA iBeam to Crossbrace worked well in the conditions and for the moment he is happy with his car and just needs to cut out mistakes which have cost him places in the last two rounds of qualifying.

Spain’s Borja Hernadez ran the same set-up as yesterday on his RB powered Mugen but the rear suspension was now too high for the very loose conditions here this morning.  A handful in the corners, he ended up making two mistakes as a result and was fifth fastest.  Making it three Mugens in the Top 6, 17-year-old Portuguese racer Bruno Coelho backed up his Top 10 run from Q3 to set an impressive sixth fastest time with his Sirio powered example. An experienced onroad nitro racer this is Coelho’s first full season of off road.

While his older brother Martin had his worst round of qualifying, Czech teenager Ales Bayer enjoyed his best run setting the 7th fastest time.  Jerome Sartel was back in the Top 10 with 8th, joined by Xray team-mate and 2009 finalist Teemu Leino who was 10th.  In between them was Italian champion Riccardo Rabbitti.  A finalist last year in Austria, the Losi driver had a tough opening day of qualifying making a lot of driver errors.

The round wasn’t good for the star of yesterday’s qualifying David Ronnefalk, the young Swede having a troubled run and ending up only 20th.  2007 Champion Robert Batlle’s event didn’t get any better since yesterday and he finished well down the order for the round.

Results Round 4 of qualifying
1. Miguel Matias (PT) Losi/RB – 8 Laps in 5:22.095
2. Renaud Savoya (FR) Mugen/RB – 8 Laps in 5:22.933
3. Yannick Aigoin (FR) Losi/Novarossi – 8 Laps in 5:23.002
4. Jérôme Aigoin (FR) Kyosho/Novarossi – 8 Laps in 5:24.388
5. Borja Hernandez (ES) Mugen/RB – 8 Laps in 5:25.415
6. Bruno Coelho (PT) Mugen/Sirio – 8 Laps in 5:26.535
7. Ales Bayer (CZ) Losi/Novarossi – 8 Laps in 5:27.388
8. Jérôme Sartel (FR) Xray/RB – 8 Laps in 5:29.024
9. Riccardo Rabbitti (IT) Losi/Picco – 8 laps in 5:29.158
10.Teemu Leino (FIN) Xray/Team Orion – 8 laps in 5:30.468

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