Matias tops first timed practice

Former European Champion Miguel Matias has topped the first timed practice here in Guarda, Portugal.  The only Portuguese driver to win the 1:8 Off Road European title in its 30 year history the 2003 Champion recorded 8 laps in 5:06.051 which was just 6/10th quicker than Yannick Aigoin. Focusing on his engine and tyres for the opening run of Day 2, Matias ran AKA Crossbrace tyres on his RB powered Losi and plans to continue with the same tyre option for the second of today’s timed runs which will be used to reseed the heats for tomorrow’s qualifying.  This is Portugal’s third time to host the EFRA run championship and Matias said his goal here this week is to try and become the first Portuguese driver to win it on home soil.  Last year in Austria when driving for GS Racing, Matias was fastest in timed practice and carried the No.1 on his car in the top heat but his event ended in the 1/4 Finals.

Aigoin described his start to the day as fine.  The French ace changed the geometry of the shocks on his Novarossi powered Losi but said it was hard to tell if they had made the car any better as track conditions this morning are very different to yesterday.  Running Procircuit tyres, he tried the Marathon pattern which is designed for grippy conditions but the track was very loose so he plans to switch to the Spanish company’s SweetShot tyre for this evenings run.

Making it an early 1-2-3 at the top of the time sheets for Team Losi, Darren Bloomfield recorded the 3rd fastest time over the five minute run. The British driver focused on engines, changing the venturi on his Novarossi, and went for a more aggressive clutch.  In the tyre department he switched to Losi XBT Red which he said made the car better over the bumps.  Yesterday he ran a set of Eclipse which he said worked well on the flat but lacked on the bumpy areas.

Best of the Mugen drivers was Borja Hernadez who described his run as ‘much better than yesterday’.  Having trouble with his engines the Spaniard ran a bigger venturi on his RB today which he said was much better.  Asked about the car he said his MBX-6 is very consistent having opted to run AKA iBeams but he plans to try out Crossbrace next time out.

Jerome Aigoin leads the Kyosho challenge.  The sole MP9 in the final last year the French driver said he was pleased with things for the moment having made no changes to the set-up since yesterday.  Running AKA iBeam he said he will continue with them for now.

Robert Batlle completed the Top 6 and was best Associated driver.  The 2007 Champion said he made the wrong tyre choice for the run choosing Proline’s Caliper M2, when M3 was the way to go.  Just behind him was defending Renaud Savoya who also went with the wrong tyre choice.  The factory Mugen driver said he wanted to try Proline’s Crimefighter M2, he did, and it didn’t work but ‘that’s what practice is for’.  Savoya, who is running a Terex diff in the front of his MBX-6, adjusted the diff settings but didn’t like the feeling it gave and will go back to yesterday’s settings.

Kyosho’s David Ronnefalk set the eight fastest time with his Orion powered Kyosho followed by two of last year’s finalists Riccardo Rabitti and Martin Bayer who completed the Top 10 for Losi.

Top 10 after first timed practice
1. Miguel Matias (PT) – Losi/RB – 8 laps in 5:06.051
2. Yannick Aigoin (FR) – Losi/Novarossi – 8 laps in 5:06.667
3. Darren Bloomfield (GB) – Losi/Novarossi – 8 laps in 5:10.802
4. Borja Hernadez (ES) – Mugen/RB – 8 laps in 5:12.948
5. Jerome Aigoin (FR) – Kyosho/Novarossi – 8 laps in 5:13.423
6. Robert Batlle (ES) – Assocaited/Novarossi – 8 laps in 5:13.789
7. Renaud Savoya (FR) – Mugen/RB – 8 laps in 5:13.875
8. David Ronnefalk (SE) – Kyosho/Orion – 8 laps in 5:15.475
9. Riccardo Rabitti (IT) – Losi/Picco – 8 laps in 5:15.523
10.Martin Bayer (CZ) – Losi/Novarossi – 8 laps in 5:17.093

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Day 1 Update

Very much a day for drivers to get settled in and get used to the rather high temperatures, Day 1 of the 2010 EFRA 1:8 Off Road European Championship here in Guarda, Portugal has come to a close.  The capacity entry had just 25 minutes of track time with a 10-minute run in the morning followed by a longer 15 minute practice in afternoon.  No official timing meant it was hard to gauge who was doing what but speaking to those expected to feature on the time sheets the majority said the day was just a chance to get into their groove for what lies ahead.

Defending Champion Renaud Savoya said he just tried a few small things on his RB powered Mugen feeling there was not enough run time today but admitted it was the same for everyone.  The French ace believes tomorrow will be better and a lot more interesting.

The only thing Yannick Aigoin tried today was different tyres preferring to leave set up changes until tomorrow.  Commenting on the track the Losi/Novarossi team driver said he doesn’t like the extra jumps saying ‘when you cant jump jumps that’s wrong’.  Instead he is having to roll his 8ight over the new additions.  Asked about the track surface the Frenchman said it had a lot less pole holes than he expected at the end of the day.  Fellow Losi driver and 2009 podium finisher Martin Bayer declared himself happy with his first day. The Czech driver said his car was working well but like a lot of the drivers said everything is going to depend how the track holds up in the coming days.

2007 Champion Robert Batlle played around with the shocks on his Associated RC8 between runs, which improved the car but the Spaniard is finding it hard to run consistent lap times saying the different track surfaces make the grip levels very inconsistent, ‘One corner you turn in and the car reacts immediately and then at the next corner you turn in and it feels like you are waiting 2 seconds for something to happen’.

The winner of the Junior European Championship title for the past fours years but now too old to be eligible, Elliott Boots said he tried different diff oils but for him the main purpose of the day was to re-learn the track.  The 17-year-old, who has former multiple British Champion David Crompton working on his Mugen, said the new jumps section is hard to get right as your want to go at them faster.

For new Mugen signing Borja Hernadez, the day didn’t get off to a good start as he managed just 3-laps in the first practice due to engine problems.  Fixed for the afternoon run he said the MBX-6 felt good but feels there is room for improvement from both him and the car. Team Durango’s star new signing Hupo Honigl had a ‘shit’ day, the Austrian’s brakes getting stuck on in the first practice and his engine giving trouble in the second.  In the Kyosho camp, Simon Willets said his MP9 felt alright but free practice is very different to racing.  Young charger David Ronnefalk just used the day to learn the track as today was his first time to sample the circuit.

Another driver who spent the day learning the track was Italy’s Riccardo Rabitti.  Making the Main last year, the Losi/Picco driver said the second practice was very good and he was able to find a good rhythm.  Tomorrow he is confident he can fine tune his car and find the 3/10th he feels he needs to be a the top end of the time sheets.

Unfortunately for the RC press in Guarda the opening day was in terms of racing like trying to test without tyres as the internet at the track was down all day. As we left the track to head back to the hotel to file this update, engineers were still trying to fix the problem so hopefully tomorrow when things should start to get interesting on the track we will have internet so we can bring you all the latest news.  Day 2’s schedule is for two time practice runs that will be used to reseed, after which drivers will have one final short practice in their new group order.

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1:8 Off Road Euros hits 30 in Portugal

First free practice for the 2010 EFRA 1:8 Off Road European Championship has gotten underway just outside Guarda in Portugal marking the 30th running of the championships which were first held in Switzerland back in 1981.  He wasn’t even born when that first race took place but defending Champion Renaud Savoya will be looking to make history here in Guarda as he tries to become the first ever driver to win three titles back to back.  Fellow Mugen driver Daniel Reckward has won the title three times but only two were in succession.

Speaking with a hint of an Australian accent, the factory Mugen/RB ace said he is of course here to win but right now the target is to make sure he first gets into Saturday’s main final. The winner of the Warm-Up race back in April, an event that saw the track surface come in for a lot of  criticism, Savoya said the host club have done a lot of work on the track making the surface a lot more compact but he is not so sure it will hold up for the duration of the 5 day event.  Based in Australia this year as part of his preparation for the World Championships in Thailand in November, the high temperatures the drivers will face here up in the hills shouldn’t be a problem for the Frenchman.  Asked who he expects his toughest competition to come from he said that with cars getting more equal in terms of performance the competition is much stronger than a few years ago when you only had to worry about 2 or 3 guys.  Savoya also believes a lot of the younger drivers like Britain’s Elliot Boots are starting to come good now.

Runner-up at last year’s Euros in Austria, Losi team leader Yannick Aigoin will again be one of the main threats to Savoya despite failing to make the final at the Warm-up.  The two time former European Champion suffered a clutch problem in the Semi which meant he did not progress to the final but he said overall he was very happy with the performance of his package. Team-mate Darren Bloomfield showed that the Losi/Novarossi package is competitive here by leading the final until his radio shut down.  The British driver who finished 7th last year is enjoying a very competitive run in his National series notching up three wins so far this season and looks to continue that form here. Losi also have 2009 podium finisher Martin Bayer and another fast British driver in Lee Martin.  One interesting addition to the team is Electric Touring Car ace Marc Rheinard who just last Saturday claimed his third World title.  With his car in the very capable hands of David Spashett, the German said he is just here for fun but as the current European Electric 4WD Off Road Champion he has shown he is also very capable on the bumpy stuff.

The last man to hold the European title before Savoya took up his reign as Europe’s top driver in 2008, Robert Batlle heads up the Team Associated squad along with Neil Cragg.  Winner of the ultra competitive Spanish Championship for the past four years, Batlle stayed on after the Warm-up race for additional testing but said the track is quite different now so any advantage he gained is gone.  Team boss Craig Drescher, who is also competing himself here, is confident they have as strong a package as anyone else but did air slight caution about tyres saying if the new track surface turns out to be different to that of the Warm-up they could have a problem having brought a supply based on what worked during the Warm-up.

All 12 of last year’s finalist are here but Hupo Honigl and Daniel Vega are with new teams.  Honigl, who finished 11th last year with the LRP buggy, is now heading up the challenge of Team Durango who have three cars here while Spaniard Vega has left Mugen to join Agama. Both drivers took part in the Warm-up event but had little experience of their new chassis’ then. Honigl said they have made a number of small changes to the DNX408 and he has a far better understanding of the Gerd Strenge creation. Vega said his last visit here was a disaster and is hoping extensive testing since will mean a better event for him but the former Champion said its going to take the new manufacturer a year or more to get itself into the position of being able to challenge the established brands.

With Honigl gone from LRP their top hope is now Jörn Neumann who joined in January.  The German National Champion missed the Warm-up race but has been enjoying success with his all LRP combination and with an updated chassis and engine for this race he said his aim is to make the Main having got to the Semi last year in Austria. Xray was another team to have just one car in the final last year thanks to Teemu Leino and the Slovak company will be out to do everything to see that happens again come Saturday.

Kyosho had only one car in the final last year but are hopeful Jerome Aigoin, Simon Willets and emerging young star David Ronnefalk can help get more MP9’s in the main event this time around.  14-year-old Ronnefalk just missed out on making the final last year but comes back a more mature and experienced driver. The protege of Adrien Bertin the Swede is feeling pretty confident about the event despite this being his first visit to the track.

Having raced a prototype buggy in the past, Serpent is making its Euros debut with a production 1:8 buggy, the S811 Cobra. The newcomers lack big name drivers but will use the event more to established the brand in this market rather than trying to add a buggy title to their long list of Onroad achievements. Tamiya are also making their Euros debut here with Sweden’s Viktor Wilck, better know for racing EP Touring Cars, at the controls of the TRF801X.

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