01.12.2017

Report by Kevin Bacon

The 2017 VRC Nitro On-Road World Championships got underway with the first event, the 1/10 Nitro On-Road Spec Class. There were 110 racers from all over the globe who competed in the year-end finale, all hoping to obtain the coveted crown of VRC World Champion. Cincinnati 2003 was racetrack location. One mistake could cost racers seconds on the large, high-speed Cincinnati racecourse. As such, clean, consistent laps, with tight lines were essential in every round of the competition.

Pro level

Qualifying
“Juggernaut” Joshua Berman of the United States, who took home the 1/10 Nitro Spec crown in 2016, looked to make a repeat performance in 2017. However, this year’s competition was tight for the Juggernaut. Berman kept his composure in qualifying and claimed the top qualifying (‘TQ’) position with a run of 13 laps 5:06.738. Finland’s Jukka-Pekka Huhtala (‘Jupe’) was hot on Berman’s heels with a qualifying time of 13 laps in 5:08.904, just 2.1 seconds back. The 2016 1/10 Nitro On-Road modified World Champion, Andrea Giordano (IT), qualified .3 seconds behind Jupe with a time of 13 laps in 5:09.182. Jimmy “LTO” Flack, the oval master and multiple VRC World Champion, rounded out the top 10 qualifiers with a 13 lap 5:15.740 run time, only 9 seconds back from the leader. The top 10 racers were separated by a total time of 9 seconds, or about 1/3 of a lap on this monster track. Suffice it to say, qualifying was very tight with the top 23 racers posting 13 laps runs and the top 29 racers were all within one lap of each other after 5 minutes of racing.

Semi Finals
The semifinals did not disappoint. The Juggernaut posted a flawless run of 38 laps in 15:00.184. Berman ran all 23 second laps. His fastest lap of 23.324 and his slowest lap of 23.876 with an average lap of 23.554. Berman was followed closely by Giordano who finished second with 38 laps in 15:05.712. However, Giordano had a few small mistakes including six 24 second laps. “The Great” Graham Raistrick (UK) climbed into third place with a time of 38 laps in 15:08.386. Jupe slipped to fourth with a time of 38 laps in 15:09.268. Daan Haling (BE), Nathias Nedrebo, (NO) Nuno Lourenco (PT), Massimiliano Tanturri (IT) and Gary Crowell (US) all finished the semifinal rounds with 38 laps. Oliver Meunier (DE) completed the A-main qualifiers with a time of 37 laps in 15:01876.

Main Finals
Berman and Giordano were in a league of their own for the finals. Giordano took the early lead and was posting slightly faster laps than Berman. By lap 25, Giordano had created a 1.5 second lead over the Juggernaut. However, Berman slowly closed that gap over the next 25 laps and by lap 50 the two champions were separated by a mere .054 seconds. Giordano came into the pits for fuel on lap 51 and had trouble, posting a 29.764 second pit stop. Berman kept racing for three more laps and came in for fuel on lap 54. Berman, who is a wizard at getting in and out of pits, kept true to form posting a 28.712 second pit stop. This gave Berman 1.4 second advantage and gave him some breathing room over Giordano. Giordano bobbled on lap 55 giving Berman another second to add to the cushion, now 2.5 seconds. But Giordano wasn’t ready to give up, he pushed hard and made up time and by lap 60 had cut the difference to 1.5 seconds. But a 24 second lap on lap 61 and Giordano’s slowest lap of 26.052 seconds on lap 65 proved to be too much to overcome and pushed Giordano 5.3 seconds back with time running down. In the end it was Berman’s smooth and consistent run, with all 23 second laps, that proved to be the winning strategy. Berman took the win, claiming his second consecutive 1/10 Nitro On-Road Spec World Championship with a time of 76 laps in 30:20.596. Berman’s fastest lap was 23.346, his slowest lap was 23.962, and his average lap was 23.588 over 30 minutes of intense racing. Giordano took second with a time of 75 laps in 30:02.870.

The battle for the final podium position was another tight battle; this one between Raistrick and Haling. In the first 47 laps, the two Pro pilots swapped positions 13 times! During those first 47 laps, they were never separated by more than .9 seconds. It wasn’t until lap 48 when Haling faltered that Raistrick was able to gain a 1.2 second lead. Even late in the race, on lap 59 the two were only 1.4 seconds apart, but on lap 60 Haling made another mistake allowing Raistrick to increase the margin up to 3 seconds. Then on lap 70 Haling experienced his slowest lap of 27.592, which allowed Raistrick to cruise to the final podium position. Raistrick finished third with a time of 75 laps in 30:11.366

Congratulations to Joshua Berman 2017 VRC 1/10 Nitro On-Road Spec World Champion! - Pro Level.

Congratulations to Andrea Giordano and Graham Raistrick for making the podium.

Sport Level
It was France’s Gaetan Anger that ran away from the competition at the Sport Level. Anger finished the final with an impressive 74 laps in 30:21.010. Anger’s time was actually fast enough for 8th place in the Pro Level A-Main. Anger finished the Sport level A-Main with a lap and a half advantage over second place finisher Thomas Priemer of Germany. Priemer finished with 72 laps in 30:12.492. Priemer also finished about a lap and a half in front of his closest completion third place finisher, Gene Sears (US). But Sears had to earn that final podium position. Sears and Canada’s Mike Bridges finished the grueling 30 minute final only 1.2 seconds apart. The key difference seemed to be Bridges 2 pit stop strategy, where Sears used 3. Sears was posting faster laps and had a 7.6 second lead over Bridges on lap 68, but after Sears came in for fuel on lap 69 and the two were separated by only .8 seconds with three laps to go. Sears kept is cool in the final laps and finished third with 71 laps in 30.22.854 just ahead of Bridges 71 laps in 30:24.136.

Congratulations to Gaetan Anger 2017 VRC 1/10 Nitro On-Road Spec World Champion! - Sport Level.

Congratulations to Thomas Priemer and Gene Sears for making the podium.

Club Level
Nick Anneveld (NL) cruised to victory at Club Level. Anneveld finished the main final more than 2 laps ahead of his closest competition. Anneveld finished with 73 laps in 30:13.214, fast enough for 13th overall. Denis Lavrentyev (RU) claimed second place with a time of 71 laps in 30.13.754. Lavrentyev’s time would have been fast enough for third place at Sport level. There was a tight race for third between Pedro Pozo (ES) and Michael Zappa (UK). Zappa, who qualified 8th, got a great start and was ahead of Pozo, who qualified 3rd, by the time they hit the start/finish line, at the end of the zero lap. Pozo came back, but the two racers swapped positions six times in the first 23 laps. But on lap 24 Pozo found a groove and slowly pulled away from Zappa for the rest of the race. Pozo claimed the final position on the podium with a time of 70 laps in 30:01.834. Zappa finished with 70 laps in 30:06.804.

Congratulations to Nick Anneveld 2017 VRC 1/10 Nitro On-Road Spec World Champion! - Club Level.

Congratulations to Denis Lavrentyev and Pedro Pozo for making the podium.

And Congratulations to all the drivers that made their respective A-mains in this highly competitive world championship event. Thank you to all racers who competed. The 1/10 Nitro Modified World Championships will be held on this same track starting on December 2, 2017. BE THERE!!

Pro Level A-Main Results

1|Joshua Berman|76|30:20.596 2|Andrea Giordano|75|30:02.870 3|Graham Raistrick|75|30:11.366 4|Daan Haling|74|30:00.958 5|Nuno Lourenco|74|30:18.292 6|Oliver Meunier|74|30:18.686 7|Gary Crowell|73|30:02.754 8|Jukka-Pekka Huhtala|DNS 9|Mathias Nedrebo|DNS 10|Massimiliano Tanturri|DNS

Sport Level A-Main Results
1|Gaetan Anger|74|30:21.010 2|Thomas Priemer|72|30:12.492 3|Gene Sears|71|30:22:854 4|Mike Bridges|71|30:24.136 5|Virgo Tippel|70|30:18.850 6|Steve Young|70|30:20.288 7|Isla Pesca|70|30:24.614 8|Kevin Gonard|69|30:13.724 9|Marshall Kirkholm|44|19:46.388 10|Hasse Holmberg|DNS

Club Level A-Main Results
1|Nick Anneveld|73|30:13.214 2|Denis Lavrentyev|71|30:13.754 3|Pedro Pozo|70|30:01.834 4|Michael Zappa|70|30:06.804 5|Stanislav Pavlick|70|30:20.912 6|James Calhoun|70|30:23.854 7|Jason Platt|70|30:24.338 8|Polo Pilato|69|30:12.728 9|Landen Lewis|DNS 10|Corey Tadd|DNS

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