20TH ISRA ES24 WORLDS, HELSINKI (SF) - October 9-10, 2009  (IOC-RACE level 1)

SAINT HORKY REALISES HIS 3RD MIRACLE IN ONE WEEK

Czechia makes it 1-2 (Vojtik)-3 (Krcil) despite heroic defense by Castricone

October 9, 2009 - There is something nearly completely forgotten in scale racing, nl. the very origins of actual ES24 racing. Here we have to go back to 1985. In that days there was a tremendous gap between wing car racers (all 1/24th racers) and scale racers (nearly all 1/32nd racers). To bridge the gap IMCA did serious efforts to bring both worlds in contact, by organising the famous Pinky Point series were the first prize was a 1/1 Ferrari 308 GTB. Especially American wing car racers were surprised which old-fashioned motors were used by the scale racers. So Jon Laster, one of the best racers ever, started to put open can engines in 1/32nd ES cars. Less than one year later he developed a brand new scale car at scale 1/24th, using a tripod chassis as in wing car racing and a powerful open can motor. His car - based upon other realisations by Raymond van Campenhout for ProSlot and upon the ideas of Jan Limpach - was presented for the first time at the USRA Nats of 1986. It was the very first ES24 car in history. Until 1994 there were no USRA Div II Nats, but at the USRA (Div I) Nats Laster and Limpach won nine years in a row the ES24 competition. As both entered a couple of times the UES European Nats, the ES24 concept was copied by the Italians and the Britons. So there can be not the smallest doubt that the father of all ES24 racing is America's Jon Laster. Unfortunately he passed away last month. I think it should be great if, just before the start of the ES24 semis, the Finnish organisers should introduce one minute of silence to commemorate the great Jon Laster.

QUALIFICATIONS
The qualifications confirm the general trend of the 2009 IRA Worlds, nl. that scale racing became a typical speciality of racers from Czechia, Latvia, Finland and of the two traditional Italians: Paolo Trigilio and Piero Castricone. After a strong revival of scale racing in Sweden in 2004, nothing of that all seems left. The two best Swedes, Michael Landrud and Anders Gustafson qualified not better than 37th and 52nd. But also Estonia (what's wrong with Kaiar Tammeleht?) and Lithuania (Simonas Nemira and Arunas Leonavicius are no longer competitive) play no longer a role of any importance. The Americans, supposed to continue the brilliant role of Jon Laster, are absolutely nowhere at this 2009 ISRA Worlds now that Paul Gawronski, Greg Gilbert and Herman James didn't show. Ukraine is among the back benchers. And what to say about the Britons: they nearly all qualified in the second half of the entry field, except for Brian Saunders (7th time). As could be expected Vladimir Horky TQ-ed, followed by Paolo Trigilio, Matti Fyhr and the surprising Edijs Zaks.

THE CONSIS
The boring consis are a bit less boring now that we are informed of the general ranking (thank you, Tuomo Iso-Aho!)  After 6 consis nobody seems having achieved enough laps to reach the semis. Sandis Spricis (LV) and Peter Verdo (USA) lead the ranking with res. 285 and 283 laps, at least 10 to 12 laps too less to make the move. Anders Gustafson disappoints in consi F with only 283 laps. In Consi E Michael Landrud (S) seems excellent. He MUST make the move. But Ladislav Szalai (SK), the great Slovak hope, disappoints, hanging after 6 segments only in third position, 11 laps down to Landrud, and preceded by one lap by Nikolaj Dolzhanskij. Landrud achieves 303 laps, more than enough to make the move. With 289 laps Dolzhanskij will probably miss the semis. Szalai (just as Mike Stahl) lost 12 laps in the pits during the very last segment: instead of 292 laps he comes no further than 280 and is preceded by Kaiar Tammeleht with 286 laps. In consi D Risto Olkkonen and Marko Pirinen are fighting for victory, but pace is lower than Landrud's in the previous consi. Olkkonen wins with 291 laps against 286 for Pirinen and 284 for Micek. None of them will make the move to the semis. Olli Kantamaa - the revelation of the warm-up races in May - disappoints with 270 laps.
In consi C Miroslav Vadlejch - after his fine performances in ES32 and 132F1 upgraded to one of the 118 PROS in the history of slot-racing - sets the pace, but probably not fast enough to achieve more laps than Landrud. with two segments to go Raivis Jansons (LV) and Christer Hegelsson (S) follow already at more than 10 laps in ranks 2 & 3. Vadlejch seems underway to improve the fantastic 303 laps realised by a reborn Michael Landrud. Eventually Vadlejch realises 299 laps, Raivis Jansons only 287 laps. With two last segments to go it's mathematically sure that Michael Landrud (S), Miroslav Vadlejch (CZ), Risto Olkkonen (SF) and Nikolaj Dolzhanskij (RU) will make the move to the semis. For Raivis Jansons and Marko Pirinen it's fearfully waiting the two last consis. In consi B Sergejs Matsjuskovs and Atte Hietalahti loose so many laps in the first segments that Jansons and Pirinen can conserve hope to do the move. Kaiar Tammeleht has still a small chance to make the semis should "Gugu" - actually sixth in consi B - realise less than 286.10 laps. The Brazilian is actually at an average of only 288 laps. Thrilling! Harri Nykänen (SF) leads Atte Lyyski (SF), Peteris Taurins (LV), Antónin Vojtik (CZ) and Pavel Flaisig (CZ) after 6 segments in consi B. They all are on their way to the semis. "Gugu" increased speed and was the fastest man in segment #6. It looks as he'll bump off the unlucky Tammeleht. But towards the end of the seventh segment "Gugu" deslotted a couple of times. He's now joined by Matsjuskovs, still fighting to make the move. Both are underway for 287 laps. So, even Pirinen is no longer sure to go to the semis! Nykänen (305), Lyyski (302), Taurins (297), Flaisig (295) all make the move. But what happened with Vojtik (285) and Gugu (277) during the last segment. They seem to be out. Matsjuskovs (286) seems to make the move. I think Tammeleht is 24th, Vojtik 25th and out. What a surprise!
With one last consi to go the following racers are sure to go to the semis: Nykänen (SF), Landrud (S), Lyyski (SF), Vadlejch (CZ), Taurins (LV), Flaisig (CZ), Olkkonen (SF), Dolzhanskij (RU), Jansons (LV), Pirinen (SF), Matsjuskovs (LV) and Tammeleht. If in consi A all racers do more than 285.74 laps Antónin Vojtik will be out. In consi A Petr Krcil leads, but Jiri Karlik lost more than 15 laps in the pits. Will he reach the necessary 285.75 laps to bump Vojtik off??? With two segments to go Justus Pohjasniemi (SF) leads Brian Saunders (GB) and Petr Krcil (CZ). Karlik seems on his way to 286 laps. It will be he or Vojtik as 24th semi-finalist. Will Karlik do it??? The chance is very small. It will be Vojtik!

THE SEMIS
Sensation when after the consis young Miroslav Vadlejch (CZ) - who realises the ninth best performance at the consis - is at once disqualified: during the race he modified the body of his car, what's not allowed. Jiri Karlik (CZ) missed the move after technical problems. Same situation for Ladislav Szalai (SK) who, without the loss of 13 laps in the pits, should always have been qualified. Due to the disqualification of Vadlejch Sandis Spricis can go to the semis. Normally there should have been six semi-finalists of Czechia, Latvia and Finland. But after the disqualification of Vadlejch Czechia has one racer less, Latvia one racer more. The other finalists come from Italy (2 racers) and from Sweden, the United Kingdom, Russia and Estonia. Coming from the low consis, a reborn Michael Landrud reached the semi A, where he'll find two Czechs (the two best: Horky and Krcil) and three Finns (Fyhr, Pohjasniemi and NyKänen - who confirms this year eventually his great class as racer). Last semi A finalist is Italy's Trigilio.
For 65 of the 89 entrants of the ES24 race the 2009 ISRA Worlds are already over. Of the Americans Peter Verdo (28th) was the best racer. Eight of the nine Britons failed to finish in the first half of the standings: a never seen debacle for British racing now that the oldies such as Charlie Gooding, Georgie Kimber and Dave Harvey are no longer showing. The semis start tomorrow morning. For Matti Fyhr (SF) and Justus Pohjasniemi (SF) its now or never to beat Horky at the 2009 ISRA worlds!

A full Czech podium in ES24 with from left to right Antónin Vojtik, Vladimir Horky and Petr Krcil. In 2009 the Czechs won five world championships: ES24, 132F1 and ES32 with Vladimir Horky and Wing car G7 $ OMO G7 by Petr Krcil. PHOTO: courtesy to Marko Salomaa.
 

AFTER FATHER DAMIAN: THE HOLY HORKY MIRACLE
The semis start with one minute silence to commemorate Jon Laster, the father of the ES24 car. Immediately after the start of Semi C Marko Pirinen pulls away. Dolzhanskij runs (again, as in 132F1) in troubles and during segment #3 Kaiar Tammeleht - in my eyes the best Baltic racer - takes the lead. Antónin Vojtik has no competitive car and is only sixth after three segments. Guring the fourth segment, with Tammeleht on the slowest lane, Raivis Jansons can set the pace. Risto Olkkonen falls out. Vojtik climbs up in the ranking. At mid-race Jansons has 4 laps over Tammeleht and 6 over Vojtik, whose car is at once much faster. During the fifth segment Jansons takes one lap more over Tammeleht and Vojtik. Dolzhanskij is now the fastest man on the track, and back from rank 8 into rank 6. With two segments left Jansons has 5 laps over Tammeleht and 8 over Vojtik. Jansons is on his way for 400 laps. That will probably be not enough to go to the main final. During the seventh segment Tammeleht and Vojtik take two laps back from Jansons (now on lane 2). During the last sement Vojtik can pass Tammeleht but strands at one lap from Jansons (395 laps).
In Semi B Piero Castricone is running at an average of 400 laps. After the first segment Brian Saunders is already four laps down to "Il Bandito". After segment #2 Taurins is at 2 laps, Lyyski at 3 laps and Saunders at 4 laps from the Italian ace. We'll find no Britons in the main: Saunders looses three laps during the third segment. Flaisig and Sneiders disappoint. Taurins and Lyyski only one lap back to Castricone after three segments. Flaisig passes Saunders for the fourth place. Taurins and Lyyski pass the Italian during the fourth segment. Castricone, Lyyski and Taurins are within the same lap after five segments. Flaisig and Hojer will, just as Vojtik, miss the move to the main. There will thus be only two Czechs in the main: Horky and Krcil. Atte Lyyski (SF) pulls away from the others during the sixth segment. Saunders passes Flaisig for the fourth place but follows already at nine laps from Lyyski. Taurins in troubles on lane 1. Saunders is now fastest man on the track, turning laps at 4"40. But his counterattack comes too late to make the move to the main. [Among our readers I find even not one model car racer since the start of the semis, now more than one hour ago. Are they all sleeping? Even Salvatore Noviello who normally never sleeps, always works?] With one segment to Go Castricone and Lyyski have already four laps over Taurins and seven over Saunders. During the last segment we note the complete break down of Lyyski on lane 1. Oiero Castricone wins with 398 laps, against 394 for Taurins, 393 for Lyyski and 392 for Saunders. 399 laps is thus enough to be SURE of the main. Only Castricone will probably make the move.
In Semi A DRAMA for Horky when shortly after the start he looses ... 15 laps in the pits. No 28th world title for the Czech wonder boy. Justus Pohjasniemi sets a terrible pace. Krcil is second at 4 laps. Serious problems too for Matti Fyhr. Landrud also in problems. Horky fights as a devil to make still the move. He turns at 4"20 per lap, but his arrears seem too big. At mid-race Horky is only at an expectation of 385 laps, absolutely not enough to make the move. Without miracle he'll miss the main. Pohjasniemi is really outstanding and smashes the complete field. Horky is unbelievable. With 3 segments to go he already reaches a potential 393 laps. Still not enough to make the move. Matti Fyhr is fastest man on the track, but is last at more than 65 laps. He'll NOT prolong his title. Now Trigilio is also in problems. What a strange Semi A! [First model car racer to read our scale racing page. He's from Denmark.] During the sixth segment Horky is at light speed. He passes all others, except Pohjasniemi, 14 laps further. Horky is now already second, Krcil third, Nykänen fourth.

MAIN FINAL: WHAT NOW, JUSTUS? CAN YOU BEAT THE UPPER-GOD?
Father Damian needed two miracles to be declared a saint by the pope. His miracles were rather fake. But can Vladimir Horky realise a third miracle (this year), by winning after ES32 and 132F1 also the ISRA ES24 Worlds. I know, two miracles is for the catholic church enough to be declared a saint. Horky is under way for his 28th miracle. Is that enough to be not only the #1 slot-racer, but also the #1 saint? All Finns now firmly count on young Justus Pohjasniemi, having been fastest at the semis. But I don't believe in a Pohjasniemi miracle. After Horky's troubles in Semi A he had 15 laps in hand over the Czech Upper-God. At the finish only seven of it were left. Justus will start on the slowest lane (lane 1), Horky at lane 2. So probably Castricone or Krcil will lead during the two first segments. [10.53am: four Spanish model car racers, three Danish, two Belgian and one Dutch consult eventually our ISRA Scale Racing 2009 web page. In Niue they were already seven!] Now it seems that Horky will start on lane #4 instead of #2.
At the first segment Saint Horky takes immediately the lead, followed by Petr Krcil, Piero Castricone and Antónin Vojtik. Pohjasniemi follows already at three laps. During the second segment Castricone passes Krcil. The two Latvians are in the two last positions. Then Castricone passes also Horky (on lane 2), setting a terrible pace. Vojtik passes Krcil for rank #3. It's thus one Italian followed by three Czechs. The Czechs are two laps down to "Il Bandito". Pohjasniemi follows two laps further.
During the third segment Vojtik passes Horky and Krcil. The two last named are three laps down to a furious Castricone, racing at an impossible high speed. Nykänen drops into last position. On lane 1 Horky is already five laps down to "Il Bandito". Castricone won never a world championship. He's specialised in collecting second places. Pohjasniemi is fifth at nine laps from Castricone. At mid-race "Il Bandito" conserves three laps over Vojktik (2nd), five over Horky (3rd), nine over Krcil (4th) and fourteen over Pohjasniemi (5th)? Castricone raced on the fast lane #8, but will have to finish on the two slowest lanes (#2 and #1).
At the fifth segment Horky passes Vojtik, but is still four laps down to Castricone. At the end of the segment Horky is two laps behind Castricone, Vojtik five, Krcil nine. Pohjasniemi is fifth at 18 laps. Nykänen, after his technical woes, is always last, behind the two Latvians, where Jansons leads Taurins by one lap. During the sixth segment Saint Horky, now on lane #7, passes Castricone, just as if the Italian stood still. Now Vojtik and Krcil attack at their turn the Italian. It's obvious that the Czechs go for a new 1-2-3, just as at ES32. After a serious crash Justus Pohjasniemi looses nearly 60 laps in the pits, dropping into last position. Vojtik - who in a miraculous way survived the consis - is now second, four laps down to the Saint. Castricone follows with two segments to go on 8 laps and has still three laps in hand over Petr Krcil. But no doubt: the terrible Czechs will make it 1-2-3.
During the seventh segment a disillusioned Pohjasniemi retires. At the end of the segment Saint Horky has three laps over Vojtik. Krcil is still two laps down to Castricone who has to finish on lane #1. 
With three minutes left Krcil comes at one lap from Castricone. Vojtik keeps up with the Saint and follows at three laps with 2'30" left. With two minutes to go Krcil is in the same lap as "Il Bandito". The Italian will not prevent a new Czech 1-2-3. With one minute left Horky crashes and Vojtik comes only two laps further. Krcil passes Castricone. So it's again a 1-2-3 for the Czechs. Horky is the first racer in history who win at one and the same ISRA Worlds ES24 as well as 132F1 and ES32. Castricone and Pohjasniemi were the lonely other racers to have reached the main final in ES24, 132F1 and ES32. Good worlds too for Harri Nykänen, who, after a weak season in 2008 eventually confirms. Big deception for the Britons where Brian Saunders and Ben Woodward were alone to show some talent. Of the Swedes Michael Landrud was with Christer Helgesson alone to realise some good performances. Landrud, however, had bad luck in ES24 where he missed the main after disastrous woes in Semi A. Of the Americans only Peter Verdo was consistent. The Latvians demonstrated their progress by reaching - for the first time in history - with two racers the main final of ES24. Among the Italians Piero Castricone is the last of the Mohicans. Paolo Trigilio is still fast at the qualifications, but not consistent enough any more to reach, as it was in the past, without problems the main final. Ukraine could not confirm. For Brazil "Gugu" failed to realise one of the three main finals. For Russia Nikolaj Dolzhanskij reached one main, but was eliminated in 132F1 by back luck. Of the Finnish youngsters Olli Kantamaa, Heikki Sinisaari and Arttu Salomaa all disappointed. Atte Lyyski was not so strong as last year and Justus Pohjasniemi is undoubtedly the best Finnish youngster. Beating Horky, however, is not for tomorrow. Sergio Maresca (I) has to make his come-back if one wishes to prevent that Horky wins in 2010, in the States, again the 3 individual ISRA Worlds! Nobody else than Maresca is actually able to beat Horky. Last but not least Tuomo Iso-Aho proved that the Finns are among the real best organisers of the world. Nine years after the spectacular ISRA Worlds at the Itäkeskus Shopping Centre ISRA Worlds in Helsinki, Tuomo and his people organised again a WONDERFUL worlds. Congratulations! [JPVR] 

20TH ISRA 132F1 WORLDS, HELSINKI (SF) - October 7-8, 2009  (IOC-RACE level 1)

HORKY WINS HIS 27th WORLDS (6th 132F1)

Piero Castricone for the third consecutive time runner-up - Vojtik third

October 7, 2009 - The 1/32nd F1 worlds are organised this year for the 19th time. First edition was in 1986 by IMCA at Valkenburg, followed in 1987 in Toulouse by a second edition. As the formula was only popular in the UK, in Italy, in Belgium, in France and in Spain and certainly not spread at world scale no further editions were organised until 1992, when ISRA put it on its annual calendar. Unfortunately the top-8 results of the period 1993-1996 were not saved and are missed on our survey of all world championships.
During the 1990s scale racing disappeared nearly completely in France, in Belgium and in Spain. New adepts were found in the Baltic countries, but 132F1 became never popular over the whole globe. Up from the mid 1990s there were new adepts in Czechia, in Ukraine, in Sweden and in Russia. Although a typical British speciality we had to wait 2007 and 2008 to see the Britons winning the 132F1 Worlds (with Brian Saunders and James Cleave). So it's astonishing that this year the first Briton at the qualifications (Brian Saunders) came no further than rank 16. Of the 44 Finnish racers having subscribed for the 2009 ISRA Worlds only 10 entered the 132F1 competition, proving that most Finnish racers are not very familiar with 132F1. Although Einari Fyhr (2002) and Matti Fyhr (2004) won both once the 132F1 Worlds, there is no succession in Finland. In the top-24 of this year's qualifications we find from Finland only Matti Fyhr (only 11th), Marko Pirinen (18th) and Justus Pohjasniemi (22nd). Heikki Sinisaari and Atte Lyyski even not entered the race. Another Finnish youngster, Arttu Salomaa qualified as 28th.
Much better did the Czechs and the Italians. Of the 11 Czechs 5 qualified in the top-10: Antónin Vojtik as 2nd, Miroslav Vadlejch as 4th, Vladimir Horky as 6th, Jiri Karlik as 7th and Martin Hojer as 8th. The Italians - since 1986 dominant in F1 racing - have Piero Castricone as pole sitter, Paolo Trigilio as 5th, Giancarlo Baldaccini as 11th and Benedetto Cardillo as 23rd. Latvia has 6 of its 8 entrants among the top-20. The great Russian specialist Nikolaj Dolzhanskij realised the third best time. Of the 8 Swedish racers at the start only Anders Gustafson could qualify in the top-20. But what goes wrong with ex-world champion Michael Landrud? Yesterday he was nowhere in ES32 and today he qualified only as 42nd. Very poor performances again by the 5 American racers of who nobody could qualify in the first half of the ranking.

THE CONSIS
Most boring part of the ISRA races are the endless consis. And yes one can follow the results on line, but as soon as a heat is finished the results disappear from the screen and one has not 3 seconds the time to note the results of each heat. Instead of adding heat per heat the number of achieved laps in the results table, one has to wait that all consis of the day are over before one has a view on the situation. That, certainly, can be improved on an organisation which seems for the rest perfect. On the web cam I saw that Pavel Flaisig (CZ) was beaten by Harri Kangasmäki (SF) in consi G. Curious what Ladislav Szalai will do in consi F. The answer is: nothing. Indeed, already during the first segment Szalai crashed and lost 13 laps. Here Harri Nykänen (SF) pulls away from the Britons Graham Woodward and Richard Mack. He wins with 216 laps, one more than Kangasmäki in the previous consi. Consi E goes between "Gugu" Bernardino (BR) and Petr Krcil (CZ). Consi D is dominated by Chris Thomas (GB) and David Sargent (GB) in pure British tradition of F1 racing. With three consis to go we have not the smallest information concerning the ranking. Here info to the press seriously fails. Impossible to write a good report if one doesn't know how many laps are necessary to qualify for the Semis. Justus Pohjasniemi (SF) dominates consi C and wins with 228 laps, highest number seen up to now at the web cam. But always no general classification. What a shortcoming! Run as such, without the smallest ranking, the consis are even more boring than they already are by nature. I think those were the most boring hours in my whole career as slot-racing reporter. I hope that such mistake is no longer made at the ES24 race, otherwise I'll make not the smallest report on it! In Consi B Brian Saunders (GB) fails to beat Edijs Zaks (LV). Halfway he's one lap back. Anders Gustafson (S) seems in trouble on the last place. When Zaks looses several laps on the slowest lane, Saunders can eventually catch the lead of consi B, but pace seems much slower than at consi C.
There is no longer any fun looking that stupid web cam, without any info about the overall standings. I think I have enough of all that senseless waiting. It's more as a replay of Samuel Becket's En attendant Godot. How is it possible not to mention the achieved laps after each consi in the qualifications table. Is that too much asked from organisers even not publishing the smallest pic of the event. Yes I have more than enough of it. 
The ISRA web side has now not be updated during more than six hours. This is not serious. In consi A the Czechs Jiri Karlik and Vladimir Horky pull, together with Matti Fyhr, away from the rest of the field. Paolo Trigilio has already lost two laps after two segments. Horky is not so dominating as in ES32. During the third segment Fyhr takes the lead, whilst Trigilio joins the Czechs on ranks 2 & 3. During segment #4 Horky passes Fyhr, whilst Trigilio passes Karlik, now involved in a serious combat with Janis Nabokins. During the fifth segment Fyhr drops in fourth position, but Nabokins passes all racers ahead, except Horky, to move up in second position. During the sixth segment Fyhr and Karlik move into ranks 2 & 3. Nabokins is now fourth, threatened by Trigilio. At the end of the segment Horky, Karlik and Fyhr are all three in the same lap, two laps ahead over Nabokins& Trigilio.  Eventually Horky wins consi A with 230 laps, 3 more than Fyhr and Karlik. Trigilio dropped into sixth position at 8 laps. A half hour after the end of all consis still no results. Marko Salomaa sent me a screen copy with the ranking. Unfortunately the text is illegible.

THE SEMIS
Czechia and Latvia go each with 6 racers to the semis, Finland with 4. England has only 3 racers in the semis, just as Italy. Russia and Brazil have each 1 semi-finalist. The Swedish debacle is now complete, because they have nobody in the semis. Michael Landrud (S) and Anders Gustafson (S), having both had troubles are eliminated, just as Christer Helgesson (S). The Americans are again all eliminated. Slovakia lost Ladislav Szalai after 104 laps. The Britons lost Graham & Ben Woodward, Alan Lucas, Steve Sargent and Pat Skene. Janis Sneiders (LV) failed once more to confirm his 2007 result. Arunas Leonavicius (LT) stranded as 30th.
October 8, 2009 - Nowhere on the internet I can find the smallest picture of what is going on in Helsinki. Should someone have pics, please mail them to jppro@pandora.be.
In Semi C Edijs Zaks and Petr Krcil are leading during the two first segments. During the third segment Zaks pulls away from the others, with Krcil following at 3 laps. Janis Rage-Ragis is third, followed by Marko Pirinen. During the fourth segment Zaks looses 6 laps and Krcil takes the lead. At mid-race he and Rage-Ragis have 2 laps over Zaks, 4 over David Sargent and 5 over Pirinen. Then at once the web cam falls out when Krcil is leading Rage-Ragis by 2 laps. The web page exceeded monthly traffic quota and it can be feared that we'll receive no more info as the ISRA web site was no more updated since yesterday evening. During the seventh segment the web cam is again on line and we see that Petr Krcil is leading Edijs Zaks and Janis Rage-Ragis by 2 laps. Pirinen passed Sargent for the fourth place. With a half segment to go Rage-Ragis can pass Krcil when he deslots twice. But with one minute to go the Latvian runs in troubles and Krcil is again leader. Krcil wins with 300 laps and 296 for Rage-Ragis and Zaks.
In Semi B much is expected from Saunders and "Gugu". The last named leads during the 13 first laps, then deslots, and drops in eighth position. Trigilio and Saunders set the pace. After the first segment Trigilio has 2 laps over Saunders, Rautama and "Gugu"'. In the second segment Saunders deslots and "Gugu" takes the second spot, but good old Paolo Trigilio is superb and has already 4 laps over the complete field. Of the four Latvians no one seems able to make the move. Tuomo Iso-Aho, the organiser, puts the results of each semi now immediately on the ISRA site, so that it's more funny to follow what happens. Pics will follow after the race. Of all B-semi-finalists only Trigilio goes faster than Krcil in the previous Semi. After 5 segments Trigilio has 9 laps over ... Raivis Jansons and Bernardino. Saunders got in serious troubles and is definitively out for the main. After 6 segments "Gugu" and Jansons follow both at 9 laps from Trigilio. They'll miss the move and only Trigilio will be in the main final. With one segment to go Trigilio is on his way to 305 laps. Bernardino and Jansons will go not higher than 295 laps and will be headed by Trigilio, Krcil, Rage-Ragis and Pirinen, without any chance to make the main. Eventually "Gugu" achieves 297 laps and is now third in the overall standings. Maybe he'll make the move if at Semi A three racers achieve less than 297 laps.
Semi A will be Czechia (Horky, Vojtik, Vadlejch, Karlik) versus Finland (Fyhr, Pohjasniemi) with Castricone and Dolzhanskij as outsiders. Horky takes immediately the lead, followed by Vadlejch and Fyhr. Pace is terribly fast. But when Horky deslots to the end of the segment he drops into fifth position. During the second segment Horky lost 4 laps. Is his car still competitive? Horky won already 5 times the 132F1 worlds: in 1996, 1998-1999-2000-2001. After 4 segments Castricone (I) leads Dolzhanskij by 1 lap. Pohjasniemi and Fyhr follow at 2 laps, then the four Czechs at the four last places. Are they ill? During the fifth segment Nikolaj Dolzhanskij (RU) sets the pace followed by Fyhr, Horky and Pohjasniemi. The three other Czechs are at the three last places. Jiri Karlik will miss the move to the main. Castricone passes Pohjasniemi in the sixth segment and is now fourth. Towards the end of the segment Vojtik passes also Justus. Vadlejch and Karlik are out for the main, Trigilio and Krcil are going to the main. During the seventh segment Castricone passes Horky for the third place. They seem on their way to 297 laps, so that one of them can be eliminated by "Gugu". Are we going to a main without Horky? Dolzhanskij seems on his way to 309 laps. Horky increases his speed and seems to go to 300 laps, enough to make the move. Dolzhanskij realises 307 laps, but is passed during the last minute by Piero Castricone (I). Fyhr, Horky and Vojtik realise all more than 305. Only Vadlejch and Karlik are eliminated. No main final for poor "Gugu".

A full Czech podium in ES32 with from left to right Jiri Karlik, Vladimir Horky and Miroslav Vadlejch. The last named has been disqualified at the ES24 worlds as he modified his body during the race. PHOTO: courtesy to Tuomo "Tumppi" Iso-Aho.

MAIN FINAL
Fifteen minutes after Semi A we still don't know who goes to the main. The computer work in Helsinki remains slow. Eventually Vadlejch reached the main instead of Krcil. We have 3 Czechs, 2 Finns, 2 Italians and 1 Russian in the main. But what a disaster for the proud Britons, inventors of 132F1, but nobody in the main. Their best man is only a poor 16th. Big deception too for the Latvians: of their six semi-finalists not one could qualify for the main! Disastrous start for Dolzhanskij. After 14 laps he's in the pits, now already two full minutes. Castricone (2nd in 2007 and in 2008) leads Horky and Fyhr. Trigilio who won in 2005 and 2006 moves into third position during the second segment. Horky takes the lead. Fyhr is passed by Vojtik. Trigilio always second. Castricone drops into fifth position, then passes Fyhr and Vojtik to take third place. Fyhr (winner in 2004) 3 laps down to Horky after 2 segments. Horky at light speed now. At the end of the second segment he has one lap over Trigilio, three over Fyhr. Castricone drops again to fifth.
During the third segment Vojtik and Vadlejch come in the same lap as Trigilio. Will the Czechs make it again 1-2-3 as in ES32? Fyhr is fifth at five laps from Horky. He'll not win. Castricone neither. Pohjasniemi is seventh at seven laps. But what a phenomenon, that Vladimir Horky! He seems once more on his way to victory lane. Trigilio does what he can, but is at mid race two laps behind. The two other Czechs and Castricone follow at one lap from Trigilio. Castricone passes the two Czechs and is now third. Dolzhanskij is the fastest man on the track, but as he lost several minutes in the pits he's still last. During the fifth segment Castricone passed Trigilio and is now one lap down to Horky. With two segments to go Castricone is three laps down to Horky. Will he finish for the third consecutive year as runner-up? During the one but last segment Trigilio looses six laps in the pits and drops into sixth position. Fyhr is now third, seven laps down to Horky, followed at one lap by Vojtik and Vadlejch. Horky is on his way to his 27th world championship. Unbelievable! Positions did not change during the two last segments, so wonder boy Vladimir Horky (CZ) won his ... 27th world championship, with "Il Bandito" Piero Castricone second for the third consecutive year. Antónin Vojtik (CZ) and Miroslav Vadlejch (CZ) finished third and fourth, Matti Fyhr (SF) (only) fifth, ahead of the very unlucky Paolo Trigilio (I).

It's perhaps good to remember that such Czechs as Horky, Korec, Poledna, Vojtik and Vadlejch entered international racing for the first time at IMCA events. This night I consulted old issues of EuroSlot #14 thru #19 and I found complete results for the 1992 F1 race at Ciska Lipa in 1992, and te top-2 at Dordrecht 1994, Brno 1995 and Forli 1996. It's a shame that nothing could be found back about the 1993 F1 worlds at Gateshead. However, as Georgie Kimber (GB) organised that race, there must be somewhere results about it.
During the upcoming 24 hours I'll have no time to inform you about the ES24 race (which probably will be also won by cannibal Horky). Indeed, this afternoon I have a long interview about my latest book (the autobiography) by Story Magazine. Actually two TV crews are following my wife Mila for a report this evening on TV on Canvas (the Phara evening program). This evening I must be in the studio with Phara di Aguirre for an interview concerning my two last books. And tomorrow morning, between 10am and 1pm I must be in the TV studios of ATV, again over my autobiography (which was released last Wednesday). I wish to thank Marko Salomaa (SF), his wife and his daughter, for all useful info he mailed to me. Can someone ask "Gugu" Bernardino (BR) and Matti Fyhr (SF) if they are not interested to show at the "Battle with the Gods" race of October 31, where all the best racers of the world will be present. We can cover their plane ticket should they show. Among the racers who subscribed for the 21st IMCA Model Car World Championships we find the famous Sergio Maresca (I) who retired 17 years ago. Should he come back to scale racing, next year, there should at least be one racer able to beat the strictly unbeatable Horky! But who'll stop him to win at the ES24 Worlds his 28th world championship? I am afraid that Matti Fyhr misses competition to do it. Moreover the Finns have only three candidate winners (Fyhr, Lyyski, Pohjasniemi). The Czechs can also win with Vojtik, Vadlejch, Krcil, Flaisig, Karlik, Martin Hojer, Micek, etc. And Italy, as always has to count on Trigilio and Castricone. And what with the Latvians? Can they reproduce the Sneiders surprise of 2007?[JPVR]

22ND ES32 WORLDS, HELSINKI (SF) - October 5-6, 2009  (IOC-RACE level 2)

VLADIMIR HORKY WINS HIS 26TH WORLDS (6th ES32)

Jiri Karlik and Miroslaw Vadlejch make it 1-2-3 for Czechia

October 6, 2009 - The Eurosport 32 Worlds are organised this year for the 22nd time. From 1986 thru 1989 they were organised by IMCA, in 1992 by the UES. Up from 1993 all editions were organised by the ISRA. This year 86 racers showed for the qualifications, where the top-4 finishers are free from the Consis. Piero Castricone (I) who qualified last year as fourth is this year the fastest man in 4"841. Andris Podosinoviks (LV), who set last year the pole is absent this year. Absent too is James Cleave (GB) who realised last year the third fastest time. Petr Krcil (CZ), who last year realised the second sharpest time came this year no further than to the 22nd best time and will have to do the C Consi. Second best time was this year for one of the most promising Finnish youngsters: Justus Pohjasniemi in 4"842 (at only one thousand of a second from the pole). Third best time is for Paolo Trigilio (I) in 4"851, proving that despite his age he's always among the fastest scale racers of the world. Fourth best time went to Janis Sneiders (LV). In 2007 he was the surprising third at the ES24 ISRA Worlds, but last year he could never confirm that excellent result. Now it seems as he is fully back.
Not free from the Consis, but qualified for the highest one, are Vladimir Horky (CZ), Brian Saunders (GB), Pavel Flaisig (CZ), Raivis Jansons (LV), Atte Lyyski (SF), Kimmo Rautama (SF) and Ben Woodward (GB). Biggest surprise came from the internationally total unknown Jakub Vujaklija (CZ) who realised the seventh best time and is also qualified for Consi A. Matti Fyhr (SF) qualified beneath his value as 13th. Disappointing were the results by Petr Krcil (22nd), Michael Landrud (30th), "Gugu" Bernardino (44th), Anders Gustafson (58th), Mike Stahl (67th), Jiri Micek (69th), Roger Schmitt (72nd), Janis Rage-Ragis (81st) and Arunas Leonavicius (85th). Unexpected good results were realised by Marko Pirinen (16th), Samsa Salonen (18th), Heiko Tamme (24th), Oleksandr Miliukov (35th) and Chris Bruyninx (40th).

THE CONSIS: E THRU K    
Most boring at every worlds are the lower consis. Without miracle no racer having been condemned to the lower consis makes a chance to reach the top-20 places giving access to the semi-finals. After all consis from E thru K we can conclude that of the 50 racers having done their consi only Janis Rage-Ragis (LV), coming from the lowest consi, makes still a chance to make the move. All others are eliminated. Theoretically already eliminated are Anders Gustafson (S), "Gugu" Bernardino (BR), Peter Verdo (USA), Mike Stahl (USA), William Bugenis (USA), Laura Schmitt (USA), Arunas Leonavicius (LT) and Roger Schmitt (USA). That implies that all Americans are already theoretically out with still four consis to go.
Among the racers having on paper still a theoretical chance to make the move, but practically out we find Nikolaj Dolzanskiy (RU), Jiri Micek sr (CZ), Graham Woodward (GB), Alan Lucas (GB), Milos Hojer (CZ) and Christer Hegelsson (S). Out too is Chris Bruyninx (B), who does his second scale race after his debut at the USRA Div II Nats. Provisionally he's ranked 50th on 86 entrants, doing even better than such stars as Anders Gustafson and "Gugu" Bernardino. Not bad for a debut!

THE CONSIS: A THRU D    
The remaining four heats of the consis were contested on Tuesday morning and were over at 9.35am. I tried to follow the evolution via the web cam, giving the positions every 3 seconds. There I saw that the fastest consi - the A consi - was won by Vladimir Horky with only two lane sections in hand over Atte Lyyski. That A Consi was initially lead by the revelation of the qualifications, Jakub Vujaklija (CZ). With two segments he was always fourth, but ran then in serious problems. His last segment on lane 1 was just a disaster with laps in the high 6 secs. Another victim of consi A was Kimmo Rautama (SF) who last some 15 laps on technical woes. Consi B was won by Antónin Vojtik (CZ) ahead over Matti Fyhr (SF), who failed to qualify for Semi A. Indeed in Semi A we find the four fastest qualifiers of yesterday plus Horky (CZ), Lyyski (SF), Vojtik (CZ) and Saunders (GB). Coming from consi K Janis Rage-Ragis misses the A Semi for less than one lap. In Semi B we'll find him together with Harri Nykänen (SF), Matti Fyhr (SF), Miroslav Vadlejch (CZ), Ben Woodward (GB) - able to fight back from a hopeless place at mid consi A! - Edijs Zaks (LV), Ladislav Szalai (SK) and Ihor Kuropiy (UKR). In Semi C we find Ugis Viksne (LV) and Nikolaj Dolzhanskij (RU) coming unexpectedly from the lower consis. Petr Krcil (CZ), Pavel Flaisig (CZ), Jiri Karlik (CZ) and Milos Hojer (CZ) reached not without problems Semi C. Among the eliminated racers we find (surprise!) Michael Landrud (S), Graham Woodward (GB), Kaiar Tammeleht (EE), Anders Gustafson (S) and "Gugu" Bernardino. Of the 24 semi-finalists there are 7 from Czechia, 5 from Finland and 5 from Latvia, 2 from Italy and 2 Britons, 1 from Slovakia, 1 from Ukraine and 1 from Russia. No Swedes, no Americans, no racers from Estonia, no racers from Lithuania, no Brazilians. The sole Belgian racer finished 40th, not bad for a first show at the ISRA Worlds.

THE SEMIS   
I missed Semi C and I cannot find the results of it. In Semi B Matti Fyhr is out on the lead up from the first segment, followed by Ben Woodward (GB). Ladislav Szalai (SK) seems to have problems to follow the pace. After two segments Fyhr has 3 laps over Woodward. Ihor Kuropiy (UKR) and Raivis Jansons (LV) have already now no more hope to make the move. After three segments Fyhr has five laps over Woodward. Zaks, Vadlejch, Nykänen and Szalai follow on six laps. It seems they all will miss the move to the main. In the fourth segment Woodward looses 14 laps in the pits and drops in last position. Only Vadlejch and Szalai (already at 7 laps) can follow a bit the terrible pace set by Fyhr. In segment 5 Fyhr looses 10 laps in the pits. At once Miroslav Vadlejch (CZ) is leading. Fyhr follows at 2 laps, Nykänen at 3. The rest will certainly miss the move. With one last segment to go Fyhr is in a difficult position as he has to finish on the slowest lane and as he has only one lap over Harri Nykänen. It seems as he'll miss the main.

In Semi A Janis Sneiders (LV) was leading until half the second segment, where, after a crash, he dropped into last position. Up from then Horky and Lyyski were fighting for the lead. In the following segments Horky pulls away from the rest of the field were Lyyski and Castricone are struggling for the second place. Paolo Trigilio (I), long time in the top-3, is eliminated in the fourth segment after technical woes. He and Janis Sneiders will certainly miss the move to the main final. Justus Pohjasniemi (SF) is after six segments third, 7 laps behind Horky. Then follows Brian Saunders (GB) at 9 laps, Antónin Vojtik (CZ) at 10 and Atte Lyyski (SF) at 12. During the one but last segment leader Vladimir Horky (CZ) is on the slowest lane. Will he hold the lead? Piero Castricone (I) comes closer and closer. Halfway segment #7 the difference is down to 1 lap. But Horky is such a fantastic driver that during the second half of the segment he can increase his advance over the Italian to 3 laps. Lyyski limps always one lap behind Vojtik and Saunders. Will he still make the move? Horky-Castricone-Pohjasniemi seem sure to go to the main. For the others it'll be waiting the complete results. During the last segment of semi A Pohjasniemi passes Castricone for the second place. Lyyski always 6th. Although the results are still missing I see via the webcam that the 8 finalists are: Horky (CZ), Castricone (I), Pohjasniemi (SF), Karlik (CZ), Hojer (CZ), Fyhr (SF), Nykänen (SF) & Vadlejch (CZ): 4 Czechs, 3 Finns and 1 Italian. No Petr Krcil (CZ) in the final, no Antónin Vojtik, no Atte Lyyski (SF), no Brian Saunders (GB).  It stirs that - despite a superb race of Ben Woodward (GB) - there are no Britons in the main final. Best American was Peter Verdo who finished 33rd.

THE ES32 FINAL   
Immediately after the start Horky goes out on the lead, setting a terrible pace. Matti Fyhr, having started on the slowest lane, drops into last position. Only Pohjasniemi seems able to follow Horky. Also during the first half of the second segment Justus can keep up with Horky, but at the end he is 2 laps back, followed at 1 lap by Vadlejch and Nykänen. After 3 segments Fyhr and Castricone, 6th and 7th, follow already at 5 laps from Horky, but Vadlejch passes Justus and follows now at 1 lap from Horky. At the end of the segment we have 3 leaders in the same lap: Horky, Justus, Vadlejch. During the fourth segment Horky has to go to the slowest lane and probably he'll lose the lead. Fyhr looses 9 laps in the pits and is now last. With 2 minutes left before mid-race Pohjasniemi passes Horky. Both have 2 laps over Vadlejch, 3 over Karlik having passed Nykänen. Towards the end of the segment also Castricone passes Nykänen. At mid-race Pohjasniemi and Horky have 212 laps, Vadlejch 210. Immediately after the start of the fifth segment Horky sets again the pace. When Justus looses 5 laps in the pits it's 1-2-3 for Czechia. For Matti Fyhr the race is over. With 3 segments to go Horky has 2 laps over country mates Vadlejch and Karlik. Justus follows at 4 laps and is threatened by Castricone and Nykänen. Fyhr follows at 14 laps as seventh, with Hojer as last. During segment #6 Vadlejch drops after a crash in fourth position. Pohjasniemi is now third, one lap down to Karlik, four to Horky. During the one but last segment Pohjasniemi can pass Karlik for the second place. Nykänen is in trouble. With one segment to go Horky is on his way to win his ... 26th world championship. On deslotting Pohjasniemi looses his second place to Karlik and is now seriously menaced by Vadlejch trying to make it 1-2-3 for Czechia. Then Vadlejch passes Justus, now on the slowest lane. Eventually Vladimir Horky (CZ) wins his 25th Worlds (already the sixth time in ES32). Jiri Karlik (CZ) is second and Miroslav Vadlejch (CZ) third. It seems as if Justus Pohjasniemi (SF) lost during the last laps his fourth place to Piero Castricone (I). The IOC-list has been updated. [JPVR]

20TH PRODUCTION 124 WORLDS TEAM RACE, HELSINKI (SF) - October 3-4, 2009  (IOC-RACE level 2)

BRIAN SAUNDERS/CHRISTER HELGESSON WIN

12TH USRA DIV 2 NATS AT MONTGOMERY (USA, IL) - JUNE 4-7, 2009 (ES24/ES32/F1 ARE IOC-RACES)

GAWRONSKI (ES24, F1) & GREG GILBERT (ES32) WIN

SAUNDERS, JAMES, LANDRUD, RADISICH FAIL TO CONFIRM, BUT NOT VAN PELT

4TH ISRA NORTH-EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP, Helsinki (SF) - May 24-25, 2009 (IOC-EVENT)

KARI SINISAARI WINS 4TH ISRA/NEC ES24

DOLZHANSKIY (ES32), JANSONS (F1) & POHJASNIEMI (PROD 24) OTHER WINNERS

7TH SWEDISH MASTERS AT HJÄRUP (S) - APRIL 10-12, 2009 (TWO LEVEL 2 IOC-RACES)

SWEDISH MASTERS TO RECEK (ES24) & SAUNDERS (G12)