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Also at the event,
Austria's Hubert "Hupo" Honigl fresh from his good showing at both the 2004
Euros and Snowbirds. Hupo had his Carpet Knife sharpened and ready to take
on the hot Florida asphalt. Hupo's Carpet Knife was meticulously prepared by
CRC's European Team Manager, Robert Bachofner.
The entire CRC team was
running the new #4160 CRC Courage C60 Evo3 body recently released to the
market. In addition, all the drivers were running CRC's Track Magnet tires.
No magic unobtainable racing rubber, just standard off-the-shelf CRC racing
rubber on the finest, strongest rim you can find.
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In the end, Jilles
Groskamp and Marc Rheinard made the prestigious A-main with the CRC Carpet
Knife 3.2R, the CRC Courage C60 Evo3 body and CRC Track magnet tires. A
special thanks to Peak/Orion for providing great horsepower for both
drivers. Jilles had a excellent chance for a second place podium finish,
especially with Masami sitting out the final A-main. Jilles needed to win
over Atsushi Hara to take second. While Jilles did manage to beat Hara in
the 3rd final, it was not a battle for the lead, so unfortunately, a podium
finish was not to be for the Flying Dutchman.
What was very impressive about Jilles's run was the extreme pressure he
was under. It seemed Groskamp never had a moment to relax in his 24 minutes
of A-mains. He was not only being pressure from behind, but he was also
trying to make passes as well.. It appeared that his entire main event was
spent in a whirlwind of cars, bumper to bumper with all drivers showing
great patience. What a masterful job all the drivers did, staying that close
without a major crash. Just a small altercation between Jilles and Japan's
Takizawa cost both drivers a a bit of time, and that's all it took to take
Jilles off the podium. However, a 4th place finish for the part-time 1/12th
scale driver in his first ever race with a CRC car was a great result!
Poor Marc Rheinard just had terrible luck in the finals. He ran lap times
capable of a podium finish, but poor starts cost him any chance for a good
result. Marc was the last car to cross the line after every start. In fact,
after a lengthy pit stop in the first final to fix the body, Marc was put
back on the track right behind the battle of Hara and Hirosaka. Marc then
promptly hooked onto Masami and Atsushi following them closely for a number
of laps. With the first turn crashes, Rheinard ended up 10th after the 3
mains.
According to his dad, Uwe, until this event, Rheinard had very little
experience in 1/12th scale modified. Marc showed podium speed all weekend
long, getting faster and faster each qualifier. With each passing qualifier,
you could see this talented German was picking up the finer points of 1/12th
scale. All I can say is "watch out" if this guy gets more experience in
1/12th scale, he could begin a new dynasty of World Championships.
Just missing the A-main was Snowbird's podium finisher, Hubert Honigl
from Austria. Hupo ran some perfect qualifiers, his CRC car very smooth and
consistent. Run after run, it appeared that Hupo was pouring the car around
the track. Honigl had a good finish at the Euros back in April and followed
that up with a 13th place finish at the Worlds. I know Hupo was
looking for a top 10, but he certainly drove well with his car looking
smooth and fast.
In summary, a great result for the Calandra Racing team. Two cars in the
A-final, 1 car in the top of the B. No team trick cars, no fancy tires, no
special bodies, just good quality products you can buy off the shelf. Now...
if we could only package the magic that is in the hands of these talented
drivers......
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