| Official Qualifications Result: |
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Here is a short report from chief designer Juraj Hudy, directly from the track after the qualifications:
The qualifications went amazingly well and beyond my wildest dreams. I am extremely happy and very satisfied with the NT1â™s performance at our first debut race. Seven out of the eight NT1 cars have qualified into the A and B finals, with 3 cars going directly into the A main final. Ralph could have probably held his TQ position also in the last run but he was involved in two large crashes; luckily nothing happened to the car and it could have continued⦠everybody was simply awed about the durability. The Multi-Flex system works perfectly, as the grip increased we installed and used the 1-piece engine mount which helped to compensate for the increasing grip and after the rain came we removed it and went back to the standard, more flexible configuration.
After every run I held a team meeting, analyzing the current run and suggesting the next ideas for set-up. Our teamwork has worked very well and we were improving all the time. We still have to learn more about the tires, as other teams are very fast from the start while we always seem to need at least 3 rounds until the tires heat up so we can start to push the car.
The last round was decisive and Barry did not improve and fell from his previous 4th position to the B final. My car was absolutely perfect in the last round after I made small set-up changes and the car almost drove itself! I was able to improve and jump from my previous 31st position to a final 21st qualification position, leaving plenty of top drivers (like Blackstock, Dumas, Green, Carbonell) behind.
Jilles was, on the other hand, the must unlucky. In the first qualifiers he had only one clean run while in the last round he set perfect result that placed him right away in the 3rd position but at the end was disqualified for being underweight, so we almost had four NT1 cars in the A main final.
All has worked perfectly during the whole week, the teamwork is great and we are progressing all the time. Considering we are still learning and it being our first time out at some of the world's most competitive races, the NT1 has been doing extremely well.
Sending the best regards from the US Winternats track - Dipl. Eng. Juraj Hudy |
| 2007 US Winternats Official Qualification Results: |
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A main:
1. Paolo Morganti
2. Ralph Burch - XRAY NT1
3. Josh Cyrul
4. Danny Horta
5. Paul Lemieux - XRAY NT1
6. Martin Christensen - XRAY NT1
7. Chris Tosolini
8. Andrew Duperrouzel
9. Jarred Scott
10. Ron Atomic
11. Jame Corrado
B main:
1. Bobby Flack
2. Rafael Angulo
3. Barry Baker - XRAY NT1
4. Darin Ishitani
5. Rene Cornella
6. Robert Maestrey
7. Luke Whitaker
8. Chris Metheny
9. Teemu Leino - XRAY NT1
10. Juraj Hudy - XRAY NT1
11. Martin Hudy - XRAY NT1 |
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Ralph Burch with the XRAY NT1 was in the TQ position but finished 2nd after the final qualification
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| Winternats New â“ Thursday, February 15, 2007 |
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Qualifications of the US Winternationals ended with the 5th round as the 6th round was cancelled due to rain and bad track conditions. The 5th round was the round which mixed up all the results, but still Team XRAY achieved excellent result at the first debut of the NT1. Despite losing the TQ position, still 3 out of the top 10 qualification positions were secured by Team XRAY.
Results after the qualifications:
2. Ralph Burch - XRAY NT1
5. Paul Lemieux - XRAY NT1
6. Martin Christensen - XRAY NT1
Jilles Groskamp qualified in the 3rd overall position after the 5th round, but was disqualified due to being underweight. While Jilles was having his share of bad luck, it was the chief designer Mr. Juraj Hudy who was having good luck, showcasing a mistake-free run and moved up to the semi-final along with other Team XRAY drivers Barry Baker, Teemu Leino, and Martin Hudy.
The debut of the NT1 has surpassed all the expectations, 7 out of the 8 NT1 cars have qualified in the top 20 and XRAY has out of all the teams most of the cars in the top 10.
Let's see how the finals will come along. |
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NT1 is not only fast on the track but can also fly. Photo Mike Myers
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| Wednesday news: |
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After the second day of qualifications and 4 qualification heats finished, the standing of the Team XRAY is:
1. Ralph Burch
4. Barry Baker
5. Martin Christensen
9. Paul LeMieux
11. Teemu Leino
12. Martin Hudy
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Paul LeMieux's chased NT1. Photo by Mike Myers
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| After dominating and winning 4 categories at the world's largest Electric Touring car race - the famous Snowbird Nationals - Team XRAY left Orlando on Sunday and traveled to another large and famous race Nitro Touring Car race: the US Winter Nationals. This race is the first large debut race for the brand new XRAY NT1 and for this purpose Team XRAY put together an all-star team from North America (Ralph Burch, Paul Lemieux, Barry Baker) and from Europe (Jilles Groskamp, Teemu Leino, Martin Christensen and Martin Hudy). Chief designer and the man behind the NT1, Dipl. Eng. Hudy Juraj, was there to take care of all the NT1 cars and to help the team with set-up. |
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Dipl. Eng. Hudy Juraj taking care of the whole Team XRAY
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| Because the team arrived one day later than all the other teams, they were at an obvious disadvantage since all other teams already had a lot of practice on Sunday. Team XRAY was looking forward to any time in free practice on Monday but unfortunately the rain was against them. This put the team in a bit of a predicament but at the same time allowed the drivers to prepare properly in the pits and to build the cars as everybody had received the final production car just at the start of the event, so the whole team was busy with wrenching and preparing the cars. |
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Teemu Leino in the pits
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| The first real racing starting with the qualifications on Tuesday and the NT1's performance was proved to the public right away the first time it hit the track. Team XRAY was able to place 6 cars in the top 20: Ralph Burch 2nd, Barry Baker 4th, Martin Christensen 5th, Jilles Groskamp 11th, Paul Lemieux 12th, and Juraj Hudy 16th. Martin Hudy and Teemu did not finish their runs. |
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XRAY NT1 of Paul Lemieux
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| After a short team meeting and set-up advice by chief designer Juraj Hudy, the team adjusted their cars accordingly and this paid off tremendously in the second qualification run when Ralph Burch was able to outperform the rest of the field and take the lead. Martin Hudy was again not lucky as he ran out of fuel. Engine guru Fabio Domanin changed the engine set-up for rest of the XRAY drivers with great success. |
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Engine guru Fabio Domanin
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Temporary results after 2nd qualification round:
1 - Ralph Burch - XRAY NT1
2 - Danny Horta
3 - Chris Tossolini
4 - Paolo Morganti
5 - Mark Green
6 - Barry Baker - XRAY NT1
7 - Teemu Leino - XRAY NT1
8 - Darin Ishitani
9 - Daniel Comaschko
10 - Andrew Duperruzel
There are still another 4 qualification rounds on schedule and we will keep you updated of all progress of the team.
Photos copyright www.winternats.com |
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Standing of Team XRAY after 3rd round of qualifications:
1. Ralph Burch
3. Barry Baker
4. Martin Christensen
9. Paul LeMieux
11. Martin Hudy
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XRAY NT1 of Martin Christensen
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XRAY NT1 of Martin Hudy
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