August 18, 2018

Volker again in Q3

Ronald Volker added another TQ run to his tally at the Touring Car World Championships when he backed up the Day’s opening qualifier with another in the 3rd round.  After a disappointing start to qualifying last night, the Yokomo driver is having a much better run today with the reigning champion again having the edge over Bruno Coelho.  Interestingly despite Q3 being on used tyres both Volker and Coelho ran almost identical times to the Q2 which was on new tyres.  Behind the two pre-race favourites it was Viktor Wilck who completed the Top 3 at the Welkom RC Arena ahead of Freddy Sudhoff.  Together with Christopher Krapp who got a P6 for the round, all three drivers who were involved in the same pile up in Q2 reported their cars to have suffered no effects from the dramatic last lap incident.  Ahead of Krapp, Alexander Hagberg would cap off the first half of qualifying with a P5.

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August 18, 2018

Volker survives dramatic finish to take Q2 in South Africa

Ronald Volker has taken the second round of qualifying at the Electric Touring Car World Championships in South Africa.  The reigning champion kicked off Day 3 of the event by topping the first of the day’s 4 qualifier from last night Q1 winner Bruno Coelho with a dramatic finish to the heat eliminating three of the leading contenders.  P2 in the opening qualifier, Freddy Sudhoff was again in the hunt for a top result being right in contention for a TQ this time round but on his final run through the fast chicane he hit the board bouncing out into the path of Viktor Wilck who then got collected by Christopher Krapp. With all three cars instantly retiring and being attended to by a marshall, Volker would somehow run through the carnage unscathed to finish his final lap securing a TQ run 4/10ths up on Coelho.  Benefiting from the pile-up, Alexander Hagberg would complete the Top 3 nearly 3-seconds behind with Loic Jasmin inheriting a P4 ahead of Meen Vejrak and Nicholas Lee, the latter running in the second fastest heat group.

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August 17, 2018

Coelho takes opening qualifier in Welkom

Bruno Coelho has taken the opening round of qualifying at the Electric Touring Car World Championships in Welkom, South Africa.  The Xray driver topped Q1 in a more convincing time than expected having a 2-seconds advantage over Freddy Sudhoff who in turn was just 4/10ths up on Viktor Wilck.  For Top Seed & reigning Champion Ronald Volker it was not the start to qualifying the Yokomo driver was looking.  He suffered contact with the wall on the main straight after losing his car on the curbing entering the straight dropping him to fifth where he would remain to the end.  Instead it was Christopher Krapp who was top Yokomo with a P4 for the first of the six rounds with Alexander Hagberg completing the Top 6 to end Day 2 of the 10th running of the championships.

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August 17, 2018

Volker top seed in South Africa

Practice at the Electric Touring Car World Championships in South Africa has finally concluded and it is the reigning champion Ronald Volker who is the top seed for qualifying.  The Yokomo driver topped 2 of the three rounds of controlled practice but it it was his 3-consecutive laps from CP1 that was the time to beat. Bruno Coelho would top the final practice getting much closer to Volker than before, the fastest time separated by 0.073 of a second.  While Coelho was happier with his CP3 pace, it was his team-mate Alexander Hagberg who made the biggest improvement in the final practice as he was second fastest with a time that moved him up to the No.3 seeding position.  Like Volker, Viktor Wilck’s best time would come from CP1 leaving him 4th overall ahead of Christopher Krapp, who suffered a huge crash in CP2, and Freddy Sudhoff.  In a change to the previously reported rule that drivers who have to run a set of tyres from CP1 or 2 in the opening qualifier all drivers will now have the option to run new tyres.  There were complaints following the first two controlled practices regarding the definition of the ruling and the 95% race pace ruling.  A number of drivers backed off considerably after posting 3-laps which would have seen a large percentage of drivers disqualified.  Another issue arose from the fact the ruling was in the Stage Report but was deleted from the IFMAR rule book.  In the end it was decided all drivers would be allowed new sets of tyres for CP3 and Q1 after which the new ruling regarding when a driver must choose new and used tyres will be implemented.

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August 17, 2018

Volker tops first controlled practice at Worlds

Ronald Volker has set the pace in the first controlled practice at the Electric Touring Car World Championships in South Africa. With finally things turning official after 10 rounds of free practice, the Yokomo driver set the fastest 3-consecutive seeding laps ahead of yesterday’s free practice leader Bruno Coelho, the pre-race favourites separated by just 2/10ths around the large Welkom track.  Behind, Viktor Wilck put in the 3rd fastest time, the 2016 podium finisher only 8/100ths off Coelho. Christopher Krapp was next up with the fourth quickest time ahead of Alexander Hagberg with Freddy Sudhoff completing the Top 6.  Tyre management was an important element of CP1 with drivers having to run new tyres in the opening two controlled practices before reusing them for CP3 and more importantly the opening qualifier which takes place this evening.

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August 16, 2018

Coelho fastest after Day 1 in South Africa

Bruno Coelho is the fastest man in South Africa at the end of the opening day of the 10th running of the IFMAR Electric Touring Car World Championships.  The Xray driver was fastest with his time from the penultimate round of the day’s eight rounds of free practice moving ahead of reigning champion Ronald Volker. Volker who was fastest for the first part of the day with his Round 4 time standing his best of the day would top the final practice but overall was 3/10ths off Coelho, a margin that is smaller that it sounds given the fastest 3-consecutive laps is 1:10.736. Christopher Krapp backed up Yokomo’s form at the Welkom RC Arena by posting the 3rd fastest time of the day posting his best laps in Round 7.  While drivers reported the otherwise pretty consistent track to be slightly slower for the final practice, Freddy Sudhoff managed to improve on his time ending the day 4th ahead of Swedes Viktor Wilck and Alexander Hagberg.

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August 16, 2018

Volker sets early pace at World Championships

Ronald Volker is the early pace setter at the 1:10 Electric Touring Car World Championships in South Africa. With four of the opening day’s 8 scheduled free practice sessions complete, the reigning Champion’s Yokomo was fastest over 3-consecutive laps of the impressive Welkom RC Arena track from Bruno Coelho. The 10th running of the Touring Car World Championships, this will be the first title to be decided indoors since the inaugural Worlds back in 2000 but such is the size of the brand new facility the fastest laps seen so far are taking a rather lengthy 23-seconds. Behind Volker and Coelho it was Freddy Sudhoff who was third quickest ahead of Viktor Wilck who completed the Top 4 to represent the fourth of the manufacturers with factory team representation at the event. Behind Wilck, Christopher Krapp was 5th fastest ahead of new 1:12 World Champion Alexander Hagberg.

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August 15, 2018

Alexander Hagberg crowned 1/12th scale World Champion

The 2018 IFMAR Electric On-road World Championships are held in Welkom, South Africa this week, hosted by the amazing Welkom RC Arena. The facility was built especially for the event and it is a true world-class one. The event kicked off with the 1/12th scale classes with an open Modified and supporting Stock 13.5T class being run at the event. Unfortunately only 29 entries were received for both categories, giving the feeling of a club race event with international participation. Despite the very low turnout racing was tight, however in the Modified it was Xray’s Alexander Hagberg who stood out by making a clean sweep in qualifying to take an easy overall TQ from Morotech’s Hideo Kitazawa and Xray’s Florian Joos.

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