Race reports & news 2009

Podium finish for Vesa @ EPS1 race in Schermbeck, Germany

European Pan Series - EPS - was introduced to the public couple of months ago. The race serie kick start was made in Germany in early October at Sipotech's permanent track in Schermbeck, Germany.

The entry list saw some of the top drivers in Europe like Marc Fischer, Markus Mobers, Vesa Yli, Daniel Sieber and Olivier Bultync were attending in both Stock Spec and Modified classes. Total around 50 drivers from Germany, Belgium, Holland, France and Finland had gathered to compete for the victory in 3 days race. In Stock Spec 6 out of 10 A finalists were attending so the level for racing was set high before the race even started.

The track was made from black carpet with no dots on it. The carpet had S U P E R high and sticky traction so many drivers were struggling with traction rolling during the qualifying.

Friday had 7 practice rounds for both classes, on Saturday 2 controlled practice and 4 qualifying rounds and on Sunday practice final and 3x finals for everybody.

Qualifying

In Stock Spec after qualifying the front rows of A main were reserved by Markus followed by Marc, Vesa and André Efler in fourth followed closely by Olivier Bultync and Jan Asmer. Pascal Shchönrock, Kai Altmann, Kai Berger and Lars Berger took their cars also to the A main.

In modified top four was separated with a clear gap to the rest of the A finalists. Markus took the TQ spot followed my Marc, Daniel Sieber and Vesa.

Finals

In Stock Spec finals the battle was very close. In 3-leg A mains Markus took the win, with Marc in second followed closely by Vesa. Top 3 was clearly separated from the rest a main, as the top 3 was doing laptimes below 12sec (~11.9sec) with closest competitors doing 12.2+. In finals Vesa found some speed and closed the gap to Marc and battled right on his tail for the first 4-5minutes after getting to traffic and got slowed down when passing slower cars. The gap between 1st and 3rd was few seconds in finals, the rest of the main were more or less like a lap behind in finals even the qualifying was very close.

In Modified racing was also super close. Marc took the win in first final after Markus having a bad luck with crashes. Markus took the second leg of A main so it was the 3rd final that would set the winner. In last A main Markus got a clean start, Daniel made a mistake in the first two laps so Vesa was able to chase Marc. After few laps Vesa punished Marc from his minor error and got in to 2nd place. After 7min 45sec Markus was still leading with Vesa in 2nd followed closely by Marc and Daniel. The whole top 4 was then within 0.5seconds - I would say its close! Vesa dumbed a bit which allowed Marc to overtake and take 2nd place in last final. Markus won the final and also the first ever EPS modified race. With mixed points Marc got 2nd followed by Daniel and Vesa in 4th.

Stock Spec A final

1. Markus Mobers Ger Serpent

2. Marc Fischer Ger Corally

3. Vesa Yli Fin V-Dezign

4. Jan Asmer Ger Corally

5. André Efler Ger Corally

6. Pascal Schönrock Ger Hot Bodies

7. Kai Altmann Ger Hot Bodies

8. Kai Berger Ger Corally

9. Olivier Bultynck Bel Corally

10. Lars Berger Ger Corally

Other Team V-Dezign drivers did also well by finishing in B-final.  

That made total 4 out of top 20 cars to be V-Dez Carpet Ripper 2.0!

16. Alexander Roeleveld Nld V-Dezign

18. Frans Heinsbroek Nld V-Dezign

20. Thomas Stockman Bel V-Dezign

Other Team V-Dezign drivers did also well by finishing in B-final. That made total 4 out of top 20 cars to be V-Dez Carpet Ripper 2.0!

Modified A final

1. Markus Mobers Ger Serpent

2. Marc Fischer Ger Corally

3. Daniel Sieber Ger CRC

4. Vesa Yli Fin V-Dezign

5. Simon Rubet Fra

6. Pif Brunet Fra

7. Tim Altmann Ger

8. Joey Sorber Nld

9. Michael Prott Ger

After-race

The feeling at the pit at first EPS race was very good and relaxed. Everybody seemed to have fun time with friends.

Having such high traction was very good testing also. As I was able to compete with Markus and Marc in both classes at their home ground and did the same lap times in Spec and missed only few hundreds of a seconds in mod, I was happy to found new stuff for high traction carpet for the future which will be help.

Carpet Ripper 2.0 performed very well in both classes. After found good combination with tires in finals for Mod also that car was super fast. In Spec my car was perfect right from the beginning, just suffered a bit of motor overheating in finals caused by probably too high gearing which meant I dropped about 2 sec back from Marc, Markus was about 4 seconds ahead of Marc in the end.

Thanks to my sponsors

Thanks to Nosram for superb electronics and batteries, Black Art for the fastest bodies, Precision Racing System for smoothest running spur gears and pinions, CRC for the best front ends in the industry (CRC ProStrut), TQ Racing for the most flexible sensor wires and power wires, Racer magazine for the best traveling magazine to read and a special Markus Mobers for MobGums tires and for the accommodation & stuff at the race!

Looking forward to the next races - hoping to see you all @ EPS 2 race in Belgium in November 21st- 22nd! Until then, have fun at the track!

Take care,

Vesa

10/2009

European Pan Series 2009-2010 - sponsored by V-Dezign

Famous 1/12 R/C racers Markus Mobers from Germany and Vesa Yli from Finland developed the plan of the European Pan Series (EPS). Both racers are passionate about 1/12th scale racing and are both top-level drivers, also internationally.

EPS series is supported by XCEED products as main sponsor along other sponsors like V-Dezign, Serpent, BlackArt, SpeedtechRC and M-Auto magazine.

In first EPS season there will be 3 races in following countries: Germany, Belgium and Holland. EPS is a good way to bring pan car classes more to the public and to promote the racing in Europe.

While 1/12th scale racing is getting more popular again, also the new 1/10 scale World GT class is becoming more familiar for the people around the World. In season 2010-2011 World GT will be included to the series. Also some new countries (Finland, UK, Sweden, France) have shown their interest in organizing an EPS race next season.

More info about the series and rules at www.epsraces.net

Hope to see you at the EPS races!

Markus Mobers / Yli Vesa / Ronald Baar

10/2009

Stiles Takes Double Victory At First Round Of BRCA 1/12th Scale Nationals

Last weekend saw round one of this winter's BRCA 1/12th scale nationals take place in Crewe. The meeting saw most of the familiar faces in attendance along with the return of one or two names who haven't attended the nationals for a couple of years. The most notable of these was Olly Jefferies, who will be driving an Associated R5.1 in this year's championship. Last years champion Elliott Harper and former European Champion Andy Moore will also be at the next round, but were absent at this meeting due to International racing commitments.

Saturday is stock day, so all drivers run with 10.5 motors. This season sees the introduction of 1S lipo batteries as an alternative to 4-cell ni-mh, although most chose to stick with their tried and tested 4-cell packs at this early stage in the season.

Chris Kerswell dominated stock qualifying driving a V-Dezign Carpet Ripper 2.0. At times he was almost a whole lap clear of the chasing pack, but the gap was eventually closed to a handful of seconds by Olly Jefferies who lined up 2nd ahead of Mark Stiles, also driving a V-Dezign.

In the A final, the front runners got away cleanly and the top 3 began to pull a gap to the chasing pack headed by Andy Griffiths. The front three began to spread out slightly until a mistake by Olly allowed Mark to pass him for second place. As the race passed the 5 minute mark Chris's lead began to decrease, and the mounting pressure led to a small mistake which resulted in a grip roll. Mark slipped through into the lead and despite a late charge during the last 90 seconds Chris was unable to regain first place. So Mark Stiles took his maiden BRCA 1/12th scale national victory ahead of Chris Kerswell, with Olly Jefferies cementing his return to 1/12th scale with a solid 3rd place.

On Sunday the 10.5 motors are swapped for more powerful modified units, with 5.0 and 5.5 turn motors being the norm for most of the front runners. Some drivers choose to stick with their stock motors and race in the sports modified category, and despite this class actually having a larger entry, the open modified category is still seen as the premier class.

In qualifying former British Champion Andy Griffiths was back to his best after making changes to his car overnight. Andy took pole for the A final ahead of Olly Jefferies, with his Associated team mate Keith Robertson 3rd.

The A final turned out to be one of the most competitive for years, with the top 7 cars remaining on the lead leap for the duration of the race. An early mistake from Andy Griffiths let Olly Jefferies into the lead, a nd while Andy set about recovering from 8th place Olly started to open up an advantage at the head of the field. Meanwhile Mark Stiles was making steady progress through the field and found himself in 5th place at the half way stage after starting a lowly 9th on the grid. Further mistakes from other drivers promoted Mark to 3rd with 2 minutes remaining, while Andy Griffiths had by this time recovered to 2nd a couple of seconds up the road. Then to everyone's surprise, Olly's car began to slow - a problem later traced to a faulty cell in his battery pack. Andy and Mark smelt a chance of victory and both drivers put the hammer down to close the gap to the leader. Andy caught Olly on the penultimate lap, but his eagerness to get through into the lead resulted in both cars colliding and ending up on their sides. This gifted the lead to Mark Stiles, who drove a controlled final lap to take an astonishing victory from 9th on the grid! Andy recovered to 2nd place, while Chris Kerswell passed a slowing Olly for 3rd on the last lap.

The sports modified class saw an easy TQ and win for Hot Bodies' Mick Farrell ahead of Nigel Hale driving an Associated. Mark Jewitt was 3rd for Xray.

Mark has been trying for that elusive first national win for several years, and came away from Crewe with 2 popular victories under his belt! This capped off an outstanding weekend for the V-Dezign team. A 1-2 on Saturday followed by a 1-2-3 and the team prize on Sunday!

Mark's V-Dezign Carpet Ripper 2.0 chassis was propelled to victory using Parma Blackhawk tyres and a Parma Zytek body shell.

9/2009

V-Dezign Dominate… Again!

The UK V-Dezign 1/12th scale team were back in action again this weekend at the last big event before the BRCA nationals start. Chesterfield Auto Racing Society played host to a grand prix style 2-day meeting, with support from Action Model Centre. Both stock and modified classes were catered for, with just over 2/3 of the entry opting to run 10.5 motors in the stock class.

In qualifying, new V-Dezign team recruit Russ Williams took a comfortable TQ with his new Carpet Ripper 2.0 chassis. Russ took a few runs to get to grips with his new ride, but was soon up at the front where everyone expected him to be. Mick Farrell qualified 2nd for Hot Bodies with Peter Craig 3rd for Serpent.

The modified class saw a V-Dezign whitewash! Andy Griffiths was on stunning form and easily set TQ. He was followed by Chris Kerswell with Mark Stiles 3rd, both running Carpet Ripper 2.0's. This trio were by far and away the quickest in the class - nobody else was anywhere close!

The first stock A final was a disaster for Russ Williams; he crashed at turn one and allowed Mick Farrell through to take the win. However, Russ made up for his earlier mistake by comfortably winning the second leg and taking the overall victory ahead of Mick. Mark Jewitt finished 3rd overall for Xray.

Andy Griffiths was the runaway winner in modified; he lapped the field in leg 1, and despite being kept honest by Mark in the first half of leg 2, he went on to win the race by half a lap. Mark took a brace of seconds to finish 2nd overall, with Andy Sawyer 3rd for Corally. Chris Kerswell had two very unlucky finals, but still managed to salvage 4th place overall following some spirited driving.

So once again the V-Dezign team were on fire and look set to be a dominant force at this years BRCA nationals. Andy, Mark, Chris and Russ will also be driving for V-Dezign in the BRCA teams championship which runs alongside the national series.

Summer/2009

V-Dezign CR 2.0 Takes 1-2 At AMC Shootout R4!

V-Dezign duo Andy Griffiths and Mark Stiles took a dominant 1-2 finish at the final round of this years Action Model Centre Supported Summer Shootout Series at Chesterfield last weekend.

Andy Griffiths dominated qualifying with his Carpet Ripper car, setting the fastest time in all five qualifying rounds. Mark Stiles was a little slower to get on the pace, but eventually put in a solid run to line up second on the grid, 3 seconds behind Andy.

In the A-Final, early mistakes from Andy and Mark dropped them down the order. However, about 3 minutes into the race Mark found his way into the lead and pulled a small gap to the chasing pack while Andy was still stuck in traffic and trying to recover from his earlier mistake. Eventually Andy got through into second spot and put the hammer down to catch Mark.

The lead pair were by now over half a lap ahead of the chasing pack. With 3 minutes of the race remaining, Andy slid through to take the lead after Mark got caught out by a tape join at the end of the main straight. This is how the order remained, with Andy pulling a lead of several seconds by the end.

Although slightly disappointed to finish in second place, the result was enough to give Mark the overall championship win by a single point from Hot Bodies driver Mick Farrell! This adds to the already comprehensive list of accolades for the Carpet Ripper chassis, and sets the UK team up nicely for the BRCA nationals, which start in a few weeks time.

Summer/2009

Stiles Makes a Winning Start With V-Dezign

Sunday 19th July saw round 3 of the Action Model Centre supported 1/12th scale 'Summer Shootout' take place at Chesterfield - the home of 1/12th scale racing in the UK.

The driver line up was one of high quality, despite the fact that 1/12th scale racing is relatively quiet over the summer in the UK. Pre-event favourites included the Hot Bodies pairing of Mick Farrell and Chris Smith, Corally's Andy Sawyer and Serpent's Peter Craig. Joining them in the hunt for victory was Mark Stiles, who has recently switched from Hot Bodies to the V-Dezign team.

Mark immediately got off to a good start with his new chassis; he was fastest in all 5 rounds of qualifying and took TQ by over a lap ahead of Mick Farrell and Chris Smith!

Mark got a clean start in the A-final and went on to comfortably lap the entire field with an almost faultless run! Mick Farrell recovered from an early crash to finish 2nd, while Peter Craig improved on his 4th placed grid slot to complete the podium.

After his dominant A final performance, Mark had the following to say about his new ride;

"I'm really pleased with how my Carpet Ripper has performed today. To be honest I wasn't expecting it to be so good straight away! The car was nicely balanced and I was able to push hard for the full 8 minutes without suffering a loss of traction from the tyres towards the end of the race. I can't wait for the BRCA nationals to start, and I'm looking forward to working with Andy Griffiths to further improve and refine the setup!"

This marks the second win in as many rounds for the V-Dezign Carpet Ripper 2.0, with returning team member Andy Griffiths having dominated the previous round in similar fashion.

With 3 of the 4 rounds completed, Mick Farrell heads the championship table by virtue of having competed in all of the rounds. However, a top three finish at the 4th and final round on 6th September would see Mark take the overall title.

Thanks Mark for the great report and congrats for the victory first time out with your new CR2.0 ride! Looking forward to hear news like this also from UK when the season starts! :)

Summer/2009

Andy Griffiths sweeps the Summer Shootout round 2!

Andy Griffiths had a flying start for the coming season at 1/12th scale Summer Shootout serie in Chesterfield, UK. Andy TQ'd with 1 and a half lap with his new Carpet Ripper 2.0 ride. Andy used the new lightweight chassis, that is slightly more flexy and about 5g lighter than the standard one. The front end is also a bit more narrow, between standard and CR'07 placement for improved steering after providing more rear grip due to flex.

In final Andy dominated the pack by taking the victory even he suffered a bad crash. Congrats Andy, well done!!!

05/2009

Andy Griffiths re-joins the team!

Together with Vesa Yli, they both made the 2007 Euros A main, with Andy finishing 4th and Vesa10th after the finals. Season '06-'07 saw many races dominated by Vesa and his CR'07 in Finland, like the final break-thru wins in Rebellion Races in '06 and '07 as well as dominating at the nationals by taking TQ and all final wins ahead of all the top drivers.

Here is what Andy has to say about his new team and ride:

V: At first, welcome back to the team, Andy! What made you decide to re-join the Team V-Dezign?

A: I felt that I had a great season the last time I drove the car, and hopefully I will have another great season this year, as I'm sure the car will work great again. I also feel Vesa and myself make a very good team, and hope we both have a great season.

V:Looking forward to the new season with brand new gear?

A: Yes very much, I can't wait to try out the new version of the Carpet Ripper 2.0.

V: What is your opinion about using LiPo's in 1/12th scale?

A: I've not had a chance to try LiPo in 12th scale, so I can't make a true decision on how it will work, but I think, with the lower voltage it will slow the cars down a little, which will make it a bit more accessible to newcomers, but the extra equipment (receiver pack, booster, etc) and a specialised cell that won't work in other classes (apart from world GT) may put some people off. We will have to see how it goes, and it does seem to be the future of the sport.

V: Are you going to do testing during the summer or just lay back and have

A: I am planning to get some testing done over the summer, as I think it is always important to work hard on a new car to make sure it's ready for the new season. I tend to only race some weekends though, so I will still have plenty of time for the family:) and decorating the house:(

V: European Championships will be held in UK in 2010 as a double event with Spec and Mod. Who do you think are the strongest contenders for the titles in season 2010?

A: I think the usual names will be at the front - Andy Moore, Marc Rheinard and Hupo, but I also think young Elliott Harper will be a strong contender, with a second 12th season under his belt, and on a surface that he will be familiar with.

V: You have raced for quite a long time with lots of success in many classes, especially in touring and 1/12th scale. What's the secret of getting motivated year after another?

A: After about 20 years of racing I'll admit it can be difficult sometimes to get motivated for racing, but there is always some new equipment to test out, or a new challenge to rise to. This year I'm especially looking forward to driving the new car, and I have a real challenge to try to wrestle the British 12th Championship back off Elliott, and not to forget the European Championships that are being held in my home town at the end of the season. It should be a great year.

Team V-Dezign welcomes Andy back 'home' and is very excited about Andy's decision to join the team and is looking forward to work together with Andy and another British top ace Chris Kerswell as well as other team drivers in coming season.

Good luck and success!

Vesa

V-Dezign

03/2009

Vesa takes 4th place at the EFRA European Championship in Holland!

EFRA 1/12th scale Stock Spec European Championship was held in Amsterdam, Holland from 27th Februari to 1st March. The class was run with 10.5 turn EFRA listed motors at famous MACH home track in an old car service building close to the centrum of Haarlem.

The race saw about 70 entries around the Europe with some of the best 1/12 drivers from UK, Germany, Finland, Holland and Belgium attending to fight for the glory. Friday was a scheduled for free practice rounds and 1st qualifying round followed by 5 more qualifying rounds on Saturday with final practice and triple finals on Sunday.

Together with my fellow racer Ari Salminen and his father Jari we arrived to the Airport on Thursday evening so we had no rush before the race started. Checked the track on Thursday eve and booked some pit places for us, Team Finland. I was also going to be our team manager so needed to check some regular stuff before the event starts.

The track was about 28m x 10m with nice and technical layout suitable for 1/12 racing. No dots were used according to EFRA rules, just barriers which made it cooler.

Friday - Practice and qualifying

Friday started well for me as I was on top spots right from the first pack. Tested some tire compounds and gearings during the day to find the best possible combination. As sponsored by Nosram, I choose to race with Nosram Storm 10.5t motor and the new Matrix Evolution Spec Racing speedo at the event. Did some testing before the race for few days to get better touch to 10.5t motors as I usually don't run with them, only modified. Actually considering the track size and how technical it was, the power was perfect for close racing.

After Friday's practice and 1st qualifier I was standing in 4th place comfortably.

Saturday - Qualifying

On Saturday I started where left the day before and made some adjustments on gearing to avoid extra heating caused by the driving style needed with 10.5t motor. After qualifying I found myself in 4th place with fellow racers Marc Fisher on TQ, Markus Mobers in 2nd and Bart Wubben in 3rd. In A final were also Tim Altman (DE), Keith Robertson (GB), Olivier Bultynck (BE), Hugo van den Berg (NL), former European Champion Erik Jonk (NL) and Simon Rubet (FR).

I felt happy after making Euro's A mainfor the second time since 2007 in Sweden in modified class.

Even thought I was missing some top speed to fight for the top 3 places in qualifying.

Sunday - Finals

Sunday, the day for the finals. The day started with lower mains final practice so A main drivers had plenty of time to prepare for their finals. In final practice I did try some new tricks with gearing and as Marc and Markus had some problems in the beginning, I manage to take the win in Euro's A final practice - which was nice and promising!

In finals I had clean starts except in first final leg where I took Bart out in first corner accidentally. In finals I finished 5-4-4 which gave me 4th place overall. Especially in last final I had super close racing with Keith Robertson, thanks for the fair fight!

Conclusions

The race was done, Marc was crowned as a new Euro Champ in EFRA Stock Spec class, Markus took 2nd and Bart 3rd. Congrats to Marc for the title! Marc decided to choose V-Dezign for painting of his race body for the race - smart move! :)

I felt happy to make the A main and did one of the best runs ever with no mistakes all weekend, just lacked some speed which is essential in this class. Anyway it was European Championships so it wasn't bad result.

Thanks to all organizers and Frans Heinsbroek for putting up this great event! Atmosphere was nice and everything was organized well at the track.

Thanks to my sponsors Nosram, BlackArt Racing, Spintec, PRS and SpeedtechRC for fast stuff again!! Thanks also to all friends at the race for support and nice time at the pit and off the track on Sunday eve! :)

See RedRC.net for race report and photos