2019 Romanian Nationals – Report
The Romanian Nationals for 1:8 and 1:10 IC & electric (super stock & touring / juniors and seniors) concluded last weekend on the beautiful asphalt track in Frumusani, just 25 km away from Romanian’s Capital, Bucharest. Hot weather raised the air temperature above 35 degrees and the sun warmed the track over 55 degrees Celsius. Track layout favoured high speed under high grip conditions with the busy schedule starting Friday and allowed only 3 qualifications for each class. From day one till the end, drivers confronted changing grip conditions and cars needed setup changes frequently.
In both 1:10 electric and IC class, tire strategy was probably the most important setup over the whole weekend. In both 1:10 Stock and Touring Juniors, Razvan Stroe dominated the race and concluded the Stock class win with 2 consecutive wins in the first 2 legs, while his Awesomatix A800 simply flying on the track with the rest of the drivers finishing one lap behind him. Final ranking was the same in both Stock and Touring classes, with Razvan Stroe taking first place, Alexandru Matei – 2nd and Abidallah Al Fihan taking the 3rd position.
On the 1:10 Stock and 1:10 Touring classes, only the 3rd overall named a different driver. In the 1:10 Stock, Robert Mustareata (Xray) took the 2nd place in the end, with a win in the 1st leg, a faulty tire strategy in the 2nd leg and a 3rd position in the final leg. Mircea Serban, the more experienced driver, took the win with his Yokomo, after some close fight with Andrei Stoiciu – Yokomo (3rd position overall) in the 2nd and final leg.
The 1:10 Touring class, had Florin Popescu (Xray) and Mircea Serban (Yokomo) dwelling for the 2nd overall, while Robert Mustareata (Xray) just cruised for the 1st with no much pressure from the two.
Probably the most important of the weekend – the 1:10 IC Seniors – presented a beautiful fight between the two experienced pilots – Catalin Matei (Serpent) and Mircea Serban (Xray), the later finishing second overall. Les than one track length between the two, the end of the race was epic. What could have been a total disaster for Catalin Matei (choosing 40 rear tire shore and 37 front tire shore with no tire changing during the race) turned out to be the the winning strategy, because Mircea Serban (first time running that particular Xray NT1 kit) took the decision to use harder tires, thus having less grip. Catalin Matei (128 laps) barely couldn’t finish the race (rear right tire completely worn-out) finished just seconds in front of Mircea Serban (128 laps). 3rd place on the podium hosted Alexandru Necula (110 laps).
In 1:10 IC Juniors, the young but skilled Alexandru Matei finished first, followed by Romeo Gheaburcu and Biro George.
In 1:8 IC Juniors, Alexandru Matei finished 1st with just 2 laps in front of George Onicu (2nd) and 9 laps in front of Romeo Gheaburcu (3rd).
Finally, the 1:8 IC Seniors, hosted Alexandru Necula (1st), Ovidiu Tiron (2nd) and Alexandru Chitu (3rd).
Thanks to Robert Mustareata for the report.
