Simon Kurzbuch wins Swiss 1/8th opener
The opening round of the Swiss On Road V8 and V10 Nationals took place in Aigle last weekend with 28 drivers in the V10-200mm class, 34 in the Amateur V8 class and 22 in the Expert V8 class competing in the excellent sunny weather. It was the fist time that both classes ran at the same place at the same time, but it was a well organised race and a good job by the team in Aigle during the whole weekend.
V10 – 200mm Class
There were some clear favorites on the start. Traugott Schär jr. with his Xray and also the young driver Shasa Lackner with his new KM H-K1, but also others had good chance to go to the podium. It was then not a big surprise that we have seen both on the top after qualification rounds. Lackner held the pole and Schär on 3rd place. During the 45 minute main final Schär was very fast and had an very fast opponant with Marc Heim, his Xray team mate. In the last part of the race Schär took the lead and went on to win. Lackner had some difficulties and retired before the end of the final. We are sure that we will see some very interesting competition in that class during running season.
Ranking List Main Final V10-200mm
1. Schär Traugott – 85L 30:08.510 (Xray NT1, Picco, GRP)
2. Heim Marc – 85L 30:12.599 (Xray NT1, Picco, GRP)
3. Reiser Marco – 80L 30:17.986 (Xray NT1, Picco, UFRA)
4. Pluemjit Kitisak – 77L 30:13.157 (Xray NT1)
5. Christian Lehnherr – 75L 30:06.117 (Xray NT1, Picco, GRP)
6. Bonetti Giovanni – L 30:17.389 (Capricorn LAB C01, Picco)
7. Felix Reto – 34L 12:58.831 (Serpent, Max, Blackstar)
8. Lackner Shasa – 29L 11:02.006 (KM H-K1, Murnan RBM, HotRace)
9. Meier Matthias – 6L 2:11.774
10.Ackermann Monika – 0L 0:00.000 (Xray NT1, Picco, GRP)
V8 Class
Most of the V8 drivers arrived Friday afternoon as usual for practice and testing new engines, cars and tyres with the goal to put he best setup on the car as possible. It was the first time we have seen the new cars of the season competing against others. There were the brand new Capricorn LAB C801 with four Raspeed Team drivers Michael Henzi, Rolf Suter (Experts), Pascal Kurzbuch and Ender Pacor (Amateurs). A lot of very fast drivers are still using the newest Shepherd Velox and Mugen MRX5 cars. So many new products like Contact, J-Tech and BlackStar tyres were there but also different fuel types like Capricorn, MLC, Runner Time and Meccamo.
The Amateur-Class were still starting with their 5 minute qualification rounds and the Experts with 7 minute runs. It was also the first time that the Expert Class ran to the new EFRA rules which no longer sees 4 direct qualifiers for the main final. Everybody must go through the quarter and semi-finals to get a start place in the main. It was a challenge for every driver and we have seen many interesting racing fights on the track in that class.
Ranking List Main Final Amateur V8
1. Sengstag Marc – 90L 30:09.793 (Mugen, Sirio, Matrix)
2. Giannakos Theo – 89L 30:05.172
3. Wirz Martin – 88L 30:07.955
4. Hulliger Hans Peter – 87L 30:03.799 (Shepherd, Max, Contact)
5. Biernat Christopher – 84L 30:05.916
6. Hajdekr Ales – 78L 28:48.307 (Mugen, Picco, GRP)
7. Schläpfer Roland – 58L 20:47.541
8. Noirat Jeremy – 50L 23:27.865
9. Schär Traugott – 16L 5:38.074 (Xray RX8, Picco, GRP)
10.Knorn Tom – 0L 0:00.000
World Championship Finalist Simon Kurzbuch, multiple Swiss Champion Marco Müller and also the current Swiss Champion Mattia Pesenti were the favourites for the win of the first Swiss Nats. It was also clear that the track record would be beaten. We have seen very competitive runs and registered the new track record of Sivio Hächler with his MRX5 and the Novarossi engine. The new trackrecord is now 17,445sec.
At the end of the main final it was Simon Kurzbuch on top of the podium. Marco Müller who was the fastest after the semi finals had some difficulties with the 2nd speed transmission and had to replace it during the final. He fought very hard and ended on the 3rd place while the very experienced ‘old boy’ Jürg Nydegger took 2nd place. Nydegger was setting the pace after Muller was in the pits. He was very fast until he had flamed out twice. Kurzbuch took the lead and could drive within his limits to take the victory.
It was also a very successful weekend for the Raspeed team with the brand new Capricorn LAB C801. Michael Henzi was qualified for the Expert Main Final and took the 9th place. During the warm-up round the engine flamed out and need to be replaced. The mechanics were running to get the new engine in the car and Henzi started a couple of minutes later into the race.
We had a very competitive and funny weekend. Some of the drivers tested their cars not only in the track but also in the small river close to the track??
Ranking List Main Final Expert V8
1. Kurzbuch Simon – 140L 45:13.549 (Shepherd, Chief Engine, Contact)
2. Nydegger Jürg – 139L 45:17.272 (Shepherd, Chief Engine, UFRA)
3. Müller Marco – 136L 45:03.420 (Shepherd, Max-Power, UFRA)
4. Geisser Andy – 136L 45:08.848 (Shepherd, Max-Power, Black Star)
5. Geisendorf Markus – 136L 45:09.984 (Motonica)
6. Pesenti Mattia – 135L 45:02.442 (Mugen, Novarossi)
7. Pethoud Christophe – 135L 45:11.538 (Motonica, Sirio, Capricorn)
8. Köhl Stefan – 128L 45:01.936 (Shepherd, Max-Power, UFRA)
9. Henzi Michael – 112L 45:05.218 (Capricorn LAB C801, Chief Engine, Contact)
10.Hächler Silvio – 41L 16:13.274 (Mugen, Novarossi, J-Tech)
Source: Raspeed [raspeed.com]
