Tobias Hepp wins 1/8 opener in Western Germany

Round one of the 1/8 nitro Western German Championship saw Tobias Hepp taking full points for the qualification of the German Nationals which will be held in September in Roetz in Southern Germany. The 16 years old Hepp achieved his victory in class 1 in front of Steven Cuypers and Frank Schewiola while 15 years old Jean-Pierre Roenicke with his victory in class 2 making it a day for the youth.

The number of entries remains an issue in 1/8 nitro racing in Germany. A total of 24 drivers had entered the race weekend at Oberhausen, finally 13 started in class 1 and ten in class 2. In comparison to the 2009 race at Oberhausen it was one more in class 1 but five less in class 2.

Oberhausen welcomed the 1/8 racers in perfect conditions. All racers used the practice on Saturday to work on their set-up as well as sorting out tyre wear and fuel consumption. Not all racers were able to make it to the five minute mark in the heats with the 125 cc fuel capacity. Some ran out of fuel and others tried an extra stop for refuelling.

The hunt for the TQ was between Michael Salven and his Serpent/Mega combo and Steven Cuypers with his Mugen/Sirio unit. Finally Cuypers took TQ with 25 laps in 5.01,397 minutes just half a second ahead of Salven. Just two seconds down was Serpent/Novarossi driver Tobias Hepp on third while Karl-Heinz Meister (Serpent/Mega) completed the direct qualifiers with 24 laps in 4.58,996.

From semi final, which saw an early retirement of Christian Wurst because of a locked 2-speed, Alain Levy (Serpent/Mega), Frank Schewiola (Serpent/Novarossi), Ralf Vahrenkamp (Serpent/Novarossi), Uwe Baldes (Mugen/Orcan), Ingo Odenthal (Serpent/Novarossi) and Rainer Rosskothen (Mugen/Novarossi) joined the final.

A huge crash overshadowed the 30 minutes final. At the half way point the car of Odenthal ran out of fuel on the straight and he directed his car onto the grass. But the marshall put the car back onto the track which caused a massive collision with Salven, Meister and Baldes involved. While Odenthal, Salven and Meister had to retire following this disaster, Baldes could rejoin after a five minutes break for repairing.

At this point Michael Salven was the leader of the pack. He was flying around the 234 meter track and had already a one lap advantage. Following this misfortune the battle was between Tobias Hepp and Steven Cuypers who was hampered by a locking clutch causing engine cut-off at refuelling and an early retirement 20 seconds before the chequered flag. Hepp drove fast and consistent and after 144 laps he celebrated a clear win over Cuypers who was three laps down. Frank Schewiola completed the podium another four laps down. Only the top three as well as Alain Levy on fourth and Uwe Baldes on fifth completed the race.

Result of the class 1 final:
1. Tobias Hepp, 144 laps – Serpent / Novarossi / Shepherd Tyres
2. Steven Cuypers, 141 – Mugen / Sirio / Enetti
3. Frank Schewiola, 137 – Serpent / Novarossi / Xceed
4. Alain Levy, 134 – Serpent / Mega / Xceed
5. Uwe Baldes, 106 – Mugen / Orcan / Xceed
6. Ralf Vahrenkamp, 78 – Serpent / Novarossi / Xceed
7. Michael Salven, 76 – Serpent / Mega / Xceed
8. Karl-Heinz Meister, 65 – Serpent / Mega / Xceed
9. Ingo Odenthal, 61 – Serpent / Novarossi / Xceed
10.Rainer Rosskothen, 30 – Mugen / Novarossi / RPM

The Top 10 statistics: Serpent dominated on chassis by seven cars followed by three Mugen. Novarossi led by five engines followed by three Mega and each one of Sirio and Orcan.

In class 2 Jean-Pierre Roenicke (Serpent/Novarossi) achieved the pole position with 24 laps, two seconds ahead of Arno Puepke (Mugen/Novarossi). In the 30 minutes final Roenicke caught the victory with a seven lap advantage over Markus Bastians (Mugen/Ninja). Third place on the podium went to Benjamin Krings (Mugen/Mega), another six laps down. Puepke was classified on fourth but he stopped three and a half minutes before the end when he was kicked out again and the engine flamed out at this occasion.

Result of the class 2 final:
1. Jean-Pierre Roenicke, 129 laps – Serpent / Novarossi
2. Markus Bastians, 122 – Mugen / Ninja
3. Benjamin Krings, 116 – Mugen / Mega
4. Arno Puepke, 111 – Mugen / Novarossi
5. Heinz Kroezemann, 100 – Mugen / Ninja
6. Sebastian Scheidweiler, 96 – Serpent / Max
7. Christian Roenicke, 85 – Mugen / Novarossi
8. Andre Huntebrinker, 82 – Shepherd / Novarossi
9. Ralf Wacker, 22 – Serpent / Novarossi
10.Björn König, 0 – Mugen / Ninja

The Top 10 statistics: Mugen led in class 2 with six cars followed by three Serpent and one Shepherd. On engines it was again five for Novarossi, furthermore three for Ninja and one each for Mega and Max.

Round two on 15/16 May will mean the comeback of the 1/8 racers to the track of RMC Dueren following a long period with no championship races on this track quite close to the border of Belgium and The Netherlands.

Source: Nitro West [nitro-west.de]