Buerge wins in West Germany, Hepp takes title

The final battle for points of the 1/10 scale nitro on-road Western German Championship at Oberhausen saw Sebastian Buerge winning for the first time this season. But even with a victory the 2009 champion couldn’t avoid that Tobias Hepp, finishing third behind Andreas Weyhoven, captured the 2010 title and the prestigious starting number “1” for the 2011 season. In the Kyosho World Cup (KWC) group West local hero Werner Vogel earned his second win and the title in the GP-Race class while Holger Wittek took the title in GP-Sport.

Oberhausen, the mecca of rc racing in Western Germany, welcomed a total of 39 drivers with beautiful weather and temperatures in the mid 30´s. All the drivers enjoyed a great day of practise on Saturday under excellent conditions, only some bumps on the track made it not easy to set up the 1/10 nitro touring cars especially for the banked curve.

In the four heats it was Andreas Weyhoven with his Xray/Orcan package taking pole position just six tenth of a second clear of René Puepke (Mugen/Reds). Tobias Hepp (Serpent/Novarossi) and Benjamin Lehmann (Mugen/O.S.) also made it directly into the final.

Semi final B was a superior affair for Sebastian Buerge (Mugen/Reds) winning three laps ahead of Philip Krause (Kyosho/Novarossi). They were joined by third placed Reinhard Zick (Mugen/Novarossi) and fourth placed Marco Nenner (Kyosho/Novarossi) on their way into the final. From semi final A only Wolfgang Feldges (Xray/O.S.) and Hermann-Josef Fuchs (Mugen/Ninja) stepped up. The 30 minutes final saw several drivers with engine problems and cut-offs because of the heat. At the end it was a victory of rapidness and reliability when Sebastian Buerge crossed the finish line on first position. Andreas Weyhoven came in second two laps down of Buerge and only six tenth clear of Tobias Hepp. Fourth position went to Hermann-Josef Fuchs at his first entry into the 2010 championship.

Result of the final:
1. Sebastian Buerge, 127 – Mugen / Reds
2. Andreas Weyhoven, 125 – Xray / Orcan
3. Tobias Hepp, 125 – Serpent / Novarossi
4. Hermann-Josef Fuchs, 121 – Mugen / Ninja
5. Philip Krause, 121 – Kyosho / Novarossi
6. Rene Puepke, 118 – Mugen / Reds
7. Marco Nenner, 118 – Kyosho / Novarossi
8. Reinhard Zick, 114 – Mugen / Novarossi
9. Benjamin Lehmann, 91 – Mugen / O.S.
10.Wolfgang Feldges, 62 – Xray / O.S.

Statistics: Mugen had five chassis in the final with two Kyosho and Xray and one Serpent. On the engine side it has been four Novarossi, two Reds and O.S. and one Orcan and Ninja.

With 561 points (the top three out of four results) Tobias Hepp is the new champion of the Western German Championship 1/10 nitro on-road. In the runner-up spot it is René Puepke with 533 points. A total of 42 drivers gathered points in 2010, ten less in comparison to the 2009 season.

The top 10 of the 2010 championship:
1. Tobias Hepp, 561 points – Serpent / Novarossi
2. René Puepke, 533 – Mugen / Reds
3. Daniel Toennessen, 513 – Mugen / Novarossi
4. Uwe Baldes, 472 – Mugen / Orcan
5. Bernd Rausch, 454 – Kyosho / Team Orion
6. Jörg Baldes, 433 – Mugen / Orcan
7. Marco Nenner, 418 – Kyosho / Novarossi
8. Benjamin Lehmann, 413 – Mugen / O.S.
9. Dieter Fleischer, 383 – Kyosho / RB
10.Andreas Weyhoven, 380 – Xray / Orcan
=. Reinhard Zick, 380 – Mugen / Novarossi

In round four of the KWC West Werner Vogel took pole position already one lap ahead of Georg Goehlich. In the 30 minutes final it was much closer for Vogel who could caught victory with only a two seconds advantage on Carsten Pruessmann. Already eleven laps down was Udo Tappertzhofen on third spot of the podium.

Werner Vogel was the shining star of the 2010 KWC season winning two races and finishing second two times. With a total of 780 points the 64 years old expert really deserved the title in the GP-Race class. Marvin Schumann (733) ended up on second with Marco Nenner (635) on third. In the GP-Sport class Holger Wittek (682) took the crown only three points ahead of Robert Emmerich (679) who had only a one point advantage over Michael Stein (678). A total of 39 KWC enthusiasts entered the four rounds of the KWC West which was run together with the Western German Championship 1/10 for the very first time. Both parties have grown to a real rc family with a fair and friendly co-operation – a really positive effort.

Racing in Western Germany continues at the upcoming weekend with round three of the Western German Championship 1/8 at Dormagen near Cologne.

Source: Nitro West [nitro-west.de]