A Backmarker’s View of the ISRA Worlds 2013, Kiev , Ukraine

[Greg N]

Well, I wrote a whole long piece about what it's like here in a broader sense, but it got lost on the upload. Last time I do that. The rest will be written on Word and copied to here.

But there's something brief to write about:

My teammate, Magnus Helgesson (Sweden) and I ran real well in the team race, came in 25th, which for me is just great here. A real victory.

So today I come to the raceway full of hope, start practicing on our elaborate schedule, but in the end it's really only 3 mins on each lane x 7 hrs. And the whole time I can't see in front of my car. This happens to me sometimes in 1/24 ES, only rarely in 1/32 ES. I don't really understand it, but it's related to aging, maybe in my case not so early dementia. :-) But the weird thing was, that by the time we hit qualifying, I wasn't fast, but at least I was able to see the track in front of the car (normally I can see about half of the track in front of the car). So I was feeling much better. So in the race (the second heat from the bottom, the L heat), I was actually able to run for real, the first time all day, the first 4 heats I turned down my choke each heat, and I ran very well overall, even tho I only got 223 laps (the winners of the heat races will likely be in the high 200s, low 300s), I'm really feeling good, because I got on top of my car and ran for real.

I'm now very hopeful for my chances in F1 and big Eurosport. This is one of the reasons to come to the Worlds. It's not all just about becoming the number one ranked racer in the world.

More tomorrow.

Greg

[LoudCat]

Thanks for the updates Greg. I really enjoy reading them.

[GT1]

Thanks for the updates Greg. Keep at it and have a great time

[Greg N]

Thanks, Roy, and Bernie!

I spent the late morning and afternoon in downtown Kiev, and had a great time! Much more about that later. Nice pictures to post, too.

Right now the A semi is running. The C semi felt not so fast to me, really the whole time. Raivis Jansons did the best by far, for really pretty much the whole race. Tire wear calculations seemed a little off to me. There were 3 late to very late changes. Raivis ended with 385 laps. I think that he's the only one with a chance to move and I think that that's unlikely.

The B semi was much quicker and smoother. Jiri Karlik at 395 has a good chance to advance, I think, and Chris Bruyninx at 387 is in pretty much the same shoes as Raivis.

Recek, Piero, and Vladimir are just smoking so far. It's great to watch these guys go. The martials have almost nothing to do. Sort of makes you feel small.

Greg

[Greg N]

I forgot: Watch Peteris Dunis, a 20s something kid from Latvia. He's new to the Worlds. He's a real quiet, polite kid. He's flying right now, and has been all week so far. If he keeps at it, I think that it's very likely that he'll become a member of the really very small Worlds fast guys club. He's currently in 4th in the A semi.

Greg

[Greg N]

I forgot #2: I haven't written much about the track. Black here qualifies, I think, as one of the hardest lanes in flat track racing. In this race Landrud dropped 3 laps on red, Recek 2, I think, and Horky 1.5. Makes me feel even smaller.

BTW, Matti just broke, not obvious what, but he lost a ton of laps and is likely out. Currently Karlik and Bruyninx will move up.

Greg

[Richland68]

Arghhhhh

Just went off air mid 7/8 of A Semi
Top 3 from the 1:32 semi's - all from A Main
J Recek was strong 1 or 2 but fell back on 6/8 white with car issues
V Horky was 4th overall at time
P Castricone moved to 1 mid way in race
M Fyhr steadily came on strong broke mid 6/8 fell from 2nd
A Vojtik moved into 3
P Dunis up then down
J Karlick from B main moved to 3/4

Oh well

[Greg N]

Just finished the A semi. In the end, all of the usual subjects made it in except for Matti Fhyr (break down) and Paul G (mid-pack in the slower, rougher C semi). Replacing them are Peteris Dunis and Chris Bruyninx. The latter no surprise, but very welcome for me as he has worked so hard as the interim ISRA president, the former some really good news for our hobby.

Now a 30 minute break and off we go with the final.

Interestingly, they don't have the tire wear down well. In the A there were some more very late, somewhat clumsy changes, and some hard crashes, likely also due to tires. I'm thinking that you'll see almost everybody changing tires in the 5-6th heat in the final, since they are 5 mins/lane.

Greg

[Greg N]

One thing that seemed pretty clear in the A was that some of the drivers were just hanging near the top, assuring that they would make the final, but not particularly pushing it. I'm thinking that that will change in few minutes. If you recall, Matti won last year's 1/24 ES final by taking off like jack rabbit right at the start. He got up 3-4 laps right in the beginning, and just stayed there for the rest of the race. I'd be surprised if this has been forgotten, and I'll bet that they all take hard in the beginning.

Greg

[Greg N]

First heat over. Horky put 2 laps on Dunis, everybody else 3, except Byuyninx 5 and Landrud 6. Michael had a very hard black with lots of offs.

[Greg N]

End of heat 2. Michael and Chris are definitely slower, and Dunis had a tough purple, losing 7 laps. Youv've got Horky in the lead, Castricone and Recek down 3, Karlik and Vojik down 5.

Greg

[Greg N]

More crashes this heat. Horky still in the lead, but Recek gained a lot, down 1, now Piero, Karliy and Vojcik all down 5. Dunis down 13, Landrud 14, Chris 17. Recek gained 5 laps I think on purple!

Greg

[Greg N]

Heat 4: Vojcik had a rough purple, Recek a tough black. Chris and Michael remain slower. Everybody else flying. You've got Horky in the lead, Karlik down 4, Piero and Vojcik 7. Lots of tire changes going on, including the leaders.

Greg

[Greg N]

Heat 5: Karlik, no tire change gained a bunch and he's currently catching Horky, who's on high tires. Don't know if he'll need a change. Horky in the lead, Karlik down 1, Piero 5, Vojcik 9, Dunis 11, Recek 12. Landrud and Bruyninx are down 18.

Greg

[Greg N]

Heat 6: Horky on black lost 2 laps to Karlik who now leads by 1. No tire change yet for Karlik. Vojcik had a bad yellow, don't know why. Don't recall if he changed tires earlier. Piero down 3. Dunis and Recek 12.

Greg