Last weekend the 5th race of the 1/10 and 1/8 on road nationals took place at the Vila Real track where 1/8 European Championship was held and next European B Championship will take place next year. The track is amazing and in my opinion one of the best tracks in Europe. Vila Real is about 90 km from Oporto town at north inland and very close to where the famous Oporto wine is produced, a fantastic place for holidays too.
During the Saturday practice we worked very hard and we did a lot of testing with RX8 to set it up to our wish. We also helped our team mates and at the end of the day felt confident and ready for Sunday races.
Sunday races started with qualifications. Bruno got TQ in 1/10 and super pole position in 1/8 scale.
In 1/10 finals Bruno decided to go for save race and not replace the tires during final run. He won 1 lap ahead the rest of the field.
In 1/8 we started very well but this time after first refueling and 1 lap ahead of the runner-ups, the engine broke. We decided to change the engine and continue the race but Bruno lost ten laps. Bruno then showed what he and his car are capable of, closing the gap between him and the front of the field lap by lap, making also the best lap of the event. Unfortunately with 7 minutes to go and 3 laps behind the leader Brunoâ™s car went straightforward at the end of the straight and crashed in full throttle. Yet to be the end of the race for Bruno, we are happy about the performance of the RX8.
1/10 final results:
1. Bruno Coelho (TQ) - XRAY NT1
2. Carlos Rodrigues
3. Andre Goncalves
4. Tiago Afonso 5. Paulo Mota - XRAY NT1
6. Francisco Vilarinho
7. Nuno Silva 8. Rui Completo - XRAY NT1
9. Pedro Grandao - XRAY NT1
10. Cristiano Coelho - XRAY NT1
