Vesa Yli from V-Dezign sent us this report from the EFRA 1/12th scale European Championships were held last weekend in Hinckley, UK last weekend. About 100 drivers in total gathered to compete in both the Stock Spec and Modified classes. Most of the best drivers around Europe attended with former European Champions such as Juho Levanen, Simo Ahoniemi, Andy Moore, Markus Mobers, Marc Fischer, Andy Griffiths and recently crowned TC Indoor champ Ronald Volker among them. Multiple Euro & Worlds A-finalists Alex Hagberg, Vesa Yli and Elliot Harper also appeared in the entry.
The venue was a huge leisure centre with swimming pools and gyms all around. The track was laid on a huge sports hall and measured 30×16m. Square white tube was used for track markers with nice yellow plexi curbs on corners for easier visibility. The carpet was Primafelt GT as it is the most used carpet type in UK. The layout itself was ideal for 1/12th scale with tight turns and a fairly narrow track width, but also having fast corners and technical parts.
Teams
- Associated/Yokomo had strong team line up with former TC Euro Champ and WC runner-up Juho Levanen, Ronald Volker and Olly Jeffries all driving the R5.1. Ronald had a Yokomo mechanic to help him out during the race – all the way from Japan!
- V-Dezign had one of the strongest teams which saw Andy Griffiths, Vesa Yli, Chris Kerswell, Mark Stiles, Russ Williams, Matt White, Sam Clifton and Paul Lomas representing the V-Dezign cars in both the stock and modified classes.
- Corally had last years Euro Champ from Stock Spec; Marc Fischer and former European Champion Simo Ahoniemi together with Oliver Bultync at the race to do their best for the Dutch team.
- Serpent was represented by the Mobster himself, Markus Mobers; the man behind MobGums (tyres) together with the Altmann brothers and some local Brits.
- CRC had their usual line of top drivers who included new signing Elliot Harper, Mick ‘the Viking’ Farrell and fast German Daniel Sieber among others.
- Hot Bodies have now discontinued their C12X car, but Andy Moore was still using the car for them.
- Alex Hagberg was the sole top Xray driver with their new XII link car.
Practice
In Stock Spec there seem to be 4 drivers who were a bit faster than the rest, Chris K, Marc Fischer, Andy Moore and Markus Mobers. The rest of the top 10 were Vesa Yli, Ollie Bultync, Simon Rubet, Keith Robertson, Mick Farrel and Mark Stiles.
In Modified Juho Levanen was leading the pack followed by Olly Jeffries, Marc Fischer, Simo Ahoniemi, Ronald Volker, Andy Griffiths and Vesa Yli. The associated cars looked to be quickest, with Juho also finding impressive consistency early on.
Qualifying
In stock V-Dezign driver Chris Kerswell dominated the field by taking the coverted TQ spot with his Carpet Ripper 2.0 t-bar car! Chris did well during the whole week and was confident for the race so pole position was well deserved. Until now Chris had never made a Euros A final, making his achievement even more special. Mark Stiles also made his first-ever Euro’s A main and would start 7th on the grid followed by Vesa Yli in 9th. All three drivers were racing in both classes so they were super busy all week!
In modified Andy Griffiths took a solid 6th place with Vesa Yli making a double A-main by taking 8th place. These two were followed by the Stock TQ man Chris Kerswell in 10th position; the only driver in the A final running a t-bar car with cells! Vesa and Andy both ran the new prototype Carpet Ripper 4.0 which will be out soon.
Mark Stiles was also running the new Carpet Ripper 4.0, but could only manage 17th overall after experiencing problems during qualifying. He would be joined in the B by Matt White, who like Chris was running a t-bar car and 4-cell packs. Russ Williams poled the C final and was very unlucky not to make the B.
With 3 Carpet Rippers in both A mains the V-Dezign team did a superb job by being the most popular car in the A finals!
Stock Spec finals
In first A-final Chris took a comfortable win for V-Dezign and was looking strong for the next 2 legs. Chris’s car was fast on the straights and held its own against the rest on the infield. Vesa got hit at the start and dropped to last but took 8th in the first leg of A main. Mark came 5th after recovering well from an early crash that left him 9th..
In the second leg of the A-final Chris crashed at turn 1! He set about making a charge through the field and managed to salvage 3rd, Mark was 5th again and Vesa suffered a broken car and did not finish as a result. Markus Mobers won the race ahead of Keith Robertson.
In the last Stock Spec A-final it was between Chris and Markus for the title, with Keith having an outside chance. Andy Moore took the last A-final leg and Chris finished 2nd ahead of Marc Fischer with Markus 4th. This meant that Chris took the European Championship with his V-Dezign Carpet Ripper 2.0! GOOD JOB, CHRIS!!
V-Dezign team owner Vesa Yli was delighted to see his car take it’s first ever EC title ahead of all the big manufacturers; a fantastic achievement for the small team.
Modified finals
In the first modified A-final V-Dezign driver Andy Griffiths took 6th place after some close racing. Vesa was unlucky as his motor bearing seized after 6min 40s whilst he was having good run in 7th ahead of Alex Hagberg. Chris Kerswell came 9th in the end, but seemed to struggle to keep up in the corners with the extra weight in his car.
In the second final Andy Griffiths had a much better run and finished 4th followed by Vesa in 6th and Chris in 8th . So a good run for the V-Dezign guys!
In the last leg of A-final Andy took 4th place again with Vesa in 8th place after close battle with Alex again. Chris finished 9th.
After all of the finals in both classes, the results were impressive for the V-Dezign team:
- Chris Kerswell took TQ and the European Championship in Stock Spec class with CR2.0!
- 3 Carpet Rippers in the A-final in Stock Spec!
- 3 Carpet Rippers in the A-final in the highly competitive Modified class!
- Carpet Rippers were the most popular car in the A-finals!
Congratulations again, Chris – superb job!! And thanks guys and ladies for a really nice and good week in UK. Looking forward for the future races at the UK and Finnish nationals followed by the World’s in July.
Modified A main results
1. Juho Levanen – Finland
2. Ronald Volker – Germany
3. Marc Fischer – Germany
4. Simo Ahoniemi – Finland
5. Olly Jefferies – Great Britain
6. Andy Griffiths – Great Britain – V-Dezign 4.0
7. Alexander Hagberg – Sweden
8. Vesa Yli – Finland – V-Dezign 4.0
9. Elliot Harper – Great Britain
10.Chris Kerswell – Great Britain – V-Dezign 2.0
B Main
3. Mark Stiles – Great Britain – V-Dezign 4.0
8. Matt White – Great Britain – V-Dezign 2.0
C main
1. Russ Williams – Great Britain – V-dezign 4.0
Stock Spec A main results
1. Chris Kerswell – Great Britain – V-Dezign 2.0
2. Markus Mobers – Germany
3. Keith Robertson – Great Britain
4. Marc Fischer – Germany
5. Andy Moore – Great Britain
6. Mick Farrell – Great Britain
7. Mark Stiles – Great Britain – V-Dezign 2.0
8. Simon Rubet – France
9. Olivier Bultynck – Belgium
10.Vesa Yli – Finland – V-Dezign 4.0
B Main
6. Sam Clifton – Great Britain – V-Dezign 3.0
Source: V-Dezign [v-dezign.net]
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