WORLDS: Volker maintains advantage as seeding is made official

0 Oct. 10, 2014, 10:31 a.m.

10/10/2014
By Aaron Waldron

LiveRC.com

As the thermostat climbed early Friday afternoon, the grip levels dropped - which played right into the hands of some drivers, while others suffered. With the second round results varying so greatly from the first, the top thirty in the overall seeding for qualifying was mixed around considerably. Ronald Völker, however, maintained his position as the fastest car in the field.

IMPORTANT LINKS

LIVE BROADCAST

PURCHASE ALL ACCESS PASS

PHOTO GALLERY

MORE WAYS TO GET COVERAGE
LiveRC Facebook account -- various pictures and results
LiveRC Twitter account -- breaking news and live race updates throughout the weekend
LiveRC Instagram -- JConcepts Pit Report account -- pictures from the pits

“It was good again, and I drove a little bit better like I wanted to,” said Ronald Völker, who said the loose track conditions due to the increased heat wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. “I like the heat because you have to drive more carefully, which suits me,” said Ronald, who added, “I’m not looking for any clouds.”

Portuguese off-road ace Bruno Coelho simply switched from a Mazdaspeed 6 to a one-color LTC-R and jumped up to second for the round, and said, “the car was very nice!” He planned no more changes for Friday’s later rounds.

After breaking in the first timed round, Naoto Matsukura leapt to third overall even though “it was too much hot.” The Japanese national champion said there wasn’t enough traction due to the weather, but it didn’t seem to affect his lap times.

British driver Olly Jeffries said “It was a lot better that time,” despite the heat. “Everyone else went slower and I went faster,” he said. The XRAY team driver commented that the track design was like nothing he’s ever seen before - outdoor tracks in Europe have curbs, rather than the boards like an indoor track, and said, “your brain tells you not to drive on the curbs, but it’s just paint - so you have to drive right across it.” Olly fitted the Active Rear Steering to his T4 2015 for that round, and will try reduced front droop and less rear toe-in.

Ninth in round two and the top American driver, Paul LeMieux said “It was good. Maybe not the fastest lap times but good over five minutes.” The four-time US champ has been making a lot of roll center, diff oil, and wheelbase changes and for the last practice round will run more front camber and a higher front roll center.

Former 2WD Off-Road World Champion Hayato Matsuzaki may ask his Yokomo for setup changes to make his Yokomo prototype easier to drive, saying, “it was pretty good, but I think my car is good at the end of five minutes and difficult to drive at the beginning.”

Top thirty for round two