Rotax Grand Finals, Day 3 - Qualifying
| 12 November 2015 |
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Pierce Lehane ended up the best placed Australian after qualifying at the Rotax Grand Finals overnight. The European Champion lined up 3rd fastest in Senior MAX, 0.122s off pole time (Berkay Besler). Brad Jenner was 16th.
Aaron Cameron had a strong session in Junior MAX (9th) while Adam Hunter made the top ten in DD2 Masters.
Australian drivers' qualifying results (field size for all classes - 72):
- MAX Junior - Aaron Cameron 9th, Zane Morse 32nd, Reece Sidebottom 34th
- MAX Senior - Pierce Lehane 3rd, Brad Jenner 16th, Nicholas Andrews 36th, Cody Gillis 42nd
- DD2 - Troy Woolston 37th, Jason Pringle 43rd, Ryan Kennedy 58th
- DD2 Masters - Adam Hunter 10th, Jason Hryniuk 27th (was 9th, but received a post qualifying penalty), Scott Howard 47th
A couple of the Kiwis also did well, Ryan Urban 6th in DD2 Masters and Daniel Bray 18th in DD2.
- Full results (and live timing when karts are on track) HERE.
Above: Team Australia Day 3 Video (after final practice, before qualifying)
Above: Team Australia Day 3 Video (post qualifying interviews)
Yesterday's Live Stream of Qualifying Day can be played back on demand - visit the videos page on the Rotax website HERE.
Photos:
- LOTS of photos of all the Aussies and their crew (plus the Kiwis) are being posted on the Coopers Photography Facebook page HERE
- plus more photos on the official Rotax Facebook HERE
Above: Adam Hunter (right, with Mark Rottenbury) sits 10th in DD2 Masters
pic - Coopers Photography
RMCGF press release
Portimão, Portugal – Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Hello and welcome to Qualifying Day of the 2015 Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals!
Drivers bustled into the tall, open gates of the track premises, ready to prepare their karts for the first of two total non-qualifying practice sessions of the day. If you listened closely, you could already hear in the early morning hours the high-pitched buzz of the power tools used by mechanics to make any last minute adjustments before the first practice session.
Today’s relatively crisp morning saw mechanics and their drivers prove their dedication to this serious sport, as they cleaned chassis to perfection, made camber and caster adjustments, and pushed the karts up early to wait in line for the parc fermé gates to open and be the first to enter pit lane.
Today, drivers are given the opportunity to partake in two more practice sessions to test out their chassis and engine set-ups before the weekend sets into full swing with the launch of today’s 10-minute qualifying.
The weather forecast called for 20° C and sun – optimal track and testing temperatures.
Above: Rotax's official 'Day 3' video
125 Junior MAX Practice 4 & 5
In practice No. 4, the Jules Bollier of France posted the fastest time with a 1.02.173, eight-hundredths faster than second fastest Florian Venturi, who is also from France.
Practice No. 5 saw Venturi run the fastest lap time, with a 1.02.278, closely followed by Andreas Estner of Germany, just one one-hundredth of a second behind Venturi. A reason why the RMCGF event is so prestigious is exactly this reason – the competition is so close that the top 10 fastest lap times can range within five one-hundredths of a second!
125 Junior MAX Qualifying
The Junior MAX qualifying session saw the top drivers put their skills to the test, as the Junior field headed on the track. Because the Junior MAX field is so competitive, the pole sitter was not confirmed until the last few laps of the qualifying round. Ultimately, however, it was the young Fin Roope Ropanen, who jumped into P1 with a 1.01.912 – and became the new 2015 Junior MAX pole sitter. Scott Symons of the UK posted the second fastest lap time with a 1.01.987, seven one-hundredths behind Ropanen.
125 MAX Practice 4 & 5
The RMCGF competition is extremely close, as the Dutch driver Leonard Hoogenboom posted the fastest time in practice No. 4 with a 1.00.838, just four-thousandths of a second faster than the second fastest, the German Christopher Dreyspring.
Practice No. 5 saw the Brazilian Joao Rosate post the fastest lap time with a 1.00.714, followed by the Italian ALEX, just five one-hundredths of a second slower.
125 MAX Qualifying
With no doubt, the Senior MAX class will show close competition, smart and aggressive passing maneuvers, as well as good sportsmanship. This time around, a new name showed up at the top of the list of 125 MAX drivers for qualifying. Berkay Besler of Turkey claimed pole position by posting a time of 1.00.302 – six one-hundredths of a second faster than second-placed ALEX of Italy.
125 MAX DD2 Masters Practice 4 & 5
Practice No. 4 saw the German Robert Schluenssen, who is racing for Team Denmark, post the overall fastest lap time of a 59.529, with Antti Ollikainen of Finland trailing close behind, with a 59.652.
Practice No. 5 separated the two fastest drivers by just one one-hundredth of a second – with the Brazilian Fernando Guzzi posting the fastest lap time of a 59.852.
125 MAX DD2 Masters Qualifying
The DD2 Masters added to the action of Wednesday’s qualifying round. However, one well-known face of the DD2 Masters class, four-time Grand Finals champion Cristiano Morgado, will not be competing this year due to an injury. His absence left the door wide open for new names to hit the top of the charts.
Ultimately it was the American Derek Wang, who claimed the pole position, posting a fast time of 59.257. Wang was followed by the South African Michael Stephen, who ran a 59.313, six one-hundredths of a second off.
125 MAX DD2 Practice 4 & 5
Practice No. 4 saw Kancsar of Hungary post the fastest time with a 59.226, followed by the Austrian, Max Hofer, who was just three-hundredths slower.
Practice No. 5 once again proved the point that the DD2 category is one of the most competitive fields in the Rotax MAX Challenge Grand Finals. Andreas Backman from Sweden ran a 59.330, one one-hundredth faster than the South African Bradley Liebenberg.
125 MAX DD2 Qualifying
With no doubt, DD2 will be the class to watch, as the category hosts some of the most popular names in the racing world, including former Formula 1 pilot Rubens Barrichello.
Not surprisingly, it was Kancsar who claimed the pole position, posting the fastest lap time of a 58.929 and was followed by Luke Varley driving for the United Arab Emirates, running a 58.968.
Congratulations to all of our hard-working pole sitters, their mechanics, and team supporters!
The off-track action also proved interesting as 72 additional drivers competing in the Rotax Grand Festival traveled to the Kartódromo Internacional do Algarve to compete in the Micro MAX (sponsored by IPKarting / Praga) and Mini MAX (sponsored by Birel ART) classes. The young pilots, 36 drivers per class, will compete in an invitational-only race at this international event. A kart raffle and tyre handout was held for the Micro and Mini MAX classes, which will hit the track tomorrow mid-day.
Live timing will be available on the RMCGF homepage, at http://www.rotax-kart.com/en/Max-Challenge/Grand-Finals/Grand-Finals-2015/LIVESTREAM.
Stay tuned for our upcoming daily reports, which bring the intense action of the RMCGF to you!
**Please note the Qualifying results are not official yet.
