May 1, 2017

RC-Lemans Series Rd1 – Report

Round 1 of the 2017 RC-Lemans Series was held at the AMC Hildesheim track near Hanover in the north of Germany. The race kicked off the 12th season of the series and it also marked the warm-up for the German Nationals that will be held in Hildesheim in September. The weather was pretty cold and windy for a “warm-up” but at least it stayed dry all days. With the track offering good grip it was Timo Schad who set the early pace in the Modified class, beating the fastest lap of the 2013 Nationals by about three seconds and only missing the 23rd lap by about 0.9 seconds. Round two saw Kai Altmann scoring the fastest run from Tobias Weist and German and RC-Lemans Champion, Tim Altmann. In round three it was Tim Altmann who came out on top, although with a slower time due to wind influences and a couple of mishaps. Overall it was Timo Schad who took the TQ in the tie-breaker by 0.1s from Kai Altmann and Tim Altmann. With three 2nd place finishes Tobias had to settle for P4 while Dutchman Reinder Wilms rounded out the top 5.


In 2017 the supporting Stock class is run using a new set of rules that includes a longer run time of seven minutes. Local hero Timo again snatched the TQ, although in a more comfortable fashion, a lap in front of father Rainer while Marlon Beuershausen had to settle for 3rd on the grid.

The opening Modified A-main saw a good start of all drivers but it was Timo who took profit of the battle between Kai, Tim and Tobias. In the end Timo would bring home the win in A1 some seven seconds in front of Tobias and Reinder. With the wind being even stronger in A2 the drivers had to be aware not only of the other drivers but also the wind to make sure they would stay on track going down the straight at about 100km/h. A2 then was substantially slower than A1 but this did not keep Timo from bringing home another win and with it the overall victory at the season opening round. Tobias and Reinder would again come in 2nd and 3rd after a nice fight with great sportsmanship as Tim and Kai suffered problems. For A3 Timo decided to attend despite having already taken the overall win and he would soon find himself in a fight with Tobias who was able to find a way past Timo following a small mishap of the latter. Ultimately Tobias would bring home the win in A3 some 1.3 seconds in front of Timo while Reinder again came in 3rd. The winning run of Tobias was also the fastest of the day, some ten seconds faster than the 2013 German championship time and only 0.01 seconds slower than the current track record. Behind him, Reinder would complete the podium in 3rd.

In the Stock class A-main Timo and Rainer would be in a close race for the lead until at about mid-race Timo made a mistake, allowing Rainer to get by. The recovering Timo then was able to move his way up through the field and right onto the tail of Rainer, waiting for a mistake. While putting pressure on the leader Timo would get his chance following a small mishap of Rainer and ultimately Timo would bring home the win by a second with Rainder 2nd and Mathijs Hermens, coming from P5, in 3rd. A2 was a pretty straight forward affair for Timo who won the leg from tone to tone about a lap in front of Rainer and Marlon. Timo would also compete in A3 for a clean sweep from Rainer Schad on the overall runner-up spot and Mathijs Hermens, who won the tie-breaker for 3rd against Joachim Behnken.

Source: RC-Lemans [rc-lemans.de]



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