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| The LRP Masters event was held on March 28-30 and as usual was situated in the small village of Eppelheim close to Haidelberg. The LRP Masters event is known as one of the biggest carpet races in the world and every year is attended by almost all top drivers. This year, the race was attended by drivers from 16 countries, amongst which were three World Champions in this class. |
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| Team XRAY was well represented and this year the team looked very strong with many super-fast drivers like Teemu Leino, Alexander Hagberg, Dirk Wischnewski, Steven Weiss and, of course, Martin and Juraj Hudy. It was nice to see Cyril from France again (after short break) because his last season was very good when he finished 3rd in the Speedweekend. Moreover, Team XRAY drivers were joined by international drivers from Switzerland : the Lnenicka brothers and Mario Riget. New young XRAY driver Elliot Harper from England was present as well, along with many other XRAY drivers from that country. Plus, the LRP Masters was the first race for XRAY driver Hugo from Netherlands. I would like to mention many more drivers, but the list would go on and on. XRAY cars were again the most used car at the event. |
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| Practice |
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| The race started on Friday afternoon on brand new carpet but using the same layout as last year. The carpet which was chosen for this race is already well known from the DHI Cup and Speedweekend, and everybody expected very high traction because many drivers had problems with traction rolling on previous tires. The practice was organized as a T-time practice and thanks to that all drivers were able to have at least five rounds of practice. The first round started at 4PM and was used for learning the track layout because traction was very low. However, traction increased from round-to-round and by the third round the traction was high. The main problem for all drivers was the chicane, which every driver was trying to drive full throttle. The chicane was the same as last year but back then the traction was not as high and so there were fewer problems. This year the chicane was very difficult to navigate, and many top drivers broke their cars⦠more than once. |
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Martin & Juraj Hudy
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| I started with the basic setup which was very similar to the setup from the DHI Cup. I felt that the car was a bit difficult to drive; I had a lot of mid-corner steering, and because of that I wanted to make the car easier to drive but I did not want to lose steering in the chicanes. I decided to move the rear shock one position down. This change helped a lot but I still felt that I need more steering on corner entry. So then I changed the front bars from 1.6 to 1.4, and the rear from 1.4 to 1.2. This change helped again but the car started to stop when I drove into the corner⦠so then I changed the front springs from 2.8 to harder 3.0. The car was then almost perfect but it was rolling too much and I could not drive through the technical parts as fast as I wanted. At last I decreased the rebound in the shocks from 50% to 0% and the car was perfect and ready for qualifiers. |
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| Qualifiers |
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| The qualifiers started at 3PM on Saturday, since there was free practice for stock classes in the morning. We spoke with Teemu and agreed that it would be very important to drive easy in the first round so as not to make mistakes⦠all drivers would push a lot and the traction changed a lot since Friday evening. We both made clean, safe runs and Teemu finished 4th and I finished 7th. Dirk also ran well and finished 6th. Although I finished in the top 10, the car was handling completely differently than it did on Friday evening. We all expected that the track would change a lot again for the second round. Because of that it was really hard to decide what to change on the car. I wanted better reaction in the chicanes and because of that I removed the front stand. |
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Alexander Hagberg
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| Dirk was again very fast in the second round and thanks to that he moved from 6th to 4th position after two rounds. Although my car had better steering it started to be more difficult to drive and I did not have a fast round⦠dropping from 7th to 8th position. Teemu was super fast, but his car was difficult to drive and because of that he was making small mistakes. Alexander ⓠwho made some mistakes in the first round ⓠhad a clean round and finished in the top 10. |
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Dirk Wischnewski
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| The third round was a little better for Teemu, who moved from 10th to 5th position. Alex also had a good run and claimed the A-main post. Third round was also good for Steven who finished 8th. Steven was struggling a bit with setup but he finally managed to set up the car properly and he was again on pace. I had bad luck when I was driving at a top-10 pace which could have helped me into the A-main final; however, I traction rolled in the last minute and thus was out of the top 10. |
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Teemu Leino
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The last round was held on Sunday morning and Team XRAY had a very good chance to put a lot of cars in the A-main grid. Teemu, Alex, and Dirk were safe, and there was still a chance for me and Steven. Moreover, there was also a chance for young Elliot who had a super-fast round when he finished in 10th place. Elliot was driving very fast all of Friday and Saturday and he showed his big talent; it was plain to see that he would soon be the driver to beat. The last round was very lucky for Steven who finished 8th and thanks to that he qualified 10th. I was again unlucky, making a mistake in the first minute in the chicane when I tried to push harder. The car was very difficult to drive this time mainly in the chicane, and I found the reason after the heat. The problem was that the servo was loose because three screws were missing from the servo holder. So, once again it was âśtough luckâť for me but I was really happy for our guys because with four cars in the main, XRAY was the most used car in the A main final.
Qualifying order:
1. Marc Rheinard
2. Viktor Wilck
3. Jilles Groskamp
4. Juho Levanen
5. Alexander Hagberg XRAY T2â™008
6. Teemu Leino XRAY T2â™008
7. Atshushi Hara
8. Yannick Prumper
9. Dirk Wischnewski XRAY T2â™008
10. Steven Weiss XRAY T2â™008 |
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Steven Weiss
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| Finals |
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The first final was very unlucky for Alexander when his speedo stopped working in the first corner. Teemu was really fast at the start and he moved up to 4th place, however he made a mistake and dropped to the back. Steven had a very good run and was able to move from 10th to 4th position behind Jilles. He tried to put pressure on Jilles, but Jilles didnâ™t make any mistakes and so Steven finished 4th ahead of Dirk.
In the second final, Teemu again had a super-fast start when he moved from 6th to 4th position in the first lap, but again he made a mistake and lost his position. Teemu was pushing very hard and was soon again on pace but then his speedo switched off in the last minute and he did not finish the race. However, his car looked very fast and he was able to set the fastest lap in the second final. The fastest XRAY driver in the second main was Dirk, who finished 5th after a good battle with Alex (who finished 6th). Steven finished 7th. |
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Alex Hagberg T2'008
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The third final was lucky for Alex, as he was able to move through traffic up to 2nd place behind Jilles. Viktor (in 3rd) was putting a lot of pressure on Alex; however, Alex stayed calm and was able to stay in 2nd place ahead of Viktor. Teemu had the same bad luck as in the 2nd round when his speedo switched off again in the last minute.
Results:
1. Marc Rheinard
2. Jilles Groskamp
3. Viktor Wilck
4. Alexander Hagberg XRAY T2â™008
5. Steven Weiss XRAY T2â™008
6. Dirk Wischnewski XRAY T2â™008
7. Atshushi Hara
8. Yannick Prumper
9. Teemu Leino XRAY T2â™008
10. Juho Levanen |
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XRAY drivers from A main final - modified
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| The race was over and although there were no XRAYs in the top three, we all were happy with the carsâ™ performance but this time the luck was not on our side. On the upside, XRAY was the most used car in the final and also in the pits which of course made us happy. So, the carpet season is now over and all of us are already looking forward to the asphalt season. |
| Super Stock - report by SMI |
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The German SMI-Motorsport Team started in the Super Stock class. With Team Manager Bernd Haas, all XRAY drivers had perfect support and a helping hand for setup.
Super Stock Practice
Saturday morning there were two 5min practice runs for the Challenge classes on schedule. The preparation of the car and good teamwork between drivers made it possible to find a good setup. That was an important issue, because we have the new LRP 9,5T brushless motor with only 5cells in the Stock class. Every team driver was satisfied with the basic setup, so we looked forward to the four rounds of qualification. |
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| Super Stock Qualifying |
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The qualifying rounds saw a strong Team XRAY. Daniel Wohlgemuth dominated the qualifying with three wins. Other XRAY drivers showed strong performances with a lot of A-Main placements.
1. Daniel Wohlgemuth XRAY T2â™008
2. Matthias Lang XRAY T2â™008
3. Bastian Hennig XRAY T2â™008
4. Tony Streit
5. Tobias Wiebach
6. Patrick Reich XRAY T2â™008
7. Martin Kruse
8. Kai Maurus
9. Florian Ring T2â™008
10. Max Mächler |
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Daniel Wohlgemuth
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| Super Stock Finals |
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In the first final, Daniel Wohlgemuth won ahead of Tony Streit and Kai Maurus.
In the second final, Team XRAY showed a really strong performance. Daniel Wohlgemuth, Matthias Lang, Bastian Henning and Patrick Reich broke away the rest of the drivers. After a little mistake by Basti the order became Daniel Wohlgemuth, Matthias Lang, Patrick Reich and Bastian Henning.
In round 3 of the finals, trouble started for Daniel. He made a little mistake, so Matthias Lang took over the lead. Bastian Henning was in 2nd place, only 1 second behind the leader for the entire 6 minutes. So the result of the third final was Matthias Lang ahead of Bastian Henning and Toni Streit. |
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Matthias Lang
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We saw great performances from the XRAY T2â™008. With the great team it was possible to get five A-main places in a very strong and large Pro Stock class.
Super Stock Final results:
1. Daniel Wohlgemuth XRAY T2â™008
2. Matthias Lang XRAY T2â™008
3. Toni Streit
4. Bastian Henning XRAY T2â™008
5. Tobias Wiebach
6. Patrick Reich XAY T2â™008
7. Kai Maurus
8. Max Mächler
9. Martin Kruse
10. Florian Ring XRAY T2â™008 |
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XRAY drivers from A main final - super stock
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| Stock - report by SMI |
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Team XRAY was also very successful in the Stock class where German XRAY drivers Oliver and Christopher had super fast runs in the finals and were able to finish 1st and 2nd. So, the XRAY machine was unbeatable in both stock classes.
1. Reutter Oliver - XRAY T2â™008
2. Kirchhefer Christopher - XRAY T2â™008
3. Devert Thorsten |
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XRAY drivers from A main final - stock
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Team XRAY Germany
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XRAY drivers from podium modified
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podium super stock
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podium stock
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Cyril N'Diaye
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Dirk Wischnewski T2'008
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Elliott Harper
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Kirchhefer Christopher
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Sasha Lnenicka
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Mario Rigert
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Florian Ring
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Steven Weiss T2'008
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