Extra ‘Rocket Round’ Qualifier added

Having lost two of the six scheduled rounds of qualifying due to rain, the International Jury have just announced that agreement has been reach among the four blocks to add an extra round of heats to today’s schedule.  This will mean drivers get five chances to set a time for the finals however its going to mean a late night for the top teams.  Running in order from Group 1 to 14, the fifth round of qualifying will start at 19:00 and will finish around 23:00 under flood lights.   Defending Champion Daniele Ielasi was very happy with the announcement but elsewhere drivers like Jilles Groskamp feel it could be very costly for some of the big names.  Due to the cool conditions the track is expected to be considerably faster in Q5 meaning if a driver currently in the Top 10 hits any problems they could drop right down the order.  Ielasi’s pitman Eduardo Picco is not impressed by the additional round of heats as he is normally in bed at that time of night!

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Yokoyama ups the pace in Texas

Young Japanese sensation Shinnosuke Yokoyama has upped the pace at the World Championship this morning becoming the first and only driver to record 35 laps around the Gulf Coast Raceway here in Houston, Texas.  The 17-year-old, who is making his Worlds debut, achieved a time of 35 laps in 10:17.208 despite getting hit from behind on laps 2 & 4 which cost him over 3 seconds and left him last on the timing screens.  Describing the set-up on his OS powered Xray as ‘perfect’, the 2006 Japanese Sport Class National Champion was able to put in a spectacular recovery recording the fastest lap of the round enroute to the new TQ time. Being referred to as the ‘super fast Japanese kid’, Yokoyama was unheard of before this event and even he is surprised by his pace against the sport’s established drivers.  Racing since the age of 9 the smiley teenager said he was a little anxious coming to the event but now he is really enjoying the experience.

Making it a Japanese 1-2, factory Kyosho driver Takaaki Shimo managed to shave almost 3/10ths of his Q1 time to jump ahead of European Champion Dirk Wischnewski who failed to improve. Shimo said the track was not so good this morning but small changes to his OS powered V-One RRR chassis had helped and he is confident it is good enough to challenge for the TQ later today.  Dropping to third, 28-year-old Xray driver Wischnewski said his Orcan powered NT1 was really good but he ran out of tyres in the second half of the 10-minute run.

Another young Japanese driver making a name for himself here is Takehiro Terauchi.  Having raced rather unsuccessfully at the last World Championships in Portugal, driving then for Serpent, the factory Mugen driver put in a run that sees him jump from 9th fastest into the elusive Top 4 which if he can stay there will see him directly qualify for the final.  Racing since the age of 12, the now 18-year-old has TQ’d the Japanese 1:8 Nationals so while his pace is a surprise to many here its no real surprise to him.

Pushed out of the Top 4 Robert Pietsch, who is running in the same heat as Yokoyama, was on a 35 lap TQ run until his Mugen stripped second gear.  The Top Qualifier at last years 1:8 Worlds, the German said he came to Texas expecting to make the 1/4 Final but as he gets more track time with the 1:10 his confidence is growing.  Running factory Novarossi engines the European 1:8 Champion is very happy with the set-up on his MTX-4R.

Top American after Q3 is Ralph Burch who together with RC America team-mate Paul Lemieux both broke into the Top 10 for the first time setting the 7th & 8th fastest times respectively to demote fellow countryman Paolo Morganti who failed to better his Q1 time.  Burch said a change of roll centres on his Max powered Xray had improved the car and the set-up suited the track conditions at the time but he plans to change the front diff for today’s second round.  US National Champion Lemieux said he had a clean run but is struggling to get set-up changes to translate to the track conditions.  Morganti described his Serpent 733 as terrible in Q3 and believes a bad set of tyres were to blame.  He plans no set-up changes for Q4 saying he just needs to find a well matched set of tyres.

Elsewhere Electric World Champion Marc Rheinard put his Shepherd in the wall coming on to the main straight as did 2008 World Finalist and factory Team Magic driver Dario Balestri.  Jilles Groskamp who got no running yesterday due to the rain and his lower heat seeding lasted just eight laps as his Shepherd wouldn’t change into second gear but his Tuesday time still keeps him in the Top 10.  Defending Champion Daniele Ielasi was on a good run until his Picco powered Shepherd keep stepping out on the rear, something that was later discovered to be due to part of the rear tyre parting company with the wheel.

Overall Qualification standing after 3 rounds
1. Shinnosuke Yokoyama – 35 Laps in 10:17.208
Xray/O.S/Xceed/Sanwa/Xceed Cruzer
2. Takaaki Shimo – 34 Laps in 10:00.557
Kyosho/O.S/Active/Futaba/SRC Cruzer
3. Dirk Wischnewski – 34 Laps in 10:00.624
Xray/Orcan/Matrix/Sanwa/SRC Cruzer
4. Takehiro Terauchi – 34 Laps in 10:01.139
Mugen/Novarossi/ZAC Project/Sanwa/Blitz
5. Robert Pietsch – 34 Laps in 10:01.144
Mugen/Novarossi/Matrix/Sanwa/SRC Cruzer
6. Alexander Hagberg – 34 Laps in 10:01.457
Xray/Max/Matrix/KO/SRC Cruzer
7. Ralph Burch – 34 Laps in 10:02.134
Xray/Max/Capricorn/KO/SRC Cruzer
8. Paul Lemieux – 34 Laps in 10:03.806
Xray/Max/Contact/Futaba/Protoform P56
9. Paolo Morganti – 34 Laps in 10:03.945
Serpent/Novarossi/Matrix/KO/Xceed Cruzer
10.Jilles Groskamp – 34 Laps in 10:05.530
Shepherd/Team Orion/Capricorn/KO/Protoform P56

chassis/engine/tyres/radio/bodyshell

Complete listing after 3 rounds can be found here (PDF)

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Rain forces early end to Day 2 of qualifying

With the rain still falling here at the Gulf Coast Raceway the race organisers of the IFMAR 200mm World Championships have canceled the third round of qualifying which was due to take place this afternoon.  With the forecast for tomorrow and the rest of the week giving good conditions for the Houston area, Race Director Bob Ingersoll has just informed team managers that no more racing will be run today and instead they will try to get the final two rounds of qualifying underway in the morning.  Bringing the start forward an 1-hour to 08:30, Group 4 will get proceedings underway followed by 3, 2, 1 and then 14 back to 5.  The second half of the day will again start with Group 4 back to 1 followed by Group 5 through to 14.

Due to the rain, which also effected the opening day of qualifying, only half the scheduled four rounds of qualifying have been run with 17-year-old Xray driver Shinnosuke Yokoyama holding the provisional TQ honours from European Champion Dirk Wischnewski.

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No change at the Top in Q2 – And the rain is back

The second round of qualifying here at Gulf Coast Raceway produced little change at the top of the time sheets with Shinnosuke Yokoyama’s time from this morning still the time to beat.  The Xray driver was again fastest for Q2 but in a slower time of 34 laps in 10:03.868 due to the hotter track conditions.  The biggest improvement in Q2 came from Italy’s Giuseppe D’Angelo who set the second fastest time.  Having failed to finish Q1 due to radio problems, the factory Reds Racing driver took his Mugen around in a time of 34 laps in 10:06.991 which puts the Italian National Champion 8th fastest overall.

Third fastest for the round and another driver to break into the Top 10 overall was Japanese teenager Takehiro Terauchi.  The factory Mugen driver, who is running ZAC Project tyres, said he ran too small a diameter tyre in the opening qualifier but with the correct size on for Q2 everything went well and he plans no changes to his Novarossi powered MTX-4R for the next qualifier.

Electric Touring Car World Champion Marc Rheinard was much happier with his Shepherd Velox V10 in Q2 and managed the 4th fastest time to move into 10th overall.  The German, who broke his car in Q1, said considering the hotter track conditions it was OK but they are still some bit away from a good overall balance.

Second fastest this morning, Dirk Wischnewski was 5th fastest with his Orcan powered Xray.  The German said changing the rear roll bar had made his NT1 very different to the morning but it was slightly better however overall he wasn’t happy with his own driving, making a number of mistake during the 10-minutes.  Fellow Xray driver Ralph Burch completed the Top 6 for the round with a time that puts him 12th overall behind Team Magic’s Dario Balestri.

Having watched the first of the groups in Q2, defending World Champion Daniele Ielasi saw the track was slower and opted to use his run to test different wheels. Having run IDM carbon rims in Q1 he tried harder Matrix disc wheels but plans to revert back to his own brand of wheels for Q3.

Unfortunately just minutes after the completion of Q2 the forecasted rain arrived and we now have a very wet track.  The staff of Gulf Coast Raceway are busy trying to clear the circuit of the water but it look like we will have a repeat of yesterday and will see further changes to the schedule.

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