Catanzani Top Seed in Chile, as Ripoll impresses with P2
Andrea Catanzani is the Top Seed for the 24th running of the IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship but it is the pace of French driver Maxime Rapoll which is the big surprise in Chile. The Top Qualifier at the 1:8 GT Worlds back in September, Catanzani’s Serpent would top the times in opening and closing runs of the day, the schedule made up of fourth seeding rounds. In the second round it was Rapoll’s Xray that raised a few eyebrows as he set the fastest time ahead of 2019 World Champion Shoki Takahata. Round 3 would see Takahata go fastest and the factory Mugen Seiki driver seeds 3rd for qualifying tomorrow when we will have the first 3 of the 6 rounds of 7-minute qualifiers. After a bad start to seeding, Toni Gruber would make it four different manufacturers at the top as the Capricorn driver solved his engine/glowplug issues and managed a 4th and a 3rd to end the day 4th. One of the favourites coming into this World Championship, Japan 2023 Top Qualifier Simon Kurzbuch, didn’t have the day he was looking for finding himself in P5 and with work to do for tomorrow. Celebrating his birthday today, drivers from the 16 nations racing at these Worlds singing Happy Birthday to him at the end of the opening ceremony, British driver Alex Thurston made it three Mugen MRX7s in the Top 6.
