HRC Distribution / Team Magic Europe – Blog

Last week-end was the last round of Polish Nationals, on the nice track of Nowy Sacz.

Jakub Klapacz finished second of this last round, and obtained the title of Polish National Vice-Champion.

Great job Jakub !!

Original report from Jakub Klapacz:

The final round of the Polish Championships Last weekend was the last round of the Polish Championships at the track in Nowy Sącz. The crowning of the entire season of struggles in the 13.5 class, which is currently the most demanding electric class in Poland.

Like other drivers I have tested a lot before the competition to be well prepared, during the competition I have not changed anything in my setup. The track was very demanding, the high temperature meant less grip, the best results could be done in the morning and evening when it was cooler, which was an additional element to the racing strategy.

The general classification after the previous rounds was arranged so that six drivers had a chance to win the title of the champion, therefore the fight was until the very end.

The qualifying rounds were not quite successful for me despite the fact that I set a new lap record, I only started from 4th position In the finals I put on a calm ride, I knew it was easy for mistake on the track, my strategy worked and from the 4th position I finally made it through the finals to the 2nd position and I was vice champion in the general classification.

The whole season of work gave a good result, unfortunately I did not manage to win, but overall I’m pleased especially that the every race was very tight.

I would like to thank HRC / Team Magic for the support that I could get this one of the most valuable titles for me, with you.

National top-5 ranking:
1. Pawel Staszewski
2. Jakub Klapacz – Team Magic E4RS4
3. Krystian Kopacki
4. Lukasz Mach
5. Blazej Orlowski

Last week-end was the fifth and last round of Swiss Nationals, at Aigle. Philipp Huber and Marco Balmer participated this last round, on the great MRCAL club track.

During the qualification, Phillip made a TQ run on Q4, and two second place on Q2 and Q5, to obtain the second place on the grid behind Carl Friedrich Groessel (two TQ runs).  Sebastien Leuenberger completed the top 3 with a TQ run in Q5. Marco Balmer had some troubles on Saturday, and obtained the 7th place on the grid.

During the finales, the battle was between Carl and Philipp. Carl won the first and third finales, while Phillip won the second finale. Khounmy Bui complete the podium, With Sebastien Leuenberger 4th and Marco Balmer 5th.

Great job !

Original report from Philipp Huber (German):

Am Samstag bestand den ganzen Tag Gefahr, dass es zu regnen beginnen könnte. Doch das Wetterglück war diesmal auf unserer Seite, der Regen blieb aus. Somit konnten wir in 5 Trainingsläufen unser Setup optimieren.

Das Griffniveau war nicht schlecht, obwohl nicht gezuckert wurde. Mit der Unterstützung von Lionel konnte ich ein einfach zu fahrendes Setup entwickeln.

Leider funktionierte dann das Auto mit den neuen Rennreifen nicht mehr wie gewünscht. Es war nicht offensichtlich warum. Das Auto ging auch im ersten Qualifikationslauf nicht, erst im zweiten konnte ich einen guten 2. Platz erreichen.

Am Sonntag war das Wetter sonnig und die Temperaturen etwas höher. Leider war die Strecke am Morgen im ersten Qualifikationslauf noch kühl und evtl. auch noch etwas dreckig. Das Auto funktionierte wieder nicht gut, ich habe den Lauf nicht beendet.

Es war Zeit für eine radikale Änderung. Ich habe nun den zweiten Reifensatz verwendet und auch Haftmittel angewendet, obwohl ich das am Samstag nicht als besser empfunden hatte. Nun funktionierte das Auto wieder wie gewünscht. Ich konnte dank einem 1. und einem 2. Platz den 2. Startplatz herausfahren.

In den Finalen konnte ich dem Pole Setter Carl folgen und teilweise auch angreifen, allerdings war ich zu wenig schneller, um wirklich zu überholen. Den ersten und den dritten Final konnte Carl gewinnen, den 2. Final konnte ich gewinnen, nachdem ich Carl in einen Fehler getrieben habe. Es waren drei knappe Entscheidungen. Leider konnte ich das Rennen nicht gewinnen und belegte den zweiten Schlussrang.

Grundsätzlich bin ich mit der Performance von mir und dem Auto zufrieden. Carl war eine Nuance schneller sowie nervenstark und hat verdient gewonnen.

Overall Ranking:
1. Carl Friedrich Grössel
2. Philipp Huber – TM E4RS4
3. Khounmy Bui
4. Sebastien Leuenberger
5. Marco Balmer – TM E4RS4
6. Erol Sehirtoy
7. Ktisak Pluemjit
8. Ugur Cimen
9. Cham Dassanayake

The 19 and 20 august was the fifth round of Dutch Nationals, at Utrecht. Rob Janssen was there to add a new title to his racing career, and accomplished this mission with a win !

Rob made two TQ runs to set the pole position, and wins this 5th round of Dutch Nationals, to obtain his FOURTH  National Title in a row with Team Magic !!

As usual, the Rob’s teammates, Richard and Ronald Arts, also made a great result with the 5th and 6th position in the A-main.

Great job boys!

Original report from Rob Janssen:

Last weekend we had our 5th race of our 6 race long nationals championship. This was the weekend where it was possible for me to secure the Stock Nationals Title.

As there was new asphalt on the track it would be a challenging weekend as for sure on Saturday the traction was very low. As more guys came on the track it became a little better and better every hour.

End of Saturday, it was possible to do some “normal” laps and try some set-up changes and really feel the improvements (or not 😉 ). I was going home confident as I felt the car was handling well compared to the other stock drivers on the track. It was easy to do some good laps for a 7 minute heat.

Sunday morning I went out quick to feel how the traction was on the track. It was a lot better than Saturday. So this, combined with some fresh tires, must be a good day. I won Q1 and Q2 in front of former F1 ETS A-finalist Jitse Miedema. With 2 out of 3 to count the TQ was secured. When looking at the times it was Jitse who was doing some good laps in the beginning but my times were more consistent during the 7 minute run.

In first final, Jitse stayed close a few laps. But after 2 minutes the gap became bigger and I was able to “cruise” it to victory. The second final there was some more sun on the track and conditions changed. It was Jitse who had the most benefit of this as for now he was able to stay close to me the whole final. I did need to defend the entire final and sometimes we were door to door true some corners. I won with a tenth of a second difference. That shows how close the 7 minute run was. With 2 out of 3 to count the day victory was secured.

With these 2 runs I also secured the Nationals Stock Champion Title for this year as nobody is able to pass me in the standings during the last race in a few weeks. At the end I gave my transmitter to some other guys and let them do some laps with my car. They were really impressed by it’s handling and were a bit jealous 😉 !

Again I was really happy with the performance of the TM car and would really like to thank you and Team Magic for making it possible to win another title !

Now i’m starting to prepare a little for next indoor season. 

Overall Ranking:
A – 1. Rob Janssen – Team Magic E4RS4 2018
A – 2. Jitse Miedema
A – 3. Frank Baggen
A – 4. Wesley Van Dijken
A – 5. Richard Arts – Team Magic E4RS4 2018
A – 6. Ronald Arts – Team Magic E4RS4 2018
A – 7. Roel Jongenelis
A – 8. Fokke Groen
A – 9. Remco Mutsaerts
A – 10. Martin Komen
B – 11. Ivan Klaasen
B – 12. Pascal Van De Rijdt
B – 13. Max Florisson
B – 14. Robert Wolf
B – 15. Ronald Martignoni
B – 16. Anton Huijser
B – 17. Paul De Heus
B – 18. Jos Remmerde
B – 19. Andre Van Der Steen
B – 20. Joris Klaasen
C – 21. Michael Vd Berg
C – 22. Justin Josemanders
C – 23. Barry Josemanders

Last week-end was the fourth round of Dutch Nationals, at the mythic track of Heemstede.  Team Magic dutch drivers joined by Belgian Stefan Rommens participated this race.

Rob Janssen qualified his Team Magic E4RS4 on second place, behind John Bruins and in front of Tjitte Miedema, while his teammates made a good result too Ronald Arts 6th, Richard Arts 9th, Stefan Rommens 10th and Jari vd Wal 15th.

During the finals, Rob maintained his second position behind John, and Max Hordijk completed the podium. Ronald finished 7th, Richard 9th, Stefan 10th and Jari 15th.

Great result again for the team !

Original report from Rob Janssen:

Last weekend we had our fourth race of the Nationals series. This time at the MACH Heemstede, the worlds 2012 track. A very fast and wide open track. Normally not my type of track to perform well as I prefer smaller more technical track. With a lot of local drivers it should be a difficult weekend. For sure to compete with John Bruins, former B main modified driver at the 2012 worlds.

Practice on Saturday went very well as the grip on the track was good from the start. During the day it became a little hotter but the car seemed to stay ok.

Sunday morning in qualification I soon noticed John was doing some very good laps as he was in a heat before me. After 2 rounds I both finished 2nd, close behind John. In Q1 it was a difference of 2 seconds, in Q2 only 1 second. To secure 2nd spot on the grid I needed to drive Q3. John did sit out this one to save tires. 

In final 1 I had a very bad start as the track was very hot now and the car felt very difficult on the warm-up lap. The start was good as I stayed 2nd during the first few corners. But at the end of the straight the only technical part of the track the car became to go sideways and I couldn’t stop it from sliding. The 7th or 8th car did hit me very hard (my fault). For me now the race was over as even my battery went out of the car.

For final 2, I made some set-up changes to make the rear of the car a little more stable. This worked out good as the car felt great again. I was able to manage second position and finish behind John. In final 3, it was the same story. John a little too fast to catch and behind me a big gap to the rest of the field. So cruising to the finish line. At the end a second place on the podium and 2 good finals that do count for the Nationals Series which I’m currently sitting in first position.

Overall Results:
A – 1. John Bruins
A – 2. Rob Janssen – Team Magic E4RS4
A – 3. Max Hordijk
A – 4. Florian Joos
A – 5. Tjitte Miedema
A – 6. Steven Koiter
A – 7. Ronald Arts – Team Magic E4RS4
A – 8. Ivan Klaasen
A – 9. Richard Arts – Team Magic E4RS4
A – 10. Stefan Rommens – Team Magic E4RS4
B – 11. Giovanni Moguez
B – 12. Fokke Groen
B – 13. Pieter Beekman
B – 14. Patrick De Wit
B – 15. Jari Van De Wal – Team Magic E4RS4
B – 16. Dave Lunenburg
B – 17. Ingmar Heinz
B – 18. Pascal Van De Rijdt
B – 19. Joris Klaasen
B – 20. Mark Van Dreumel
C – 21. Max Florisson
C – 22. Michael Vd Berg
C – 23. Robert Wolf
C – 24. Justin Josemanders
C – 25. Anton Huijser
C – 26. Barry Josemanders
C – 27. Bert De Winter

Last week-end was the fourth round of French Nationals, on the new asphalt of the track of Montbrison.

After difficult debut on Saturday morning, as he can’t participate to the Friday tests as the majority of the other driver (due to job issue), Thomas qualified his Team Magic E4RS4 on the fifth place on the grid. He increased his performance at each run during the two racing days, and found a good setup for the finals and finished on the second place on the podium, behind local hero Jeremy Limoges and in front of Alexandre Laurent.

Original report of Thomas Vigneron – in French:

Le weekend dernier, j’ai participé à la manche 4 du championnat de France qui c’est déroulée sur la piste fraîchement refaite de Montbrison, avec nouveau bitume et tracé . La piste est super plaisante et très technique de plus elle était traitée chaque jour du vendredi au dimanche. Pour ma part je suis arrivé le samedi matin avec un setup plutôt standard mais pas adapté à la piste.

En me rapprochant de mon setup indoor j’ai retrouvé un châssis rapide et performant pour ce type de tracé et de grip. Empattement plus court avant et arrière, toute les vis sous le support moteur, centre de roulis descendu, moins de prise de carrossage à l’enfoncement à l’arrière et barre anti-roulis arrière de 1,2mm . Je me suis qualifié cinquième mais avec un châssis de mieux en mieux, en final j’ai terminé 2 fois second pour finir sur la deuxième marche du podium.

Overall results – Modified: 
1. Jeremy Limoges
2. Thomas Vigneron – Team Magic E4RS4
3. Alexandre Laurent
4. Cyril N’Diaye
5. Manuel Wagner
6. Hugo Ragaut
7. Jean-Michel Varinard
8. Michael Jasmin

Thanks to Mathias Rascol for pictures: http://atlanticelectron.blogspot.com/

Two weeks ago was the Belgian nationals round at Roeselare. As usual, many Team Magic drivers participated this national event, in different category.

In Modified, Rémi Callens finished third, while his teammate Stefan Rommens finished ninth.

In Stock category, Christophe Libeer finished sixth, Pasquinel Neys seventh, and Jannick Rommens 9th in A-final. In B main, Lorenzo Vandepoele finished third and Olivier Cornard seventh.

Original report from Stefan Rommens:

We arrived Sunday morning with a good feeling after a saterday of training I hoped for A finale. During the first qualification, I had a good start with the 5 time because a lot of people fell out. I didn’t make any mistakes.

I was faster in second qualificaton because of the grip and we didn’t had that the first qualification. Because some drivers who drove better I becamed 8th.

In third qualification, I was slower on the right end so I was 9th, I didn’t go as fast on the right end as the other drivers did.
I didn’t want to push more because I burned a motor on Saturday.

In the first final, my start was good, I came 6th after the first corner because of the small clashes between other drivers, but my rear belt broke after 3.5 minutes and I finished 10th.

In second finale, I came 5th again due to some contact between the others, and some of them had to stop.

In third final, I ended my day at 9th place because I drove my finales only one set of tires and not two, so my tires where almost dead.

So I ended a great day of the Belgian Championship in Roeselare being 9th.

Original report from Lorenzo Vandepoele:

This weekend the next race of the belgium championship was held at racing track Roeselare, this will be there last Belgium championship on this track, they will move to an awesome new facility after this season, the new site already looks awesome !

Since I don’t drive a lot, and don’t have a lot of time to prep everything, my team mate Pasquinel Neys offered to prep a car so i could race along this weekend. He was running the E4RS4 on carbon chassis, and I was driving his car with alu chassis, the car worked great from the beginning. on Saturday we tried some different things. everything was working pretty well, but on Sunday it was really hot all day, so that changed a lot since the practice on Saturday was not that good weather.

I was driving stock, where it was all very close, I made small errors in the qualifications, that cost me only 2 seconds, but that was good to move 5 places more backwards… So after qualifying I ended up 2 seconds from team mates Christophe Libeer and Jannick Rommens, they made the a-main ! Third place to start in the b-main, and I was actually was really happy with that performance !

It was great to drive with such a good car, had awesome fights in the finals, made some mistake’s, but afterall i did win 1 final, made a third place in the second, and some bad luck in the third final when a driver came on track just in front of me, then i ended up in the grass, and lost to much time to come back.

This was a great weekend for me, had lots of fun in the pit area with the team mate’s, a weekend where everything in the “reall world” was a bit out of thoughts. I want to thank all the team mates, especially Pasquinel for his effort to make this possible for me. thanks to our sponsors, and up to the next race, hopefully i will not need so much time to get back on track 🙂

Overal Results – Modified:
A – 1. Olivier Bultynck
A – 2. Mitchell Van Es
A – 3. Rémi Callens – Team Magic E4RS4
A – 4. Thomas Stockman
A – 5. Nicolas Delisé
A – 6. Rico Claeys
A – 7. Steve Lambrechts
A – 8. Athan De Witte
A – 9. Stefan Rommens – Team Magic E4RS4
A – 10. Jeremy Deram
B – 11. Guillaume Guffroy
B – 12. Gilles Hendrickx
B – 13. Christophe Loget – Team Magic E4RS4
B – 14. Ludovic Olivier
B – 15. Liam Van De Wouwer
B – 16. Christophe Lefebvre
B – 17. Pascal Delferiere

Overal Results – Stock:
A – 1. Giovanni Moguez
A – 2. Vincent Van Gansen
A – 3. Peter Degrande
A – 4. Xavier Debroye
A – 5. Steve Deblaere
A – 6. Christophe Libeer – Team Magic E4RS4
A – 7. Pasquinel Neys – Team Magic E4RS4
A – 8. Niels Meurs
A – 9. Jannick Rommens – Team Magic E4RS4
A – 10. Sergio Prodi
B – 11. Jonathan Prouvosq
B – 12. Alexander Van Gansen
B – 13. Lorenzo Vandepoele – Team Magic E4RS4
B – 14. Tom Adams
B – 15. Sonny Vandenborre
B – 16. Niels Degryze
B – 17. Cornard Olivier – Team Magic E4RS4
B – 18. Danny Vanbroekhoven

Glenn Westwood wins the third round of BRCA Clubmans series at Aldershot Model Car Club in 13.5 Open category.

Great job Glenn !

Full report on RED RC

Polish TM driver. Jakub Klapacz, participated to the second round of Polish Nationals at Ruda Slaska, in south Poland.

Jakub obtained the pole position with his Team Magic E4RS4, and take the overall win.

Great job !

Original report from Jakub Klapacz:

Last weekend was the second round of the Polish Championships in Ruda Slaska, as usual I competed in the most competitive 13.5t stock class.

Already on Friday I came to the track to find the perfect setup, my Team Magic E4RS4 was going very well from the beginning, small changes provided greater stability on a large and difficult track due to bumps.

Saturday and Sunday were very difficult due to the weather, after several qualifying rounds on Sunday the competition was over because of heavy rain, however I managed to win all the qualification runs and I won in the final classification. I am super happy with the result, a lot of time spent on the track paid off.

Podium:
1. Jakub Klapacz – Team Magic E4RS4
2. Krystian Kopacki
3. Arkadiusz Smyk