The RCO Cyprus Winter Championship ended with the last race held at the Pafos track, up in the mountains. It was a great facility with full pit area and a technical track with some small straights and numerous large and smaller jumps. There are four off-road tracks in Cyprus capable of holding a championship race and around 40-60 drivers each time, a fantastic number for this island!
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Competition was very hard for winning the Championship. Agrafiotis had won the first of the five races this year, but after some car changes, some mechanical problems and some servo problems he did not place at the top of the 3 other races as he could not finish even when leading. Those were problems he normally had in Greece, where he rarely finishes a race, but they seemed to come back in Cyprus where he now resides. But it was nice, funny and satisfying to see that some direct competitors saw the potential and also decided chose XRAY in Cyprus and in Greece. The points system at the RCO Championship did not help either, as there is only a 1 point difference between places and nothing could ever be certain. Agrafiotis had to place in front of some of his direct competitors and almost certainly win to have any chances for the overall victory.
Thanks to Red Elephant, Costas had an XRAY XB808â™2011 for this last race. The car was prepared Friday before the race and Saturday we drove the long way to Pafos in the western part of the island for some practice. The track was flat and loose at the start but it would become rutty and difficult as more and more practice was done, so set-up was not easy. The 808â™2011 was as reliable as the 2010 edition which was a crucial thing for Sundayâ™s event as Costas should absolutely finish the race. A new body was tried but its looks were not to Costasâ™ taste, so an older body was put on the car. In the afternoon there was another rebuilding of the 808, to try and find any details that could ruin Sundayâ™s important race. All with the help of Cookie.
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Sunday morning the day did not start very well as Team Red Elephant run out of gas on their way to the track and almost lost the first qualifier looking for a gas station. JS XRAY Cyprus crew followed and helped to search to get the drivers at the track just in case. Anyways the XRAY seemed well prepared and despite the morning rush the first qualifier went perfectly without a single mistake, and a 10 lapper and the TQ was right there for Agrafiotis. After three qualifiers it was TQ for XRAY but things seemed hard as there were 3 major competitors in 2-3-4 places of the final and amongst them the championship leader â™til then.
So in the heat it would be a difficult 40-minute final that would crown the 2011 Champion. From the start the lead was swapping back & forth between Agrafiotis and 1-2 others; that went on for about 15-20 minutes. The major competitor for the championship was more in the back at the start, but after 20 minutes managed to climb and came back to 3rd and then to 2nd place! So it would be anxiety until the very end. Finally Agrafiotis made it into the lead with around a 1-lap difference and was really satisfied and happy with the outcome as this was his third consecutive Championship, the two latest decided at the very last race.
Next big events for Red Elephant and Agrafiotis will be the Euros A Warm-up in Germany were he hopes to place within the top 60 drivers and prepare for the important Euros B EFRA EuroChamps in Lyon France in June where he will try to place a little bit better! As far as the National Championship is concerned, 3 titles are more than enough and there is no reason or point to continue to get to a hundred! It will be free driving, backflips and full-metal hammer from now on, as fun is much better than points. A big âśthanksâť goes to Red Elephant for the absolute support and the Team XRAY Cyprus.
