LRP Truggy Wins Season Opener!

0 May 13, 2011, 6:12 p.m.

Main Photo: LRP Truggy Wins Season Opener!

LRP OFFICIAL RACE REPORT:

LRP seals the first victory 2011 in 1/8 offroad at the season’s opening in Bischofsheim / Germany.

The International Warm-up Race in Bischofsheim near Frankfurt is one of the most prestigious offroad races in Europe. During the last years, it has become THE meeting point of the World’s 1/8 offroad elite. Top drivers like Martin Bayer, Jörn Neumann, Daniel Reckward, Philipp Guschl, Hupo Hönigl, Daniel Vega, Darren Bloomfield and Joseph Quagraine made this year’s edition a highly competitive race.

More than 200 racers had registered for the season’s opening. The classes Nitro Buggy (142 drivers), Electric Buggy (26) and Nitro Truggy (45) were held. Due to the extremely high number of starters, the track was already open on Thursday for practice. The drivers were divided into 17 groups with 15 pilots each. Therefore, every driver had enough track time to prepare for the qualifying.
The track was perfectly prepared and in best condition for this top-class event. Consequently, many drivers clocked top times already in the practice. Among these were also LRP drivers Hupo Hönigl, starting in the Nitro Truggy and Nitro Buggy classes, and Moritz Gaul, starting in the Nitro Buggy and Electric Buggy classes. Hupo trusted in the LRP S8 TX Team competition truggy – the car that already powered him to his 2010 victory in Bischofsheim. His clearly defined aim was to defend his title. Hupo, Philipp Guschl and Moritz Gaul were equipped with a preproduction sample of the new high-end LRP ZZ.21C nitro competition engine. Due to its nearly endless power, all of the three LRP drivers qualified for the semi finals in the Nitro Buggy class.

Truggy Finals
The truggy finals were thrilling from the beginning. Hupo Hönigl lost the lead to Maximilian Cordts after making a small mistake. But he was able to close the gap within only a few laps. In a spectacular manoeuvre, Hupo was able to overtake Maximilian. Now the track was free for Hupo’s LRP S8 TX Team. Like on rails, he powered his competition truggy lap by lap to a considerable advance. Only Maximilan Cordts and Matthias Reckward could partly keep up with Hupo’s speed. After a thrilling final, they crossed the line on the 2nd and 3rd spots. Hupo Hönigl secured a convincing victory for LRP and underlined his top performance shown over the whole weekend.

Electric Buggy Finals
In the Electric Buggy class, three finals were scheduled. Martin Bayer proved to be the best driver in heat 1 and took the win ahead of LRP driver Moritz Gaul. Both, Martin and Moritz, were hit by bad luck in the second final. Moritz got a 10 seconds penalty after a jumpstart and Martin suffered a technical KO on his car – both drivers had no more chance to win final 2. LRP’s Moritz Gaul pushed his car – an LRP S8 BXR evo, converted to an electric buggy – hard and closed step by step his 20 seconds gap to the leading drivers. After a breath-taking chase, he secured the 3rd spot. Martin Achter won the second final.
The decisive third final was as thrilling as expected. Starting from the pole position, Martin Bayer drove to a clear lead. Moritz Gaul could defend his 3rd position until the last lap. Unfortunately, he made a little mistake that allowed Martin Achter to overtake him. Moritz Gaul and Matthias Reckward had a tie in points, but the faster times brought Matthias on the overall third spot. LRP driver Moritz Gaul had to settle with the unlucky 4th place. Martin Bayer won the Electric Buggy class in front of Martin Achter.

Nitro Buggy Finals
The final in the most entered class was a fantastic conclusion of a highly competitive race weekend. LRP team driver Philipp Guschl missed the qualification for the final by a hair. Philipp could not come to Bischofsheim before Saturday, so he had to race the qualifying without a lap of practice. In the final, LRP was represented by Moritz Gaul and Hupo Hönigl, both powered by the brand new LRP ZZ.21C engine. Unfortunately, the LRP team was again hit by bad luck: technical KO at Moritz’ car already in the 4th lap and at Hupo’s car in the 33rd lap.
The final proved to be highly thrilling. There was a tough fight between Martin Bayer and Jörn Neumann for the victory. After a collision of the two rivals and a technical problem on Jörn’s car, Martin Bayer secured the victory one lap ahead of Jörn Neumann. Daniel Reckward completed the podium with the third position.

Hupo Hönigl gave an impressive proof of the LRP S8 TX Team's winning potential on the highest level of racing, by winning the Truggy class for the second time in a row. The extended tests of the brand new LRP ZZ.21C engine were very successful as well. LRP’s new top of the line nitro engine impressed in the semi finals and finals with its super fast and reliable performance. The LRP team is looking forward to further race success in the upcoming season!