Hagberg & Hönigl win at 2015 1/12th Euros

The 2015 EFRA 1/12th scale European Championships were held at the famous Hudy Racing Arena in Trencin, Slovakia this past weekend. Almost 100 entries from all over Europe split into the two classes of Modified and Stock. Practice and the first round of qualifiers were on schedule for Friday with 2014 European Champion Alexander Hagberg (Xray) being on rails from the early beginning as set the early pace in the Modified class while Hupo Hönigl (Serpent) placed himself on top of the timing sheets in the Stock class.

Qualifications continued on Saturday and in the Modified class the round 2 TQ went to British Champion Olly Jefferies (Xray) thanks to some consistent racing. Juho Levanen (Team Associated) succeeded in round 3 where he did not find any challenger. Alexander Hagberg, who made few mistakes in previous two qualification rounds, was able to get clean runs in the 4th and 5th qualifier to grab the overall TQ honours. In the 6th and final qualifying round Finn Juho Levanen came out successful which secured him the 2nd spot on the Modified class grid while Olly Jefferies rounded out the top 3 of the fastest 1/12th.

Modified qualification top 10:
1. Alexander Hagberg – Xray
2. Juho Levanen – Team Associated
3. Olly Jefferies – Xray
4. Markus Mobers – On-Point
5. Hubert Hönigl – Serpent
6. Martin Wollanka – Xray
7. Dominic Vogl – CRC
8. Mark Stiles – Yokomo
9. Tim Altmann – NA
10.Vesa Yli – V-Design

In the Stock class Hupo Honigl cruised to an unchallenged TQ, finishing first in the first five qualification rounds. Danish Xray driver Mike Gosvig, who had his maiden outing in 1/12th scale racing, showed great performance winning the last qualifier to secure an overall 2nd starting position on the grid. American Brian Wynn (CRC) qualified in 3rd position.

Stock qualification top 10:
1. Hubert Hönigl – Serpent
2. Mike Gosvig – Xray
3. Brian Wynn – CRC
4. Vesa Yli – V-Design
5. Simon Rubet – CRC
6. Christoffer Hedlund – VBC
7. Ollie Payne – Zen Racing
8. Leigh Burton – CRC
9. Robert Klier – TOP
10.Herbert Weber – CRC

The A-main finals in both the Modified and Stock class were on schedule for Sunday. In the opening final of the Modified class disaster stroke for TQ Alex Hagberg who was given a stop & go penalty following a jump start. This allowed Juho Levanen (Team Associated) to build a gap on the field but despite the penalty Alex was able to recover and to work his way up the field to eventually take over the lead and the win in A1 some 6 seconds in front of Juho Levanen. Olly Jefferies (Xray) rounded out the top 3 for now. In the second A-main Alexander Hagberg got a clean start and he was able to cruise to an undefeated win which also meant that he would add another 1/12th scale European Championship title to his tally. In A3 Juho Levanen showed great patience when he was able to get a clean run and to finish 1st in front of Olly Jefferies who made several attempts to overtake the Finn but he did not succeed and so Olly finished in 3rd overall while Juho grabbed the Vice-Championship in the Modified class.

Modified overall top 10 result:
1. Alexander Hagberg – Xray
2. Juho Levanan – Associated
3. Olly Jefferies – Xray
4. Dominic Vogl – CRC
5. Markus Mobers – On-Point
6. Hubert Hönigl – Serpent
7. Martin Wollanka – Xray
8. Vesa Yli – V-Design
9. Mark Stiles – Yokomo
10.Tim Altmann – NA

In Stock class Hupo Hönigl (Serpent) held off intense pressure from Mike Gosvig (Xray) who made an early mistake which put him at the end of the field but the Dane showed great performance and was able to recover to 2nd place, putting good pressure on the leader. Towards the end of the run Mike made contact with Hupo but he showed great sportsmanship and let Hupo slip into the lead again which also handed the Austrian the win. Mike Gosvig came in 2nd while Brian Wynn finished in 3rd place. A2 again had Hupo taking the win to take the overall win and the 2015 EFRA European 1/12th Stock Championship title early. The final A-main leg would then decide on the remaining podium spots and this time the battle was on between Mike Gosvig and Brian Wynn. At the end Mike took an undefeated win from Brian to finish on the runner-up spot while Brian had to settle for 3rd overall.

Stock overall top 10 result:
1. Hubert Hönigl – Serpent
2. Mike Gosvig – Xray
3. Brian Wynn – CRC
4. Vesa Yli – V-Design
5. Simon Rubet – CRC
6. Christoffer Hedlund – VBC
7. Ollie Payne – Zen Racing
8. Leigh Burton – CRC
9. Robert Klier – TOP
10.Herbert Weber – CRC

Source: Hudy Racing Arena [hudyarena.com]