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September 16, 2022

Coelho to defend World title from TQ

Reigning ISTC World Champion Bruno Coelho is to defend his title from the TQ, the Xray driver making it 4 out of 4 in the latest round of qualifying in Gubbio, Italy. A delayed start to Day 3 of the Championship following the heavy rain yesterday that left a very slick track. When qualifying did finally get underway at lunchtime it looked like the new conditions might result in some changes at the top. While Coelho led off the qualifier, it was Christopher Krapp who set the early pace. However, once Coelho adapted to the lower traction, he resumed normal service despite Krapp’s impressive effort for the closest TQ battle we have seen so far. Behind the big surprise of the round was Serpent’s Alessio Mazzeo, the 2016 Nitro Touring Car World Championship podium finisher here at the same track, posting the 3rd fastest time ahead of Alexander Hagberg, Hayato Ishioka and Ronald Volker.

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September 16, 2022

Duchet & Lauter to duel out Spec TQ

Alexandre Duchet and Simon Lauter will duel it out to see who becomes the first ever ISTC Spec World Championship Top Qualifier in the sixth & final round of quali in Gubbio, Italy. The duo have taken all five rounds of qualifying so far with Duchet having the advantage of 3 TQ runs compared to Lauter’s two, but the latter has the fastest time. However with one qualifier remaining it is all to play for Lauter if he can TQ on the improving track. The rain that stopped proceedings yesterday faded over night but left a damp track this morning that would cause big delays in the resumption of action. Earlier attempts to get quali back underway looked like the Drifting World Championship Title was up for grabs.

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September 15, 2022

Mother Nature finally shows up, Coelho one hand on TQ

It was what everyone was expecting to wake up to on the Day 2 of the EP Touring Car World Championships and thankfully didn’t, but when the bad weather did decide to show up in showed up in spectacular style with lightening for added dramatical effect. With it looking very like Q4 was going to make the history books, drops would start falling as the top heat took to the track. Unfortunately as we got to within a minute of getting the round done, the drops got bigger and cars started sliding around with the call coming from race officials to stop racing – the heat was cancelled. As soon as it stopped, so too did the light rain. However, in the distance it was visible that this was only a little warning of a lot worse to come and for drivers pitting at the edge of the large covered pit area to move their stuff if they didn’t want it to get wet. While discussions went on about heat re-runs and new timetables, when Mother Nature turned up it was quickly clear Day 2 that was done, the rain bouncing off the track. While there still is the opportunity to run 3 more rounds of qualifying, it is looking very like job done for Bruno Coelho in terms of becoming Top Qualifier, with more mixed weather being forecast for tomorrow.

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September 15, 2022

Groskamp splits Xray’s in Q3, but Coelho still in control

After his battery issues in Q2, Jilles Groskamp has bounced back to become the first driver to split the Xray’s at the top of the times. The Infinity driver set the 2nd fastest time in the third round of qualifying with a 4/10th advantage over Alexander Hagberg but upfront it was Bruno Coelho who remained in clear control of proceedings. The only driver to run 19-laps as wind made for loose conditions, Coelho’s rivals have just one last chance to deny the reigning World Champion from defending his title from the TQ, few expecting any other outcome here in Gubbio.

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September 15, 2022

Another Xray 1-2 in Q2 as rain stays away in Italy

Drivers at the IFMAR ISTC World Championship were greeted with a positive start to Day 2 of qualifying in Gubbio, Italy, as the much anticipated bad weather that caused so much controversy yesterday hasn’t yet arrived. On a dry track, Q2 would be a repeat of last night’s opening qualifying as Xray again lead a 1-2 at the top of the time sheets. A slightly slower time than Q1, Bruno Coelho stayed in charge with Alexander Hagberg backing up his surprise Q1 performance with another P2 from the second fastest heat. Christopher Krapp made it an identical Top 3 with the biggest surprise of the round being Hayato Ishioka who posted the fourth fastest time ahead of Alessio Menicucci.

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September 15, 2022

Stiles wins 2022 CARS 1:12 Summer Shootout Series

Mark Stiles clinched the overall championship at the 2022 CARS 1/12 Summer Shootout Series GP last weekend driving his Awesomatix A12 chassis. Going into the 4th and final round of this long-standing UK summer championship Mark needed a solid finish in a high-quality field which featured nearly all of the UK’s top 1/12 scale drivers. After some early struggles in practice and qualifying, Mark lined up 3 rd on the grid for the single leg A Final behind top qualifier Ollie Payne and reigning stock world champion Andy Murray. An early crash put Ollie out of contention and left Andy and Mark out in front, where they both lapped consistently and were never separated by more than 1.5 seconds for the entire 8-minute race. Despite staying close, Mark was unable to pass Andy and the pair finished less than half a second apart. Ollie Payne recovered to complete the podium. This marked the last ever race meeting at the CARS venue in Clay Cross. After more than 40 years the club will be moving to a new venue this autumn where club and national level events will continue to be held. The end of an era, but the start of a new one!

Source: Awesomatix [facebook.com]

September 14, 2022

Sparks fly as Coelho takes Q1

Sparks literally flew as Bruno Coelho took the opening round of qualifying with darkness falling on the opening day of the ISTC World Champions. The top seed after practice, the reigning Champion would lead an Xray 1-2 from Alexander Hagberg, no one more surprised than the Swede with his P2 having been seeding the second fastest heat. Finishing off practice with an ever improving performances, Christopher Krapp would set the third fastest time for Yokomo ahead of Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski, another driver running in the slightly less dark second fastest heat. As cars went to the grid there was calls to not run the top heat as drivers complained about being unable to see. Legendary mechanic Masayuki Miura would make a direct call to race officials for the qualifying not to go ahead saying his driver could not see. Unfortunately that driver, Naoto Matsukura, struggled with the lack of light saw him crash out just two corners into the qualifier.

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September 14, 2022

Coelho sets the pace as free practice concludes

Reigning World Champion Bruno Coelho set the early pace in Gubbio, Italy, the Xray driver posting the fastest 3-consecutive laps of the four rounds of free practice at the ISTC World Championship. With a full 1-second advantage, his closest rival would be multiple Champion Marc Rheinard with Ronald Volker and Jilles Groskamp making it a very familiar picture at the top of the time sheets. Setting the fifth fastest time, Yannic Prumper was the fastest of those in search of their first World Title.

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