Modify have introduced specially designed 5g chassis balance weights for Xray’s T4 series of touring cars. Made to use the chassis’ pre-drilled holes underneath the steering assembly, but also fitting other brand’s cars, the dumpbell-shaped weights are a snug fit and they come with suitable mounting hardware.
Marc Rheinard has become the first driver to double up in qualifying at the 1:12 World Championships in Beijing. Having ended Day 1 of qualifying by becoming the fourth different driver to top the times when he took Q4, the Yokomo driver picked up were he left off to open the final day of the championship with a TQ run in the penultimate qualifier. Posting a new fastest time, he would be 3-seconds clear of Akio Sobue, the CRC driver now the only one who can deny the reigning champion the overall TQ. After a bad start to Q5, Naoto Matsukura would recover to complete the Top 3 but the result means that the Top Qualifier of the last four World Championships will for the first time in his career not start the A-Main from pole position.
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Reigning World Champion Marc Rheinard holds the overnight TQ at the 1:12 World Championships after he became the fourth different driver to top the times on the opening day of qualifying in Beijing. Second fastest in the opening two rounds but retiring from Q3, the Yokomo driver finally took the day’s final qualifier after battles with both Naoto Matsukura and Akio Sobue, Sobue taking the fight to the line finishing 0.152 off the German. Having allowed Rheinard into contention for a TQ run with two smaller mistakes, Matsukura would make bigger mistakes trying to retake control eventually pulling off in the final minute after a mistake that saw him cut the track. With Matsukura out of the picture there were plenty more Japanese drivers in waiting with Hayato Ishioka finishing the day with his best run to complete the Top 3 ahead of Hideo Kitazawa who topped the previous round and holds 3rd overall behind Sobue.
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Hideo Kitazawa became the third different driver to post a TQ run at the 1:12 World Championships in Beijing, China, the 2014 podium finisher topping Q3 ahead of the pace setters of the opening two qualifiers. The Morotech driver snatched the qualifier after a late mistake from Q1 winner Akio Sobue with Q2 topping Naoto Matsukura completing the Top 3 despite his car falling apart over the 8-minutes. With earlier mistakes from Matsukura and Sobue handing Hayato Ishioka the lead for a time until he too became a victim of the difficult track to eventually finish 4th. After run time issues in both opening qualifiers, Jilles Groskamp would be the only non Japanese driver in the Top 8, the Dutchman getting a sixth while the top European of the first two qualifiers Marc Rheinard retired after damaging his car. With two P2 runs to his credit, the reigning World Champion was less then complimentary of the driving standards of Matsukura who he felt should have opened for Sobue but instead caused ‘a mess’.
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Italian company Framega have introduced a 2mm aluminium chassis and lower pod plate for the Yokomo YRX-12 1/12th scale pan car. Machined from high-quality 7075-T6 material the chassis sports strategically machined cut-outs to save both weight and offer optimised flex characteristics. A lot of attention was also put into reducing chassis scrubbing during hard cornering and so the side link attachment points received additional machining to achieve some extra clearance. Both the chassis and lower pod plate come black anodised, with silver chamfered edges for looks and they are available now.
Having faded badly after a blistering start to Q1, Naoto Matsukura was able to go the full 8-minutes in the second qualifier at the 1:12 World Championships to TQ the round ahead of Marc Rheinard. The Roche driver would be the only one to run 39-laps of the tricky Chinese track with Rheinard losing out on the extra lap as he failed to complete the full distance as his car dumped and came to a halt as he tried to complete the 39th lap. Having taken the opening qualifier, Akio Sobue would retire with a broken diff just before the 6-minute mark with Keven Hebert making up for his Q1 retirement to complete the Top 3. Just 0.056 behind Morotech’s Hideo Kitazawa who would enjoy a P4 run with Juho Levanen again getting securing a fifth for the round.
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Akio Sobue has taken the opening round of qualifying at the 1:12 World Championships in China. The CRC driver topped the first of the six scheduled qualifiers after a blistering fast run from Naoto Matsukura came undone in the final two minutes as the former champion ran out of tyres. The top seed for qualifying, Matsukura quickly pulled clear of his rivals building up an advantage of over 6-seconds, but with a lap time that was 3/10th faster than anyone else his pace took its toll on the Roche drivers tyres leading to a the first of a number of huge crashes coming off the main straight. With the crashes leading him to finish almost a lap down on Sobue in P8, it was reigning champion Marc Rheinard who would be closest to Sobue’s time with JJ Wang, who is running in the second fastest heat, completing the Top 3.
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Picking up where he left off in free practice yesterday, Naoto Matsukura has topped controlled practice to put himself top seed for qualifying at the 1:12 World Championships in China. Chasing a fourth World title in the class, the Roche driver was considerably faster than his rivals over 3-consecutive laps, his time a 36.462 compared to the next best of 37.000 set by a much improved Keven Hebert. With Toto Ebukuro completing the Top 3 it wasn’t the best of mornings for reigning World Champion Marc Rheinard. Having had his time, a P5, for the first of the two controlled practices disallowed for his tyres not being marked, CP2 didn’t start out well as he had to pull off to have his rear tyres tightened. Rejoining he would eventually get three laps that would leave him 7th quickest one spot ahead of reigning European Champion Alexander Hagberg.
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