February 23, 2020

Groskamp wins A1 at TITC as Sobue crashes out

Jilles Groskamp has taken the opening A-Main at the TITC, the Infinity driver challenging his team-mate Akio Sobue before the Top Qualifier crashed out at the 3-minute mark. A much more competitive looking Groskamp, who qualified second, was able to put Sobue under pressure for the first 2-minutes of the race before things settled down and the Japanese driving managed to get himself some breathing room. Suddenly it all turned on its head as Sobue came around to complete his 12th lap, his car shooting off into the barrier as a loose pinion meant he couldn’t brake. With Groskamp well clear of the rest of the field, the Dutch driver could cruise to the finish 2.8-seconds ahead of Viktor Wilck while, taking full advantage of the many incidents in the race, Nicholas Lee came through from 8th on the grid to complete the Top 3.

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February 22, 2020

Akio completes quali clean sweep, Groskamp to start 2nd

Having wrapped up the overall TQ in the penultimate round of qualifying at the 2020 TITC, Akio Sobue has gone on to complete the clean sweep by making it four out of four in the final round.  Having topped seeding on Thursday, the Infinity driver has maintained a distinct advantage over his rivals taking the final qualifier ahead of fellow countryman & new for 2020 team-mate Ryosuke Yamamoto, his advantage once again a commanding 3-seconds. With Naoto Matsukura getting up on two wheels during his final attempt, Jilles Groskamp would hold onto his second place starting position, the Dutch driver finishing 3rd ahead of Naoto in the weekend’s fastest heat.  Meen Vejrak again managed a Top 5 run and the fastest lap of Q4, Day 2 of qualifying going much better than yesterday, and with that result the Yokomo driver will line-up 6th for tomorrow’s A-Mains when four Yokomos will go up against six Infinitys.

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February 22, 2020

Sobue is Top Qualifier at 2020 TITC

Akio Sobue is the Top Qualifier at the 2020 TITC, the Infinity driver locking up pole position at the 18th running of Asia’s premiere touring car event when he opened Day 2 of qualifying with yet another TQ run.  The 2018 Champion, who took that victory from 4th on the grid, made it three from three in the penultimate round of qualifying at the Infinity Addict Circuit, this time ahead of team-mate Naoto Matsukura.  The only other driver to complete 20-laps in the much hotter afternoon conditions, the former World Champion was over 3-seconds back despite a less than perfect 5-minutes from Sobue. Viktor Wilck completed the Top 3 for the round by just 2/10ths of a second from Jilles Groskamp while Yokomo’s Meen Vejrak enjoyed his best qualifying result so far to breaking up an all Infinity Top 6 with P5.  Behind the Thai driver TITC debutant Ryosuke Yamamoto set the sixth fastest time ahead of the Yokomo’s of Nicholas Lee and Hayato Ishioka.

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February 21, 2020

Sobue remains in control with another TQ run at TITC

Akio Sobue remains firmly in control at the TITC with the Infinity driver posting another TQ run for a perfect first day of qualifying at the Thai event.  Having taken the opening qualifier from team-mate Jilles Groskamp, the top seed was again quickest from the Dutch driver in the second of the day’s two qualifiers but this time with an even bigger margin of 3.1-seconds.  Having crashed out in the opening qualifier, Naoto Matsukura would complete the Top 3 after a mistake from team-mate Viktor Wilck on the final lap.  An all Infinity Top 6, the coronavirus having seen a lot of the race’s regular title contenders opting not to travel this year, Atsushi Hara took the top honours for the others setting the 7th fastest time with his HB Racing project car ahead of the Yokomo’s of Charlee Phutiyotin and Nicholas Lee.

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February 21, 2020

Akio takes opening qualifier at TITC

Having topped seeding at the Infinity Addict Circuit yesterday, Akio Sobue carried his speed into qualifying at the TITC taking the opening round in Bangkok. The Infinity driver would TQ the first of the four qualifiers by 2.6-seconds from team-mate Jilles Groskamp with it an all Infinity Top 5. While Naoto Matsukura would break after contact with the track barriers, Viktor Wilck would set the third fastest time ahead of surprise of Q1,  Ryosuke Yamamoto.  Running in the 2nd fastest heat after being 12th fastest in seeding he would set the fourth fastest time ahead of Jin Sawada.  Best of the rest would be Yokomo’s Nicholas Lee who was a disappointed 6th ahead of team-mate Meen Vejrak.  Having shown strong in seeding with the second fastest time, Yokomo’s Souta Goto visibly struggled, quickly being passed on track by Groskamp and eventually posting the 9th fastest time.

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February 20, 2020

Sobue tops seeding at TITC

Akio Sobue has topped seeding at the TITC, with the Infinity driver quickest from Yokomo’s Souta Goto over 3-consecutive laps of this year’s high speed layout at the Infinity Addict Circuit. In the first of the two controlled practice runs, the 2018 Champion was fastest from team-mate Naoto Matsukura but rocket round conditions for the second round produced a big improvement in times as Sobue went almost half a second clear, this time ahead of Goto who was placed in the slowest of the much depleted Modified field. Jilles Groskamp completed the Top 3 ahead of Viktor Wilck, while Matsukura, unable to better his opening time, dropped to fifth with Atsushi Hara completing the Top 6. Unfortunately the coronavirus has impacted hugely on the international entry at the 18th running of Asia’s most famous RC. Concerns over the health of their drivers in travelling to Asia means multiple champions Xray are not in attendance meaning we wont get the opportunity to watch Alexander Hagberg attempt to defend the title he won here last year. Also missing from the entry are TITC regulars and World Champions Bruno Coelho, Ronald Volker and Marc Rheinard.

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February 18, 2020

ORCA sign Naoto Matsukura

ORCA have announced the signing of multi-time IFMAR World Champion, Naoto Matsukura to their team. Naoto joins his World caliber team members Akio Sobue and Jilles Groskamp and he will be powering his Infinity rides using ORCA electronics for the 2020 season starting at this week’s 2020 TITC race in Bangkok, Thailand.

Source: ORCA [orcarc.com]

February 11, 2020

Ronald Völker victorious at ETS Daun

Ronald Völker took a spectacular victory at the ETS in Daun, Germany this weekend, as the Yokomo driver made advantage of his pole position to hold off two intense challenges from the second place starting Marc Rheinard. The first A Final was one of the closest races in Touring Car for many years, as Marc sat glued to the rear bumper of Ronald for the first half of the race. Marc, now racing for Tonisport following his departure from the Infinity team at the end of 2019, was using an Awesomatix chassis and showed to be evenly matched on pace with Ronald. Twice Marc managed to get his car alongside his long-time rivals, but both times, Ronald was able to fight back and narrowly hold the lead. Into the second half of the race, Ronald seemed to settle into a better rhythm and was able to open a small gap to Marc. Bruno Coelho, starting fourth on the grid for Xray, got past third place qualifier Yannic Prumper as the attention of the crows was focussed on the top two.

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