This weekend we had the first ever 1/8th Electric Buggy Championship races in Switzerland. There would be a complete race on Saturday and then on Sunday another one. There were about 30 drivers signed up for each day. The weather was great on both days with only a bit of a damp track on Saturday morning. The MORC OberbĂĽren had prepared the track very well with some new sections and jumps and it was fun to drive.
(click to enlarge)
My car ran great from the outset, having only driven it once on a track before for two battery packs. I only made small setup changes during the days and mostly concentrated on trying different tyres. The track was very washed out and had lots of stones. This made tyre choice very difficult.
(click to enlarge)
We ran with the new EFRA electric 1/8th rules meaning endless qualifying runs and then a little intense real racing with 10 minute bump up finals nitro-style. On Saturday I finished second after qualifying but by an eventless semifinal I managed to drive on pole for the final. During the final I wasn't the quickest but I didn't make a single mistake and kept the lead despite pressure from Sandro Bamert and my Teammate Romeo Grass who were a few tenths quicker but made little mistakes. I took home the first ever win in this category in Switzerland.
On Sunday I managed to get TQ but after a single mistake in the semifinal Sandro got past and I started the final on second. I followed Sandro for the whole 10 minutes and tried to get past in the last lap but I couldn't do it and finished second. It was a great race though! Racing a single final for just 10 minutes is very intense. Romeo was following us a few seconds back in third but then suffered a failure three minutes before the end of the race.
I am looking forward to more 1/8th electric racing.
(click to enlarge)
Final results R1:
1. Robin Frischkopf - XRAY XB8E
2. Romeo Grass - XRAY XB8E
3. Sandro Bamert
4. Roman Kummer
5. Gerd Pfeifer
6. Kevin Zwahlen
7. Michel Guggisberg
8. Marcel Herzog 9. Daniel Sauter - XRAY XB8E
10. Tamar Schäfer
(click to enlarge)
Final results R2:
1. Sandro Bamert 2. Robin Frischkopf - XRAY XB8E
3. Roman Kummer
4. Kevin Zwahlen
5. Gerd Pfeifer
6. Michel Guggisberg
7. Marco Fuchs
8. Beat Knutti
9. Thomas Bodmer
10. Lukas Segato
