The 2013 Outdoor ROAR Regionals were held in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA this year and after 2 rain cancellations, the race finally got going on July 27th 2013.
On a last minute notice, the rain held off and the qualifiers started with Johnson and the WildFireD06 sitting 3rd after round one with no practice on a green track. In round two of qualifying, Johnson learned the track and scrubbed in new tires for the last round when the plan was to steal pole position. The plan worked, as well as the WildFireD06 itself, with Johnson blistering the track with a run that gave the WildFireD06 the TQ by 2 seconds! In the main, Johnson pulled out to a 5 second lead over the field to secure his victory and gave the WildFireD06 it's first ROAR event title!!!
The fifth round of the FBA championship took place in Rucphen at the club Mac De Baanbrekers. The weather was awesome and the heat could give the drivers some issues at this fast track. In the Efra class it was Olivier Bultynck who took TQ in front of Nick Joosens and Thomas Stockman. Olivier started well in the first final and Nick tried his best to follow and put some pressure on him but Ollie was a little bit faster and could make a gap on Nick. Thomas followed the two but struggled with his car and later on also scored a DNF as the had to retire in lap 18. Meanwhile Rico Claeys who started 8th on the grid was in third place. Ollie took the win and Nick came in second with Rico taking the third spot.
Come the start of the second final the race for Ollie was already over in the first lap as his motor broke. Meanwhile Thomas found more grip and speed and was attacking Nick who did everything he could to hold of Thomas. Mitchel van Es was now in third place and in a fight with local Patrick Jongenelis. At the end of leg 2 Nick managed to take the win just in front of Thomas and Mitchel. For the last and deciding final it was Thomas who found the right setup for his car and right at the start he overtook Nick and was in chase of Ollie who eagerly wanted to win and therefore kept up the pressure. Later Ollie opened a little gap and Thomas did everything to close up but Oliver took the win and Thomas secured a good second.
The third round of the Belgian electric touring car nationals took place at the fast and bumpy track of RCR at Roeselare. The whole week before the race saw rain showers but come Saturday the weather cleared up and the driver faced a dry track. During the night rain started to fall again making for a slippery track surface at the beginning of the Sunday qualifiers but the track started to dry up fast. In the EFRA class it was Olivier Bultynck who took TQ in front of Thomas Stockman and Nick Joosens. Also Robin D’Hondt was trying to go fast with the electric guys and took the fourth spot on the grid.
The first final was run under sunny conditions and Olivier once again was super fast. Nick made a mistake in the first corner and Thomas, Robin and Rico Claeys were fighting for the second place. Robin was pushing hard trying to overtake Thomas. In the fast corner at the end of the straight Robin overtook Thomas but the latter was fighting back at the next corner and took back second place. Robin made a mistake and Thomas now had Rico in tow. Meanwhile Olivier took the win 7 seconds ahead of Thomas with Rico taking third place. The second final could be the last one for Olivier but this one was not so easy. Ollie’s car seemed to be more difficult to drive than in the first final and Nick took second place from Thomas and was attacking Ollie. But Ollie could resist the pressure from his former team mate taking the second win of the day. Nick came in second and Thomas was happy to keep Robin just behind for third place. Olivier decided not to attend in the third final so that the battle for second place could go on. With the four contenders Thomas, Nick, Robin and Rico all being able to take the runner up spot this final would be very exciting. Thomas took the lead with Robin just behind. Nick was following close by and Rico was already happy with the fourth place. In lap 15 a crash at the end of the straight forced Thomas and Robin to leave the racing line but Thomas was still in the lead and Nick was trying hard to overtake. Thomas could resist and took the win in front of Nick and Rico. Robin took fourth place, not bad for a nitro guy. The overall result saw Olivier Bultynck (VBC racing WildFire) taking his third win in a row!!!
The second race of the FBA electric touring car championship took place at the indoor hall in Chatelineau. The track was small and very technical and the surface was not giving the grip that everyone had expected, so the key issue was to find a stable and fast car. It was Olivier Bultynck with his VBC car who set the pace. Manuel Henriet, last years winner and driving at his home track, put his car on the second spot on the grid with Nick Joosens in third place. In the first final Manuel tried to attack from the start and was pushing just behind Olivier but after a few laps Olivier found his rhythm and was pulling away from the rest. Manuel was a strong second but for the third spot a big battle was going on between Nick, Thomas Stockman, Maxim Claes and Nicolas Delisé. It was Nicolas who took third place. The second final was a different story. Olivier made a good start but after lap 11 he lost the lead to Manuel who was strong and defended his lead. Olivier made another mistake and Nick Joosens took the second place but everything was still possible in final three. From the start Olivier was pushing hard driving a splendid last final and setting the fastest time in the finals. Also with this win Olivier took the second win in two races. Manuel was very strong at his home track and took second place with Maxim Claes a very good third. Overall results saw Olivier Bultynck (VBC Racing) the winner!
The first race of the 2013 Belgian championship took place at the Lovan racing track in Zarren. The indoor track featured many technical areas and a fast layout. Defending champion Olivier Bultynck took TQ with his new VBC Racing Wildfire in front of Thomas Stockman and Nick Joosens. Gerrit van Swijgenhoven took a very good fourth on the grid. The first final saw a very close battle between Olivier and Thomas. Nick was just behind in third place. Olivier made no mistake and Thomas chased him hard but Olivier was able to open a gap and took the win. Thomas came in second in front of Nick and Gerrit. The second final again saw a win of Olivier after Thomas made a mistake in lap six. Meanwhile Nick climbed up to second place and encountered a lot of pressure from Thomas. The latter than touched the second placed but waited until Nick recovered. For the remainder of the final Nick was able to stay in second place with Thomas taking third place. Gerrit managed to take fourth in front of Manuel Henriet. The third final would be the decider for second place. Olivier also raced the last final as he wanted to learn his new car better. Olivier again took off and grabbed the win with the fastest time of the day. Thomas again was very fast and secured a second place. Nick came in third with Gerrit in fourth just in front of Manuel. The overall result saw Olivier Bultynck (VBC racing) taking the win with Thomas Stockman (Xray) in secede and Nick Joosens (Yokomo) in third.
The canadian onroad nationals is canada's biggest onroad event held in the middle of Seaway Mall in Welland, Ontario, Canada. With well over 290 entries for touring car, vta, 12th scale, and mini, this is clearly the biggest event in canada.
VBC Racing USA team driver Dave Johnson attended this event.(Dave is current 2012 U.S National Champion, and 2012 U.S Indoor Champion with the VBC WildFire). Dave ran the highly competitive and biggest class at the event, the 17.5 blinky touring car class as well as full blown open modified class.
With practice day complete, Dave had great confidence in the car. Dave set T.Q in round 1 to start the event. He kept bettering his time after rounds 2,3 and 4. resetting T.Q by 4 seconds over the other 89 entries in this class. In the main Dave got away to a good lead after 3 laps from Philippe Gelinas (current canadian national champion) who had got around Rob Say(hometown favorite and canadian national champion) for 2nd place! philippe would get within a second of Dave before Dave started to put together blistering laps (including fast lap of the main) to pull out to a 6 second lead over second place for a VBC WildFire and Canadian National Championship!
17.5 Blinky Touring results
1st & T.Q Dave johnson
2nd Rob Say
3rd Charly Gratts
Dave also qualified 3rd in the super fast modified open class and finished 3rd. Very good podium finish and Canadian National Championship for Dave Johnson and the VBC WildFire!
Our VBC Racing Team USA driver Dave Johnson was secretly testing the performance of the upcoming VBC F1 'Flash04' at the Midwest UF1 series. The car looked very promising winning the first 2 A mains!
The production car will be go on sale in March 2013 and we believed this car will be a very competitive car all around.
Thank you very much VBC Racing Team Asia for the hard work and superb result at the TITC 2013. Our young team has gained very valuable experience competing with the top drivers in the world. Jeremy Wong for making its way to B main in the extremely competitive open brushless class.
Thank you for all the VBC Racing drivers who participated in the race and lets work hard together to strive for a podium finish in the next year's event!
