22.03.2016
By Bruno Eliazord. VRC PRO Reporter & Pro driver.
Don't wait for the week end to join us here at Sao Paulo de Brasil for the 3rd round of the 1/8 nitro sportscar spec championship !!! 65 drivers representing 13 nations came from all around the world to compete.
This track is special for at least two reasons. Firstable, in 2004, there was the 1/10 nitro world championship, with the win of Adrien Bertin in front of Josh Cyrul, and Takaagi Shimo (who had made no tire change during one hour), after an unbelievable battle ended by a magnificent overtake of Adrien on Josh at the second corner after the straight line. In second, this track is famous because of its layout quite difficult to describe. Some says it's « weird », some says « It's easy », but the fact is that nobody is indifférent to this unusual track. And be careful with all the dust out of the apex, the black driving line, or you will finish in the grass, or in the metal barriers !
Let's see what happened during the qualifying :
Club Class :
On 17 drivers, Nuno Lourenco leaves no chance to the others, with 24 laps in 7.05.664. Carl Huxford is second with 24 laps in 7. 13. 118. Ben jamin Krings is 3rd with 24 laps in 7.16. 488. Only these three drivers have been able to make 24 laps. Behind we can find Jodie Grein, Steeve Pardon, Scott Dickson, Martin Van Veldhoven, John Veal, Gary Climie, and Bert Poesen. So these are the ten drivers we will see in the Main Final.
Sport Class :
On 24 drivers, Robert Yelle has been the fastest with 26 laps in 7.22.630.Jacques Blanchin is second with 25 laps, but in fact he's close because his time is 7.00.658, so almost 26 laps for him. Than comes Aaron Roach with 25 laps in 7.12.660. Than follow Rudolf Aigner, Markus Aicher, Erwin Fiselberger, Hans Guenther Heitsch, Jonathan Csernack, Romain Lacroix, Johann Jury, and Tony Delmatro in the 10th spot.
Pro Class :
On 24 drivers, guess who has been the fastest ? Jeffrey Rietveld as ususal, 27 laps / 7.02.604, and the question remains the same : who is gonna be the kryptonite of Superman? One answer maybe : Joshua « Captain America » is not far at all : 27 laps / 7.08.912. In the 3rd spot there's Graham Raistrick with also 27 laps in 7.10.632, than we find in the 4th spot Giorgio Mingotti, Nuno Correia 5th, the french driver Alex Guillot 6th, Pierre Dumusc 7th (with who I had many fights for the win during other races. Good qualifying my friend), Benjamin Lehman 8th, Maurizio Mazzocchi 9th and a new commer in pro class : Michael Winkler at the 10th spot.
Club Class Main final :
Nuno Lourenco's car.
As soon as we hear the horn, Nuno lourenco, with his well chosen yellow colored car for this race in Brasil, take a start as if he was Ayrton Senna. Nobody is able to follow him. During the first meters, Benjamin Krings take also a quick start, jumping from the 3rd to the 2nd position, but he goes out two times in the first lap, losing many positions. At the end of first lap, Carl Huxford has taken back his second spot, followed by John Veal, Scott Dickson, Jodie Grein, Bert Poesen, Benjamin Kring, Gary Climie, Benjamin Krings, and M. Van Veldhoven in the last spot( Steve Pardon did not start).
Benjamin Krings has now a mission : do his best to put things right. He has no more time to lose if he wants to keep a chance to make a good result.
All the drivers have more or less the same difficulty to be consistents on this track, mainly in the large curv at the beginning of the straight line, where you have to drive carefully with the throttle if you don't want to finish in the grass, and in the « S » corner in the middle, where you can not pass, even slowly, if you're not on the apex.
At five minutes, Nuno Lourenco is more than ever in the lead with two laps in front of the consistent Carl Huxford, who is present in every club class main final. In the 3rd spot we can find Scott Dickson who has won one spot, behind him this is the return of the unlucky Benjamin Krings who has made a good progression from the 8th spot to the 4th.Jodie Grein has fallen from de 3rd to the 5th spot, Gary Climie is 6th, John Veal is 7th, Bert Poesen is now 8th, and in the 9th and last spot there's M. Van Veldhoven.
At ten minutes, Nuno Lourenco is now 3 laps in front of the second driver, which is not Carl Huxford anymore, who has been overtaken by the willing of revenge of Benjamin Krings, after his very bad first lap. Benjamin has also overtaken Scott Dickson, who is 4th, than comes Jodie Grein still in the 5th spot, followed by Gary Climie in the 6th spot, Bert Poesen is 7th, John Veal is 8th, and M Van Veldhoven is still 9th.
At 15 minutes, nothing really change, Nuno lourenco still plays the « Ayrton Senna's style » with his yellow car here in Brasil, and drive alone in the lead with consistents laps around 16.5 secondes. He is 3 laps in front of Benjamin Krings still second, than comes Carl Huxford in the 3rd spot, Scott Dickson in 4th, Jodie Grein 5th, Gary Climie 6th, Bert Poesen 7th, John Veal 8th, and M. Van Veldhoven 9th.
At the end of the race, nothing moves except several artistic stunts from time to time for every driver on this very demanding track. So we can see a fantastic win of Nuno Lourenco, followed by the also fantastic come back at the second spot of Benjamin Krings, than the consistent Carl Huxford. Well this is the podium of this race in class club. We will surely see them soon in the next round of this 1/8 Sportscar Spec Championship.
1/ Nuno Lourenco / 69 laps / 20.04.552
2/ Benjamin Krings / 65 laps / 20.05.808
3/ Carl Huxford / 64 laps / 20.01.260
4/ Scott Dickson / 62 laps / 20.12.296
5/ Jodie Grein / 61 laps / 20.01.756
6/ Gary Climie / 59 laps / 20.05.710
7/ Bert Poesen / 56 laps / 20.03.090
8/ John Veal / 55 laps / 20.10.768
9/ Martin Van Veldhoven / 54 laps / 20.01.706
10/ Steve Pardon / DNS
Sport Class Main Final :
The Jacques Balchin's overtake. Same than Adrien Bertin on Josh Cyrul in 2004.
Ready, steady, go ! Nine cars take the start of this race (Robert Yelle has forgotten to reccord his replay, and Markus Aicher did not start), and even if this is the « sport class », four drivers make a mistake during the first lap on this demandind layout. Hans Guenther Heitsch goes in the grass after the third corner, and after a good start from the first spot, Jacques Blanchin touches a curb. He is overtaken by Aaron Roach, started from the third spot, and who takes the lead. For the french guys, bad luck continues for Jonathan Csernack, also named « Bigmoustache's son », and Romain Lacroix. They go together in the grass in the large left corner before the straight line. I said it : always be carefull with the throttle there !
The race continues with in this order Aaron Roach in the lead, followed by Jacques Blanchin 2nd, Erwin Fiselberger 3rd, Rudolf Aigner 4th, Romain Lacroix 5th, Johann Jury 6th, Jonathan Csernack 7th, and Hans Gienther Heitsch 8th.
Jacques Blanchin after his mistake, has now a target : Aaron Roach in the first spot, and a weapon : his car. He's going to make a wonderfull overtake in the second lap, exactly the same way and at the same corner, than Adrien Bertin on Josh Cyrul during the Worlds 1/10 nitro in 2004 ! That's driving my friends ! But it's not finish yet. Maybe too happy of that, Jacques, few meters away, makes another mistake, and Aaron roach, still close, takes back the lead. But, it's still not finish ! Jacques Blanchin comes back on Aaron roach, and overtakes him again at the beginning of the straight line, because Aaron goes sideways at the end of the large corner. What a battle ! These two guys will never spend holidays together I think.
At five minutes, the ranking is : Jacques Blanchin still in the lead, followed by Aaron Roach, Rudolf Aigner is now 3rd thanks to his consistency. The same for Jonathan Csernack 4th, who makes a great race with a robot consistency driving, which is difficult on this special track. But things are not so easy for him because Erwin Fiselberger, who has lost two spots and is now is 5th, gives him a very hard time. These two guys offer us a wonderfull show. All is possible for them, and nothing is finished for anybody. Romain Lacroix is 6th, Johann Jury 7th, and Hans Guenther Heitsch is still in the last spot.
Go, go, go, the race is long and many things can change !
Before the ten first minutes, everybody has definitly found the good way to drive on this track, with a good pace for all the drivers, and rare small mistakes. Jonathan Csernack succeed in keeping his position in front of Erwin Fiselberger. We hope for him he will be able to keep that pace till the end. He drives better and better on VRC PRO. Betwin the other drivers there is only one change, when Rudolf Aigner passes Aaron Roach for the second spot, but he has to continue to push, because Aaron is less than one second behind. So watch your back Rudolf, Aaron wants his payback !
Jonathan and Erwin continue their battle, passing each other almost at every corner. During the 25th lap, Erwin hits a curb and then loses several meters on Jonathan. One lap later, he does exactly the same at the same place. Bad luck for him, good luck for Jonathan, but the show must go on !
Jonathan try to put his best laps, making even one in 16,734s when Erwin is in 17s/lap. During the 33th lap, the poor Erwin, who tries to give all he's got to make up the lost time on Jonathan, makes another mistake again ! Keep focus Erwin ! And for him, the miracle comes, when Jonathan goes wide in the big left and lands in the grass. What a pity for Jonathan, and good luck for Erwin.
For Rudolf Aigner and Aaron Roach, the battle continues more than ever. There' are few secondes between them, and we can feel the pressure. So much pressure that Rudolf who is pushing as hard as he can, is going to be (trahi) by the curse of this weird track : the big left before the straight line. At the 42th lap, he goes wide in the dust and his car goes sideways in the grass. Same punishment than Jonathan Csernack. Aaron Roach doesn't waste this chance to get back in the 2nd spot at 8 minutes of the end of the race.
At 15 minutes, the ranking is Jacques Blanchin still in the lead, streching the gap with Aaron Roach 2nd at one lap (considering that Robert Yelle has no replay). Rudolf Aigner is 3rd one lap behind Aaron. Erwin Fiselberger is 4th. Jonathan Csernack is 5th. Than comes Johann Jury in 6th, Romain Lacroix in 7th, and Hans Guenther Heitsch in the 8th and last spot.
Before the end of the race, there's a last battle between Jonathan Csernack and Johann Jury. Jonathan is still several seconds in front of Johann, but just at the end of the 49th lap, always at the same place, in the big left corner, he makes another mistake, and allows johann Jury to come back on him very close. Johann is a hunter, chasing his pray. During the 50th lap, Jonathan slightly touches the grass in the « S » corner, and Johann overtakes him.
You may think Jonathan is done now ? But you're wrong. Jonathan doesn't let Johann goes far away. He follows him, waiting for a mistake, and will jump like a (félin) to catch any possible chance to overtake. This chance will come at the 59th lap, when Johann touches the interior of the famous big left corner and bounces to the oposite side, going out in the grass just before the pit lane.
What an incredible battle ! And the suspence in not over, because one lap later, Jonathan makes his last pit stop. Everything seems to go right for him, but Johann does the same, the lap after, and his pit stop is even faster. So 1 minute 30 secondes before the end, he passes one last time Jonathan in the pit, and will defintly keep the 6th spot.
Finaly, a wonderful win for Jacques Blanchin (just in front of Robert Yelle in the same seconde).
1/ Jacques Blanchin / 70 laps / 20.02.280
2/ Robert Yelle / 70 laps / 20.02.348
3/ Aaron Roach / 69 laps / 20.12.528
4/ Rudolf Aigner / 68 laps / 20.14.790
5/ Erwin Fiselberger / 67 / 20.01.494
6/ Johann Jury / 67 laps / 20.11.980
7/ Jonathan Csernack / 67 laps . 20.13.598
8/ Romain Lacroix / 66 laps / 20.03.546
9/ Hans Guenther Heitsch / 65 laps / 20.01.216
10/ Markus Aicher / DNS
Pro Class Main Final :
The superheroes are ready for the battle on the track !
Now guys, this is the battle of the super heroes of VRC. These drivers have some super powers : some can fly on the track, some can frightened you so much that you will let them pass, some can trouble your mind with their strategy, well, you've understand, good luck if you want to fight with them, but, but, but, this the goal of every driver on VRC. This is exactly what the new commer in this class, Michael Winkler is trying to do. As we've seen during the qualifying, he has been able to do the 10th time that allwed him to take part of this final. Unfortunatly, he won't take the start.
Almost everybody take a good start, except Maurizio Mazocchi who has a little problem in the first left and in the first right. He has lost time, and nobody wait for him. Certainly not Jeffrey Rietveld who has already taken a fly on the « Superman's Airline Compagny » in the lead of the race.
At the end of the first lap, the ranking is : Jeffrey Rietveld first, than Graham «Raistrick 2nd, the exellent french driver Alex Guillot 3rd, Joshua Berman 4th, Nuno Correia 5th, Benjamin Lehmann 6th (who goes to loose in the big left and goes straight in the pit lane whitout stopping and losing time), Pierre Dumusc 7th, and Maurizio Mazzocchi 8th and last spot because Giorgio Mingotti and Michael Winkler did not start.
Lap after lap, Jeffrey Rietveld stretches the gap with the others, but at the beginning of the 13th lap, (maybe because it's the number 13 ? ), he commits a mistake, touching the curb inside the big left after the finish line, and bounces to the other side in the grass in front of the entry of the pit lane. This is the opportunity for Graham Raistrick who is following in the second spot, to come back a little bit closer.
Completly troubled by this mistake, Jeffrey, in the same lap, hits a trafic cone on the right side of the track. This is another opportunity for Graham, to reduce the gap from 4 seconds to 0,68 secondes. But Jeffrey is still in the lead, with Graham chasing him.
At the 14th lap, the troubles of Jeffrey are not finished. Still in the middle of the layout, he goes slightly in the grass and loses time and grip, so now Graham is beside him. These two super heroes, fight to know who is the strongest, but Jeffrey « Superman » Rietveld is too strong and fast for Graham. So he's able to take back a little space. What a « Marvel »ous battle !
At 5 minutes, If Jeffrey Rietveld is still unbeatable, Just behind Graham Raistrick has not given up, and he is at only 0.4 secondes of Superman. This battle is so great that we could have forgotten other fighters like Nuno « Wolverine » Correia, who is overexcited by his 3rd spot and the eventuality to win. But be careful, Joshua « Captain America » Berman is also here, hidden in the 4th spot. Alex « Spiderman » Guillot hangs on the 5th spot, Benjamin Lehmann is 6th, Pierre Dumusc is 7th, and Maurizio Mazzocchi continues to pay his bad start in this race, being the first driver on lap behind Jeffrey the leader.
At 10 minutes, nothing has changed, but Graham 2nd has a little difficulty to reach Jeffrey still in the lead. Now the gap is about 1,7 secondes. It's really few anyway. So, anything can happen until the end of this race.
At 15 minutes, nothing moves, except the fact that the gaps between the drivers become bigger and bigger. Now Graham is 6,4 seconds behind Jeffrey, Nuno Correia is still 3rd, Joshua Berman 4th, Alex Guillot 5th, Benjamin Lehmann 6th, Pierre Dumusc 7th, and Maurizzio Mazocchi 8th.
Finally Jeffrey Rietveld win this race ! Congratulation to him.This superguy is not human. Who will be able to beat him ? Stay tuned to follow the adventures of all the drivers in all classes in the next episode !!!
1/ Jeffrey Rietveld / 75 laps / 20.01.372
2/ Graham Raistrick / 75 laps / 20.10.728
3/ Nuno Correia / 74 laps / 20.05.320
4/ Joshua Berman / 74 laps . 20.08.392
5/ Alex Guillot / 74 laps / 20.17.358
6/ Benjamin Lehmann / 73 laps / 20.07.262
7/ Pierre Dumusc / 72 laps / 20.12.596
8/ Maurizio Mazzocchi / 70 laps / 20.06.022
9/ Giorgio Mingotti / DNS
10/ Michael Winkler / DNS
Interview with Nuno "Wolverine" Correia :
1- Pretty hard race for me, I didnt have time to practice so I had to make the practice during the qualify and without training it was hard to find good pace .Was not very happy with the time but was happy with the resoult, 5º with almost 27 laps.
In the final I know my pace was not fast enough to attack the guys in front of me, so I was more focus in trying to hang on to the 5º place.Also I was hoping for mistakes from everyone in this hard track.
Several minor mistakes and the defensive driving give me many 16s laps but with only one big mistake (that cost me +-3s) I was able to improve my pace from qualify and so I was confident I would keep the 5º place. End up with fabulous 3º place wich was not expected but is always welcome. :)
2- It's one of the tracks I like less to drive 1/8, not because the of the layout, which is challenging, but because the track is too "dirty" out of the driving lines...meaning every wheel out of the perfect line is potentially a huge lose of time and put you out of one good result.That makes the track very demanding and leave no space for fun/relax driving....only focus driving is
allowed here.
3- The car was very fast (15.22 my best lap) but wear tires too fast. So it was great for 7-8m, after that I lose front, and its very hard to keep good lines in some places like the big left corner before the straight line.
As 95% of the times Sandro huge help with the setups save the day (especially in the qualifying) so I would like to public thanks to Sandro!
4- Huge help to improve my driving in several ways, on top I would put focus and consistency.
To me the fact I can race in real tracks and with real rc drivers from all over the world with the same "engines and cars" just makes my eyes sparkle !
Its by far the better investment I have made in 18 years of rc, close to 270.000 km with 150€ is just unbeatable.
Countless hours if fun!Very close battles! Driving at any time of the day.
Finally the fact I dont need to worry if I brake car, push me over my own limits.
