Rheinard tops 2nd Qualifier

Defending champion Marc Rheinard has TQ’d the second qualifier here at the Electric Touring Car Worlds bettering the pace set by his Tamiya team-mate Jilles Groskamp in the opening round.  The German took the round from Xray’s Paul Lemieux with Groskamp running the third fastest time.

Rheinard described his car as ‘way better’ after small set-up changes made it more consistent but their car is normally better suited to hot conditions anyway.  The German said the team’s main focus is the starting order of the heats to ensure the Tamiya drivers can get a clear track for the opening laps when the tyres are at their best.  The second qualifier felt more like a final as the drivers became bunched up and we witnessed a lot of jostling for track position.   Groskamp, who started the heat first, said he made a mistake trying to let Rheinard through as Lemieux was there also.  The Dutch ace was still however pleased with his top 3 run.

Lemieux, who got his Xray airborne on the last lap going as he came down the main straight, said his car is getting better with each run. The US Champion drove well for the first three minutes but said once he knew he was in with a chance of TQ’ing the round he started to get ragged at the controls of his Thunder Power RC backed T3.

Commenting on his run to the fourth fastest time Harper described his Speedpassion TRF416 as better but still lacking traction.  The British teenager, who was a Worlds Finalist last time round on his first attempt, said while fourth is good he needs more strong results but feels tyre tactics will come into play for the remaining four qualifiers.  Team-mate Viktor Wilck, Hot Bodies’ Atsushi Hara, Yokomo’s Ronald Volker and Associated’s Christer Andersson all ran 2nd run tyres but didn’t feature, Volker being the best of those running old rubber some 8 seconds off the pace.

Newly crowned back to back 1:12 World Champion Naoto Matsukara had his best run of the event setting the fifth fastest time from Yokomo team-mate Yannic Prumper.  The new found pace of the young Japanese talent came from a switchin to a gear diff in the rear of his Nosram powered BD5, something that allowed Prumper to run a top 3 time in the opening heat.  Prumper said his car didn’t feel good in the hotter conditions of the second run with understeer causing him problems.

Andy Moore was fastest of the Hot Bodies team with the seventh fastest time. The former World Champion described the run as steady despite his TCX having massive push.  The Englishman had a problem with his tyre warmers which reset to 100 degrees and said this over cooking was most like the cause of his handling issue.  Having pulled up after just 3 laps in round 1 Moore was able to use the same tyres and now still has two fresh set at his disposal.  Freddy Sudhoff made it two Hot Bodies in the Top 10, the German setting the 10th fastest time behind Austrian Tamiya driver Thomas Pumpler.

Japan’s Shin Adachi set the eight fastest time with the new TF6 while Team-mate Christopher Krapp, who was 6th fastest in the opening heat, was sidelined after stripping a spur gear.

Top 10 Qualifying times for Round 2
1. Marc Rheinard (Tamiya TRF416) – 24/5:04.712
2. Paul Lemieux (Xray T3) – 24/5:05.820
3. Jilles Groskamp (Tamiya TRF416) – 24/5:07.013
4. Elliot Harper (Tamiya TRF416) – 24/5:07.947
5. Naoto Matsukara (Yokomo BD5) – 24/5:08.963
6. Yannic Pruemper (Yokomo BD5) – 24/5:09.090
7. Andy Moore (Hot Bodies TCX) – 24/5:10.393
8. Shin Adachi (Kyosho TF6) – 24/5:11.232
9. Thomas Pumpler (Tamiya TRF416) – 24/5:12.125
10.Freddy Sudhoff (Hot Bodies TCX) – 24/5:12.603

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Groskamp TQs opening qualifier in Burgdorf

Jilles Groskamp has TQ’d the opening round of qualifying here at 2010 IFMAR Touring Car World Championships heading a Tamiya 1-2 from team-mate & defending World Champion Marc Rheinard.  The current European Champion took the round comfortably finishing 2.4 seconds ahead over the field, a gap that covers the difference between the next 8 driver for the round.  The Dutch ace described the run as ‘the perfect start’ but said over the opening laps his driving was not so perfect as he caught the curbs too many times.  With conditions extremely hot here today in Burgdorf the track is slower than yesterday’s practice but Groskamp said the balance of his Orion powered TRF416 remains really good and his set-up is not hard on the controlled LRP tyres. Tyres are the big talking point here with drivers allowed 3 sets for the 6 qualifiers.  With the tyres much faster on their first run a lot of tactics are expected from the bigger teams.

Rheinard said his Speed Passion powered TRF416 starts pretty good but suffers bad understeer by the end.  The German is running a very similar set-up to his team-mate but thinks Groskamp may be easier on the tyres at the beginning of the run allowing him to get a more consistent lap times over the full run.

Setting the third fastest time was new Yokomo signing Yannic Prumper.  The 16-year-old German didn’t really feature in yesterday’s practice but switching to a gear diff in the rear of his Speed Passion powered BD5 this morning has turned things around.  Prumper said the car now feels a lot easy to drive and he can carry more corner speed. Running a safe round he feels he may have been too cautious but encouraged by his position he plans to push much harder in the second qualifier.

Having ended the practice day just outside the Top 10, Paul Lemieux turned in the fourth fastest time for the opening qualifier and summed the performance by saying ‘Got to be happy with that’.  The RC America team driver, who is run an Xray T3 with a prototype chassis plate, said the car’s balance felt good and that the run was also the best he has driven at the event so far.

Ronald Volker was next up but the German was not happy with the handling of his factory Yokomo.  Switching back to the gear diff in the rear of his LRP powered BD5, the Warm-up race Top Qualifier was unable to get the same balance as his team-mate Prumper.

Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp set the sixth fastest time describing the run as ‘clean and safe’.  The young German said the track feels really slow today but the set-up on his Orion powered TF6 is perfect and the plan for the next qualifier is to push harder.  Krapp’s team-mate Shin Adachi pulled up early to save tyres after making a number of mistakes.

Fastest of the Team Associated factory squad is young Finnish driver Christer Andersson who made a radical set-up change to his new TC6.  Lacking corner speed yesterday the teenager said the car was much better today and although happy to start the day with the seventh fastest run he feels he could have pushed harder.  Another of the Associated team to record a Top 10 time was top British Championship front runner Olly Jefferies who set the 9th fastest time just 7/1000th behind TRF driver Viktor Wilck.  Xray’s Alexander Hagberg completed the Top 10.

Third fastest in yesterday’s practice, Hot Bodies Atsushi Hara didn’t have a good start to the day saying a switch of tyre additive was the wrong was to go as he ended up only 16th fastest hust behind new German team-mate Freddy Sudhoff.  Running the same additive team-mate Andy Moore pulled up early to save tyres.

Top 10 Qualification Ranking after Rnd 1
1. Jilles Groskamp (Tamiya TRF416) – 24/5:04.753 (155)
2. Marc Rheinard (Tamiya TRF416) – 24/5:07.145 (153)
3. Yannic Pruemper (Yokomo BD5) – 24/5:07.864 (152)
4. Paul Lemieux (Xray T3) – 24/5:08.454 (151)
5. Ronald Völker (Yokomo BD5) – 24/5:08.607 (150)
6. Christopher Krapp (Kyosho TF6) – 24/5:09.428 (149)
7. Christer Andersson (Team Associated TC6) – 24/5:09.483 (148)
8. Viktor Wilck (Tamiya TRF416) – 24/5:09.491 (147)
9. Olly Jeffries (Team Associated TC6) – 24/5:09.498 (146)
10.Alexander Hagberg (Xray T3) – 24/5:10.129 (145)

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Groskamp leads the way in Burgdorf at the end of Day 1

European Touring Car Champion Jilles Groskamp has ended the opening day of the IFMAR World Championships in the top spot knocking early pace setter Ronald Volker off the top in the second controlled practice.  With today’s timing based on a drivers three consecutive fastest laps, Groskamp also recorded the quickest time of 5 minutes narrowly missing out on 25 laps around the small technical track.  The factory Tamiya team member said afterwards his Orion powered TRF416 was real easy to drive and he doesn’t have to push hard to get good times.

Rolling his Yokomo twice, Volker was unable to better his time from the opening controlled practice saying his BD5 was difficult to drive.  Having had a problem with the car going off at the end of the run during the the Warm-up race, which he TQ’d, Volker said the car is now bad at the start and good at the end.  Planning a few adjustments that should make the it easier to drive, the German is confident he will have a good car for the opening qualifier.

Atsushi Hara was full of phrase for his Hot Bodies TCX after making changes to the front shocks and the application of tyre additive.  Ending the day third fastest he said ‘the car is much better than me now, it feels really good’.  Feeling a bit tired today, the Japanese ace said he plans to get a good nights sleep and is confident heading into tomorrow’s qualifying.

Viktor Wilck said the switch back to the rear shock tower he ran earlier in the day gave the car a better balance but it still wants to push in the corners.  Asked what changes he planned to make for tomorrow he said ‘I need to talk to my friend Jilles and see what he is doing’.  Just behind the Swede on the time sheets was the youngest member of the Tamiya Racing Factory team Elliot Harper. The 17-year-old, who runs a different basic set-up to the rest of the team, said a small adjustment had transformed his car allowing him to record his fastest lap of the day in the final controlled practice.

Juho Levanen was pleased with his first day as he recorded the seventh fastest time.  The Finn who is running the new Associated TC6 said he hasn’t change much on the car focusing instead on his driving and that appears to be working.  Describing the car as ‘awesome’ he said the car is better than him at the moment but he plans on upping his game at the controls tomorrow.

Defending World Champion Marc Rheinard also failed to improve his time in the closing practice ending the day only ninth fastest behind Denmark’s Steen Graversen.  In Thailand two years ago the German was only seventh fastest at the end of Day 1 so not much can be read into his current pace as Tamiya having been trying a lot of different things today on his car.

Completing the Top 10 was Shin Adachi. The factory Kyosho driver was fourth fastest after CP1  but down the order after failing to improve his time in the evening run. Sitting just outside the Top 10 is American National Champion Paul Lemieux who managed to outpace his Swedish team-mate Alexander Hagberg to be the leading Xray in the field.

Top 20 Practice Ranking List
1. Jilles Groskamp (Tamiya) – 36.869
2. Ronald Völker (Yokomo) – 36.940
3. Atsushi Hara (Hot Bodies) – 37.013
4. Viktor Wilck (Tamiya) – 37.139
5. Elliott Harper (Tamiya) – 37.157
6. Andy Moore (Hot Bodies) – 37.177
7. Juho Levänen (Team Associated) – 37.197
8. Steen Graversen (Tamiya) – 37.222
9. Marc Rheinard (Tamiya) – 37.257
10.Shin Adachi (Kyosho) – 37.274
11.Paul Lemieux (Xray) – 37.300
12.Hagberg Alexander (Xray) – 37.348
13.Christoper Krapp (Kyosho) – 37.370
14.Freddy Südhoff (Hot Bodies) – 37.390
15.Olly Jeffries (Team Associated) – 37.493
16.Hayato Matsuzaki (Yokomo) – 37.496
17.Zdenko Kunak (Xray) – 37.545
18.Zdenek Hamak (Xray) – 37.548
19.Chris Grainger (Schumacher) – 37.604
20.Yannic Pruemper (Yokomo) – 37.604

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Volker heads first controlled practice

After the first of two controlled practice runs that will bring Day 1 of the IFMAR Touring Car World Championships to close it is Ronald Volker and the Yokomo team who continue to be the pace setters. Once again the German ace got the better of Tamiya’s Jilles Groskamp and Marc Rheinard abeit in a slightly slow time.  Volker only completed 10 laps, being one of six drivers to pull up early to save his set of controlled LRP tyres.  Having run for a second time a rear gear diff in his BD5 he again found it made the car difficult to drive in the opening laps.  After that the car felt really good but with new tyres at their best over the first three laps of the run the Yokomo team have now decided to revert back to a ball diff for the remainder of the event.

Groskamp who closed the gap between himself and Volker to just 6/100th in CP1 says his car ‘feels just perfect’ and he is really happy with his pace having not been as close to his rival here in pre-event testing.  Recording the fastest lap for the round the European Champion along with his three Tamiya team-mates were the only drivers to complete the 5-minutes and said this was helpful for building up information on how his Orion powered TRF416 is suited to the hot conditions over a full run.  The weather forecast for the next two days is giving even warmer conditions.  Team-mate Viktor Wilck was fifth fastest but said the run was not good.  Trying a new rear shock tower the Swede said it felt OK at the beginning of the run but quickly went off and so he will revert to back to the original tower.

Having changed his shock settings Shin Adachi posted the fourth fastest time and said while he is not quite as fast as his rivals in outright lap times his TF6 feels very consistent over the 5 minutes.  For the final run of the day he will make some camber adjustments.

Alexander Hagberg continues to be the lead Xray driver setting the sixth fastest 3 consecutive laps.  The Swede ran extra drag brake on his LRP powered T3 but said this made the car more difficult to drive. Reverting back to his FP4 speedo settings for his next outing he said overall the set-up he has now feels alright.

Atsushi Hara and Hot Bodies team-mate Andy Moore were 7th and 8th fastest respectively.  The current 1:8 Off Road World Champion, Hara tried a different set-up to that used in free practice but said it didn’t work.  With his Reedy powered TCX having too much roll he plans to stiffen up the front shocks for what he is calling ‘Happy Hour’ referring to the sixth and final run of the day which will have the benefit of much cooler conditions. Enjoying his best run so far Moore said adjusting his droop and a switch of additive had greatly improved his car.

Japanese Tamiya team driver Kouno Takayuki set the ninth fastest time followed by factory Associated driver Juho Levanen.

Top 10 after first Controlled Practice
1. Ronald Volker (Yokomo) – 36.940
2. Jilles Groskamp (Tamiya) – 37.001
3. Marc Rheinard (Tamiya) – 37.527
4. Shin Adachi (Kyosho) – 37.274
5. Viktor Wilck (Tamiya) – 37.294
6. Alexander Hagberg (Xray) – 37.348
7. Atsushi Hara (Hot Bodies) – 37.415
8. Andy Moore (Hot Bodies) – 37.466
9. Kouno Takayuki (Tamiya)- 37.506
10.Juho Levanen (Associated) – 37.516

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