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News  Racing
NT1 at 2012 World Championship, Thailand |
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| Race report by Alex Hagberg |
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| The world championships is always a special event in any class, and this year was no exception. The 2012 IFMAR IC 1/10 worlds was probably the most competitive edition in the history of this class as many top drivers from the electric categories joined the race as well. Not to mention many top drivers who can call RC Addict in Bangkok as their hometrack, and with the amount of testing done prior to the event, this was going to be a close and difficult experience for everyone. There was no clear favourite for the win. |
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| With the introduction of tire additives, and special bi-compound front tires, these 1/10 nitro cars have become extremely quick, yet difficult to set-up with all these new variables. However, when set-up right, big advantages can be found just from different tires or additives. In my opinion, the variables are too many right now and it certainly not helps to make the class seem easier or more appealing for the hobby level racers. |
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| We arrived in Bangkok with a strong team, only short of our world champion from two years ago, Ralph Burch, as he had hurt his hand back home and was unable to compete and defend his title. Instead it was an other US driver, Paul Lemieux, who replaced him. We also had our European team who very recently had done some pre event testing at the XRAY Challenge race in September, including myself, Dirk Wichnewski, Martin Hudy. We also had our strong Italian team drivers Biagio Spataro and Giuseppe Dâ™Angelo in attendance with their NT1 cars. Some local Thai drivers had chosen the NT1 platform as well, including Paphon Chanyasak, who was very quick at the pre-worlds. The best XRAY driver from Thailand, Surikarn Chaidejsuriya, was also a force to be reckoned with on this technical and high grip track. |
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| In practice, I struggled to find a good balance between front and rear traction, as was the case at any nitro race this year. The car set-up is just so difficult these days , and small details are more important than ever. I did not really find a good feeling of my car until mid way through qualifying. But in this type of racing, this is when you should start to get fast, as it all comes down to the finals later in the week, so I was not that worried. It was clear that the Hot Bodies team, which showcased a brand new nitro touring car platform, was going to be hard to beat. They had found a very good set-up and tire combination for this track as all their team drivers showed a quick pace. One of the notable things was that they were using super soft electring touring car springs, both front and rear, to get a lot of chassis roll in the car. This apparently helped for traction roll, and gave more overall traction. It was soon mimicked by all other teams as it was the best choice for these particular conditions. |
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| Qualifying came down to one rocket round, as always is the case at a big nitro race. The last Q6 round which was held late afternoon on Thursday, was going to decide most of the qualifying positions. In the end I drove a clean and fairly fast run without any mistakes, which was enough to put me 6th overall in the rankings. I was fairly happy with this result as my car and driving had improved, step by step, all throughout the week. I was going to start 1st in the semi-final B on the Saturday. Other XRAY drivers were struggling a bit. In the end it was Biagio Spataro who also showed a strong place, in position 9 overall. Martin Hudy and Dirk Wichnewski, along with Paul Lemieux, where going to have to find their way through the quarter finals. Surikarn and Paphon both started from the the back of the semi final A. |
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| In the semi final, I drove a near perfect race to take the win, almost a lap up on the others. Paul Lemieux was fighting his way to a 3rd position in this semi final B, which surprisingly was run with 11 cars as a result of time keeping problems, and a protest from the Italian Capricorn team. In the end, I was the only XRAY driver to advance into the main final. I knew that after my semi final performance, that I had a good chance for the overall win. The car worked very well on big final tires, as did the engine. I was feeling confident for the 60 minute encounter as I would start from the 5th position on the grid. |
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| The tone went off and I immediately improved to the 3rd position overall, just behind Hara and Meen Vejrak who both tried to follow the early pace of Teemu Leino. It was clear from the start that some drivers were on a different tire strategy, for example to change only two tires on the car and not all 4. As Hara for example was not very fast at the start of the race. Unfortunately we came together in front of the drivers stand as I tried to pass him on the inside. I dropped back to the 10th position overall. As I fought my way back to 2nd place eventually, I had pushed very hard, much harder than in the semi-final, which later which show in the tire wear problems which I encountered. As I fought very closely with Hara and Chavit S. for the 2nd place, around the 25 minute mark, my outside tires had become very small and the car became quite difficult to drive. I had to let them go as a result and had to wait for my tire change. When I entered the pits at the 29 minute mark, I held the 4th position overall, less than half a lap behind the leader Meen V. Unfortunately my pit crew made a mistake during the tire change which caused my engine to flame out and the glow plug to break. It took a while to get the engine back running and I lost several laps as a result of this. Without this long tire stop, the outcome of the final could have been much different, as I probably had a good chance to finish on the podium. |
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| In the end, the result was of course disappointing but still the main goal was to reach the final, which I failed to do in Houston just 2 years ago. I had a very good car at this race, probably good enough to win. I just needed more luck. And from the mistakes, we have learnt what to do better for next time. Interesting times awaits this racing category as EFRA takes on its controlled tire rule for 2013. I am really looking forward to see the outcome of these new rules, as the handling of the cars will probably become more neutral again. |
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| Top Ten |
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1. Meen Vejrak
2. Atsushi Hara
3. Francesco Tironi
4. Andy Moore
5. Chavit Sirigupta
6. Keisuke Fukuda
7. Alexander Hagberg â“ XRAY NT1
8. Jilles Groskamp
9. Cheung Hang Hung
10. Teemu Leino |
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