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| Race report by Inaki Pahissa |
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On the weekend of September 9-11, round 4 of the 1/8 On-road nationals took place in Zaragoza. This was the last race of a rather short championship and for Team XRAY it was the last chance in the 2011 season to show the true performance of the RX8. The beginning of the year started out pretty good with a 5th place by I?aki Pahissa in the first round, and with Sergio Montesinos also making it into the main. Further on, in the second round of the championship in Valencia, Sergio managed to wrap up a 3rd place finish which was the first podium for the RX8 in Spain. After this race things become a bit more difficult with top Spanish drivers increasing the level and both I?aki and Sergio finding it very difficult to follow the pace. Hopefully the summer break would serve for testing and trying new solutions in order to improve both the level of driving and the performance of the car. The days were set and the team was ready to hit the track with just one objective on mind⦠to show the real potential of the RX8.
The weekend was fine with very high temperatures with no rain expected, so all drivers could manage to have plenty of track time especially in free practice on Friday. Using the first minutes to get used to the track and checking that everything was working OK, we stopped for a while and waited for the track to get more grip in order to work out the set-up for the qualifiers. As it turned out, in the previous races the grip came up and performance went from bad to worse, so the main objective was to focus on set-up as traction improved. Friday went by and the car was feeling fine. Team XRAY had over 8 cars in the race and everyone was very happy with the performance of their respective cars. We all were looking forward to Saturdayâ™s qualifiers.
The weather was looking just as good as it was on Friday, with no rain and very warm temperatures. Qualifying went by and I?aki managed to set his best time with 26 laps @ 7:15, which gave him 9th position overall. Ruben Olivares (only 11 years old), Daniel Marcos Nozaleda, Tomás MartĂn, Alejandro Antu?a and Santi ⦠all qualified for the ? finals.
Sunday started off with the Plus 40 semi-finals and Tomás Martin qualified for the final. From the 1/8 final Sergio Rio started off the recovery that would lead him to the semi-final. This huge recovery meant that Sergio was the driver to climb the most positions, showing the reliability of the car which just had to be revised slightly after each final. From the 1/4 finals to the ? finals two drivers were able to move forward. First it was Ruben Olivares finishing a perfect run. Leading his quarters, and secondly Tomas Martin who had a very good set-up of his RX8 and managed to get a great result that would later certify in the Plus 40 final where he finished 3rd. Yet, the best was still to come! From the semi-final, I?aki made it to the main final (not without some difficulties), qualifying in the number 10 position. I?aki had a very good car for the first half of the semi-final and later with tires wearing out he struggled to keep the same pace, thus securing 3rd position.
The main had very serious contenders with the championship still to be decided between three drivers. I?aki changed a few things from his set-up having in mind the issues that he wanted to correct from the semi. Already in warm-up the car was feeling much faster and much easier to drive so confidence couldnâ™t be better.
The main started out with I?aki driving safely for the first couple of laps. Fortunately for him some drivers were experiencing radio problems and another had crashed so little by little I?aki climbed positions without errors. Around the minute 15 mark, I?aki was already in the top positions battling for 2nd place with Carlos Peracho. This battle went on until Carlos had a flame-out just like Victor Gonzalez who was leading the race. This put I?aki into the lead for a couple of laps, having to close all doors to keep Victor behind. Despite I?akiâ™s efforts, Victor was the master driver for the whole weekend and in the main things werenâ™t too different. Victor was able to drive very fast and consistent and in one pit stop he managed to overtake I?aki and build a gap that would keep him in the lead for the rest of the main. As for I?aki, knowing that 1st place was very difficult to claim, he drove safely to the checked flag and finished in a fantastic 2nd position ahead of Carlos Peracho.
This result couldnâ™t be better for XRAY in Spain. After a rather difficult season with a completely brand new car and I?aki having no experience in that scale, results finally came and the potential of the RX8 was proven to be just as good as other cars. This 2nd position is the best result achieved with the RX8 in Spain and leaves the door open to a highly-anticipated 2012 season, with more experience on the hands of I?aki and with the car developing and improving. |
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