Rheinard takes Leg 1

Marc Rheinard has won Leg 1 of the Speed Passion supported DHI Cup.  The reigning World Champion took the lead from Top Qualifier Alexander Hagberg on the opening lap from where he would remain to take victory from his Tamiya team-mate Viktor Wilck.  Team Corally driver Marc Fisher completed the Top 3.

The only serious challenge to Rheinard’s lead came from Team Xray’s Teemu Leino.  The Finn had a very fast car in the early stages of the race but he caught a corner dot just before the 2 minute mark and rolled, allowing Wilck and Hagberg through.  Leino said his car was very good and slightly faster than Rheinard in the early part of the race but he was unlucky as the German caught the same dot but did pay the same penalty.  Leino would end the encounter in fifth.

Making it a Tamiya 1-2 in the Leg, defending Champion Wilck benefited from the slight untidy race but was happy to take second having started from fifth.  After a challenge from Hagberg which sent his TRF416 into the track markers, collecting Leino in the process, the Swede said his car felt tweaked but with the pack continuing to trip each other up he drove safely to bring it home in second. The result keeps him in with a chance of retaining his title.

Fisher, who started from sixth on the grid, was very happy to bring his RDX Phi 2 home in third and now smells an overall podium finish.  The German feels his car will be better in Leg 2 as the controlled Sorex 28 tyres get more mileage on them

Hagberg reported his car as being very loose after he opted to use his first set of tyres in the opening leg.  The Swede will run new tyres, which he scrubbed in during the practice final, in Leg 2 and will be hoping for a tidier race.  Jilles Groskamp completed the Top 6 while seventh and eight when to young guns Christer Andersson and Yannic Prumper.

Modified A-main Leg 1 results
1. Marc Rheinard – 21 Laps in 309,63
2. Viktor Wilck – 21 Laps in 311,16
3. Marc Fischer – 21 Laps in 314,14
4. Alexander Hagberg – 20 Laps in 300,10
5. Teemu Leino – 20 Laps in 300.36
6. Jilles Groskamp – 20 Laps in 300,88
7. Christer Andersson – 20 Laps in 303,00
8. Yannic Prumper – 20 Laps in 303,13
9. Steen Graversen – 20 Laps in 303,34
10. Jonas Kaerup – 20 Laps in 306,41

In the B Final former World Champion Andy Moore took his Hot Bodies to victory over Freddy Sudhoff and Ronald Volker.

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Bergfeldt cruises to Leg 1 victory

He dominated qualifying and its looks like business as usual today for Tommy Bergfeldt with the Swede crushing his opposition in the first Leg of the Pro Stock A-Main.  Starting from pole the Hot Bodies driver was very challenged cruising to a 3 second winning margin over former DHI Cup Champion Bastian Hennig.

While Bergfeldt disappeared up front the big battle of the race was for second. For the opening 2 minutes of the race it was Germany’s Matthias Lang and Finland’s Henry Salmén who rubbed bodyshells but the Xray and Tamiya eventually made contact with Lang coming off the worst.  The contact allowed fourth place starter Hennig to get his Xray up to second.  Salmen tried everything to pass the SMI Motorsport driver but with 25 seconds to go he rolled his TRF416 managing just get going again, ahead of Christoph Theile to take third.  Lang finished fifth.

Super Stock A-main Leg 1 results
1. Tommy Bergfeldt – 20 Laps in 314,65
2. Bastian Hennig – 19 Laps in 301,90
3. Henry Salmén – 19 Laps in 303,84
4. Christoph Thiele – 19 Laps in 304,16
5. Matthias Lang – 19 Laps in 304,22
6. Meik Niemann – 19 Laps in 306,10
7. Marcus Horn – 19 Laps in 306,70
8. Thomas Mirke – 19 Laps in 306,88
9. Carsten Madsen – 19 Laps in 312,84
10. Tony Streit – 19 Laps in 313,41

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Practice Final Update

A-Main drivers have completed their practice finals and both encounters saw a lot of bumping.  In Pro Stock Tommy Bergfeldt is clearly the man to beat as just left the pack trailing but on lap times Thomas Mirke was able to match the pace of the Swede.

In the Modified A-main practice, Jilles Groskamp was registered as taking first position but the pace setter was defending Champion Viktor Wilck.  The Swede’s Tamiya looked really good allowing him to record the fastest lap with a 14.11 before pulling up early while holding the lead.  Wilck was 1/10th faster than fellow countryman & Top Qualifier Alexander Hagberg.  Hagberg had an unfortunate incident this morning when someone accidentally spilt hot coffee on his arm resulting in rather nasty burns.  The Xray driver has taken pain killers but thinks he should be OK for the real finals.  The majority of drivers used the practice final to scrub in new tyres.

In the quality B Final pole sitter Ronald Volker got collected at the start and found himself last at the end of the opening lap.  This allowed Andy Moore, Freddy Sudhoff and Martin Hudy to battle it out for the lead.  Three lead changes later and it was Slovak Hudy who took the win from Sudhoff, Moore and the recovering Volker.

First A-Main for Pro Stock is scheduled for 13:00 with Leg 1 for Modified out at 13:45.

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Hagberg clinches DHI Cup TQ

Your first big international race TQ is always going to be something special but when you fend off the might of a double World Champion the occasion is even greater.  For Sweden’s Alexander Hagberg the DHI Cup marks such an achievement as he topped the final round of heats to secure the Top Qualifier’s spot on the grid for tomorrow’s 9th edition of the famous Danish race.

Going into the last qualifier only reigning World & European Champion Marc Rheinard could deny Hagberg the No.1 starting spot but the Swede rose to the occasion to top the round by over a second from defending DHI Cup Champion Viktor Wilck.  Hagberg said, ‘I’m very happy to take the TQ.  I pushed really hard because I expected a strong challenge from Marc (Rheinard) but he wasn’t fast.  My car was perfect and I am going to leave the set-up the same for tomorrow.’

Rheinard could only manage fifth for the round and attributes the poor handling of his car down to his tyres going off having run the same set all day.  Lining up second on the grid the Tamiya Racing Factory team leader said, ‘My car was sliding around a lot which is down to the tyres being finished, I hope. Second on the grid is fine and I think it will be a very close race tomorrow between Alex, me, Teemu and Jilles.’

Lining up on the second row of the grid will be last year’s Top Qualifier Teemu Leino and 2002 Champion Jilles Groskamp.  Leino was denied the victory last year by Wilck who started second but should be able to mount a serious challenge from third.  Groskamp, who suffered traction roll in the last qualifier, cannot be ruled out either.

For defending Champion Wilck it is going to be a tough job to retain his title from fifth, a feat that has only been achieved by Atsushi Hara who did so in 2006.  The Tamiya driver fitted a new rear diff for the last run & copied Rheinard’s set-up and was much happier with his TRF416 now so he cant be totally ruled out.

Sixth on the grid will be the Corally of Marc Fisher.  The German switched to Corally additive for the last round which transformed his new RDX Phi 2 but a mistake on the last lap meant he took 6th for the round when a Top 3 was on the cards.  Jonas Kaerup takes the honour of being the leading local on the grid putting his Tamiya seventh on the grid.

The drive of the final qualifier came from up & coming talent Yannic Pruemper who is sure to be a name we will be hearing a lot more of in the future.  The 15-year-old German set the third fastest time at the controls of his Tamiya to secure 8th spot in the A-Main, much to the delight of his mentor Toni Rheinard.

Completing the grid and bringing the total number of manufacturers to be represented in the final to five are Kyosho’s Steen Graversen and Team Associated’s Christer Andersson.  There will be no Hot Bodies in the final with 2006 Champion Ronald Volker just missing out to take unenviable BQ.  A-Main drivers will get a practice final in the morning before its down to the serious business of racing over three legs with the best two to count.

Final Modified Standings
1. Alexander Hagberg (Xray/LRP) – 465pts
2. Marc Rheinard (Tamiya/Speedpassion) – 459pts
3. Teemu Leino (Xray/Team Orion)- 458pts
4. Jilles Groskamp (Tamiya/Speedpassion)- 456pts
5. Viktor Wilck (Tamiya/Speedpassion) – 453pts
6. Marc Fischer (Corally/GM) – 449pts
7. Jonas Kaerup (Tamiya/GM) – 448pts
8. Yannic Prumper (Tamiya/Speedpassion) – 446pts
9. Steen Graversen (Kyosho/Team Orion) – 444pts
10. Christer Andersson (Associated/LRP) – 443pts

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Salmen takes final Pro Stock Qualifier

Henry Salmen has laid down his intentions for the Pro Stock A-Mains by taking the final qualifier.  The Finn recorded a time of 20 lap in 308.91 to TQ the round from Matthias Lang and will carry the No.3 on his Tamiya in tomorrow’s all important finals.  Salmen has been improving with each outing here in Denmark and pushed harder last time round allowing him to record his best run and the second fastest time of the entire qualifying.

Setting the second fastest time Lang will line up on the No.2 spot of the A final grid behind the dominant Tommy Bergfeldt who sacrificed the final heat to scrub in new tyres for the Finals.  Having run his spare Xray in the last run Lang was pleased with the feeling of the car and is pleased to be lining up second referring to last year’s winner Jimmy Maddison who held the same starting position and beat Top Qualifier Christoph Thiele. Thiele will carry No.5 in this years final.

The only previous DHI Cup winner to line up on this year’s grid will be Bastian Hennig who took the title back in 2007 when he too beat the Top Qualifier.

Final Super Stock Standings
1. Tommy Bergfeldt – 465pts [(155) 155 155 155 (144)]
2. Matthias Lang – 458pts [153 (138) (151) 152 153]
3. Henry Salmén – 457pts [(146) (148) 149 153 155]
4. Bastian Hennig – 457pts [(152) 153 152 (52) 152]
5. Christoph Thiele – 455pts [151 (151) 153 (150) 151]
6. Thomas Mirke – 453pts [(134) 152 150 151 (148)]
7. Tony Streit – 446pts [(148) 149 (57) 148 149]
8. Meik Niemann – 443pts [(143) 147 (143) 146 150]
9. Marcus Horn – 441pts [(127) 146 (140) 149 146]
10. Carsten Madsen – 440pts [145 150 145 (142) (143)]

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Hagberg TQ’s penultimate Qualifier

Alexander Hagberg is looking good for TQ honours in the Modified class here in Odense after the factory Xray driver set the fastest time of the day in the penultimate qualifier for the 2009 DHI Cup.  Running in the top heat, Hagberg topped the time sheets for the second time and only Marc Rheinard can now deny him the pole.

Rheinard had been on for an impressive 22 lap run but made two mistakes allowing Hagberg to take control and record the fastest time so far with 21 laps in 302.61.  Eventually Rheinard stopped the clock with the second fastest time for the round despite a late rear diff failure on his Tamiya.

Hagberg admits that Rheinard is slightly faster but says he is more consistent and hopes he can work this to his advantage against the German.  Rheinard is going to go for the TQ in the fifth and final qualifier but would almost prefer to start from the second spot – a case of being the hunter rather than being the prey.

Defending Champion Vicktor Wilck finally started to show the pace that took him to the title last year.  Sporting a bandaged left hand following a snowboarding accident in Austria last week, Wilck has only been able to race here in Denmark after calling on the assistance of his boss, Lars Nordin of Swedish r/c distributor Phoenix Racing. Nordin has been doing all the work on the Speed Passion powered Tamiya TRF416 and Wilck is enjoying the experience.  The Swede was surprised by his time as the car didn’t feel good and wants to grip roll.  For the final qualifier he will try the same set-up as team-mate Rheinard.

Fourth fastest time brought the TQ challenge of Teemu Leino, winner of the second qualifier, to an end but the Finn is going to be a strong challenger for the overall victory in tomorrow’s finals.  Jilles Groskamp and Marc Fischer completed the Top 6.

The Kyosho team enjoyed its best round with Steen Graversen, who was on the podium in 2008, equalling his earlier seventh. His Japanese team-mate Shin Adachi, the man responsible for much of the development on the Stallion, finally broke into the Top 10 with the ninth quickest time.  Dutch National Champion Bart Wubben rounded out the Top 10 with his Xray.

Modified Results after round 4
1. Alexander Hagberg – 463 [155 153 (151) 155 (0)]
2. Marc Rheinard – 459 [151 (150) 155 153 (0)]
3. Teemu Leino – 458 [(145) 155 152 151 (0)]
4. Jilles Groskamp – 456 [152 151 153 (150) (0)]
5. Marc Fischer – 449 [150 (149) 150 149 (0)]
6. Jonas Kaerup – 448 [153 152 (136) 143 (0)]
7. Viktor Wilck – 445 [148 145 (144) 152 (0)]
8. Steen Graversen – 443 [(144) 148 147 148 (0)]
9. Christer Andersson – 440 [(138) 147 149 144 (0)]
10. Ronald Völker – 437 [147 147 143 (141) (0)]

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