The first race of XRS Alpe Adria took place at the nice and only track in Slovenia â“ Mini circuit âśNa Loguâť in Tolmin.
Drivers from 5 different countries participated at the event and it was clear that everybody was waiting for the outdoor season.
This was the first XRS outdoor event in this region and some news were implemented, such as the use of controlled XRS motors and the new HUDY asphalt Electric Touring tyres. As last yearâ™s races organized by TopRC Team also this year Contact foam tyres were used for the 1/10 and 1/10 nitro categories, while in 1/8 GT the SP Racing tyres were used.
This method of racing proved to be a very good solution for a cost-reduction racing while providing more equal conditions for everybody.
Saturday it was a practice day with high temperatures for this period of the year. Most of drivers could get in touch with the track conditions and prepare their cars for the race, but the weather forecast for Sunday was very mixed, so cooler temperatures were predicted and the possibility of some small rain showers.
Sunday started with qualification and the weather was much cooler, so some set-up changes were needed.
In 1/10 Electric Touring it was Andrea Ghilotti (XRAY T4) who took TQ while in 1/8 Electric GT it was Grega Hrovat on pole. In the 3 nitro classes TQ positions went to Gabor Laszlo (XRAY NT1) in 1/10 Touring, Fabio Callegari (XRAY GTX proto) in 1/8 GT and Nejc MIhelič in 1/8 track.
Right after the end of qualification the predicted rain has come so the organizers decided to make a stop to the schedule in order to wait for the conditions to get betterâ¦and it was the right decision since in 1h time the track was dry again and the race could proceed. The final runs were shortened since there was no time left to make it in time.
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The first category was the 1/10 Touring nitro. Right from the start it was a battle between Gabor Laszlo (XRAY NT1), Paolo Mariuzza and Fabio Callegari (XRAY NT1). Then Fabio had a crash and some technical problems which put him into 3rd place. At the end Paolo managed to win in front of Gabor.
In 1/10 Electric Touring Stock 13.5 XRS it was the pole sitter Andrea Ghilotti (XRAY T4) who won in front of Rok Rudl (XRAY T4) and Jan Pernarčič (XRAY T4). All 3 drivers had a steady race without any battles in the race, but their performance was consistent during the entire run.
A-main results:
1. Andrea Ghilotti - XRAY T4
2. Rok Rudl - XRAY T4
3. Jan Pernarčič - XRAY T4
4. Željko Selman - XRAY T4
5. Gabriel Benvenuti - XRAY T4
6. Luka Ĺ kolaris - XRAY T4
7. Arno Webernig - XRAY T4
8. Thomas Thaler - XRAY T4
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B-main results:
1. Stanislav Kokol - XRAY T4
2. Gašper Ravbar - XRAY T4
3. Kristjan MikloĹľič - XRAY T4
4. Aleš Strelec 5. Oliver Wauch - XRAY T4
1/8 GT nitro class was almost cancelled, because some drivers from Croatia went ill and so only 3 drivers remained. In order to get this race done it was decided to let them race between the 1/8 Electric GT cars. The race was won by Fabio Callegari.
1/8 GT nittro class results:
1. Fabio Callegari
2. Robert Jezerčič
3. Aleksandar Žaja
The 1/8 IC Track category was meant to be an interesting one to watch, since on the pole it was the fast Nejc Mihelič, second after qualification was Alojzij Osvald (XRAY RX8) and only third was Jernej Vuga Ĺ tendler (XRAY RX8) who had run-time problems during all qualification runs (a small engine problem was discovered only after the final), although his pace was fast enough to be able to fight for the pole position, aspecially in the first qualification run, where he was leading before he ended his fuel.
In the final Nejc started well and also Alojzij and Jernej. Before the end of first lap Jernej passed Alojzij and went catching Nejc since his pace was a little faster. Then Nejc had a contact with a backmarker while Jernej was a few seconds behind him. This allowed Jernej to pass him and start to make a small gap. But then Nejc hit some technical problems and had to pit. This allowed Jernej to cruise to victory while posting also the fastest lap of the final.
After the prize ceremony it was also a small prize lottery and in the finals the sun came out again, so it was a nice end of the day.
TopRC would like to thank all the drivers from Hungary, Austria, Croatia, Italy and Slovenia for their participation and invites all to the Round 2 race in Zagreb (Croatia) on 7th May on the Ayrton Senna mini circuit.
