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| Another XRAY Challenge race was held at the T5 facilities in Rome, Italy. The event was held on Sunday the 2nd of June. However, plenty of drivers were present already on the Friday for open practice. Actually I was surprised to see so many familiar faces already practicing hard, as I arrived on Friday afternoon. I knew from that warm welcome, that a very special weekend awaited. This race attended over 112 drivers. |
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| I ran a few packs to get a feel for the track. The size of the track was perfect for electric as it was rather small and technical. The track was flat and traction was quite high. The LRP 30X was used as a controlled tire for the event. It was very rare to see also, that new tires weren't quicker at this track - to the joy of everyone, as the race could be done on one single set of tires. I started to find a really good set-up, with only some minor changes to my "basic" ETS starting set-up. It was clear already from Friday, that the car was working very well at this track. |
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| Unfortunately for the organizers and the racers, most of the Saturday rained away. However, we were still able to put in about 2 hours of practice on the Saturday afternoon. We were all waiting for the highlight of the event, the XRAY dinner party, held at the track that same night. The track is situated in a sporting area, between tennis and football courts. At the center of that area is a high quality restaurant/café - which also would be the host for this dinner party. It was a memorable evening with great food, atmosphere, and even a couple of surprises. The lucky draw was a much appreciated moment as well - with delighted winners. |
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| The race itself was run in perfect sunny and hot conditions on the Sunday. Starting early in the morning with one round of heat practice, we were ready for qualifying. Three rounds were put in before lunchtime. The hot temperatures made my car feel a little different from the practice in the previous days. However, I was able to set the TQ position with about 2 seconds in front of Alessio Menicucci and Martin Hudy. In the stock class, it was Massimo Fabiani who put in a dominating performance to set the TQ in the stock class with his XRAY T4. In the 1:18 class, Mauro Fabiani was unbeatable. |
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| The finals were rather uneventful for the TQ drivers. I was able to win all three finals, however, challenged by a fast Menicucci in A1. In the stock class and 1:18 class, it was the Fabianis who made the most of their TQ positions to take the wins in each respective class. I made couple of set-up changes to cope with the increased surface temperature on Sunday, which made the car understeer a bit. I increased my rear droop to allow for more weight to be transferred to the front wheels on corner entry - this also prevented rear tire overheating. I used a longer rear camber link on the rear hub which freed up the car out of corners. I also decreased my brake setting on the transmitter, to try to lower tire temperature even further. It all worked out brilliantly as the car was handling very well all throughout the race. |
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| I would like to say a big thank you to the organizers from the RCeRoma T5 track, Francesco Martini, Fabio Domanin from SprintRC and everyone else who were involved in making this event a memorable one. It was great to be racing in Italy as always and I am hoping to come back soon! |
| Modified top 10: |
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1. Alexander Hagberg - XRAY T4
2. Alessio Menicucci - XRAY T4
3. Martin Hudy - XRAY T4
4. Massimo Fabiani - XRAY T4
5. Francesco Martini - XRAY T4
6. Alessandro Ciaccheri - XRAY T4
7. Diego Macchioni - XRAY T4
8. Alessio Mancini - XRAY T4
9. Alessandro Brunelli
10. Federico Milanese - XRAY T4 |
| Stock top 10: |
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1. Massimo Fabiani - XRAY T4
2. Valter Cola
3. Franco Argiro - XRAY T4
4. Nico Catelani - XRAY T4
5. Mattia Collina - XRAY T4
6. Alessandro Rossi - XRAY T4
7. Maurizio Bicchi - XRAY T4
8. Simone Leonardi
9. Umberto Pernice - XRAY T4
10. Flavio Buzi - XRAY T4 |
| 1:18 top 10: |
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1. Mauro Fabiani - XRAY M18
2. Fabrizio Fabri - XRAY M18
3. Gianni Parenti - XRAY M18
4. Gabriele Massaro - XRAY M18
5. Alessandro Titozzo - XRAY M18
6. Giuseppe Sorrentino - XRAY M18
7. Riccardo Diamanti - XRAY M18
8. Tito Bellini - XRAY M18
9. Giuseppe Mainardi - XRAY M18
10. Marco D'Onofrio - XRAY M18 |
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