The
Race:
The 2009 PN Racing Mini-Z World Cup Finals were held
in the Magic Badalona shopping center, located just
minutes from the beautiful city of Barcelona. With 82
drivers and 175 total entries spread among 7 different
racing categories, this World Cup was the biggest ever,
and was sure to provide exciting competition and memorable
races.
Friday was intended as a practice day, with the 1st
round of qualifying to take place late in the afternoon.
There is very little to describe from this day, as Reflex’s
Jacob Feinstein and his father Michael were among the
latest to arrive due to a flight layover. Feinstein
had most of the team’s equipment and cars, so
practice essentially started in the first round of qualifying
for most of the team.
In F1 Stock, Reflex Racing driver Alberto Carvalho
had trouble in the first two rounds of qualifying with
traffic, but then cleaned up his race in the third round
to qualify 4th in the A-main behind American Bill Crotty,
Portuguese Carlos Conceicao, and German Andreas Megerlin,
whose car was in a league of its own.
In 2WD Stock and 2WD Modified, Reflex Racing driver
Jose Pequito battled with Carlos Lambas for the top
spot in both classes, with Pequito coming out on top
both times. In 2WD Mod Alejandro Laveda finished close
to the top two, only about 2 seconds off the pace of
second place Lambas.
In AWD Modified, Pequito once again set the TQ, but
was followed closely by Feinstein, who finished about
3 seconds behind the Portuguese ace. Pequito’s
car was the quickest by far in qualifying, but Feinstein
stuck with the set-up provided to him by Reflex’s
AWD guru and team owner, Cristian Tabush, thinking that
the car would get better as grip came up on the track.
In AWD Stock, Miguel and Alberto Carvalho did Reflex
proud by qualifying 2nd and 5th respectively in the
A-main. They were also running essentially identical
cars to Feinstein’s Modified set-up, which was
the latest in AWD development from Reflex Racing, including
the 96mm carbon fiber plates for the 3Racing suspension
kit and 96mm spur gears.
In Pan Car Modified, Feinstein managed to secure TQ
by approximately a lap and a half over PN Racing’s
Chad Nelson and Sweden’s Magnus Dahlbom. Feinstein
was running Reflex’s new 96mm fiberglass H-plates
and the new WTF2 front end.
In Pan Car Stock, Xavier Hernandez secured TQ over
Niklas Ransson and Rui Dias.
Results after
Qualifying:
F1 Stock:
1. Andreas Megerlin
2. Bill Crotty
3. Carlos Conceicao
2WD Stock:
1. Jose Pequito
2. Carlos Lambas Diaz
3. Francisco Pena Fernandez
AWD Stock:
1. Hodei Urra
2. Alberto Carvalho
3. Andreas Megerlin
2WD Modified:
1. Jose Pequito
2. Carlos Lambas Diaz
3. Alejandro Candel Laveda
AWD Modified:
1. Jose Pequito
2. Jacob Feinstein
3. Sergio Coella Navas
Pan Car Stock:
1. Xavier Fernandez
2. Niklas Ransson
3. Rui Dias
Pan Car Modified:
1. Jacob Feinstein
2. Chad Nelson
3. Magnus Dahlblom
As Sunday rolled around, many of the drivers found
it difficult to get out of bed. Lets just say that the
combination of beer and go-karting into the wee hours
of the previous night made us all a little late…but
once coffee did its magic everyone was excited to start
the Mains.
In F1 Stock, Alberto Carvalho had a great start and
worked his way up from 4th to 2nd, and stayed there
for most of the race until a problem with leader Andreas’s
car allowed Carvalho to inherit the lead and run away
with the win. In the 2nd main, it was a 3-way battle
for the lead between Carvalho, Conceicao, and Crotty,
with several lead swaps throughout the race. Once everything
spread out Carvalho was leading Conceicao and Crotty.
On the final lap of the race, Conceicao closed in on
Carvalho and managed a great move on the final corner
to win the 2nd Main by less than half a second, with
Carvalho just meters away from securing his first World
Title. Carvalho took it all in stride however, pulling
off one of his trademark “Ninja” starts
in the 3rd main to work his way up to second. Andreas
pulled away from the field initially, but trouble with
3rd placed Conceicao in the infield once again allowed
Carvalho to inherit the lead, and with it the 2009 F1
Stock World Cup Title.
In 2WD Stock, Ismael Pereira worked his up from 8th
to win the first A-main, while Pequito finished a distant
2nd. Pequito installed newer batteries for the remaining
two mains, and won them both with relative ease, securing
his first World Title.
In AWD Stock, Spanish driver Hodei Urra won the 1st
main with ease, while Aitor Gomez answered back in the
second with a win of his own. Urra answered back, however,
and won the 3rd main with an excellent start and a clean,
consistent race. The two Reflex drivers in the field
did not have the best of luck, with Alberto and Miguel
finishing 6th and 8th, respectively.
In Pan Car Stock, Andreas Megerlin won the first two
mains starting from 4th on the grid, sealing the 2009
Pan Car Stock Title.
In Pan Car Modified, Feinstein was set to have a clean
start from 1st on the grid, but excessive differential
slippage forced him to run wide and cut back across
the track into the first corner. The field got bunched
up and swallowed the cars of Feinstein and 2nd placed
Nelson. Phillip Ng inherited the lead, while Feinstein
was last at the end of the first lap. Feinstein began
to push the car and hoped to work his way back up the
field. Within 1 minute, Feinstein was once again in
the lead and won the main, followed by Philip Ng and
David Moret of TRP. The 2nd main was less chaotic, with
a much cleaner start. Feinstein took the win, untroubled
by any problems at the start of the race, and secured
the 2009 Pan Car Modified World Title.
In 2WD Modified, Pequito took the 1st main with ease,
gapping 2nd place Lambas by over a lap. With Pequito
on track to win the title, the 2nd main was full of
excitement. Pequito did not get away from the line as
cleanly this time, and was given a fight from Lambas
and Laveda. After a full race of lead swaps, Laveda
eventually came out on top in the 2nd main. The 3rd
main was set to be a scorcher, with Lambas, Laveda,
and Reflex’s Pequito all with a shot at the title.
When the buzzer went off, the race became very similar
to the 2nd main, with Laveda and Lambas battling for
the lead and Pequito struggling to match their pace.
The race was eventually decided by a little over half
a second, with Laveda beating Lambas to the line and
taking the 2009 2WD Modified World Title.
In AWD Modified, Pequito was once again starting from
the front, with Feinstein hot on his heels in a car
that just kept getting better as the weekend progressed.
Feinstein’s prediction about the grip increasing
greatly before the mains was correct, as Pequito’s
car began to chatter and traction roll during the warm-up
laps. Meanwhile, Feinstein’s Reflex AWD came into
its own. At the start, Pequito retained the lead, with
Feinstein close behind and Alberto Carvalho running
3rd. In the middle of the long left hander on the first
lap, Pequito rolled his car, allowing Feinstein to inherit
the lead. After some tangling with other cars at the
beginning of the race, Feinstein began to gap second
place Carvalho. The race then calmed down and the finishing
order was Feinstein, Carvalho, and Urra. The 2nd main
started very similarly, with Pequito making and error
at the end of the first lap, allowing Feinstein to once
again inherit the lead. Feinstein didn’t look
back as he led the way until the end of the race, setting
the fastest lap of the weekend and securing the 2009
AWD Modified World Title. Pequito was untroubled in
the 3rd main, securing 2nd spot overall, followed by
Carvalho in 3rd overall, securing an all-Reflex podium.
Final Results:
F1 Stock:
1. Alberto Carvalho
2. Carlos Conceicao
3. Andreas Megerlin (TQ)
2WD Stock:
1. Jose Pequito (TQ)
2. Ismael Pereira
3. Alejandro Laveda
AWD Stock:
1. Hodei Urra (TQ)
2. Aitor Gomez
3. Alejandro Martinez
2WD Modified:
1. Alejandro Candel Laveda
2. Jose Pequito (TQ)
3. Carlos Lambas Diaz
AWD Modified:
1. Jacob Feinstein
2. Jose Pequito (TQ)
3. Alberto Carvalho
Pan Car Stock:
1. Andreas Megerlin
2. Xavier Fernandez (TQ)
3. Albert Peraire
Pan Car Modified:
1. Jacob Feinstein (TQ)
2. David Rebollo Alba
3. Philip Ng
Overall this was Reflex’s best showing at the
World Cup Finals, with victories in 4 out of the 6 classes
they contested. As always the team learned a lot about
how to adapt to different layouts and grip levels, a
challenge made even greater by this years unusual high-speed
layout. It was a fantastic experience to race in Barcelona,
and the team was ecstatic to achieve such success after
a difficult Friday practice. We would like to thank
Philip Ng and TRP for putting on an excellent event,
and we hope to see everyone next year at the 2010 World
Cup Finals, wherever they will be!
|
PN Racing Mini-Z World Cup 2009
