Hepp and Buerge first champions in NRW Challenge
Tobias Hepp in the 1/8 class and Sebastian Buerge in the 1/10 class are the first champions in the newly established NRW Challenge (NRW = German State North Rhine-Westphalia), a series of three races held in the last three month on the permanent tracks of Dueren, Oberhausen and Bad Breisig. A total of 72 racers, 32 in 1/8 scale and 40 in the 1/10 200mm category entered the three races which all were held at positive atmosphere and with hot racing action. The main characteristic of this new championship has been long races with 30 minutes for semis and 45 minutes for the finals. These unusual long and exhausting racing times have been highly accepted by the drivers and a new experience for most of them. The NRW Challenge will be continued in 2010 with three to five races administered through the whole season.
In 1/8 scale Serpent youngster Tobias Hepp achieved two wins and one fifth place and collected a maximum of 400 points out of the best two results. In the ranking he is followed by Serpent fellow Ralf Vahrenkamp with one second and one third and a total of 371 points. Third place went to Frank Schewiola (Serpent/Mugen) with 363 points.
The top 10 among 32 drivers of the 1/8 nitro class
1. Tobias Hepp, 400 points – Serpent / Mega
2. Ralf Vahrenkamp, 371 – Serpent / Novarossi
3. Frank Schewiola, 363 – Serpent/Mugen / Mega/JP
4. Christian Wurst, 343 – Motonica / Sirio
5. Emil Kostadinov, 309 – Mugen / Reds Racing
6. Carsten Pruessmann, 306 – Kyosho / R&B
7. Uwe Baldes, 290 – Motonica / Team Orion
8. Ralf Wacker, 267 – Serpent / Novarossi
9. Rainer Rosskothen, 260 – Mugen / Novarossi
10. Jean-Pierre Roenicke, 257 – Kyosho / Novarossi
Mugen racer Sebastian Buerge was able to win the 1/10 class at each round which means in consideration of one void result also a maximum of 400 points. Second position went to Andreas Weyhoven (Kyosho/347) ahead of Benjamin Lehmann (Serpent/345).
The top 10 among 40 drivers of the 1/10 200mm nitro class
1. Sebastian Buerge, 400 points – Mugen / Novarossi
2. Andreas Weyhoven, 347 – Kyosho / R&B
3. Benjamin Lehmann, 345 – Serpent / OS
4. Daniel Toenessen, 316 – Mugen / Novarossi
5. Bernd Rausch, 313 – Kyosho / Team Orion
6. Wolfgang Feldges, 306 – Kyosho/Xray / OS
7. Werner Vogel, 302 – Kyosho / Team Orion
8. Marco Nenner, 254 – Kyosho / Novarossi
9. Arndt Bernhardt, 190 – Mugen / Novarossi
9. Andreas Schuch, 190 – Xray / Orcan
For the first time the prize giving with lots of big trophies for the best of the NRW Challenge as well as the Western German Championships 2009 will be held outside of race tracks in a so called “nitro brunch” on Sunday, 8th November in Oberhausen.
