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Video – Invitational Rd5

Posted: 27 May 2017 11:11 AM PDT

Rheinard gains as Vejrak has tough start to Day 2 of Reedy Race

Posted: 27 May 2017 10:55 AM PDT

Marc Rheinard made the biggest gain as Day 2 of the Reedy Race of Champions got underway with Round 5 of racing at Tamiya Raceway, a third place moving the Infinity driver to within 2 points of overnight leader Meen Vejrak and Akio Sobue. The opening heat of the day’s four rounds of racing would see Eric Albano capitalise on his pole position, the Yokomo driver winning by over 3-seconds from fellow American Ryan Cavalieri as Bruno Coelho snatched 3rd from Juho Levanan in a drag race to the finish line. The second encounter was the most heavily stacked heat of the round, Rheinard joined by reigning champion Ronald Volker and points leader Vejrak with Nicolas Lee on pole. Lee would take the win with all eyes on the battle behind for second. Starting second Naoki Akiyama drove a great race as Rheinard overshadowed him, the German eventually getting by with a forceful move only to be called to give it back by the referee. Getting by the young Japanese driver for a second time, the 5-time Champion would then make a mistake entering the kink with Akiyama there to take back second and hold it to the end ahead of Rheinard, Volker and Vejrak. Heat 3 would see a great battle between Viktor Wilck and Sobue with Wilck going to the front after a questionable move on the Infinity driver in the kink. Sending Sobue flying of the track, Sobue with drop to 5th as the Serpent driver registered his second win of the event. While no call came from the referees the general opinion of the invitation class drivers watching was the Swede was at fault for the incident.

Continue reading this report here or view our complete event coverage here.

Rheinard gains as Vejrak has tough start to Day 2 of Reedy Race

Posted: 27 May 2017 10:52 AM PDT

Marc Rheinard made the biggest gain as Day 2 of the Reedy Race of Champions got underway with Round 5 of racing at Tamiya Raceway, a third place moving the Infinity driver to within 2 points of overnight leader Meen Vejrak and Akio Sobue. The opening heat of the day’s four rounds of racing would see Eric Albano capitalise on his pole position, the Yokomo driver winning by over 3-seconds from fellow American Ryan Cavalieri as Bruno Coelho snatched 3rd from Juho Levanan in a drag race to the finish line. The second encounter was the most heavily stacked heat of the round, Rheinard joined by reigning champion Ronald Volker and points leader Vejrak with Nicolas Lee on pole. Lee would take the win with all eyes on the battle behind for second. Starting second Naoki Akiyama drove a great race as Rheinard overshadowed him, the German eventually getting by with a forceful move only to be called to give it back by the referee. Getting by the young Japanese driver for a second time, the 5-time Champion would then make a mistake entering the kink with Akiyama there to take back second and hold it to the end ahead of Rheinard, Volker and Vejrak. Heat 3 would see a great battle between Viktor Wilck and Sobue with Wilck going to the front after a questionable move on the Infinity driver in the kink. Sending Sobue flying of the track, Sobue with drop to 5th as the Serpent driver registered his second win of the event. While no call came from the referees the general opinion of the invitation class drivers watching was the Swede was at fault for the incident.

‘Overall I made some points I guess compared the leading driver in the points’, was Rheinard’s reaction to his P3. With a DNF & 8 points, in his tally, he added, ‘2nd would have been good but 3rd is ok given the result of the others’. Commenting on his race, he said, ‘I was in a Yokomo sandwich, I was faster than both of them but had to be careful not to touch them and Naoki was driving really well’. On his first pass on Akiyama, he said, ‘We touched but I didn’t hit him so I don’t think the call was fair, there have been worse crashes and no penalties’. Explaining his error in the kink he said, ‘I was pushing trying to catch Nicholas but ran too much inside and slid up the curb on the green and got dirty tyres and that’s how Naoki got back by’.

The only triple winner so far along with Rheinard, Vejrak summed up his P5 with, ‘not a good start this morning’. The Thai driver said, ‘Marc opened in the sweeper and I went for the pass but we touched and my tyres got dirty so I lost a few positions’. The 2015 podium finishers continued, ‘the car feeling changes every round so it really difficult to know how it will react in the race’. Vejrak’s worst round so far, if taken as one of the two rounds drivers will drop, the former nitro touring car World Champion sits 1-point behind Rheinard in the points.

Giving his view of his incident with Sobue, Wilck said, ‘It was a tough battle with Akio. It is way different when you go defensive driving. I tried to pull away but hit the kink. Then we went into the kink side by side, I lifted a little but we touched. It was side by side’. Asking Sobue for his view of things, the friendly Japanese driver was ultra PC describing it as ‘unlucky’. Commenting on his heat win Lee said, ‘That was the most difficult heat so far in terms of the level of drivers in it. My car was a little difficult in the beginning but the others fighting helped me get away’.

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Video – Invitational Rd4

Posted: 26 May 2017 09:59 PM PDT

Vejrak leads Reedy Race after Day 1

Posted: 26 May 2017 08:06 PM PDT

Meen Vejrak leads the points at the end of the opening day of racing at the Reedy Race of Champions, the Yokomo driver notching up his third win in the day’s fourth & final round of racing. Having started out with a fourth place from 6th on the grid, the Thai driver would mark himself as one to watch in Round 2 with victory from the second row before taking easy wins in Rounds 3 & 4 from front row starts. Ending the day on the same points as Meen but having one less win, Akio Sobue came to within one corner of holding the overnight lead. Heading into the final corner of the race with his Infinity team-mate Marc Rheinard on his rear bumper, he would roll allowing Rheinard through for a third win however a DNF in Round 3 leaves the 5-time champion fourth going into Day 2 behind Reedy rookie Bruno Coelho. For defending Champion Ronald Volker a frustrating day for the Yokomo driver would end on somewhat better as he finally registered his first win of the 20th running of the legendary race with victory in the closing race of the day.

Continue reading this report here or view our complete event coverage here.

Vejrak leads Reedy Race after Day 1

Posted: 26 May 2017 08:02 PM PDT

Meen Vejrak leads the points at the end of the opening day of racing at the Reedy Race of Champions, the Yokomo driver notching up his third win in the day’s fourth & final round of racing. Having started out with a fourth place from 6th on the grid, the Thai driver would mark himself as one to watch in Round 2 with victory from the second row before taking easy wins in Rounds 3 & 4 from front row starts. Ending the day on the same points as Meen but having one less win, Akio Sobue came to within one corner of holding the overnight lead. Heading into the final corner of the race with his Infinity team-mate Marc Rheinard on his rear bumper, he would roll allowing Rheinard through for a third win however a DNF in Round 3 leaves the 5-time champion fourth going into Day 2 behind Reedy rookie Bruno Coelho. For defending Champion Ronald Volker a frustrating day for the Yokomo driver would end on somewhat better as he finally registered his first win of the 20th running of the legendary race with victory in the closing race of the day.

‘A good day for me’ was how Vejrak summed up Day 1’s action. The 2015 podium finisher continued, ‘in the last race my car felt like it had good grip in the warm-up so I decided to try to pass Jan (Rathesky) in the first corner and it worked’. Once out front he would pull clear as Ratheisky came under attack from Viktor Wilck, the Swede getting by in a last lap dash to the finish line. Feeling his Scorpion powered BD8 is better on used tyres, he said ‘the track cold is completely different than when its warm and for my car the cold is better’. With another pole position among his grid positions along with last for Round 6, he said, ‘I hope tomorrow is a good day for me too’.

The day’s only other triple winner, Rheinard was happy with his performance saying, ‘having the one DNF is shit but otherwise it was a really good day’. On his Round 4 win the Reedy Race’s most celebrated winner said, ‘This was a hard one. I started 5th behind Bruno and could see he was not so fast but waited and when he made a mistake in the chicane I got on his inside. Just after I got by Cavalieri and was running with Akio’. He continued, ‘My car was really good but I knew Akio would make no mistake normally and that 2nd would be good. Luckily for me and bad for him he rolled at the last corner but I’ll take it’. Explaining his error, Sobue said, ‘Marc make much pressure but it was all going good until the last corner, I just took it too tight’.

‘Finally a clean run and also a front row start, it was a badly needed win’, was Volker’s reaction to his Round 4 win. The World Champion continued, ‘I benefited from Christopher’s mechanical failure and from lap 2 had a clean track so I went flat out for the rest of the race to secure a fast run if needed (as a tie breaker)’. Winning two of his three Reedy Race titles at Tamiya Raceway, the German said, ‘my car is on pace ad I hope we have more luck tomorrow’.

With very high expectation from his huge following, while Coelho didn’t manage to win on Day 1, the infamous kink blocking that, the Xray driver finished all his races in the Top 3. With the unique format of the historic event requiring a different mindset to regular racing, the Portuguese ace will have learned a lot from Day 1 and while not completely comfortable with his car around the small track he is sure to have a better handle on things for Day 2. Only 3 points off leader Vejrak, with eight rounds of racing still to run the ETS Champion is still a contender to win what is the most competitive Invitation entry in a decade.

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Video – Invitational Rd3

Posted: 26 May 2017 04:35 PM PDT

Rheinard DNFs Round 3 as Vejrak & Sobue add 2nd wins

Posted: 26 May 2017 04:34 PM PDT

Having had the perfect morning at the Reedy Race of Champions, Marc Rheinard’s fortune’s changed in Round 3 as Tamiya Raceway’s infamous kink put an end to the German’s race after just 4-laps. Running in Heat 3, Rheinard lined up 5th for the start with Infinity team-mate Thomas Pumpler on pole. With the field bunching up behind Pumpler making it anyone’s race, it was Round 1 & 2 race winner Rheinard who was to be the first fall out of the high speed train. On the landing from his contact with the kink curbing he would break a mounting screw on his car’s ARS, the race done for the 5-time Champion. Explaining his off, Rheinard said, ‘I was just being patient but then had one shitty lap and it left the car loose. Then I hit the kerb in the kink and the ARS screw broke’. With Pumpler managing to hold on to his lead for a number of laps his race would also come undone in the kink as the Austrian got out of shape and collected second place Juho Levanen. This allowed Bruno Coelho and Viktor Wilck, the back row starters, to go to the front and battle for the win but the kink wasn’t done yet, with it tripping up Coelho for the second time in three races. While Coelho would hang onto his Xray he went wide which was enough for Wilck’s Serpent to slip through to register his first win of the 2oth running of the Reedy Race.

Continue reading this report here or view our complete event coverage here.

Rheinard DNFs Round 3 as Vejrak & Sobue add 2nd wins

Posted: 26 May 2017 04:33 PM PDT

Having had the perfect morning at the Reedy Race of Champions, Marc Rheinard’s fortune’s changed in Round 3 as Tamiya Raceway’s infamous kink put an end to the German’s race after just 4-laps. Running in Heat 3, Rheinard lined up 5th for the start with Infinity team-mate Thomas Pumpler on pole. With the field bunching up behind Pumpler making it anyone’s race, it was Round 1 & 2 race winner Rheinard who was to be the first fall out of the high speed train. On the landing from his contact with the kink curbing he would break a mounting screw on his car’s ARS, the race done for the 5-time Champion. Explaining his off, Rheinard said, ‘I was just being patient but then had one shitty lap and it left the car loose. Then I hit the kerb in the kink and the ARS screw broke’. With Pumpler managing to hold on to his lead for a number of laps his race would also come undone in the kink as the Austrian got out of shape and collected second place Juho Levanen. This allowed Bruno Coelho and Viktor Wilck, the back row starters, to go to the front and battle for the win but the kink wasn’t done yet, with it tripping up Coelho for the second time in three races. While Coelho would hang onto his Xray he went wide which was enough for Wilck’s Serpent to slip through to register his first win of the 2oth running of the Reedy Race.

The two encounters would see pole sitters Meen Vejrak and Akio Sobue, points leader after three rounds, take rather straight forward wins but the first encounter wasn’t with out its dramas. With Meen pulling clear up front, it was the battle for second that provided the entertainment with reigning champion Ronald Volker trying to make a similar last lap pass as he successfully did in Round 1. Looking like he had snatched second from the Awesomatix of Freddy Sudhoff on the exit of the final corner there would be contact. Reversing the order as Sudhoff would cross the line in second, Volker clearly wasn’t happy no action was taken for the incident.

Commenting afterwards, Volker said, ‘I have totally no luck today. I was after getting by JJ (Wang) for second but off the racing line there is no grip so I had dirty tyres for a few laps. This allowed Freddy to go by. I made a move on him then on the last lap and went ahead of him at the exit but then I got hit by him in the rear’. The World Champion continued, ‘ I’m not blaming Freddy for hitting me but they should have given me P2. Having the second referee from the invite drivers didn’t help and that’s something I can’t understand’. New for this year’s event, race referee Fred Medel is joined by one of the 24 invite class drivers for a second opinion on any race incidents which in the case of Heat 3 was Coelho.

Summing up his second win, which puts him second in the points behind Sobue and ahead of Coelho, Vejrak said, ‘now the conditions are not easy. I changed my car to get more overall traction but it wasn’t any better. Many cars are on the limit now. Something is different to yesterday. Maybe now it because its hot and windy’. Aiming to try to make his car more stable for the days final round which he starts again from pole, the Thai driver said, ‘2 wins from 3 races is not a bad start and I hope I can end the day with another good result’.

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Video – Invitational Rd2

Posted: 26 May 2017 03:42 PM PDT

A perfect morning for Rheinard as he takes another win

Posted: 26 May 2017 01:55 PM PDT

It has been a perfect morning for Marc Rheinard at the Reedy Race of Champions in California with the Infinity driver making it two wins out of two races. With Round 2 his only front row start for the day, lining up alongside team-mate Naoto Matsukura while he would fail to get the jump off the start he would go to the front when the kink put an end to Matsukura’s race, the battery coming out on the landing after the Japanese driver’s short flight. In the other two encounters, while Yokomo drivers Nicholas Lee and Meen Vejrak enjoyed their first wins it was a less fruitful race for reigning champion Ronald Volker. The most heavily loaded race of the round, Heat 3 had Volker starting from the back behind team-mate Christopher Krapp, Bruno Coelho and Round 1 winner Akio Sobue. While Vejrak took the win after Kevin Hebert threw away the chance to become the first pole sitter to convert their starting position into the win, Volker would get caught up in a mistake by Krapp. Getting out out shape coming onto the straight Krapp would tag Volker as he tried to go by leaving the World Champion with a P5 result he will be hoping is one of his two permitted drop outs.

Continue reading this report here or view our complete event coverage here.

A perfect morning for Rheinard as he takes another win

Posted: 26 May 2017 01:46 PM PDT

It has been a perfect morning for Marc Rheinard at the Reedy Race of Champions in California with the Infinity driver making it two wins out of two races. With Round 2 his only front row start for the day, lining up alongside team-mate Naoto Matsukura while he would fail to get the jump off the start he would go to the front when the kink put an end to Matsukura’s race, the battery coming out on the landing after the Japanese driver’s short flight. In the other two encounters, while Yokomo drivers Nicholas Lee and Meen Vejrak enjoyed their first wins it was a less fruitful race for reigning champion Ronald Volker. The most heavily loaded race of the round, Heat 3 had Volker starting from the back behind team-mate Christopher Krapp, Bruno Coelho and Round 1 winner Akio Sobue. While Vejrak took the win after Kevin Hebert threw away the chance to become the first pole sitter to convert their starting position into the win, Volker would get caught up in a mistake by Krapp. Getting out out shape coming onto the straight Krapp would tag Volker as he tried to go by leaving the World Champion with a P5 result he will be hoping is one of his two permitted drop outs.

‘It’s been a good start’, was Rheinard’s reaction to putting two wins on the board. On Round 2, the 2015 Champion said, ‘I tried to beat Naoto off the start but it didn’t work and I had to back off. After that I had a few rough laps but then he hit the kink. Its a pity because he has good pace and it would have been another Infinity 1-2, although I’m not sure in which order’. Getting to watch Volker’s race he said, ‘for me it was a good round in terms of how my rivals did although Bruno got a second’. Having made the most of his best two starts of the day, Rheinard will finish Day 1 having to start both races from 5th on grid going up against Coelho in both with us having to wait until the morning for the first race when he & Volker share the same grid.

‘I got lucky everyone in front of me crashed’, was how Lee summed up his win of Heat 2. Starting and finishing 6th in Round 1, the Singapore driver also felt set-up changes had left him with a better car for Round 2. Asked about the opportunities to overtake rather than have to wait for mistakes from others he replied, ‘the room for racing is not so much because of the low traction off line’. Behind Lee, Serpent’s Ralph Burch would finish second somewhat redeeming himself for throwing away a certain Round 1 win while last year’s Reedy Race Open Champion Julian Wong completed the Top 3. Elsewhere, a winner in the first round, Ryan Cavalieri would salvage a P4 from the race having started on the back row of the grid.

Having got a 4th in Round 1 after two crashes, Vejrak was more happy with his car second time round saying, ‘this time it was better, it was more consistent on used tyres’. The former Nitro Touring Car World Champion also described it as a ‘good fight between me & Bruno’ with Coelho eventually finishing 2-seconds back. Starting from 5th on the grid, Akio Sobue would back up his Round 1 win with a third place.

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Video – Invitational Rd1

Posted: 26 May 2017 12:05 PM PDT

Rheinard, Cavalieri & Sobue open Reedy Race with wins

Posted: 26 May 2017 11:04 AM PDT

Marc Rheinard, Ryan Cavalieri and Akio Sobue have opened the 20th running of the Reedy Race of Champions at Tamiya Raceway with wins, with reigning champion Ronald Volker opening his quest for a 4th title with a second behind Cavalieri. In the first of the Round 1 encounters, it was Reedy Race debutant Bruno Coelho who lead the way after a bad start for pole sitter Viljami Kutvonen. Leading from Rheinard, Coelho had the 5-time winner on his rear bumper with their proximity leading to contact in the sweeper which would spin out the Xray driver. Resuming the lead as Rheinard waited, Coelho’s chancing of opening with a win were short lived as the track’s infamous kick launched him into the barriers allowing Rheinard and team-mate Naoto Matsukura to the front for an Infinity 1-2 finish as Coelho finished a distant 3rd. In the second leg Offroad star Ryan Cavalieri got the jump on the front row and despite Volker trying to use the kick to make an offroad pass on the Team Associated driver he would hold on to take the win by more than half a lap as Volker pulled an impressive pass on Juho Levanen through the chicane on the final lap. Wrapping up the first of the 12 rounds, Ralph Burch was looking like he would be the only pole sitter to pull off the win but half way through the race clipped the curbing in the chicane allowing Akio Sobue, Naoki Akiyama and Christopher Krapp through which is how they finished, Burch’s race however going backwards as he finished last of the 8 cars that make up each race.

Continue reading this report here or view our complete event coverage here.

Rheinard, Cavalieri & Sobue open Reedy Race with wins

Posted: 26 May 2017 11:00 AM PDT

Marc Rheinard, Ryan Cavalieri and Akio Sobue have opened the 20th running of the Reedy Race of Champions at Tamiya Raceway with wins, with reigning champion Ronald Volker opening his quest for a 4th title with a second behind Cavalieri. In the first of the Round 1 encounters, it was Reedy Race debutant Bruno Coelho who lead the way after a bad start for pole sitter Viljami Kutvonen. Leading from Rheinard, Coelho had the 5-time winner on his rear bumper with their proximity leading to contact in the sweeper which would spin out the Xray driver. Resuming the lead as Rheinard waited, Coelho’s chancing of opening with a win were short lived as the track’s infamous kick launched him into the barriers allowing Rheinard and team-mate Naoto Matsukura to the front for an Infinity 1-2 finish as Coelho finished a distant 3rd. In the second leg Offroad star Ryan Cavalieri got the jump on the front row and despite Volker trying to use the kick to make an offroad pass on the Team Associated driver he would hold on to take the win by more than half a lap as Volker pulled an impressive pass on Juho Levanen through the chicane on the final lap. Wrapping up the first of the 12 rounds, Ralph Burch was looking like he would be the only pole sitter to pull off the win but half way through the race clipped the curbing in the chicane allowing Akio Sobue, Naoki Akiyama and Christopher Krapp through which is how they finished, Burch’s race however going backwards as he finished last of the 8 cars that make up each race.

Commenting on his race, starting from 3rd on the grid, Rheinard said, ‘Like expected the track was loose, the right was more loose than the left, but my car was still good compared to the others’. He continued, ‘Luckily Viljami spun out at the start so I was second behind Bruno. I was a bit faster and we touched once. I let him take back the place but then he had a big hit at the kink and me & Naoto got by. It was a good Infinity start with a 1-2’. Having expressed concern at practice yesterday that there was only going to be a single racing line, when asked about the line today he said, ‘I tried once to go around the outside and for sure there was less grip so its going to be hard to overtake’. In terms of overtaking, he will need to make one pass to make it two wins out of 2 as he will start 2nd behind Matsukura.

‘I met the kink for the first time’ was how Coelho summed his first Reedy Race encounter. The ETS Champion continued, ‘I got hit by Marc and got dirt on my tyres and I knew before I got to the kink I was going to hit it because the car was loose coming out of the corner before’. With the car tweaked after its impact with the steel barrier he said he had no chance of second so he settle for 3rd. Having started on the front row for his second encounter he will start on the third row.

Cavalieri summed up his race by saying, ‘I got off the line pretty strong and was able to get around the two guys in front of me and had a decent run from there on’. The back to back reigning US Touring Car Champion continued, ‘Volker was a little quicker obviously and tried to offroad me by jumping over me but it didn’t work’. Asked about his car, with only Volker able to run a faster lap time in the race, he said, ‘Randy’s (Caster) been working on it and making it fun to drive so its all good’. Cavalieri will start 7th for Round 2.

Pleased with his last lap pass on Levanen saying, ‘I think people like that kind of thing’, Volker summed up Round 1 with ‘I can’t be to unhappy with 2nd’. The Yokomo driver continued, ‘I was 2nd after the first few corners but struggled with steering right away and Ryan was pulling away’. The World Champion continued, ‘I stayed behind Ryan but suddenly hit the kink, I didn’t see it coming actually. After that I was behind Juho but I took my time to get by him and it was a good last lap pass’.

‘Busy at the start, it was super close’ was how Sobue described Heat 3. Describing track conditions as making it ‘super difficult’ to overtake’ due to the low traction, the Japanese driver who started 4th concluded, ‘I was lucky Ralph made a mistake’.

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Heng wins at Shanghai Muchmore Touring Series Rd2

Posted: 26 May 2017 06:07 AM PDT

Round 2 of the Shanghai Muchmore Touring Series was held at the indoor carpet track of the RCI V2 track. In the Electric Touring class Heng would grab a solid TQ from Nicholas and Robert in 2nd and 3rd respectively. Huahua and Jason Wang came in 4th and 5th with the top 4 being separated by less than one second which promised some close racing in the finals. The opening A-main then saw the top 2 cars pulling away quickly and in the end TQ holder Heng would take the win about a second in front of Nicholas while Tommy Dai would be further back in 3rd, some ten seconds down. At the start of the second main Nicholas had some problems and he had to let Lu by in the second corner. Lu would stay in 2nd place for about six laps until Nicholas found a way past. Unfortunately both made contact which promoted Tommy Dai into 2nd place. Both Lu and Nicholas would chase Dai for about eleven laps until the latter made a mistake which allowed the two chasing drivers through. Up front Heng would bring home the win from Lu in 2nd and Nicholas 3rd.

With the overall win locked by Heng the race for the remaining podium spots was on in A3. Nicholas, Lu, Tommy Dai, Jason Wang and Huahua were all in the mix with Lu passing Nicholas in the opening stages thanks to a fantastic move. Nicholas would challenge Lu for four laps before regaining the 2nd position. Heng made a rare mistake on lap eleven, letting Nicholas pass. Heng attacked Nicholas for the remaining 15 laps but Nicholas made no mistake to take the win 0.452 seconds ahead of Heng while Lu finished 3rd 2.644 seconds behind Nicholas. With the fantastic drive in A3-Main, Nicholas (Xray) took 2nd overall in front of Lu (Yokomo) and behind Heng (Yokomo).

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]

Pro-Line 82 white truck snap back hat

Posted: 26 May 2017 04:54 AM PDT

Pro-Line have introduced their new 82 white truck hat. The hat features a bright white front section emblazoned with throwback 1982 red and blue styling and a breathable blue mesh material for back of the hat. The 82 trucker hat has a snapback to fit most and has a blue flat bill in the front.

Source: Pro-Line [prolineracing.com]