EM / EFRA GP OR6 in England
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EM / EFRA GP OR6 in England
Wow, what a week, what a heck of an event! Non-stop racing, under the very best, sunny weather conditions. Could you believe that such great weather happened in England? Honestly speaking, we didn’t!
But first things first: Starting on July, 22th, we drove to Calais (France) to hop on a ferry that would take us to Great Britain. Of course, travelling by airplane would have promised a more comfortable journey, but how should we’ve been able to bring our racing equipment with us, then? Yeah, our racing equipment, that’s two vans fully loaded with the latest and greatest from MCD!
Arriving at Calais, we met up with the guys of MCD France to line up for the passage. The ferry trip took two hours when we finally set foot to Great Britain – and on we went, heading towards Nene Valley Raceway. We arrived at around 3:30 pm, and proceeded to furnish our camp cosily: First, set up the driver’s and lounge tent, secondly, bring in the fridge and coffee machine and lastly, set up the speakers and turn on the music!
Speaking of fridges; after we’ve made ourselves comfortable with our new home for the next week, we went shopping at TESCO’s. What a huge selection there! The shopping cart really filled up quickly, and since this wouldn’t be our last shopping trip, we simply took the caddy with us. That’s what a van is also good for!
Being well provided for now, we set back and ended the first evening on a cozy note. After all, we had to be fit for the next morning’s training session. Starting at 8:30 am, the MCD RRv4 Factory cars got their setup-finishing for the first practice runs. It quickly became obvious, that most of MCD’s drivers had made thorough preparations, constantly pulling good lap times. The specially developed tyres performed really great on the track’s astroturf surface!
The following two practice days saw the MCD driver’s lap times further improving, as we zeroed in the suspension setup to perform on this tricky track conditions: The track was extremely sensitive to changes in temperature, and the high grip levels made rollovers a constant danger.
At the end of the practice sessions, the MCD drivers were quite satisfied with the RRv4’s performance and their lap times. And the better should be, because with Marc K., before Dirk K., Stevo B. and Rich S. led the ranking with the fastest three laps in a row.
A proper BBQ party capped the successful practice session. Subject of the evening? Ample discussions about the event, the track and the setup. Also experiences were shared in a familiar atmosphere.
(You can’t really barbecue a Samba exhaust – or can you?)
Following the practice runs, the qualifiers were held on Thursday. And this time, it’s real business. Up for grabs: The coveted pole position for the finals, or at least a good position in the starting grid. Team MCD again did well without major issues, securing 8 places of the top 10 positions. Dirk Kellermann TQ’ed with his RRc4 Team Edition, and he also pulled the fastest lap at 40,81sec.
The opening ceremony was held in the evening. The drivers that came from all over Europe formally entered the racetrack representing their countries. Opening remarks by EFRA officials and special thanks to the organizing committee followed, and there was a seemingly never ending photo session of the teams and their countries. Finally, the buffet and the bar opened. mmmhh, tasty!
(Guess who’s been the first one at the buffet…?! and at the bar?!! We won’t tell any names here ;-))
For some drivers, the evening went on a lot longer, because everything had to be prepared for the next day. But one mustn’t complain, this is a European Championship, so proper preparation is paramount for proper results!
… and this is an example of preparation, at least this is like what the management likes preparation to be …
(Mr. Samba and Mr. MCD)
The next (Friday) morning offered the last chance for the drivers to improve their positions in a final qualification run. Then, the lower finals were held for the 2wd class. The 4wd class didn’t bring on any remarkable changes in positions and most drivers used this opportunity to prepare their cars for the semi-finals on Saturday.
During the evening hours, MCD introduced its new brushless conversion kit and ran some laps with a brushless RRv4. The performance and the power of the brushless system was truly stunning, as was the runtime at close to 20 mins.
Saturday was the day where the most decisive runs were held, the finals of the European Championship 2012. Will the efforts of the previous weeks finally pay off? The first 20min long semi-final saw Marc K. Derin Ö., Rich S., Jean-Marc B. and Robert Schachuber from Team MCD battling for a starting position for the finals. TQ Marc was able to defend his pole position right from the start, continuously increasing the distance towards pursuers Derin, Rich and Darren Bloomfield. The latter however had been disqualified later because his Losi B4.0 did not comply with the regalement. Hence, Robert S. secured the 4th place with Sebastian B. right behind him on position 5.
The second of the 4wd semi finals followed immediately, starring Dirk K., Stevo B., Remy R and Cyril P. for Team MCD. Right from the start, Stevo put TQ Dirk under heavy pressure, who finally chose to play it safe (and not risk an accident or a technical failure) and hence let Stevo take to lead. But Dirk could stay close behind, since Stevo drove aggressively, with some little driving errors across the run. But in the end, it was Stevos race indeed. He took the victory with Dirk, Steve H. Remy R. and Sivil A. as follow ups.
So, the starting grid for the final heat was decided: Stevo and Marc were the only drivers with 29 laps during the semi finals. With Marc scoring the better time, the pole position was his. Positions 2 and 3 went the Stevo and Dirk, with Derin O. (4th), Rich S. (5th) and Steve H. (6th). The roster was completed with Remy R., Robert S., Sebastien B. and Sivil A.
The final heat lasted for 30mins, enough time for takovers and exciting duels on the track. The signal triggered the race, and all drivers made a good start: as to be expected from an EC, there was no pile-up leading to the first few corners. A small mistake on Stevo’s behalf entering the last corner before the straight saw Dirk overtaking and immediately pursuing Marc. But Marc was able to increase the distance between him and the other drivers lap by lap.
In the meantime, Stevo managed to close in on Dirk. A battle for the second place ensued that was finally decided in favor of Stevo. However, shortly afterwards Dirk had to stop at the pits and retire the race with a broken servo. The mid ranks saw though battles for each and every position.
Derin Ö. who started the race on position 4 had to pit for a Stop and Go penalty, but managed a 3rd position after Dirk had to retire. Unfortunately, he ran out of fuel just 3mins prior to the finish and he lost his hard earned position. In the end, Steve managed to placed himself in front of Rich thus earning him a place on the rostrum.
Marc Kreisig enjoyed a flawless race with his MCD RRv4 Factory Edition and thus earned the first EFRA GP/EC 4wd championship title. Congratulations!
Stevo Backland, too using an MCD RRv4 Factory was the runner-up.
All together, we’ve experienced a fair and square race with exciting battles but unfortunately also some unlucky fellows, who would have done far better otherwise.
Marc:
"It hast been a fantastic week and a great event! My thanks goes out to all who suported and sponsored me. Many many thanks!
Especially, I want to thank everybody who made my success possible, because without dense support with proper equipment, a victory on this level is not possible. First, my thanks go to Sinan Sunali, “Mr. MCD” who is always listening and quickly implements my suggestions. Special thanks also go out to Robitronic and KoPropo for providing great and relieably electronic equipment. On the mechanical side, MIK Racing Engines did a great job in providing me with engines that put out gobs of power without hitching even once!”
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So this has been our first OR6 4wd European Championship in Great Britain, and we can only say “Well done!”. The week has been a lot of fun for everyone of us. Our host put up a great event and close to anytime got everything under control.
Your Robitronic Racing Team ...
Further information:
--> Pictures:
---> Pictures Gallery Robitronic
--> The results:
--> EFRA Videos:
---> EFRA Large Scale Off-Road 2012, GB
---> EFRA Large Scale Off-Road Euros-4WD class
---> EFRA Large Scale Off-Road Qualifying Round-Up 2WD/4WD
---> Large Scale Off Road - 2012 - The Finals!!!
Equipment used by Marc:
| Item No. | Description | Retail | Note | |
| M001399v4 | MCD 4x4 Race Runner v4 Competition Factory TEAM Chassis | 1.699,- € |  |
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| KO80500 | KoPropo Propo EX-1 KIY | 499,- € | |
|
| KO30101 | KoPropo RSx Power H.C. Servo | 213,50 € | |
|
| R05202 | Robitronic 7,4V 2700mAh Hump Size Lipo | 29,90 € | |
|
| Z07784M | Zenoah G270RC MCD Version Motor (Basis) | 299,50 € | |
tuned by MIK |
| R01004 | Expert LD-15z Ladegerät | 59,- € | |