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The World Championship race event is where the "best of the best" drivers and teams gather together to put all of their maximum effort to showcase their best racing performance to battle for the most prestigious title - the World Champion title. XRAY company continues to support this hobby both at national and worldwide levels, becoming the principal sponsor of both the 2006 World Championship and the 2006 European Championship.
With the XRAY team's fabulous racing results for the T2 worldwide, there were high expectations for XRAY and the entire team, who has worked very hard in the last months gaining plenty of set-up knowledge of the T2 and especially fine tuning of the Multi-Flex TechnologyT adjustment tricks for all the different racing conditions.
With plenty of T2 awards and trophies on account, the XRAY team did not rest; further and continuous development, testing and working on the car was the order, and prior to the World Championship the factory team came together twice for warm-up practices to test and prepare the set-up for the particular track conditions but especially to gain experience with the control tires. The warm-up results were very positive, giving the team a very good solid starting position at the Worlds. As the track was very technical, most of the drivers were using standard brushed motors as well as the Mazda body that was the best suited for this track. |
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XRAY team has compiled some of the best team members consisting of national team stars. From the Europe it was Jilles Groskamp (NL), Viktor Wilck (S), Andreas & Joel Myrberg (S), Alex Hagberg (S), Alex Stocker (D), Michael Kramer (A), Andy Griffith (UK), Mark Gilliand (UK), Soren Holst (DK), Vaclav Strupek (CZ), Michal Bok (CZ), and plenty of Italian drivers. RCAmerica sent their best US drivers featuring Ralph Burch, Paul LeMieux, Mike Dumas, and Mike Blackstock. From South Korea it was Ryan Lee who flew in to support the team and the team was backed up by XRAY factory Juraj and Martin Hudy.
Special XRAY team pits were arranged for the entire to let all drivers work effectively and closely together. The XRAY factory support team was in place with a special XRAY service car fully loaded with all spare parts, option parts, and everything else that anybody would need for trouble-free racing. An exhibition tent with the line up of all XRAY cars was displayed and was accessible to all the public and spectators.
The race started with 8 runs of open practice on schedule. Unfortunately, the rain allowed us to run only 4 dry runs but it was not the bad weather but the different track conditions that was the biggest surprise to all teams who were present at the warm-up. During the warm-up the track was sugared to have grip but suddenly the organiser changed this for the Worlds and the track remained entirely non-sugared which resulted in very low track grip. This meant that all the time and effort by all the teams present at previous warm-up and testing were lost, and everybody had to start from beginning again. |
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To accommodate the low grip, set-ups had to be changed significantly but the first four practice rounds were very promising as Jilles, Viktor, and Paul were super fast and the other drivers including Blackstock, Ralph and others were also very fast. Based on the results from the practice drivers were divided into the qualifying groups.
The qualifiers were on schedule on Thursday but the heavy rain did not allow us to run any completely dry heat so all the qualifiers were cancelled and postponed to Friday with a very very tight schedule to go within one day of qualifiers. The extra free day allowed all the drivers to concentrate on re-working the cars and to enjoy the fun in the pits. Mike Dumas was trying to play European football (soccer) but got into an accident and sprained his ankle; and Viktor suffered some kind of insect bite in his ankle and it swelled up as big as his leg. Fortunately the swelled ankle did not handicap the racing so everybody was ready for the qualifiers on Friday.
The qualifiers started very well for Paul LeMieux and Viktor Wilck who finished 3rd and 5th after the first round, respectively. In the second qualifying heat Paul again had an excellent run, finishing in 2nd position with Viktor finishing well -securing him a temporary 5th position. The team continued to work hard to improve the car and adjust to changing racing conditions. At the end of the day it was Paul who qualified at an excellent 4th position and Viktor in the final 7th position. The team was very happy and proud of this great achievement but at the same time had a big headache with the performance of the rest of the team since hot candidates for good results - such as Jilles, Blackstock, Dumas or Martin and others - were struggling the whole day changing the set-up all the time but nothing has worked at all and the car simply had no mechanical grip and steering at the same time (which is a little bit strange since usually when grip is missing there is a lot of steering). For the final practice rounds the drivers had to use the practice tires from the first days and suddenly the drivers who were struggling were able to turn some fast lap times again, which proved the huge variation in the hand-out tires which seems to be the main problem why some drivers had serious problems with the grip. But this is racing and this is what can happen, unfortunately. |
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With the finals on schedule we had to forget about the sad mood very quickly and concentrate on the finals. Having two XRAY cars in the final at the World Championship was an excellent achievement already, considering the very high competition at this race. In fact out of the 9 teams representing 9 brand names, it was 6 (!) different teams/brand names qualified for the final and another 3 teams were left out. Out of the 6 teams in the A final, XRAY had 2 cars on the starting grid which was very promising indeed!
The first final started with no crashes but the first few seconds and meters were very difficult for Paul who did not have the best tire additive and his car was sliding during the first lap. As soon as the tires warmed a bit Paul was back on pace and cruised behind the leading cars, crossing the finish line in 4th position. Viktor was not as lucky in this first final as the set-up was not the best and he was struggling in the run - Viktor finished 9th. This result forced Viktor to rework his car and he changed the set-up completely which paid off in the second final run.
In the second final Paul was loose again a bit just after the start, but in few seconds the tires improved and the car started to run perfectly again. Paul cruised very safely at pace when the cars in front of him got into collisions, allowing Paul to jump up to 2nd position cruising behind Marc Rheinard. At the end some other drivers got into technical failures which allowed Paul to take the lead. Viktor's car, with the whole new set-up, was also unbelievably fast and Viktor moved from 7th position up to 2nd position passing the finish line in the excellent 2nd place just behind Paul who brought the WIN in the second A final for XRAY. Now this mixed everything up-and-down, as there were 5 drivers - Paul, Viktor, Andy, Masami and Mark who could still win in the last 3rd final. The crowd got thrilled and everybody was excited for the last final run.
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The third finals started again without any problems and Paul was up in the front when unfortunately a car in front of him suddenly slowed down and Paul crashed into the rear of his body. The Race Director decided that a stop-and-go penalty was to be levied, which defeated any chances for Paul to win the championship. With the 4+1 result from the previous finals there were still chances for a good podium finish and all dependent who would win. If Andy would win, Paul would get 2nd place overall so everybody was watching Andy who pulled away; however, before the end of the final Masami caught him and passed him in the final laps.
At the end the previous results from first two finals secured Paul an excellent 3rd place podium finish while Viktor finished at a very respectable 5th position. After the trophy ceremony and celebrations the team met together in the evening at the banquet organised by the track owner for another official prize ceremony. The team has celebrated the great result and we all had a lot of fun. Now the main concentration is on the European Championship, so we will see of us there.
We would like to thank all XRAY drivers who came to the event to race or watch, for all their excellent support. The big thanks goes to XRAY team drivers who made an excellent racing showcase and worked very hard the whole week - "good job" and we are very proud and happy to have such a professional and friendly team. Thanks to Paul and Viktor for perfect results. Thanks to the organizer for a good event and thanks to everybody else for again making this an exciting and thrilling racing experience. See you again next time. |
| Race report by Paul Lemieux |
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| First was 12th scale which was a bit rocky do to me not receiving any of my luggage in time, plus the long travel times of 30 + hrs. By the time i got my luggage and equipment I was looking forward to preparing my touring car stuff on the off day to get ready for practice. |
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Paul working on his T2
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| Right from the start of practice our team had there eye on each other just to find the best direction for set up. After two rounds of practice I opted to go to Ralph Burch's set-up for the last practice. It proved the best way to go, after a few minor changes I thought my car was great. A rain delay limited practice to 3 runs instead of the planned 8, Even with 3 rounds, I felt my T2 was in good shape to begin qualifying. At the end of practice everything was really looking up for the whole team. There were several team members going very fast, everyone was helping everyone find the last bit of performance in our cars for this track. |
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Paul's T2 in action
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Qualifying was a bit different. Because the handout tire was not the best suited tire to this track and some sets appeared better then others. I was fortunate enough to post two great runs right away which positioned me in the top 10. At the end of qualifying it was my very quick european team mate Victor Wilk and my self making the a final for XRAY.
In the 1st main I managed to finish 4th. The second main was a bit more exciting with me battling for the lead with the current world champion. Due to a part breaking in the car ahead of me, I had no where to go and hit his car, by then end of the race I was again in the lead and went onto win the 2nd round. |
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Paul and T2 on podium at the World Championship 2006
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The 3rd Round was very promising until I made a small mistake that caused me to retire. With my combined 4th and 1st, it was enough to give me the podium in the 3rd overall spot.
In closing I am very happy with this worlds, I would like to thank all my sponsors, and my team mates, it was a pleasure working with the other XRAY team members while meeting lots of new friends.
Paul Lemieux |
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The yellow T2 from Viktor
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Jilles on tail of Masami
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Jilles pulling away from Masami
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Joel's T2
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Jilles' T2
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T2 of Andreas Myrberg
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T2 of Mike Dumas
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Ralph Burch in the lead
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Start of the A main
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T2 of Andy Griffith
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Niklas taking care of Joel's car
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Paul and his toy
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Viktor, Joel, Niklas and Jilles sister watching the action
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Viktor on the trigger
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Jilles on the sticks
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Joel on the wheel
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XRAY service car fully loaded with spare parts
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XRAY promo tent with complete product display
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XRAY pits
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Viktor and Joel in the pits
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Mike Blackstock working on his T2
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Ralph Burch
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Mike with his ankle trouble
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Jilles worked very hard the whole week
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Mark Gilliand from UK
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Viktor with no troubles
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All possible tire tricks were tried out
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Alex had probably most of the fun
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The 2006 World Championship podium
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Champagne cellebration
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