21ST IMCA WORLDS  OCTOBER 31, 2009: A SYNOPSIS - HERENTALS (B)  [IOC LEVEL 3]

M. NIEMAS WINS 124 WORLDS, DESMOND DEKKER 132 WORLDS & MELLO YELLO WORLDS, B. VAN CAMPENHOUT WINS CITATION CUP

Piki van Rossem (2 x 1st, 2 x 2nd, 1 x 4th) wins most IOC points at 21st IMCA Worlds

October 4, 2009 - My real last IMCA Worlds, already the 21st,were undoubtedly the best I organised in my long career as promoter of slot-racing. The entry field was just a dream, the atmosphere was one of total fun, and at no moment there was even a fraction of a second of stress. The race direction, under the lead of Theo Vanginderhuysen, took this time 8 hours of time to control all cars. Best thing was to split all races, except the 132 Production Worlds, in one for Pros and another for Semi-Pros. It resulted in both classes in extremely close racing where after 32 minutes the difference between the first and the last of a heat was in most races as less as two laps. The battle among the Gods and the Half-Gods, over five rounds, was convincingly won by the Gods with 4 to 1, despite the fact the the Half-Gods - all from Germany - took the three first places at the 124 Sprint Worlds for Pros. Over five races the Gods won 466 points against 258.5 for the Half-Gods. At the Half-Gods Philipp Kremer was replaced by Desmond Dekker, Christoph Kremer by Gilles Dohogne.
The 132 Production Race with the NSR Moslers was - contrarily to the mess of last year - appreciated by all entrants. It seemed that "Piki" should win the race by two segments from Chris Radisich, but in the real last heat Holland's Desmond Dekker had a clear race and did five laps more than "Piki". What happened? An analysis of the realised lap times (lap per lap) showed that "Piki" realised sharper lap times than Des. Unfortunately he had to face no less than 24 track calls against only 3 for Des. At an average track call 3.2 seconds are lost. To avoid such situations the 132 Production Worlds should be organised following the Qualifications-Consis-Quarters-Semis_Main formula. I hope that Raymond van Campenhout, who'll organise the 22nd IMCA Worlds in 2010, will consider this advice.
The two warm-up races for Pros for the Franco Gianotti Trophy were fully dominated by Piki van Rossem and Michael Niemas. Twice Piki's BMW M1 crossed the finish line as first, but at the Nenelux Cup Niemas's car covered a longer distance with the power cut off than Piki's. Close racing could hardly be closer than that, no? Desmond Dekker, Chris Radisich and Paul Gawronski were the other stars at the Gianotti Trophy. In the ranking Piki leads Niemas, Dekker, Radisich, Gawronski and Maresca. The last name realised a seventh place overall at the 132 Production Race and a fourth at the EuroNats. Seventeen years of inactivity required their due.
The main race was of course the 124 Sprint Worlds for Pros. Here Sergio Maresca retired before the start as winning seemed impossible for him - a born winner. Desmond Dekker had bad luck on Maresca's car (being free after Sergio's retirement). In the previous year the #61 Abel Lepitre BMW M1 made a minor crash. Niemas repaired the car, but at the Quarters the problems came back, making that Desmond missed (as highest ranked among the eliminated racers) the move to the semis. Another victim of the Quarters was George Kimber, until then always among the best finishers. At Semi A three cars finished not only with the same number of laps, they also finished together in the same segment. It concerned Gabe Inäbnit (CH), Alexander Ortmann (D) and Michael Niemas (D).

Eventually the 8 finalists were: Paul Gawronski (USA), Fred Hood (USA), "Piki" van Rossem (B), Giovanni Montiglio (I) and Gabriel Inäbnit (CH) for the Gods, and the German trio Ralph Seif (D), Alexander Ortmann (D) and Michael Niemas (D) for the Half-Gods. Having achieved at the semis more laps than Hood, Montiglio and Gawronski, Josef Korec (CZ) was eliminated, just as Chris Radisich (NZ) who was also faster. During the five first segment Giovanni Montiglio was setting the pace. During the sixth segment he was passed on the lead by "Piki" van Rossem. However the motor of Piki's car was dying and in the seventh heat he was passed by the three Germans and by Gabe Inäbnit. Now Michael Niemas was setting the pace with one lap in hand over the two other Germans. As he had to finish on the slowest lane it was far from obvious that he should be the final winner. Ralph Seif and Alexander Ortmann were coming closer and closer, coming all three in the same lap after more than a half hour of racing. But Niemas survived and won the race ahead over Seif and Ortmann. During the last minute Gabe Inäbnit got so nervous that with a faster car he deslotted several times, so that "Piki", now struggling with a motor which was total up, could pass him for the fourth place.

SEMI-PROS: BJÖRN VAN CAMPENHOUT & METRIS WIN IT ALL
On Sunday the semi-pros and the amateurs had to run their three races, nl. the two rounds of the Franco Gianotti Trophy and the 124 Worlds for semi-pros. Here the German Slotringers, helped by the two Kuhns, were the great favourites. Despite great racing of Marc Kurella, Andre Linberg and Ramon Trimborn they were dominated in the three races by Björn van Campenhout (B) and Mike Stahl (USA) taking three times the first and the second place. At those races it became obvious that the Plafit SLP chassis is no longer the top chassis in model car racing. Indeed, the famous Metris Mk IV chassis which Björn received from Gabe Inäbnit, had a superior road holding. Björn won the two rounds of the Gianotti Trophy, just as the Trophy itself with Stahl each time as second. Of the Slotringers Marc Kurella was just a bit faster than Andre Linberg and Ramon Trimborn struggling for the title of rookie of the year. At the 124 Worlds for semi-pros those three Slotringers qualified for the main, having been missed for a couple of sections by Arttu Salomaa (SF). Other finalists were (of course) Björn and Stahl, with the three remaining places going to the surprisingly fast Quinten Vanspauwen (B), to Hubert Jacob (F) and to Kristof Huys (B). The last named could follow Björn and Stahl until halfway, but after a serious crash his car was too wounded to fight any longer for victory. Van Campenhout won easily letting Stahl six full laps behind. Trimborn & Lindberg were now faster than Kurella and struggled for the third place on the podium. During the very last minute Linberg deslotted and was passed by Trimborn. Both finished with an equal number of IOC-points: 119.5. But as Linberg realised during the season 12 top-10 places against 11 for Trimborn Andre Linberg is the 2009 rookie of the year. Never in the history of slot-racing a rookie won so many IOC points. The evening before the race the Slotringer received a visit of Nick de Wachter supporting them. [JPVR]