IIC: Europeans hang onto overnight TQ

0 Oct. 16, 2014, 6:38 p.m.

10/16/2014
By Aaron Waldron

LiveRC.com

It's a rule of carpet racing - the more track time put on new carpet, the faster the surface will get. This year's IIC track was no exception, as lap times dropped just from the first qualifying round to the second. Even after a couple days of practice the drivers spent the first two rounds trying to figure how how best to predict the improving conditions. Seven of the eleven racing divisions at this year's IIC saw new TQ times in the second round, but the premier Modified classes were not among them.

TQ Alexander Hagberg was on an even faster run in the second round, but his battery died on the final lap. In his wake, Mike Haynes turned the fastest time in round two and moved up to second overall. “It seems pretty good, and just safe to drive,” said Haynes of his 12R5.2. “I’m just going to try to stay out of trouble and go a little bit quicker.” Mike ran a little bit more caster in Q2 than he did in the first round, and might try smaller diameter CRC Blues in the rear to free up the car.

Josh Cyrul said his car was “absolutely atrocious” for the first two minutes, but once the tires came in and it stopped traction rolling it was awesome. “I think I hot-lapped that round,” said Josh, who said his car was a lot better than the first round after which he changed his shock setup to match what he had learned with his WGT car.

“Pushing! Pushing really bad,” said Hupo Honigl after improving to seventh by the end of Day One of qualifying. “I keep changing stuff,” said the Austrian, “and it’s close to being good, just needs more changes.” Aside from running slightly bigger tires, Hupo wasn’t sure what else he could change for Friday.

1/12-Scale Modified:

Alexander Hagberg - 49/8:01.555 (R1)
Mike Haynes - 48/8:00.420 (R2)
Juho Levanen 48/8:00.833 (R1)
Keven Hébert 48/8:02.286 (R1)
Josh Cyrul 48/8:02.971 (R2)
Ray Darroch 48/8:07.634 (R2)
Hupo Honigl - 47/8:01.959 (R2)
Max Kuenning 47/8:02.250 (R1)
Paul LeMieux - 47/8:02.337 (R2)
Dave Ehrlich 47/8:03.521 (R1)
Andy Moore - 57/8:06.004 (R2)
Andrew Knapp - 46/8:01.594 (R2)
Walter Henderson - 46/8:03.066 (R2)
Brian Bodine - 46/8:04.981 (R2)
Edgar Fiallos - 45/8:02.374 (R2)
Drew Ellis - 44/8:10.352 (R2)
Evan Morey - 39/8:06.203 (R1)
Alf Skaar - 37/8:00.735 (R1)
Matthew Siu - 21/5:26.141 (R1)

Keven Hébert finished up the cleanest in a mad dash to the line after a close final qualifying heat that flirted with the magical 28-lap run and a new TQ, improving to second quickest with his Team Associated car. “It was good. Started off good and picked up a push throughout the run - I need it to be a little bit freer, but it was easy to drive,” said the Canadian, who had a clean run with maybe a half-second worth of tiny mistakes throughout the five minutes. Acknowledging that he needed to make changes for tomorrow, Hébert wasn’t sure yet which direction to go. “I’ll sleep through it and figure it out in the morning,” he said.

“It was really, really pushy,” said Paul Lemieux of his T4 2015, adding, “the only way I got the result that I did is because I drove almost perfect. I’ll need to make big improvements if I want to move up at all.” Convinced that he’s about two-tenths of a second off of the faster cars, Paul thinks that an aluminum chassis - which many of the top ten drivers have started running because the heavier plate creates a lower center of gravity - will give his car more speed.

Running up front in every class he entered, Josh Cyrul improved to sixth with his Awesomatix A700 in the second round. Josh received the worst of an incident in the first round, when a patch of carpet tore at the end of the straightaway in the first round and caused his car to crash, which triggered the heat to be re-run after a delay. “I’m still missing something because it’s fine on the tweak board, but it wouldn’t turn right,” said Cyrul, who took apart the whole front end of his car after Q1 and will go through the rear end this evening. Even after he figured out how to drive the car given its quirky handling, Josh said it took too long for his car to come in during the run. “In the first couple of minutes those guys check out on me,” he said.

Touring Car Modified:

Ronald Völker - 28/5:10.500 (R1)
Keven Hébert - 27/5:00.967 (R2)
Andy Moore - 27/5:02.119 (R1)
Alexander Hagberg - 27/5:02.182 (R1)
Paul Lemieux - 27/5:03.312 (R2)
Josh Cyrul - 27/5:04.426 (R2)
Juho Levanen - 27/5:06.096 (R2)
Ben Cosgrove - 27/5:09.215 (R1)
Mike Haynes - 27/5:09.758 (R2)
Mike Gee - 26/5:00.968 (R2)
Henrik Heitsch - 26/5:01.711 (R2)
Robbie Dodge - 26/5:01.918 (R1)
Francisco Martini - 26/5:02.001 (R2)
Dave Ehrlich - 26/5:03.679 (R1)
Kody Knudtson - 26/5:05.539 (R2)
Antonio Caretti - 26/5:05.639 (R1)
Drew Ellis - 26/5:05.944 (R1)
David Joor - 26/5:06.943 (R2)
Walter Henderson - 26/5:07.102 (R2)
Steve Bruer - 26/5:07.549 (R1)

Craig Xavier is the overnight TQ in 1/12 Stock. Saucing the front tires less in the second round to make the car easier to drive at the beginning, it was still a little bit tippy but settled down pretty quickly.

1/12-Scale Stock

Craig Xavier - 42/8:08.898 (R2)
Andrew Knapp - 42/8:10.459 (R2)
Michael Herald Jr. - 42/8:10.576 (R1)
John Wiita - 42/8:10.589 (R2)
Rod Canare - 41/8:08.223 (R2)
Tony Block - 41/8:08.988 (R1)
Kyle Goodwine - 41/8:09.500 (R2)
Danny Jenkins - 41/8:11.444 (R2)
Mark Smyka - 41/8:11.562 (R2)
Ron Schuur - 41/8:11.630 (R2)
Mario Ficco - 41/8:12.197 (R1)
Ralph Morella - 40/8:00.833 (R2)
Dan Hamann - 40/8:01.966 (R2)
Jody Flipse - 40/8:03.672 (R2)
Brandon Skewes - 40/8:04.891 (R2)
Robert Dirla - 40/8:05.519 (R2)
Joey Krysinski - 40/8:06.826 (R2)
Carissa Smyka - 40/8:07.163 (R1)
Evan Morey - 40/8:07.690 (R2)
Bill Jeric - 40/8:10.062 (R2)

“It was pretty good,” said Josh Cyrul of his Expert World GT car, having tried different shock spring, oil, and preload combinations to get his car to go through the bumps on the right side carousel and the “hockey stick” sections of the track. His only change for Friday will be a new rotor to get more natural drag brake.

Expert World GT:

Josh Cyrul - 30/5:03.152 (R2)
Hupo Honigl - 30/5:07.248 (R2)
Mike Haynes - 29/5:04.262 (R2)
Walter Henderson - 29/5:04.796 (R2)
Edgar Fiallos - 27/5:02.046 (R1)
Sean Cochran - 27/5:02.559 (R1)
Patrick Morehead - 25/5:03.058 (R1)
Matthew Siu - 23/5:07.252 (R1)

“It’s good, still on the tippy side,” said Michael Herald Jr., who tried saucing his front tires less in the second round but didn’t get too crazy with setup changes because it was the first time he tried running one-run tires. He’ll go back to new tires on Friday morning, and will try trimming the wing to get more straightaway speed in the spec class, which mandates everything down to the final drive ratio - and he noticed some of the other cars had more straightaway speed.

Spec Grand Touring:

Michael Herald Jr. - 24/5:07.471 (R2)
David Zorn - 23/5:02.466 (R1)
Bill Sydor - 23/5:03.031 (R1)
Fabio Evangelista - 23/5:03.564 (R1)
Adam Hutchison - 23/5:06.328 (R2)
David Walker - 23/5:09.516 (R2)
Rob Michael - 23/5:10.540 (R2)
Monte Hess - 23/5:12.622 (R2)
Gus G. - 23/5:13.181 (R2)
Paul Dabao - 22/5:01.296 (R2)
Sven Boehringer - 22/5:02.480 (R2)
Robert Brandow - 22/5:02.775 (R1)
Ken Pepe - 22/5:03.111 (R2)
Mario Ficco - 22/5:04.500 (R2)
Todd Understiller - 22/5:06.984 (R2)
Jeff Smith - 22/5:08.106 (R1)
Kevin Cole - 22/5:09.325 (R2)
Kerry Bostrom - 22/5:10.772 (R2)
Fred Medel - 22/5:11.777 (R1)
Eric Epp - 22/5:12.681 (R2)

“That thing is really good,” said a smiling Josh Cyrul when describing his Super Stock 1/12-scale car. He and the Speed Merchant team took some of the shock setting lessons they learned in WGT and applied them to the 1/12-scale cars, and it drove way better in the second round than it did earlier on Thursday. Josh plans on digging through his box to find a different D4 13.5 to see if he can get more rip, but said, “I really can’t complain - it was really easy to drive and very comfortable.”

1/12-Scale Super Stock

Josh Cyrul - 45/8:10.854 (R2)
Tony Block - 44/8:05.558 (R2)
Ray Darroch - 44/8:06.161 (R2)
Max Kuenning - 44/8:08.241 (R2)
John Wiita - 44/8:08.961 (R1)
Hupo Honigl - 44/8:09.627 (R2)
Andrew Knapp - 43/8:01.245 (R2)
Brian Wynn - 43/8:01.379 (R2)
Dave Berger - 43/8:05.412 (R1)
Eric Anderson - 43/8:10.065 (R2)
William Jossens - 42/8:02.246 (R2)
Lawrence Fairtrace - 42/8:02.360 (R1)
Rod Canare - 42/8:02.963 (R2)
Joey Krysinski - 42/8:06.178 (R2)
Kyle Goodwine - 42/8:07.146 (R1)
Brian Bodine - 42/8:07.450 (R1)
Jody Flipse - 42/8:08.034 (R2)
Mark Dawson - 41/8:02.790 (R2)
Kevin Creaser - 41/8:07.978 (R2)
Brandon Skewes - 41/8:09.136 (R1)

“It was good. The top five or six were very close, but my car was quicker at the end,” said overnight World GT top qualifier Bryan Wynn, who said he needs to start off the race faster than he did on Thursday. He’s not sure if he’ll need more power, or simply refine his tire prep - trying to get multiple cars ready, as well as help teammates, he thinks he’s been saucing his tires too late and they haven’t been dry enough when the race begins, as his car gets considerably better as the race goes on.

World GT:

Brian Wynn - 27/5:06.259 (R2)
John Wiita - 27/5:07.592 (R2)
Max Kuenning - 27/5:07.756 (R2)
Brian Bodine - 27/5:08.480 (R2)
Mario Ficco - 27/5:09.545 (R2)
Lawrence Fairtrace - 26/5:02.454 (R1)
Tony Block - 26/5:03.866 (R1)
Mark Smyka - 26/5:05.480 (R2)
Kyle Goodwine - 26/5:06.367 (R2)
Bob Stefflue - 26/5:08.842 (R2)
Mark Day - 26/5:10.116 (R2)
Rod Canare - 26/5:11.463 (R2)
EJ Evans - 25/5:00.577 (R2)
Monte Hess - 25/5:01.263 (R2)
Ralph Morella - 25/5:01.566 (R2)
Jeffery Fink - 25/5:03.715 (R2)
Patrick Morehead - 25/5:04.750 (R1)
Tsutomu Arakawa - 25/5:07.645 (R1)
James McGee - 25/5:12.931 (R2)
Bob Carlos - 24/5:07.476 (R1)

“The car was pretty good the first time,” said Michael Herald Sr. after his time held up through the second round when he said his car had too much bite. Michael dialed out some of the front camber in an effort to make it easier to drive for Friday morning’s third round.

Amateur Touring:

Michael Herald Sr. - 24/5:02.011 (R1)
Steve Breuer - 24/5:02.534 (R2)
Brian Card - 24/5:04.592 (R2)
JD Ramsey - 24/5:06.833 (R2)
Evan Morey - 24/5:07.558 (R2)
David Walker - 24/5:08.205 (R2)
Ray Misir - 24/5:08.655 (R1)
John Choi - 24/5:09.255 (R2)
Victor Kao - 24/5:09.325 (R2)
Robert Brandow - 24/5:10.532 (R1)
Eddie Shaffer - 24/5:10.883 (R2)
Dave Chennell - 24/5:10.916 (R1)
Rich Boehmler - 24/5:11.091 (R1)
Ryan Cooper - 24/5:11.696 (R2)
Jonathan Guting - 24/5:14.504 (R1)
Nick Canelos - 23/5:05.630 (R1)
Sven Boehringer - 23/5:05.647 (R2)
Chris Crowder - 23/5:08.389 (R2)
Matt Adkison - 23/5:11.822 (R2)
Kerry Bostrom - 23/5:13.486 (R1)

Defending champion Mario Ficco’s clean first run held up through the second round, even as the track picked up grip. Mario’s car was better as well, though he hit the board in the center of the track and lost about four seconds - and his teammates were still teasing him about choking and “blowing out” a few races later. The only change he made to his car for the second round was saucing later, and he doesn’t plan any changes to the car for Friday either. “I’m going to try not to suck, find the blow out dial on my radio and turn it down,” said Mario, who added, “I need to fix the component between the steering wheel and the drivers’ stand.”

Formula 1:

Mario Ficco - 24/5:10.991 (R1)
Bryan Wynn - 24/5:11.041 (R2)
Dave Ehrlich - 24/5:11.714 (R1)
Kevin Cole - 23/5:01.995 (R1)
Fabio Evangelista - 23/5:04.278 (R1)
Bill Jeric - 23/5:05.822 (R1)
Mark Day - 23/5:07.790 (R1)
Carissa Smyka - 23/5:11.067 (R2)
Elliott Miyashiro - 23/5:11.785 (R2)
Nick Canelos - 23/5:12.364 (R2)
Mark Burgess - 23/5:12.568 (R2)
Sean Park - 22/5:01.445 (R2)
Eric Epp - 22/5:02.735 (R2)
Fred Medel - 22/5:03.267 (R1)
Ron Schuur - 22/5:07.995 (R1)
Ken Pepe - 22/5:09.227 (R1)
Patrick Morehead - 22/5:09.580 (R1)
David Walker - 21/5:00.058 (R2)
Brad Palmer - 21/5:05.251 (R2)
Woody Garwood - 21/5:14.590 (R2)

“It was good, a little bit tippy up front,” said Keven Hébert, who said his car wouldn’t flip, but it was lifting the inside tires a bit and felt on edge. The Canadian moved his shocks out on the front shock tower and raised the roll center on both front and rear after the first round, but will leave his TC6.2 Worlds alone and run older tires for Q3 on Friday morning.

Super Stock Touring:

Keven Hébert - 27/5:09.985 (R2)
Mike Gee - 26/5:00.800 (R1)
Kyle Klingforth - 26/5:04.067 (R2)
Arthur Scrimo - 26/5:04.549 (R1)
Cory Parsons - 26/5:05.396 (R1)
Brent Klingforth - 26/5:05.584 (R2)
Kody Knudtson - 26/5:05.813 (R2)
EJ Evans - 26/5:06.921 (R1)
Eric Anderson - 26/5:09.486 (R2)
Francisco Martini - 26/5:09.586 (R2)
Robbie Dodge - 26/5:10.158 (R1)
Adam Brown - 26/5:10.514 (R2)
Bill Sydor - 26/5:11.910 (R2)
Henrik Heitsch - 25/5:00.081 (R2)
PY Tang - 25/5:00.421 (R2)
Drew Ellis - 25/5:00.518 (R1)
Joel Eaton - 25/5:00.534 (R2)
Brad Johnson - 25/5:00.781 (R2)
Sandro Kuriger - 25/5:00.980 (R2)
Michael Hanulec - 25/5:00.985 (R1)

“It was really good, but everyone went faster that time,” said Ft. Collins, CO native Kyle Klingforth, who hasn’t changed his car since running at his home track of 5280 Raceway in Denver. A clean run with a slight board tap on lap one, Kyle will leave his car the same again heading into Friday.

Touring Car Stock: