published: 2014-03-25 12:08:39 (59362) Author: Frankm |
1/12 Spec European Championships |
| Markus Mobers Defends His Title; Becomes 2-Time Champion |
 Scandiano, Italy: a small industrial town no more than 20km from the home of Ferrari in Modena in the northern half of Italy, home to many ceramic tile manufacturers and this weekend home to the 2014 EFRA European 1/12 scale Championships!The 10.5 Spec class was full, with 40 racers entered. Markus Mobers, the 1/12 Spec Champion from Germany, is present to defend his title, although he will face stiff competition from racers across Europe. Although Markus Mobers was our favourite to defend his 2013 title, Alexandre Laurent from France and Hupo Honigl would be destined to give him a tough challenge. The 10.5 Spec class is hotly contested, and with several top racers from the Open class also running in Spec, the standards would be very high indeed. In Round One of qualifying, Markus seemed to have been still finding his feet after the 8 rounds of free practice and 1 practice run. Alexandre Laurent finished in first, with Francesco Martini taking second and Mobers third. Hupo Honigl finished in fourth, on almost the same time as the top 3. In Round Two, Mobers and Honigl finished first and second with 39 laps, with Larent in third on 38 laps. Rounds Three through Five saw the same result, with the drivers all achieving 39 laps each. By the fourth round, Markus was almost guaranteed pole position, and his win in Round Five solidified the result. Markus sat out Round Six, allowing Honigl, Laurent and Martini to take the top 3 spots. The final Qualifying result: 1. Markus Mobers, Germany 2. Hupo Honigl, Austria 3. Alexandre Laurent, France 4. Francesco Martini, Italy 5. Chris Kerswell, Great Britain 6. Mark Stiles, Great Britain 7. Vesa Yli, Finland 8. Helge Johannessen, Norway 9. Mikael Tiit Jorg, Estonia 10. Simon Rubet, France Finals A Final 1 The first Final run started with Markus and Hupo taking off from the rest of the field, leaving the other 8 drivers to sort themselves out. Hupo's car looked to be stuck to the ground no matter where he put it on the track, and he put as much pressure as he could on Markus from the start, running just a metre or two behind Markus until, finally, going through the small sweeping turns we dubbed the 'TV turns', Markus made a small mistake, touching the blue artificial grass going into the first turn and he smacked the barrier. That one mistake was enough to put Hupo ahead! A charging Markus tried to take a stab at Hupo going into the final turn but instead made a small mistake and fell further behind. After this he held position behind Hupo, taking second and making preparations for the second Final. Frenchman Alexandre Laurent finished third, and the top 3 all finished with 39 laps, a lap ahead of the rest of the field. A Final 2 Markus and Hupo led off the pack again, both driving steadily and with purpose. A fault-free run from Markus meant that Hupo had to force a mistake from Markus, and a few hard charges were met with a wall of indifference from Markus and his flame-painted On Point car. Even a really determined push from Hupo very late in the race didn't shake Markus, who appeared completely confident on the track, and Markus took the win to even the score with Hupo. Alexandre again finished third, securing him a spot on the podium - but the result of the third A Final would determine which order Markus and Hupo would share the first and second spots. A Final 3 Compared to the second and especially the first races, the third A Final was almost a sedate affair, with Markus leading Hupo for the whole 8 minutes, giving Markus the overall win. 1/12 Spec A Final Results 1. Markus Mobers 2. Hupo Honigl 3. Alexandre Laurent 4. Chris Kerswell 5. Francesco Martini 6. Mark Stiles 7. Vesa Yli 8. Helge Johannessen 9. Tiit Jorg Miikael 10. Simon Rubet Congratulations to Markus on his second European Championship win! |
