Volker, Araya and Chan win AOC in Hong Kong

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By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com

Race report by Thomas Tran:

With open practice and seeding over, the tension was starting to rise like a hot air balloon here in Hong Kong. The wait was over and Saturday finally came and went. With 4 rounds of qualifying and the decision to go ahead and run 1 round of the triple A-mains was a crucial call as the surrounding area near Tom Racing Circuit saw flash floods later in the evening. Setup, tire strategy, and rain was the hot buzz in the pits as all drivers were pushing maximum to get the best results possible.

In the modified sedan class, fast, smooth, and consistent Volker was able to secure the overall TQ by doing the impossible and complete the perfect sweep, but only by the smallest of margins.

Newly crowned European champion, Xray’s Alexander Hagberg was charging hard in every round only to find himself down by a mere tenth in rounds 1 and 2. 

Hagberg would have to settle for 2nd on the grid while Singapore’s Nicholas Lee would follow closely behind with his best rounds of a 2 and a 3 to start him 3rd on the grid. Yokomo’s Meen Vejrak was also in the hunt with a near win in round 4, but just missing the win Meen would have to settle for 4th instead of a possible 2nd position in the mains.

In the 13.5 boosted sedan class it was LEESPEED’s own Ian Lee taking TQ honors over Yokomo’s Araya and local hero P. Boy. Ian Lee was able to take wins in rounds 1 and 3 to secure him the overall TQ spot while Araya was able to win rounds 2 and the final round would go to P. Boy securing his 3rd spot on the grid.

17.5 blinky sedan class saw F.C. Wu win 3 of 4 rounds of qualifying to earn the overall TQ in the mains. Sven Boehringer had an early win in round 1 and with two more 2nd place finishes in qualifying, Boehringer would start 2nd. Ken Li would find himself 3rd on the grid with a 2nd and a 3rd place finish in quals.

With qualifying wrapped up, race director Scotty Ernst thought it was best to run 1 round of mains on Saturday because of the weather forecast of rain that was slated for Sunday. A1 of mod sedan was a thriller as all the drivers finally were able to battle it out on the track and decide who is fastest in this ultimate showdown. From the tone, Yokomo’s Volker pushed extremely hard early on and built a comfortable gap on the very first lap. Slowly through the race, Xray’s Hagberg slowly started to chip away at Volker’s 1 second lead. With a minute to go, Hagberg’s car finally came in and started to close the gap and contest for the lead. On the last lap Hagberg gave it a shot and sent it in on Volker, but the result unsuccessful. The two would touch causing Volker to spin, but doing the right thing Hagberg gave the position back and the rest was history. A1 goes to Volker with Hagberg in 2nd and Nicholas Lee in 3rd.

13.5 boosted sedan didn’t go according to plan for TQ Ian Lee. An early first lap roll-over on the 4th turn gave the lead to 2nd place qualifier, Yokomo’s Araya. Lee would charge back to contest make the pass on Araya in the sweeper, but was short lived as Lee would make another mistake and fall back in the field. Making the call to save his tires, Lee would pull his car. Uncontested, Araya would take the win in A1 with Yeung Wai Ho and Michael Cheung finishing the top 3.

17.5 sedan saw FC Wu gifted a huge lead as the rest of the pack would battle like wolves on the first lap. Over the course of 5 minutes, 2nd place qualifier Sven Boehringer would close down Wu’s straightaway lead and contest in the final laps. In the end, Wu would cross the line first and take the win with Boehringer in 2nd and Ken Li in 3rd.

After Saturday’s thunderstorm and rain scare, the sun was back for Sunday allowing the race to proceed with the final 2 rounds of mains to decide AOC’s 4th round champions. The action started from 9am with round two of 17.5 stock sedan. Having taken the win in a close battle with Sven Boehringer in A1, FC Wu was looking to repeat his win for A2. However, with a wide turn in the first corner, Boehringer was able to take the lead early on and never looked back. By taking the win in A2 the decisive showdown was set for A3. 14 year old Bevan Chan would finish 2nd and Autumn Chan in 3rd for A2.

In the 13.5 boosted sedan class, TQ and local favorite Ian Lee was on a mission to recover from an unfavorable A1 finish. With Yokomo’s Araya already having one win, the pressure was on. While getting on the straightaway Araya would roll his car and was forced to retire. This gave Lee the ability to drive his own pace and uncontested and winning A2 with relative ease. PBoy would just edge out Yeung Wai Ho to finish 2nd and 3rd respectively.

It was do or die time for Xray’s Alexander Hagberg with Yokomo’s Ronald Volker taking a close win in A1. Much like in A1, Volker pushed hard on the 1st lap to get a comfortable gap between him and his rivals. Trading lap for lap, Volker’s lead remained .8 seconds throughout the race. With time running out, Hagberg was pushing maximum and unfortunately caught the curb and rolled his car with a minute left. This would allow Volker to cruise to his 2nd win and take the overall in the modified sedan class. Hagberg would finish just 1.7 seconds back from Volker for 2nd followed by Nicholas Lee in 3rd.

The final showdown in 17.5 stock sedan had an interesting twist. FC Wu would lead the group around and start to gap himself from the field with a clean start relative to his competition. Boehringer would get shuffled back in the field after a rough first lap giving 2nd place to Bevan Chan. Chan would eventually start to reel in Wu and pressure him into a mistake. Wu would enter the chicane section with the wrong line and kart-wheel his car giving the lead to Chan. From then on, Chan was on cruise control to take the win making it a 3-way tie for the overall between Wu, Boehringer, and Chan. After the tie-breaker results, Chan would be crowned your 17.5 stock sedan champion, Boehringer 2nd and Wu in 3rd.

The start of 13.5 boosted sedan saw LEESPEED’s Ian Lee shoot wide right from the start allowing A1 winner, Yokomo’s Araya to sneak past and take the lead. From there, it was a constant attack from Lee, but cool, collected Araya was unshaken and was able to fend off multiple attacks from Lee to take the win and the overall. Lee would finish 2nd giving him 2nd on the podium followed by PBoy with an excellent 3rd place finish.

Mod sedan was all Hagberg. Leading from start to finish and putting in a flawless drive, Hagberg was able win his 1st main with Volker sitting out. Posting a 5:07.1 during the hottest part of the day, Hagberg’s time was the fastest run of the triple a-main and even eclipsing Volker’s previous A1 and A2 times. From Singapore, Nicholas Lee would finish 2nd and Yokomo’s Meen Vejrak 3rd in A3. 

Runner-up Hagberg also celebrated his birthday at the track.