November 29, 2017

Pablo Fernández & Rubén Rodríguez win at EL1TE Race

The newly refurbished indoor track of Team Astur RC played host to the EL1TE Race 2017 recently. The race, held in Gijón, in the north of Spain, saw an attendance of 60 drivers coming from all parts of northern Spain keen to race their 1/10th 2WD Buggies and Short Course trucks. Most drivers took the opportunity to practice on Saturday morning in order to adapt their rides to the grippy and bumpy astro surface until the seeding heats started early in the afternoon. In the 2WD buggy class, it was Pablo Fernández Rodríguez (Team Associated) who set the fastest three consecutive laps followed by David Bárcena (Xray) and Vari García (Xray), ahead of a pack of drivers where laptimes were incredibly close. Qualifying would be no different as Pablo managed to set an incredible pace –being the only driver to go around the track 12 times in all the five qualifying sessions and coming ahead in four out of five qualifying heats with only David Bárcena (Xray) managing to win only one heat and setting the fastest lap as Vari García took the 3rd position.

The first A-main was a close affair between Pablo and David as the former finished only 3 seconds ahead after 7:00.490 minutes and 16 laps of a closely contested battle. The rest of the drivers only managed to complete 15 laps. The technical layout of the track saw how Pablo Fernández Rodríguez secured the 1st position as he took the win in the second A-main, with 16 laps in 7:09.530 while Bárcena could catch second spot after a gap of almost ten seconds (16 laps in 7:19.527). Vari García (16L 7:26.063) came in 3rd again making it very difficult for the youngster Álvaro Fernández (16L 7:26.542), who had battled with García for the 3rd position, to get to the podium. With everything almost tied for the first three drivers, A-main 3 would be just a repetition of the other two, with Pablo sweeping with a relaxed driving, Bárcena catching the 2nd spot but with Vari García making some mistakes and completing only 14 laps, allowing Álvaro Fernández to run away with the 3rd position with 15 laps in 7:11.092 minutes.

2WD Buggy final results:
1. Pablo Fernández Rodríguez
2. David Bárcena
3. Vari Garcia
4. Alvaro Fernández Calvo
5. Javier Fernandez Rodriguez
6. Oscar Zamarreño
7. Gonzalo Fernández Rodríguez
8. Juan Fernández Tuya
9. Jose Angel Medio Villazón
10.Israel Diaz Alvarez

In the Short Course class, seeding saw how Galician driver, Didier Arcas taking the first spot, ahead of Alex Laguardia and Clemente Rodríguez, with similar lap times among the first seven drivers. Qualifying heats took place on Saturday afternoon when Didier Arcas topped the first two qualifying sessions, completing 10 laps in 5:15 minutes and thus securing the pole position for the finals. Rubén Rodríguez managed to end up in 2nd position after coming in 1st and 2nd in two of the rounds, Q3 and Q5 respectively. The 3rd sport was obtained by Rafa Calvo who also finished 1st and 2nd in two of the five heats, Q4 and Q2. Enrique Antuña could also climb to the 1st position in Q5 and 2nd in Q4 taking the 4th position overall after the qualifying heats. The enormous equality among these drivers would be patent during the mains.

The first A-main was very contended from the beginning as Rafa Calvo led most of the final with Rubén Rodríguez behind him very closely, being bumper to bumper most of the race and constantly overtaking each other. Unfortunately for Rafa Calvo, he made a mistake in the penultimate corner of their final lap, handing Rubén the 1st position by less than three tenths of a second. Didier Arcas fell far behind them trying to fight in the middle of the pack where several collisions took place, leaving him without any chance to win the round. Didier would however make a comeback during A2, dominating the leg right from the start and soaring to the finish line. Clemente Rodríguez would climb positions to claim the 2nd spot from Rafa Calvo, who had been on the runner-up spot most of the leg, crossing the finish line two seconds ahead. The third A-main was expected to be thrilling as four drivers, Rubén Rodríguez, Didier Arcas, Rafa Calvo and Clemente Rodríguez, had possibilities to run away with the title. From the beginning, it was clear that Didier, Rubén and Rafa would fight for the first position but it was Didier who set the pace early on, chased by Rubén while Rafa had to play it safe due to traction roll problems. In the 6th lap, Rubén could finally take on Arcas who had made a little mistake that would, in the end, give the overall win to Rubén Rodríguez. Rafa Calvo ended up 3rd, way behind the first two drivers.

Short Course final results:
1. Rubén Rodríguez
2. Didier Arcas
3. Rafa Calvo
4. Clemente Rodriguez Lavin
5. Enrique Antuña
6. Alex Laguardia
7. Mario Antuña Heras
8. Marcos Santamaria Agraso
9. Ruben Del Canto Rodriguez
10.Francisco Javier Vaquero Alvarez

Thanks to Dany Fedz for the report.



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