Loading...
Red RC - RC Car News |
Kurzbuch wins “Really Tough” Rucphen battle Posted: 27 May 2019 12:42 AM PDT Simon Kurzbuch has taken the win at Round 2 of the 2019 Infinity Euro Nitro Series, but it was anything but easy as the three time ENS Champion seemed unlikely to even make the podium in the first half of the race. Qualifying fourth on the grid after admitting that he had struggled on Saturday, Kurzbuch initially circulated in fourth place, fighting with Dominic Greiner, who had bumped up from the B Final, as the race out front initially seemed to be a fight between the top three qualifiers of Dario Balestri, Robert Pietsch and Carmine Raiola. Deciding only to make one four tyre change at the half way point, as the other top runners chose two full changes, the Swiss driver confirmed that he knew he “couldn’t go at the pace of Balestri and Raiola, so we decided to make one less fuel stop [by running longer between stops] and making only one tyre change”. Moving up through the field as issues took Pietsch then Raiola out of the running, it looked as though the Shepherd driver would repeat his Bologna result and stand second on the podium. But in the closing minutes of the race, Balestri hit trouble, going off on the main straight and then again a few corners later, which dropped him out of a top three placing. “It was a really tough final” was how Kurzbuch described the race. He also pointed out that with his father absent from this event, his brother Pascal had taken over pit duties and, along with pit lane regular Alex Kempe, they “made a great job and gave me great information during the race so I knew what I needed to do”. Also benefiting from the mistakes and issues which struck the top three in the race, Dominic Greiner came through from 11th on the starting grid to finish second at the end. The Serpent driver was almost speechless when asked to explain his race, openly admitting it hadn’t looked like a “great weekend – we didn’t have the pace to be competitive [early on]”. Even after the B Final, he completely changed the setup on his car, and “never expected it [a podium result]”. Even his pitman Thomas Gunsel noted problems in the final – with “strange fuel consumption” causing a flame out. Luckily this didn’t cost much time, but the winner at the first round of the championship said “this cost the win, but still it’s very good for the championship” – him now sitting one point behind Kurzbuch. Making it two Swiss drivers on the podium, Silvio Hachler said that after Bologna, he still had a “bad feeling” in the car, and so working over the next month developed a completely new setup approach for his ARC chassis. Noting that he was “a little bit lucky” to move up following the problems of other drivers, he had a pretty lonely race as the attention was focussed on those ahead. He was understandably happy to make a return to the top three at an ENS event and concluded by saying “of course I’ll take that one!”. Clearly upset at being just minutes away from a potential victory after the retirement of team mate Raiola, Balestri was at a loss to explain what happened. With nothing obvious broken on the car to cause his initial high-speed off as he entered the back straight, he said he must have hit a stone or something as he was on cruise-control and “just running laps”. This accident bent the bumper of his Infinity car, which then in turn caused a second crash a few corners later, which then left the current ENS champion to nurse his car home to a fourth place finish. Raiola had been in the hunt for the overall win, the lead swapping places with Balestri as the pit stop cycles worked through each time. Possibly looking set for the top step of the podium with Balestri due to make one extra pit stop for fuel, Raiola said he saw the side belt come off his IF18 and “drove immediately to the pit lane”. With father Alfonso then confirming that it was in fact a broken pulley which had caused the belt to fail and therefore no chance of a quick repair, the Italian, who has been with the Infinity program since the start, will have to continue his wait for his first ENS victory. In the +40 Masters class, Arie Manten failed to start the race after engine issues led to a stripped gear, allowing fellow Dutchman Martin Zevenhoven to get the jump at the start and lead early on. As the race continued, Belgian John Lenears, who had battled with Martin in the initial stages, moved through to the lead and Angelo Fagnani, who had started 9th on the grid, moved up to second as Zevenhoven had to settle for third at the finish. The 1/8 4S Electric class made its debut in The Netherlands and saw local hero John Ermen secure pole position and wrap up the overall title with wins in leg one and two of the final. Simon Schutte looked to be John’s closest challenger, taking second in every leg, but Kai Asmer came through to take the leg three victory after John sat out the race, giving Asmer second overall in front of Schutte. View the complete event results here. View our event image gallery here. FacebookTwitterGoogle+Pin It |
Video – Invitational Class Rd12 Posted: 26 May 2019 02:16 PM PDT FacebookTwitterGoogle+Pin It |
Wilck becomes only the 4th multiple Reedy Race Champion Posted: 26 May 2019 02:15 PM PDT Viktor Wilck is the 2019 Reedy Race Champion, the Infinity driver becoming only the 4th multiple winning of the legendary race on this its 22nd running. Having conceded defeat to overnight points leader Ronald Volker as the final day’s action was widely expected to be rained out, a dry but cold & windy morning presented the 2012 champion with an opportunity to resume battle with Volker. With 2019 a new chapter in the history of the race following the demise of the famous Tamiya Track, conditions at new Steel City RC Speedway for the final two rounds of heads up racing were less than ideal with traction at a premium. It was a dramatic start to the morning as going head to head from the front row Wilck and Volker made contact in the penultimate round resulting in both cars breaking. One race to go and 1-point separated the pair. As the grid were published for the showdown, they would race in the same heat but the grid was somewhat controversial as Wilck was on pole and Volker lined up 11th. Up front Wilck, who was fastest throughout the event, pulled clear for an easy win while Volker worked his way through to second. This left them tied on points with the same number of wins, 2nd and 3rd places so it came down to the total time of their best three results which thanks to the only 21-lap run of the event in Round 10 gave Wilck his second Reedy Race of Champions title. Having come into the weekend chasing title No.8, Marc Rheinard would complete the podium in Fontana well clear of team-mate Akio Sobue in fourth. Not known for flash celebrations, an unassuming Wilck said, ‘It feels really good to come out back on top after the troubles of the previous days’. The Swede continued, ‘I think my car worked great all weekend and I think I was fastest all the race. It feels good to get the first win my new team Infinity’. Revealing that his IF14 featured many prototype parts that are set to feature on his Japanese team’s upcoming new touring car chassis, he said, ‘the new car worked perfect and I thank the team for the perfect support. It’s nice to win the Reedy Race again’. Struggling to convey his emotions regarding the final two races of the event, a clearly frustrated Volker said, ‘I feel I was treated very unfair with the system and don’t want to say anything more I might regret later’ – a reference to the grid for his final race. The 3-time Champion continued, ‘never the less congrats to Viktor, he had the best pace. Thanks to Team Yokomo US and Hayato for his hard work’. ‘The podium is OK, I tried but I don’t think anyone could match Viktor’s pace. He deserved it’, was Rheinard’s reaction to the final result. With 4 more Reedy Race titles than any other driver, the German added, ‘Three times in a row for Infinity is a great result’. On his own performance over the weekend he said, ‘I struggled a bit, maybe it was my car or maybe this is just not my layout and it suits Viktor better’. One of the Tamiya track’s greatest fans, he continued, ‘the conditions here are unique. I hope they change for next year. The racing was not nice to watch or drive and we need that to keep the Reedy Race special’. View the event image gallery here. FacebookTwitterGoogle+Pin It |
Leino doubles up in 2019 with ENS Netherlands victory Posted: 26 May 2019 01:58 PM PDT After taking the win at the season opening race in Bologna last month, Teemu Leino took a firm step towards the 2019 ENS 1/10th scale title by adding victory this weekend in Rucphen. The Finnish driver crossed the line first despite running a different tyre strategy to his rivals, benefiting from mistakes and issues for his main challengers. Making two tyre stops – the first to change just right side tyres after 9 minutes of the race and the second to change all four around two-thirds distance – he took the win over Leo Arnold and ENS returnee Patrick Nahr. The victory also ties Leino for the most wins in the ENS 1/10th scale class, him now sharing the honour with Dominic Greiner with 5 victories in the prestigious series. “We saw the high tyre wear in the practice and decided to make the extra stop for right side tyres” was how the Infinity driver explained the decision. Looking over the car after the race, he added “maybe we could have done it on one stop, but it’s OK as we took the win”. The only one of the top contenders to have anything like a clean 45 minute race, he said the only issue was a stuck bodyshell after an early fuel stop, necessitating a quick extra visit to the pit lane to have it sorted out. Initially leading the field away, Leino was matched by team mate Jilles Groskamp, until the early tyre change left Groskamp and Arnold to fight for the win. Groskamp, making only one four tyre change, retired shortly after his visit to the pit lane for fresh Matrix foam, with a broken axle causing the retirement. Leo Arnold then looked set to inherit the win, but on his single tyre stop he lost around 1 lap to Leino, with his father quick to jump in and say it was his fault as he “lost the wheel nut” during the tyre change. Reflecting on his run, the French driver said that “on the track the car was very good”, and on the second set of tyres he was really fast – but “not enough to come back [from the pit lane error]”. The Xray driver, who finished third in Bologna was still pleased that the car and engine package was fast, but knows he will have his work cut out at the next round of the series in Aigen, where he ideally needs a win to keep the overall Championship hopes alive. Running a pretty quiet race for the first half, the action for Nahr kicked off shortly after the tyre stops. Only changing right side tyres early in the race, he tried to run for the rest of the 45 minute encounter without a further stop. The gain in time through not making the change gained him track position, but as the race entered the final stages, he desperately ran out of tyres and allowed a hard-charging Milan Holthuis to close in and look a threat for his podium place. Pitting then to change just left side tyres, whilst he didn’t have the speed of the leaders it was enough to hold off the young Dutch driver and secure a top three result on his return to the ENS. “For the first race after three years away it was very good!” was the Shepherd driver’s reaction as he showed he had lost none of his speed from his time away from competition. Infinity driver Holthuis initially ran with the top three of Leino, Groskamp and Arnold in the race, until getting fuel on the tyres in the first pit stop which saw him go off at the end of the main straight, dropping him back. From there, he focused on his own race and “enjoyed it”. Later in the race, when the problems for Groskamp and Leino saw him running as high as second place, trouble hit as “the first gear broke”. This necessitated a lengthy pit stop to replace the part, dropping him two laps behind Nahr. But with Nahr struggling with tyre wear, Holthuis ran up to one second per lap quicker than the German and made one full lap back, until Nahr took his late pit stop for two more tyres which prevented Holthius making his maiden ENS podium. “A bearing in the rear hub broke during the tyre change and the axle then came out” was Groskamp’s description of the difficulty he faced. Feeling he had a good strategy and speed, proved by matching times with Leino and Arnold during the first half of the race, the Dutchman, who has now returned to live in the Netherlands after a number of years in Thailand, was disappointed that he wasn’t able to translate his speed into points today. After also enduring a tough race in Bologna, Groskamp knows he is really up against it if he is to retain his ENS title come the end of the season. View the complete event results here. View our event image gallery here. FacebookTwitterGoogle+Pin It |
You are subscribed to email updates from Red RC - All feeds. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States |
Loading...
Loading...