RACE COVERAGE: 2010 REEDY TOURING CAR RACE OF CHAMPIONS – RACE DAY #1

The 2010 Reedy Race of Champions race day number 1 went off without a hitch at Nor Cal Hobbies of Union City, California. R/C Evil Empire was on hand for a complete rundown.

The day started off with a brief drivers meeting and national anthem.

This year’s track design features several high speed sections including a short straight in front of the drivers stand into a 180 / S Turn. In addition, the end of the straight-a-way provides a nice gradual turn. This provided for a nice run-up to the following dogleg turn.

The invitational class was were the big name drivers came to play. This year, 22 drivers were entered into this class. The field consisted of the following:

Marc Rheinard (Germany)

Keven Hebert (Canada)

Dave Ehrlich (USA

Kevin Jelich (USA)

Lex Tyler (USA)

Thomas Pumpler (Austria)

Viktor Wilck (Sweden)

Rick Hohwart (USA)

Juho Levanen (Finland)

Scott Kimbrow (USA)

Steve Weiss (USA)

Jimmy Jacobson

Paul Lemieux (USA)

Josh Cyrul (USA)

Mike Blackstock (USA)

Martin Crisp (Canada)

Tyler Vik (USA)

Sean Williams (USA)

EJ Evans (USA)

Drew Ellis (USA)

Jason Moberley (USA)

Kody Knutsen (USA)

THE INVITE FORMAT:

Each driver runs 8 assorted round races. There are 4 rounds run on race day #1 and 4 rounds on race day #2. All races are heads up with random starting position. Those finishing in 1st place get 1 point, 2nd place is 2 points, and so on. The best 6 round finishes count with 2 throwouts. With 22 total drivers, random heats of 7-7-8 were sorted for rounds 1 through 4. With last year’s champion Ronald Volker not in attendance, a new champion would be crowned for 2010!

ROUND 1:

Heat #1 started off with one of the better races of the day. A battle ensued between Nor Cal local Tyler Vik and current World Champion Marc Rheinard. he two would battle tooth and nail for the entire 5 minute run. The run was decided by less that 1/2 sec. The win would go to Rheinard with Vik taking second. See video below.

Heat #2 started out with Team Associated’s Mike Blackstock to the lead. Paul Lemieux of X-Ray would follow in second. Lemieux would eventually attempt to take over the lead going onto the straight. With very little racing room, Paul was denied by Blackstock and sent into the boards. This knocked Lemiuex t the back of the pack. Fellow AE teammate Juho Levanen would eventually catch up to Blackstock. Eventually, Levanen took over the lead after Blackstock’s car suffered mechanical failure. Lex Tyler of Team Associated (and a Nor Cal legend) would take over 2nd place. Meanwhile, Lemieux slowly picked off his competitors one by one. He would eventually pass Lex Tyler on the very last turn of the last lap for 2nd place. Juho would take the win easily.

Heat #3 was pretty much boring. Ace Tamiya TRF Driver Viktor Wilck would take the lead from jump with R/C Legend Rick Hohwart in 2nd. Wilck would pull away for the easy “cruise control” win. Hohwart would take 2nd.

After round one, the score looked like this:

ROUND 2:

Heat #1 started off with Yuho Levanen and Marc Rheinard taking the jump. The two would follow each other for awhile until an eventual tap and pass attempt by Rheinard went all wrong. The attempted pass caused a body tuck. Rheinard would wait for a turnmarshall to fix Juho’s car! This delay allowed Rick Hohwart to take the lead and cruise to the finish for the big win. Juho would finish 2nd with Rheinard in 3rd.

Heat #2 was similar to round #1 heat 3. A huge pileup occurred in turn 1. Viktor Wilck would get away and go untested for the easy win.

Heat #3 was also similar to the previous race. Rebounding from a bad round 1, it was Team X-Ray’s Paul Lemieux with the easy win.

ROUND 3:

Heat #1 started off with the easy Paul Lemieux victory. He would lead wire to wire. The real action was for 2nd place. A battle between Josh Cyrul and Team Top’s EJ Evans would ensue. Evans appeared to have a better car. However Cyrul did a excellent job of protecting his line. The two would battle all the way down to the wire. A last turn run at the line would give Evans 2nd place with Cyrul taking the reluctant 3rd.

Heat #2 Started off with Team Associated’s Rick Hohwart taking the lead. He would be hounded by Tamiya’s Viktor Wilck. Eventually, Hohwart would clip a board and go flying onto the wrong side of the track. This allowed Wilck to take the lead and cruise for the easy win

Heat #3 would pit Marc Rheinard and Tyler Vik heads up for the 2nd time this weekend. The first being Heat 1 round 1. Rheinard would take the lead with Vik in tow. For a few laps, Vik would attempt to make a move. However, it was not to be….as the World Champion pulled away with his Tamiya 416X for the victory.

After 3 rounds, the score looked like this:

ROUND 4

Heat #1 was a easy win for X-Ray’s Paul Paul Lemieux. Team Associated’s Kevin Jelich would battle for awhile before taking over 2nd place for good. This is how they would finish.

Heat #2 was a easy win for Juho Levanen. He would power his TC5 around for a easy win over his 2nd place teammate Rick Hohwart.

Heat #3 would pit TRF Teammates Marc Reinhart and Viktor Wilck versus each other. On the start, Rheinard would take the lead after traffic effected the start. He would cruise for the easy win. Viktor Wilck would take position #2. This was Wilck’s first non-race win of the weekend.

DAY ONE RESULTS – INVITE

After day one, the race results board would have Viktor Wilck and Paul Lemieux tied for 1st. Juho Levanen and Marc Rheinard are very close to the lead as well. Day 2 will sort out the final results and Reedy championship. The final tally from day one looked like this:

Here are some action shots of the invitational class from day 1:

Rick Hohwart

Drivers stand for Heat 1 Race 1

Heat 1 Round 1 Grid

Marc Rheinard and Tyler Vik going at it in Round 1

Paul Lemieux's X-Ray ride

Round 1 chaos in turn 1

Paul Lemieux and Rick Hohwart

Rick Hohwart's TC5R

World Champion Marc Rheinard of Team Tamiya

Juho Levanen

Round 2 action

The Invite driver stand was tense!

Action!

Team Tamiya's Viktor Wilck

Lex Tyler

Rick Hohwart out to the lead

Tyler Vik and Marc Rheinard in round 3

Paul Lemieux

Kevin Hebert gets highsided in turn 1 on the start

Kevin Hebert

The 17.5, 13.5, and Open mod divisions ran 3 rounds of qualifying on day #1. A fouth and final round will be ran on day 2.

In the 17.5 division, Dave Bowser from Florida would take rounds 1 and 2 TQ’s for the oeverall qual poiint lead. Nor Cal local Eric Albano was in a close 2nd.

Dave Bowser

The sheet for 17.5 looked like this:

In the 13.5 division, Nor Cal local James Arluck would take over the lead after 3 rounds. This is shaping up for a close battle between Dave Bowser and Jason Ertachter

James Arluck

The the Open Mod class, Fred Hubbard would throw down some series lap times. His time of 21 laps in 5:02 was the fastest single run of the Open class. Fred would win all 3 rounds and wrap up TQ for Sunday. The final sheet would look like this:

Fred Hubbard will be a force to reckon with in the A main of open mod.