WORLDS: Leino, Vejrak among those who advance from quarterfinals

0 Nov. 14, 2014, 7:05 p.m.

11/15/2014
By Aaron Waldron

LiveRC.com

The 200mm Nitro Touring Car World Championship, like the 1/8-scale off- and on-road races, use a dual ladder format to organize the lower finals and determine who will transfer through to the main event. The top three finishers in each lower final move up through to the next race, while staying in either the Odd or Even ladders, until the semifinal. In the semis, once the top three from each semi have been determined, the top three fastest times across both semis move along to the 60-minute main. Before the semis, however, the quarterfinals had to run - and these races already provided a few incredible story lines.

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The left rear tire on HB driver Teemu Leino’s car came partially unglued from the wheel around the middle of the race. “The car was horrible to drive,” said the Finn, adding that his R10 just wanted to spin - first to the left, and then to either direction. He couldn’t pinpoint when the tire started coming off, perhaps when he crashed in the hairpin heading to the left-side sweeper, but noted that the drivers aren’t allowed to add any additional glue to the handout tires and wheels so there’s no way to prevent the problem during the longer finals.

Fourth place finisher in 2010, Shinnosuke Yokoyama started tenth after bumping through the 1/8 final and was patient while waiting for other drivers to make mistakes, saying that “20 minutes is a long race - no reason to push at the start.” With three additional drivers qualifying through the semi into the final by fastest time, the Japanese driver will take a similar approach to the semi and plans not to take many chances.

Starting from the seventh position, local Thai driver Mongkolphan “Game” Lomrose dropped back to last early in the race and simply focused on making no mistakes. “Car was good - no flip,” said Game, whose plan for the semi is the same as it was in the quarter - simply making no mistakes.

Finishing order - Odd Quarterfinal

Driver - Country (Car/Engine/Controlled Fuel Choice/Body)

Teemu Leino - FIN (HB/Novarossi/Maxima/PROTOform) - 81/20:06.872
Sinnosuke Yokoyama - JPN (XRAY/O.S./Cosmo/PROTOform) - 81/20:11.514
Mongkolphan Lomrose - THA (HB/Maxima/Maxima/PROTOform) - 80.20:03.009
Takaaki Shimo - JPN (Mugen Seiki/O.S./Cosmo/PROTOform) - 80/20:04.515
Shoki Takahata - JPN (KM Racing/O.S./Cosmo/PROTOform) - 79/20:02.196
Kyle Branson - GBR (Capricorn/XRD/Maxima/PROTOform) - 79/20:04.918
Takumi Matsuda - JPN (XRAY/Picco/Cosmo/PROTOform) - 79/20:06.117
Dirk Wischnewski - DEU (Shepherd/ORCAN/Maxima/SRC) - 76/20:13.833
Chavit Sirigupta - THA (KM Racing/O.S./Cosmo/PROTOform) - 75/20:12.783
Alessio Mazzeo - ITA (Serpent/Max/Maxima/SRC) - 45/12:07.591

After bumping from the 1/16 Final yesterday, Peter Jovanovic was pleased to get into the semis but not finished yet. “The goal is always to win. I never go anywhere expecting to lose.” Third place finisher in 2006, he struggled to come to grips with his LAB-C03 until the start of the lower finals. “I couldn’t get the car as smooth in qualifying as it is now, and the pace came along with the smoothness.” Saying that the most important part of the semi will be not to roll the car, his plan would be to get to the front as quick as possible and not risk losing touch with the leaders by getting jumbled in the middle of the pack, but the 30 minute race gives more time to work through traffic.

“The car was okay,” said defending champion Meen Vejrak, working back to the semis with a shot at becoming the only driver to win a second title, let alone repeat. With two minutes to, Vejrak crashed in the hairpin after the timing loop and chunked the left rear tire, but with a lap on the field he just kept going. About his plan for the semi, the Thai driver said, “Keep safe. Car okay, engine okay, I have a chance to go to the A Main.”

Disaster struck Martin Hudy on the first full lap. “I hit the throttle and went into the dust in the first corner,” said Martin Hudy, who then flipped and chunked the left rear tire. Shortly after that, his engine became too lean and made the car difficult to drive, but he managed to fight his way back to third before crashing in the same hairpin corner, which chunked the left front. “It was very edgy after that,” Hudy said of his NT1 2014, who stayed as close Robert Pietsch as possible heading into the final fuel stop. Having passed his rival in pit lane, Hudy tried to maintain his advantage to the finish line. Hudy’s plan for the half hour semi: “stay there for 30 minutes and try not to flip in the first corner!

Finishing order - Even Quarterfinal

Driver - Country (Car/Engine/Controlled Fuel Choice/Body)