IFMAR Worlds 2011 - oOple.com

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Monday July 18th 2011 - 2wd Practice.

After having the luxury of a full day to prepare racing equipment without even touching the surface of the track, today would be all about practice. Despite many drivers having attended the warm up event some weeks prior to the World Championships, many track changes have been made. The opportunity to spend an entire day testing different set ups and trying out the racing lines is essential for everyone present. Especially if they want to do well.

So as to ensure that all drivers could get maximum practice, the format for today was altered slightly to run 12 car heats for 4 minutes each practice, however for the real deal tomorrow this will be reverted to 10 car heats.

Although 'rough' times are available from early practice these may not be a true indication of who are the hottest drivers on the track due to many cars being altered mid race, along with other drivers cutting the track to bump up their fastest lap times.

These guys were all hitting sub-26 second laps, with Mike Truhe's 25.901 second lap in the 2nd heat of practice being what we believe to be the fastest legitimate lap.


Ryan Maifield	Run, forrest!

Scotty Ernst from the USA is here to commentate like he did here in 2007 at the European Championships. Scotty managed to change the minds of the officials and allow the racers to gets circulating on the track prior to the official start time instead of the mass start from the start box which was the case in round one.

25 second laps - Practice round 2

Mike Truhe
Naoto Matsukura
Ryan Maifield
Neil Cragg
Jared Tebo
Marc Rheinard
Lee Martin
Joern Neumann
Ryan Cavalieri
Steven Hartson
David Ronnefalk
Dakotah Phend
Peter Pinisch
Dustin Evans
Richard Lowe
Brian Kinwald
Shin Adachi

Naoto Matsukura was the first driver to get sub-25 second laps in round three and this was quickly followed up by Mike Truhe and Ryan Cavalieri who each improved on Naoto's time by fractions of a second..


Tabletop madness.	Jorn styles it up

Naoto Matsukura

Interview with Naoto Matsukura

2 time World Champion in 1/12th scale, youngest ever IFMAR World Champion.

You were the first driver out on the track to make sub 25second laps in practice, and have consistently put in some of the fastest practice laps, did you prepare lots to race here? What about practice?
Fast driving is no good for the jump - that is the most difficult part of the track. I've had to practice on lots of other tracks to prepare myself for driving over the jump, so I have visited tracks around the Tokyo area. I also make my own jumps to practice on. I practice every day.
I've built the 2wd car here straight out of the box - AE B4.1. 2wd is down to drivers skill so it hasn't needed many setup changes to the car.

What classes do you race and what is your favourite class.
For now I am also racing touring cars, and just started racing 1/8th scale gas buggy just for fun (in addition to 2wd / 4wd buggies and 1/12th scale).

When did you first start racing in off-road.
7 years ago when I was 10. I started racing r/c cars when I was 8, to start with I raced on-road. When I was 10 I raced stock touring class in Japan nationals and won the national title that year.

What cars are you racing here at the worlds and what electrics?
AE B4.1 2wd
Yokomo Bmax 4 (II)
Electrics - transmitter is Sanwa
Speed controller Nosram
Motors Nosram
Cells Yokomo - no size issues so far :)

Who is your favourite R/C driver
Everyone! I like to make friends with all racers so it is difficult to choose a favourite.

You have won two world championships already in 12th scale on-road - do you think off-road will be harder to win? And who do you think will be your greatest competition?
Of course it will be very different, but I really want to win here so I have practiced very hard. I see all the American and European drivers as big competition, to put it simply I have to beat everyone here in order to win.

He's super smooth and devastatingly fast! - The fastest lap of the whole day went to Naoto!

What do you think of monkeys jumper?
Very cute! I'd like to bring him back to Japan :)

What's your favourite food? Have you tried any interesting food since coming to Finland?
I like all cheeses, but I have never tried blue cheese - it has a very strong smell! I will try blue cheese if I win here :)
I really like the breakfast at the Radisson Blu here in Vaasa - there is so much choice.

Do you have any other hobbies than R/C racing
If it's not radio controlled, it's boring!
I play table tennis though, and other sports.

Do you see racing model cars as a career or a hobby? If not a model car career then what job do you do / would you like to do?
I'm very enthusiastic about winning competitions although I do get support from yokomo - it isn't a full time job though. It's a fun hobby.
I'm still a student at high school.

What is your favourite full size car?
I don't have a license to drive yet, but if I do get a license I'd like to drive a Hummer or a Ferrari.

Where else have you travelled to race R/C cars, and which has been your favourite country to visit?
Finland has been my favourite, it is a very nice town here. I have also travelled to the USA and Thailand.

Which track is your all time favourite?
Hotrods hobbies in USA. I also like Bamboo in Japan.

This is a huge event to attend with some awesome organisation behind it, and will be difficult to match - which other events are you looking forward to attending in the coming months?
IIC in Las Vegas and also the Japan nationals.


Naoto with his standard AE B4.1	No extra length here - all standard


Nosram Pearl	8.5 turn motor - nothing too crazy

First Sub 25 second laps (Round 3 of practice)

First Sub-25 second laps - RD3

Ryan Cavalieri	24.820
Mike Truhe	24.858
Naoto Matsukura	24.883
Jared Tebo	24.897
Lee Martin	24.951

There were by now around 30 drivers with best lap times of 25 seconds, but plenty more with the capability who will be fully expected to improve their times throughout the day.

Press Conference

A press conference was held at 12noon - Paul Worsley, Jared Tebo and Jukka Stenari gathered to talk about their racing experience and feelings about this World Championships event.
Paul answered questions about the event in general - including the wide range of drivers from all over the world who have travelled to race in Finland, he discussed the qualification criteria and how each country may select their drivers in a different manner, and quickly summed up ‘what R/C racing is’.
Jared Tebo talked about his previous world championship win and how it felt to have raced the best he possibly could. He commented on the excellent track and unbelievable organisation of this event, stating it is probably the best he has ever been to.
Former world champion Jukka Stenari, who won one of his championship titles in his home country of Finland, discussed whether there were any locals who were capable of bringing the championship home. Jukka now works for TLR in the USA, but is over here this week to support the team.

Jared describes how he feels about attending the coolest race - ever!


Nice lady from the club addresses the press conference.	Boss-man Worsley explains why Darren isn't here this week.

Practice round 4
The skies had been overcast all morning, although temperatures had remained mild and the track had been getting faster throughout the morning. Just after 1pm the first drops of rain started to fall in the form of a 'light shower' or 'drizzle'.

With the fast heats already running and heats 10,11, and 12 left to go, this could see some changes in who was fast on the track. However it's still only practice!

The organisers prepared the huge covers to protect the track from rain if things got bad - but it wasn't used.


Cavalieri makes his car look 'oOple stylee'.	Naoto Matsukura's time in round three got eclipsed - this made him sad.

13:31pm - Richard Lowe 'There's no grip on the track any more'

Back in the pits and drivers were resorting to desperate measures to reduce their lipo cells by the necessary 0.3mm to bring them within legal measurement limits. It seems there is one manufacturer (who produces cells for several) who's the main problem.

One IFMAR official saw what was going on and came over to investigate - he wasn't overly impressed by what he saw and went away to discuss the matter to see if it was legal. According to the tech officer howerver it's OK to ensure the case is flat to a degree - as long as the structure isn't weakened or punctured.


Frankie says Dremel...	Result!


Sandpapering...	Filing...

14:04pm - DC 'Losi 22: To change the wishbone you have to take the motor out'

Practice round 5.
With the earlier showers having dried up and even the occasional spot of sunshine, conditions on the track were improving and lap times once again became quicker.
Martin Achters best lap of 27.018 was the 75th fastest in Practice round 5, That sounds maybe not very fast, however these are the fastest drivers in the world and they can’t ALL have the fastest lap.
The 9 drivers recorded to have sub.25 second laps were:

All Sub-25 second laps - RD5

Jared Tebo	24.698
Naoto Matsukura	24.732
Steven Hartson	24.749
Neil Cragg	24.813
Ryan Cavalieri	24.832
Keisuke Enomoto	24.880
Ryan Maifield	24.885
Dustin Evans	24.921
Tom Cockerill	24.964

All Sub-25 second laps - RD6

Naoto Matsukura	24.279
Joern Neumann	24.524
Dakotah Phend	24.613
Ryan Cavalieri	24.628
Jared Tebo	24.632
Ryan Maifield	24.741
Steven Hartson	24.830
Peter Pinisch	24.862
Keisuke Enomoto	24.886
Lee Martin	24.910
Matt Castellano	24.921
Mike Truhe	24.932
Paul Bradby	24.953
Neil Cragg	24.955
Dustin Evans	24.993

Practice round 6.
As practice continued the list of drivers joining the 24-second team grew. Paul Bradby who had kept a low profile all day finally chucked out a 24.953 second lap, just a fraction than team buddy and former World Champion Neil Cragg. Naoto had been consistent in practice all day and his fastest lap yet of 24.279seconds was almost 1/3rd of a second ahead of his peers.

Of course fastest single lap times are only a rough indicator of who is going to come out on top tomorrow, consistency will be essential as when qualifying heats are re-seeded tomorrow, the best 3 consecutive laps will be used.


Some drivers tried front tyre modifications to improve grip. :)	Truhe was consistently fast

Drifting the end of the main straight.

Elliot Boots.

Team Durango driver Elliot Boots turned up part way into the afternoon, having already missed 6 rounds of practice. Some people may think he was over-confident, or merely 'slacking off' however we call it race dedication. The reason why Elliot had been unable to get to the event any sooner is that he has been racing his 1/8th scale buggy at the Clanfield national this weekend. It seems to be rather a shame that the 1/8th scale nationals have clashed with so many dates on the 1/10th scale calender, resulting in increased pressure for drivers who would like to compete in both classes. Fortunately Elliot qualified for the 1/10th off-road World Championships event by competing in some of the BRCA National Championship Series events last year.

Elliot finally made it out for his first practice at around 7pm, and managed to land himself with a fastest lap of 26.986. Tired, Jetlagged and still smelling mildly of Nitro Fuel, it isn't a bad start for him.

Elliot can't be blamed for maybe still being in nitro mode, after his 2nd place at the Clanfield national yesterday, just behind winner-man Darren Bloomfield.


Bootsy looks puzzled at all the strange 2WD things	Elliot's Team Durango DEX210 prototype

DEX210 prototype

Elliott admits he's never -EVER- driven 2WD buggy on dirt before. Elliott races 1/8th buggy mostly but has driven the UK national series - but the handling of 2WD buggy is of course quite different on low traction surfaces like dirt, though he's pretty confident he'll learn quickly.

18:36 : Paul Worsley: The coffee here is as good as I make it at home. It's one of the few places where I drink coffee black.

All Sub-25 second laps - RD7

Jared Tebo	24.642
Ryan Cavalieri	24.747
Ryan Maifield	24.766
Naoto Matsukura	24.796
Lee Martin	24.830
Dustin Evans	24.921
Neil Cragg	24.966

Practice round 7.
Track slowed down. Only half as many 24 second runners here- Drivers views on this vary - from suggestions that as the track has continued to dry throughout the day and dust has formed, grip levels are affected, to the possibility that perhaps the music played during this round was too slow and mellows the drivers too much. In my opinion it’s getting late in the day and most folk are probably ready to head back to the hotel for some chillout time.
Scotty has been keeping a close eye on drivers trying to 'ramp it' off the quad jump at the end of their race. Preliminary reports suggest that many drivers in 2WD are doing the 'triple-single' although the quad has been attempted successfully a few times - whether it will be risked throughout qualifying though remains to be seen - maybe it'll be a balls-out passing move for finals?

The final round of practice saw Naoto put in the fastest lap of the meeting so far with a 24.222 and didn't even look to be trying that hard. Joseph Quagraine isn't a 2WD specialist but was determined to try get into the sub-25's in the final round when we talked to him - and by golly he did it, just.
Tom Cockerill continued to lap quickly with his new Schumacher Cougar SV - dirt-spec car.


Added steering - use what you have!	Racers chill out in the canteen that's inside the pits

All Sub-25 second laps - RD8

Naoto Matsukura	24.222
Ryan Cavalieri	24.521
Jared Tebo	24.633
Mike Truhe	24.714
Ryan Maifield	24.739
Paul Bradby	24.822
Neil Cragg	24.846
Tom Cockerill	24.880
Joseph Quagraine	24.934
Christopher Krapp	24.991

Smooth batteries

A lot of drivers back in the good old days of NiMh cells at the Worlds in 2005 - Italy - used 6 cell packs but wired them to use only 5 cells (6v) for smoother power delivery. The days of those horrid little bombs has long since departed and we're now in the glorious days of LiPo batterys you can abuse all day long and generally they're fantastic. The only problem is these cells are getting more and more powerful with high 'C' ratings which give agressive punch.

For 2WD - this isn't really the best thing and whilst some drivers will dial out the punch and agressiveness with their ESC's or motors, some have chosen to use different batteries. LRP have a few people using their 'RTR' type packs which have relatively low 'C' rating of 30C and are easier to drive.


Jurgen Lautenbach from LRP with one of his SMOOTH packs	Tom Cockerill was using the packs.

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