August 17, 2009

Collari chases ninth World title in Switzerland

In 1989 a young Italian took his first 1:8 Onroad World title and now 20 years on that very same driver is chasing a unprecedented ninth World Championship crown. Lamberto Collari is a true legend of r/c racing and his achievements put him up there with seven time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher and eight times MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi. There are very few sports men that have been at the top of their game for such a long period and that has led to many rumours recently that the shy Italian will retire from the sport he has dominated, but when we put the question to him he was quick to respond saying he has no plans to stop racing as he still has the same passion and determination to win as he did when he took his first World title. Chasing his fourth consecutive World title here this week in Lostallo, Switzerland, Collari said he feels comfortable and well prepared for the event. The last time Collari was not the World Champion was back in 2001 when Japanese driver Kenji Osaka took the win for Mugen. Osaka is not present this time round making 1999 World Champion Adrien Bertin the only other World title holder competing in the 17th Edition of the IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship. Things have come along way since Butch Kroells won the first Worlds driving a two wheel drive Team Associated back in 1977, the track restaurant having a great display of cars from the past mounted on the walls.  To date three manufacturers share the honours of most World victories with Kyosho, Serpent and the no longer in existence BMT all having 3 wins a piece.

Practice has been running since Thursday with the 149 drivers having already had sixteen 10 minute runs to prepare with one last practice left this afternoon in which to fine tune their cars ahead of the first two rounds of qualification tomorrow. So far the pace is being set by Mugen factory driver Robert Pietsch. The German is one of the favourites here in Lostallo having taken TQ honours here in June at the Warm Up race.  Hitting engine trouble in the final Pietsch managed only seventh with Alberto Picco taking the win also at the controls of a Mugen which appears to be the car to beat here. All ten finalists in Argentina are present here to battle it out again with only a few changes to the artillery they will use. In terms of chassis the only change is that of current 1:10 World Champion Daniele Ielasi who is now heading the efforts of Shepherd while on the engine front Serpent’s Mark Green has joined Novarossi and Mugen’s Walter Salemi is using the new Reds Racing engines from Mario Rossi.

Our coverage, which is supported by Serpent and Mugen, will get into full swing later today when we have had an opportunity to sit down with the leading teams and their drivers to find out who is doing what and who is feeling most confident about getting down to the serious business of qualifying tomorrow.

View our event image gallery here.

August 2, 2009

Groskamp finally Europe’s No.1

‘I have been second so many times, finally I am first’, was how your new European Electric Touring Car Champion Jilles Groskamp summed up his victory here in Luxembourg. Having been a Top Qualifier on two previous occasions at the EFRA Championships, the factory Tamiya/Speedpassion driver made it third time lucky, converting his pole position into victory with wins in Leg 2 & 3. Starting the third leg, with four drivers still in contention for the 2009 title, the Dutch ace lead from start to finish but said another bad set of tyres had made his car loose. Still managing to set the fastest lap of the race, Groskamp believes he would have had his work cut out if outgoing champion Marc Rheinard and 2007 Champion Ronald Volker had not controversially come together on lap 6.

One of the hardest working drivers in the sport, Groskamp’s win was a very popular one and just after the race he said it was going to be cool to be on the top step of the podium joined by both the World and Vice World Champions. Relocating to Asia next week the win was a nice way for Groskamp to end his time in Europe but he has vowed to return to defend his title in France next year.

Coming to Luxembourg with both the World and European titles to his credit Marc Rheinard was forced to settle for the runners-up spot, not something he is accustomed to. The factory Tamiya/Speedpassion driver won the opening leg of the final and had a very fast car again in the third but a clash with Volker while battling over second earned him a stop go penalty. Accused by some of team driving the German replied by saying, ‘there was no team plan for this race I had the same opportunity to win as the other three and I was out to win for myself.’ The German hit his fellow countryman exiting the Laguna Seca style corner that leads onto the back straight. Waiting for the Team Yokomo driver to regain position, Volker’s LRP powered BD5 ended up on the grass. Rheinard resumed as he was swallowed up by the pack, serving his Stop Go penalty next time round, eventually finishing fourth for the Leg.

One had to feel sorry for Volker, the former Champion was clearly gutted by the incident. Changes to his Yokomo chassis had provided him with the best set-up he had all week and the German felt confident he could make a clean battle to challenge for his second European title.  Recovering from the incident to finishing the Leg in second the third step of the podium offers some small consolation for this very unassuming factory driver.

Benefitting from all this was 15-year-old German Yannic Pruemper. Starting from eight on the grid the Tamiya Junior driver was elevated to second following the clash of the title protagonist. Eventually passed by Volker in the dying moments of the leg third place was enough to see Pruemper crowned the new Junior European Champion and finish sixth overall in his first European Championship final. Fourth for the leg was the other of the title contenders Hupo Honigl who ended his touring car career with fourth overall, equalling his previous best at these championships. The Austrian driver was pleased with his performance and is now looking forward to the 1:10 Off Road European Championship in two weeks time where he is confident of claiming a title for both Tamiya and LRP.

Taking fifth overall, the 2009 Championships will be one Viktor Wilck will want to forget.  The Swede was super fast, recording the fastest lap of the event, but with the exception of the fourth round of qualifying always ran out of luck. In the third Leg he was all over teammate Groskamp until his Tamiya veered off the track with radio interference.

So after years of coming so close Jilles Groskamp, one of the top electric touring car drivers in the World, returns to the Netherlands this evening with his biggest trophy yet. Heading home with the biggest smile and as the proudest father in Europe right now is his dad Frank who has supported his son since he started out in the sport 16 years ago.  A well run event we would like to thank everyone that made use feel so welcome here at the Mini-Circuit “Ville de Luxembourg”. We hope you enjoyed our coverage this week, which was brought to you in association with Team Orion and LRP, and we hope you will join us for our next live event, the 1:8 Onroad World Championships which takes place in Switzerland in two weeks time.

Final Result
1. Groskamp Jilles – Tamiya/Speedpassion – 2 pts
2. Rheinard Marc – Tamiya/Speedpassion – 4
3. Völker Ronald – Yokomo/LRP – 4
4. Hönigl Hubert – Tamiya/LRP – 7
5. Wilck Viktor – Tamiya/Speedpassion – 8
6. Prümper Yannic – Tamiya/Speedpassion – 9
7. Graversen Steen – Kyosho/Team Orion – 12
8. Krapp Christopher – Kyosho/Team Orion – 13
9. Urbain Lucas – Losi/GM Racing – 13
10.Hagberg Alexander – Xray/LRP – 15

Full results from the event can be found here.

View our event image gallery here.

August 2, 2009

Groskamp is European Champion

It was third time lucky for Jilles Groskamp as he converted his third European TQ position into overall victory at the 2009 EFRA Electric Touring European Championships to claim his first ever European title with another dominant performance in the third leg of the A-Main here in Luxembourg.

Full report to follow.

August 2, 2009

Groskamp takes Leg 2 with ease

After his dramas in the opening leg Top Qualifier Jilles Groskamp made it look easy in the second to take the win over Ronald Volker.  The Tamiya Racing Factory driver lead from start to finish on the dry track with the only challenge coming from his teammate Wilck but that ended when the Swede hit tyre problems.  There was a few tense moments for Groskamp after the race when scrutineers found one of the four tyres on his TRF416WE was registered to title rival Volker.  Under the rules this would have meant exclusion for the Dutch driver but the Yokomo team came to the rescue and produced all of the tyres registered to their star driver proving Groskamp had done no wrong and the error was down to the incorrect marking of the tyres by officials.  Asked about the run Groskamp replied, ‘Tyre worked so car was great.’

Taking second Volker said his car was a little more difficult to drive this time round and it was hard to follow Groskamp and Wilck.  The German was handed second when Wilck spun at the end of the straight but the Team Yokomo driver spun himself in the same spot next time round.  Luckily for him Wilck who was struggling with his tyres did the same and he was able to keep the position to put himself in contention for the title going into the final leg.

Leg 1 winner and the defending champion here in Luxembourg Marc Rheinard took third for the round.  Contact with Losi driver Lucas Urbain at the start meant he couldn’t repeat his blistering Leg 1 start but the German said a new set of tyres had made his car very difficult to drive.  One of four drivers left in the hunt for the title, the World Champion said, ‘the Final is going to be a lottery’.  Struggling home in fourth ending his hopes of a first European title Wilck’s response to his tyre problem was simple, ‘what can I say’.  Austrian Hupo Honigl, the fourth driver in with a chance of the title, finished fifth with Urbain’s Losi completing the Top 6.

Leg 2 results
1. Groskamp Jilles – 17 laps in 5:05.099
2. Völker Ronald – 17 laps in 5:08.014
3. Rheinard Marc – 17 laps in 5:10.870
4. Wilck Viktor – 17 laps in 5:11.193
5. Hönigl Hubert – 17 laps in 5:12.659
6. Urbain Lucas – 17 laps in 5:14.578
7. Graversen Steen – 17 laps in 5:17.418
8. Krapp Christopher – 17 laps in 5:17.610
9. Hagberg Alexander – 12 laps in 3:37.399
10.Prümper Yannic – 11 laps in 3:25.411

Full results from the event can be found here.

View our event image gallery here.