History was made on Sunday evening at Tamiya America Raceway in Aliso Viejo, CA, as Marc Rheinard clinched a record-breaking fifth Reedy International Touring Car Race of Champions title. The victory snapped a tie with Barry Baker, who also won four titles (1999, 2000, 2002, 2003) - ironically, Rheinard’s victory came on Baker’s birthday.
The title went down to the final round of racing, as the drivers hit the track for the twelfth time. In the first heat, Nicholas Lee jumped out to the lead from the front of the grid with Viktor Wilck and Charlee Phutyotin behind. Phutyotin made a mistake the first time through the keyhole, and Andrew Hardman went passed. At 4:25, Viktor bobbled in the chicane and Hardman checked up, leaving a gap for Alexander Hagberg to pass for third. Lee won by 45-hundredths of a second over Wilck, who had 82-hundredths on Hagberg.
“I needed a win or a second to finish in the top ten,” said Lee. “I wanted to keep it safe and I did, so I’m really happy with it. That went really well for me. It’s my first time in the Invite class, so a top ten is good, but I was hoping for more. Overall, though, I am happy.”
In the second heat, Mike Haynes started alone on the front row and got the holeshot, but went wide the second time through the sweeper on the second lap - leading Freddy Sudhoff, Juho Levanen, and Ty Tessmann into the top three. At 1:00, Tessmann hit the kink and allowed Christopher Krapp to third. At 3:50, Krapp tapped Levanen coming onto the straightaway; unfortunately for the Finn, Levanen had an additional piece of Lexan affixed to his bumper in order to prevent the fenders from tucking, and the impact on his rear bumper was enough to push the additional bracing into his spur gear and end his race. Krapp stopped to wait and Tessmann motored by them both, while Krapp finally continued on and finished third. Sudhoff won by 5.5 seconds over Tessmann, with Krapp just a half second further back.
“Again, quite a good run,” said Sudhoff, “I had a good starting position on the second row. After I got by Haynes and then Christopher (Krapp) made a mistake I had a good gap, so I just cruised around.” The German was quite satisfied with not only another round win, but his overall result. “When I came here I had no real expectations,” said Sudhoff, “I just wanted to enjoy the Reedy Race and to make the top ten is really nice.”
In heat two, Steven Weiss led lap one ahead of Meen Vejrak, who passed Andy Moore through the infield. Just :30 into the race, Weiss crashed in the kink and dropped way back, putting Meen into the lead followed by Moore, Ronald Völker, Ryan Cavalieri, and Marc Rheinard. Two laps later, Rheinard ducked inside Cavalieri to move up to fourth. At 2:55, Moore slid sideways entering the chicane and Völker passed. On the next lap, Moore skied over the kink, moving Rheinard to third. Vejrak won by 65-hundredths of a second over Völker, with another half second back to Rheinard.
“I needed a first or a second, so when I got past Steven and Andy into the lead I drive safe to make sure I got onto the podium,” said Vejrak. The Thai driver continued, “I’m very happy with third overall. Last year I was fourth, so I hoped for a podium. On the first day I had a mistake so I knew it would be difficult to win, but it’s the Reedy Race - you never know what will happen.
“It’s not too bad,” said the defending champ, “I had eleven top three results so there’s not much I could’ve done better. In the end it was not enough to win, but I had the fastest overall pace. That’s not how the Reedy Race works, but I’m happy with my performance. I can only thank Yokomo and Umino, and congratulate Marc on his fifth win. Additionally, I’m glad Meen was able to hold onto the third spot on the podium.
“It feels very good!” said the champion Marc Rheinard. “I had a good start and was fourth, so I just tried to keep on the wheels and got into third. I knew Ronald wouldn’t pass Meen and knock him off the podium if it didn’t give him a chance to win. I got nervous when Naoto got closer, but I just tried to keep it on the track.” On breaking Baker’s record, Rheinard smiled and said, “It’s good to be the only one with five wins.”
Click the chart for the full-size version
OPEN MODIFIED
Open Modified champion Felix Law said, “It feels good, of course! I went to Asia for six months and practiced a lot. This is my first big international on-road win and my second race with the HB Pro 5. Last year I just missed the A-Main. This year, I came back with the new car and finally made the A. I just wanted to make the main, but I did better than I thought.
SUPER STOCK 13.5
Super Stock 13.5 champion Alan Hewitt said, “It feels really good! In the first main there was a pileup in the first corner, but I was able to catch up from fifth to second. I ended up tapping the leader in A1 and didn’t win. In the second and third mains, I was able to pull away without too much pressure. My car was amazing. I really wanted a top three, but on Thursday I was struggling - I built a new car for the race but ended up running my older one. I really wanted the TQ and win, and I was able to get it.
STOCK 17.5
Stock 17.5 champion Christian Lopez said, “It feels good, feels really really good. Finally, on my third try! I expected to make the A-Main, and maybe finish in the middle of the field. After the second round of qualifying I thought I might have a shot at winning.”
That wraps it up for LiveRC’s coverage of the 2015 Reedy International Touring Car Race of Champions from Tamiya America Raceway in Aliso Viejo, CA.
Eng / Usd
Français
Deutsch
Italiano
Recent comments