October 12, 2014

Coelho wins A1

Coelho wins A1

Bruno Coelho has won the opening A-Main at the World Championships in Florida, an early coming together between the Yokomo’s of Top Qualifier Naoto Matsukura and Ronald Volker handing the Xray driver a lead that would never be challenged. Some distance behind the Portuguese sensation, Tamiya’s Marc Rheinard would finish second from fourth on the grid with Matsukura recovering for third ahead of Volker. The opening final of the 8th running of the IFMAR event, a loose track made for a difficult race with many drivers critical of the decision to run the Main race first rather than at the end of the opening round of lower finals. Just how bad conditions were was highlighted by the fastest lap of the final qualifier and first A-Main, both set by Coelho, with him posting a 17.2 in Q6 and only a best of 18.4 in A1.

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October 12, 2014

Matsukura is Top Qualifier in Kissimmee

Matsukura is Top Qualifier in Kissimmee

Naoto Matsukura is Top Qualifier for the Electric Touring Car World Championships in Florida, the Yokomo driver claiming his second overall TQ off the event having secured pole position for the 1:12 Worlds earlier in the week. With the sixth & final qualifier at the Kissimme track a three way Top Qualifier showdown between Matsukura, Ronald Volker and star of the event Bruno Coelho it was the Xray driver who would top the concluding round as both Yokomo drivers crashed. Making a last lap mistake himself, even without this Coelho’s time would not been quick enough to secure the top spot as all three drivers ended up on 2-points with 2 x TQs and a second as their counting 3 of 6 rounds. Setting the fastest run of qualifying in the opening round of qualifying two days earlier it was this time that would give Matsukura his fourth World Championship TQ, with Volker’s Round 5 pace securing him second ahead of Coelho. For defending champion manufacturer Tamiya, Marc Rheinard will head their challenge from fourth on the grid with Champion Jilles Groskamp taking up the rear of the grid in 10th position.

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October 12, 2014

3-way showdown to decide overall TQ in final qualifier

3-way showdown to decide overall TQ in final qualifier

The final round of qualifying at the Touring Car World Championships in Florida will be a three way showdown between Yokomo’s Naoto Matsukura & Ronald Volker and surprise of the event Bruno Coelho. Bringing Day 3 of the Kissimmee event to a close, the penultimate round of qualifying saw Matsukura throw away an almost certain overall TQ as he put his BD7 into the wall at the end of the straight just before the halfway mark while on target to top the times for a third time. This allowed team-mate Volker to TQ the round ahead of Coelho’s Xray and a much improved Atsushi Hara. Overnight it is Matsukura who holds the provisional TQ thanks to a faster time for the first of his two TQ runs meaning that Volker needs to TQ the morning’s final qualifier while Coelho needs to do so with the fastest time of the six rounds.

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October 11, 2014

Yokomo domination continues as Matsukura tops Q3

Yokomo domination continues as Matsukura tops Q3

Yokomo continues to be the dominant force in qualifying at the 8th running of the electric Touring Car World Championships in Florida. Continuing the form of the opening two qualifiers again it was a Yokomo 1-2, with Naoto Matsukura posting a second TQ run ahead of Q2 pace setter Ronald Volker with the pair separated by just 1/10th of a second. A considerable three & a half seconds off, Marc Rheinard was again best of the rest with the Tamiya driver posting another third fastest time.

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October 11, 2014

Volker TQ’s second qualifier

Volker TQ's second qualifier

Ronald Volker got Day 3 of the Touring Car World Championships underway with a TQ run, the second round of qualifying again producing a Yokomo 1-2 with yesterday’s Q1 pace setter Naoto Matuskura second fastest. Tamiya’s Marc Rheinard would again complete the Top 3 with the surprise of the event Bruno Coelho posting an impressive fourth for Team Xray.

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October 11, 2014

Matsukura takes first qualifier at Touring Car Worlds

Matsukura takes first qualifier at Touring Car Worlds

Naoto Matsukura headed a Yokomo 1-2 in the opening round of qualifying at the Touring Car World Championships in Kissimmee, the Japanese driver 1.2 seconds faster than team-mate Ronald Volker over 5-minutes. The only other driver to run 18-laps of the Full Throttle RC Raceway track, Tamiya’s Marc Rheinard completed the Top 3, finishing just 1/10th of a second off Volker. Having some issues with traffic and suffering a crash reigning champion Jilles Groskamp got his title defence underway with an 8th for Q1.

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October 11, 2014

Team Associated Apex Scion Racing tC RTR

Team Associated Apex Scion Racing tC RTR

Team Associated’s latest incarnation of their Apex entry-level touring car is the Scion Racing iC RTR kit. Built on an all-wheel-drive chassis, the Scion Racing tC Rocket Bunny replica comes fully assembled and Ready-to-Run with factory installed Reedy brushless motor and a Reedy WolfPack 6-cell battery wired with a high current T-plug. Additional features include the XP water-resistant speed control and XP 2.4GHz radio system. The front and rear sealed metal gear differentials are connected together with a tough aluminium drive shaft and imperfections in the road are managed by four adjustable fluid-filled coil-over tuned shocks. High grip treaded racing tyres are mounted on scale replica 5-Spoke hex drive wheels featuring detailed brake rotors and callipers. Topping it all off is the factory finished Scion Racing tC Rocket Bunny body that replicates the details of Fredric Aasbo’s Hankook Racing Scion tC.

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October 10, 2014

Coelho stars in slower CP2

Coelho stars in slower CP2

European Championship Top Qualifier Bruno Coelho caused a bit of a surprise in the second round of controlled practice with the Xray driver setting the second fastest time behind Ronald Volker. In general a slower practice, due to it taking place during the hottest time of the day, the Portuguese driver’s time was good enough to put him third overall in the reseed for qualifying. Topping the time sheets, Volker couldn’t improve on his CP1 pace due to the hotter conditions but also compounded by an issue of his opening lap starting early due to position of his car on the start line. Race officials have since moved and marked out a new starting line further back around the corner on which the loop is positioned.

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