1994 2nd in Cyprus National Race

1998 Thai National Champion

Thomas wins first international street race in Bangsaen

The race in Bangsaen was scheduled to be the last race on this years race calendar. We had all looked forward to this event, as the track layout was exciting and the event looked like it would be on a scale never before seen in Thailand.

As we went out on the track Thursday morning it was as if it was Christmas morning and you could finally open your present. After a few laps around the track, I felt confident that I would do well as the car was handling like never before, after I had the new TRD engine mounts and TRD bushings installed.

It really felt like a real race car for the first time, and this gave me the confidence to push just that little bit harder than earlier in the year, as the car was now doing what I wanted it to when I wanted it to do it. I was fastest in Thursday practice, and also in Friday’s practice, all though Trai now was very close to my times.

When it was time for qualifying I set out as one of the last on the track “A huge mistake if I may add”. I drove an installation lap, and then made sure that I had plenty of space ahead of me to put in a fast lap without any traffic. I my first fast lap I caught up to a slower driver and had to out brake him so that I could get past, and this lost me a lot of time on the first lap, On my next lap, I again caught another driver, and once again had to dive on the inside in a corner to get past him.

On my last lap, I had what I would say a perfect lap, with fastest split times, in most sectors, and then It happened again, I could see I was getting closer and closer to a driver in front, and I started to flash my head lights in frustration, as I was getting closer and closer, but this he did not see, as he was also on his fastest lap. (I can not blame him for that, of course, all though in really spoiled my chance of a pole) I had to brake a lot earlier than what I normally do, and follow him around the last corner, at a lot lower speed than what I normally drive, and this lost me a total of 1.1 sec according to my onboard data logger.

I crossed the line in a time of 1.12.4 which was only good enough for 3rd place on the grid. Trai took pole on 1.11.8, with Win on 2nd with 1.11.9, and Fiat in 4th with 1.12.4 (0.06 after me)

Sunday afternoon, the crowds had taken to the track, and there was an estimated 30-40.000 People around the track, and there were TV camera’s everywhere with one hanging in over the track on a mobile crane. I was impressed I must say, what an event this was, no matter what would happen today I decided that I would be proud just to have been part of this event.

As the 5 lights closed, I took of, and got a better start than Trai in first place, and so did win in 2nd place. Trai was occupied with Win, and pulled right over to try and close him of, and they came together, which left me with an open track.

Trai managed to come out of it, and as he was on the inside he still managed to keep the lead in the first Corner. Pheet came out of no where from 8th position all the way up the outside, and cut me of going into the next corner, and this left me behind him in 3rd place. I was frustrated, as I knew I was much faster than him, and I was afraid that Trai would be able to open up a gap that I could not close again once I got passed him.

I tried for 4 laps to get past him, and put a lot of pressure on him, trying to come up on his left side, and right side in every corner in the hopes that he could make a mistake. This happened on lap 4 at the end of the straight, where he missed his braking point and went wide, and hit the guard rail along the track.

This meant that I was now free to try and catch Trai, and a quick calculation in the car, told me that 2nd was not good enough as long as Fiat was right behind me. I therefore now really pushed hard to tri and close the gap that Trai had managed to open up, setting a new personal best lap on every new lap I did.

I was closer the gap with about 15-20 Mtrs per lap, and now set the fastest lap of the race, which was a 1.11.4, which was 0.45 seconds faster than the pole position time set on Friday. As I was coming around the corner to the part of the track running along the straight, as I win driving slowly along the track, and then speeding up once Trai had passed him, which really made my up-set as he was several laps down, and if I would have him between me a Trai, I had no chance of catching him.

I therefore down on the inside and out braked him, in the last corner before the straight, but he kept coming and was right up behind my car on the straight. I could not understand what was going on, as he was several laps down, and because I did not want to risk him trying to out brake me, I lifted the accelerator a bit, to let him past me, and decided to settle for 2nd although I was not happy about it.

He flew past me, and into the corner. It looked like he had no brake, as the car was not braking at all, and headed straight for Trai’s car, and he hit him at the rear, taking both of them out, leaving the whole track for me. It took me a while to grasp what had happened, and I was still going flat out for almost a full lap, until I slowed down, as there was nobody even near me.

I was ecstatic, as I was in the lead with only 2 laps to go, and now I was just hoping that the car would hold Together, the remaining laps. On the last lap, I wanted to open the win and drive around with my arm out, but I was afraid that something would happen, and then it would look pretty stupid having “celebrated” the victory to early, and then not finish the race. I drove the last lap with the window open, and enjoyed hearing the cheers and clapping from all the spectators as I came around the track.

Coming into the last corner I could not keep my self anymore, as I drove past my 2 team mates standing in the corner cheering me on. I punched holes in the air, and had a smile inside the helmet that simply went from one ear to the other. One my slow down lap I saw how many people were sitting around the track, on the hill side at the end of the straight and on the grandstands, and along the beach.

An amazing feeling to take part in an event like this, and then to win it tops everything I had imagined. There were also Danish and Scandinavian people along with the Thai’s cheering us on during the race and on the slow down lap. As I stood on the Podium, I was so happy and proud of this race and the result. I have had the speed the whole season to be on the podium, but something just happened in every event, so It was nice to finally be there and then on the top step. This brings me up in 2nd position in the championship for 2007.

Last year 1st and 2nd place drivers went to Japan to drive for the “World” Championship, but this year is only the 1st placed driver, so unfortunately I missed out on that one, so all the best to Yai who has won the 2007 Championship.

I would like to thank all my sponsors for their massive support all the way trough the year, and hope that I will be able to have an even better 2008 season, where I end up being the Champion.

Thank you very much to:

• Dacon Inspection Services
• Deborah Services Limited
• Jotun (Thailand) Ltd
• Sizzler
• Swensen’s

  And a very special thank you to:

  • The Pizza Company

I had a good set of practice sessions on Saturday before the qualifying, and the car felt good, but and just could not keep up with Trai, as he seemed to be flying. I felt confident of a top 3 position, as long as nothing would go wrong again like it had done in all the 3 previous qualifying sessions this year, which basically had ruined any chance for me to win the Championship.

In Chiang Mai, I had been fastest in the wet practice sessions, in Udon, I was among the 3 fastest cars in the practice, in Phuket I was the 2nd fastest in the dry practice and the fastest in the wet practice, and qualifying was done in the wet…….

Here I was again the 3rd fastest in practice, and was hoping for no mistake, weather it was human error or mechanical fault. The qualifying went fine, and I was 2nd fastest until the end of the session, where Kittipong just piped me for send by a very small Margin.

The race, also went well, but with a track like this, with no real overtaking possibilities, it was more a matter of getting home safe, and getting as many point as possible safely. It almost went wrong in the first lap where we were racing, as Chariya, either braked to late, or locked up his brakes, as he did not manage to stop before the 3rd chicane, and rammed into my back of the car, sending me flying into the tire making up the chicane. I had kind of expected it, and was therefore prepared, for a nudge, but a full flat out thumb like that took me by surprise.

I managed to keep the car on the road, as I was already expecting to be hit, so I was quickly back into it, and took up the pursuit of Kittipong in 2nd. I quickly saw that Trai had pulled out a commanding lead and therefore settled down in 3rd just trying to keep the distance to Chariya in 4th.

A mistake on lap 14 almost cost me the race, as I lost the rear in the 1st chicane, and broad side the car first left then right, but again I just managed to save it, and keep it on the track and away from the tire walls, how ever Chariya was now all the way up behind me, and any gap I had before was gone, so I had to push really hard, to try and open up a small gap again.

I set my best lap time of the weekend on the following lap with a 1.04.98 which was fast enough to pull out a small but again comfortable Gap down to Chariya, and suddenly I gained a lot on Kittipong, so I kept pushing just in case I could force him into a mistake.

I closed down the gap, but still not close enough to force him into any mistakes, and on the last lap, I closed right up, as he was taking it a little slower to ensure he would finish in 2nd, and we crossed the line with only 0.3 seconds between our cars.

Trai and Kittipong drove a flawless race, and there was nothing to do about this, and I had to settle for 3rd, which also puts me into a strong position for the last race at Bangsaen.

I am now in a shared 4th place with Moss, and I only have 3 points up to Kittipong and 8 points up to Trai, so everything can happen at the Last race of the season in 3 weeks time.

Now its back to the workshop, and the cars needs a tender going over, as it had a hard time, with that nudge from the back, and flying trough the tire wall in the chicane. I just hope that I get the car back from TRD and the post scruteneering fast so that we have enough time to repair all the damage to the car.

Thomas Raldorf racing at Bira, October 2007

Thomas wins in the Honda Speed Festival

I would like to thank Ocean 1 Tower Racing team for an unforgettable weekend at Bira.

I received a call from Jack Lemvard saying that there was an opportunity to drive their second Honda Civic in the Honda speed festival, if I was interested. As a fanatic racing driver, this question really does not take long to answer. I was then called up by the Team on Thursday evening, and asked if I could come to the track to do a test drive, and discuss the potential drive over the weekend. It was agreed that I should join the team for the weekend, and I did a few test laps in the car, in the dark, just to see if the car was okay, and the seating position fitted me, which it did.

There was no brakes on the car, at all, as the pedal just went all the way to the floor, so I drove carefully, but still managed to drive around 1.16 per lap. The Team worked on the brakes, in the evening, and came up with a temporary solution, so I would have brakes for the race, which turned out to work
quite well in fact.

In Friday’s first practice session, I was 2nd fastest in the class, and “only” 1 sec slower than jack doing 1.12.5 In the second practice session, I made a few adjustments to the car and followed Jack around and came down to 1.11.97, now only 0.3 sec of the pace of Jack, and with a few more adjustments in the session, I came down to 1.11.72 which was only 0.04 of the best time of Jack, so I was quite pleased and so was the team. On Saturdays Morning warm-up I only did 1 hot Lap, and even with a missed gear I was doing 1.12.0 so I was convinced I was ready for the qualifying session.

In the qualifying session, I did a warm-up / safety lap setting a time of 1.13.0, which was good enough for 2nd in my class, before I started to push, but half way around the track I encountered traffic, and had to aboard the lap, on the next lap it was the same again, so I drove really slowly for a full lap to try and ensure that I had a gap the was big enough to put in at least 1 full lap without getting anybody in the way. In the 2nd corner the engine died as it dropped a valve, and that was the end of it for me I thought.

The car rolled to a stand still on the track, and I walked back to the pits, head down, as disappointed, as I knew I had the pace to put the car within the top 5 overall. The Mechanics of J-speed who are contracted to do all the work of Team Ocean 1 racing, did an amazing job, and ripped out the engine, and installed a new engine, in record time, in the hopes that I would be able to be ready for Race 1, but although they worked very hard, there was simply not enough time.

This meant that I have to start at the back of the grid in Race 2 in 17th position. As the Motec 4 unit was tuned to the first engine, the setting did not really fit the second engine, and I was therefore short 1100 RPM for the 2nd race. I decided before the race, that I would try and play it safe, and just try to get up into 2nd place in the C class. I took it easy in the start, as I did not want walked back to the pits after having beached it or damaged it, and then on lap 2 I started to advance. I was missing the top speed and revs, but still worked my way on trough the field, and people just kept dropping out, advancing me even further. At one point I was shown a sign for the pits that I was in second in my class, and I therefore settled in, but on the following lap, I saw Jack was in the tires, which mean I was now the only car from the team left, and I was in 1st place in the team.

Now the sensible thing to do, would have been to just sit back and try to ensure that I kept my 1st place, but sense just went out the window, and racing instinct just took over, and I started to push. I had no idea at all where I was in the field, but there was 2 B class car in front of me, and I knew I had been faster than them in the practice session, so I went for it. I slowly gained ground on them, especially trough S1 and S2, where I would gain up to 50 Mtrs per lap, but they would them pull out 40 Mtrs to me on the straight, as I was missing about 60 HP and 400 CC plus 1100 RPM. Every time I was close enough to challenge them, a back marker got in the way, so I lost ground on them, and needed 1-2 laps to gain it back.

I ended up in 4th overall, and 1st in my class. I was very happy with that result and I am confident that I am highly competitive in both the A B and C class provided that I just get the right equipment. Once again, I would like to extend my appreciation to Team Ocean 1 Tower Racing, for giving me this opportunity.

Now its time for the Ubon Ratchathani race this coming weekend, and I am joining this race full of confidence, so lets hope it goes well.

Thomas Raldorf racing in Saraburi, September 2007

Thomas wins the 6th round of the Thai National Championship

I would like to thank Stephen Northcott for lending me his Italkart frame for the Thai National Championship race in Saraburi.

I had not been racing karts for the last 2 years, and was itching to get out there again and have some fun in a kart. My expectations was not great, as I had done no practice at all, and no set-up work at the track, and in fact this was my first ever time to race on this track. I promised Stephen not to move his seat position, so the seat position was not ideal, and in fact the seat was too big.

I have during the past month been working out a lot, to lose weight for my Toyota Yaris Races, and this came in very handy, as I never really got tired during the whole weekend in the kart. I managed to lose 10 Kg, but still weighed in at 177 kg, with the kart, which is 12 kg over the minimum weight.

My target was to try and keep up with Kob, Dr. John, and Nui, as they seemed to be the fastest in the class. Dr. John in particular, as he was unbeaten in all previous 5 races of the season. After a few failed attempts of practice runs, where the tie-rods came of, on laps 2 and 3, I finally managed to get the kart up and running, and at the end of the day I felt I was competitive enough to be in the top 5.

I qualified well (actually a lot better than what I had hoped for after such a long brake from karting). I got 3rd fastest time, but only 0.05 sec. from 2nd placed Nui, with Kob on the pole.

Heat 1: I had a great start, and passed Nui into the first corner, and hesitated a little, before trying to out brake Kob into the second corner, with the results that I had to rip the kart sideways to avoid hitting him, which I just managed, but as Kob kept closing the door, he eventually went over the left front wheel of my kart, and was thrown into the air, landing on the top of me and my kart, bending the complete steering on  my kart, and almost sending me of the track.

Almost everybody passed me, but I managed to slip back in 5th place, with a huge gap up to the 4 drivers in the front. With the steering wheel complete bent, and one side cracked, I kept on pushing, and managed to set the fastest lap of the heat, more than 0.4 faster than Kob who won the 1st heat. I managed to get up to 3rd place before the race finished, after a great fight with Khun Deo.

Heat 2: Kob managed to make one of his “Fake” starts, where he accelerates, comes slightly of the gas, and then accelerates again, which left me of the throttle as he accelerated, and I lost quite a lot of space to him and the other drivers in the front, and had to be content with 4th place after the first corner.

My set up for this heat was a bit off, and I was struggling with the grip, and I had Nui right up the back of me pressing hard to try and get past, as he was a bit faster than me. On lap 4 I made a typical beginner mistake (after 28 years of driving….. good going Thomas !!!). I looked back to see where he was, as I thought I had gotten just a small gap from him, with the result, I went of the track with the wheels, and before I could get back onto the track, he had passed me. I managed to claw my way back past him in the end, and therefore finished 4th in the second heat.  

The Final: I started from 4th in the final, and decided to just sit back the first few laps, and see what happened at the front, as William was on Pole, with Kob next time him, and Khun Deo right after Kob. I knew that no of these guys would give an inch, so I thought it would be better to sit back, and see if they took each other out. On Lap 3 Kob tried to pass Khun Deo on the straight, and in the process collided with him, ripping his own front bumper of, and crashing out of the race. I was now in 3rd place.

On Lap 4, I had a good run out on to the straight, and I managed to drive past Khun Deo down the straight, and now I was in 2nd place. I quickly caught up to William in the lead and just sat there behind him, for a few laps, until he made a small mistake, lost momentum out of the corner. I instinctively hot forward and took the lead of the race, and did not look back for the next 4 laps while I was charging hard to open up a small gap.

On Lap 9, I had opened up a gap of about 50 Mtrs down to William, and just eased of a bit, to ensure I kept the gap the remaining laps, and preserved the engine, to try and ensure that no engine failure would take the victory away from me.

On lap 11 I caught my self, sitting with a huge smile on my face inside the helmet, as I drove down the straight for the last time, and just nursed the kart around the last lap, not going over any curbs, to minimize the risk, of the chain coming of, and anything else braking etc.

I was really ecstatic as I crossed the finish line and won the race, as I had beaten both Kob, and Nui, and I had stopped Dr. John’s unbeaten season.  I have now decided to race the up-coming AKOC event at Saraburi, but this time in my own kart, and with a seat position that fits me, and hopefully another 5-6 Kg lighter, so that I can be competitive enough, to try and fight for the win.

It’s therefore back on the bicycle, and back on the diet for another month.

The future race schedule looks like this:
Oct 20-21 Toyota Yaris 4th round in Ubon Ratchathani
Nov 2-3-4  AKOC Asia – Pacific Karting Championship
Nov 8-9-10 Toyota Yaris 5th round in Bangsaen

Thomas Raldorf racing in Phuket, September 2007

3rd round of the Toyota Yaris Championship in Phuket

The past weekend on the 1st and 2nd of September the 3rd round of the Toyota Yaris One Make Race Series was held in Phuket, and this was to be the deciding race for the rest of the season. If I were to have any chance of fighting for the championship win, I had to get a good results, and be better placed than the leading drivers in the Championship, as their lead was already getting quite big.

I had therefore put a considerable of extra effort into getting as prepared as possible before the race, and worked with Khun Nattawude as a teacher at Bira for a full day, which was very valuable, and gave me a very high confidence in the car and what I was able to do in the car. Apart from that I managed to loose 9 Kgs from the race in Udon Thani, so I was still highly overweight but a lot better off than at the 2nd round, because my competitors also had to add weights in their cars.

At the weigh in I was 1086 Kg, and the championship leading driver was 1082 Kg so the difference was very small, and for the first time, I was able to really say that it was down to their driving and car set up and not the weight difference if I was out paced by them.

The weekend started of great, with me consistently posting lap times within the top 3, and in the last session I further improved on my time, to put my self in a clear 2nd place, but still 0.5 of a second slower than Trai in Car No. 19. He just seemed like he was unstoppable, I would catch him under braking and trough the corners, but as soon as we were on the straight, he just slowly, but surely, pulled away.

When it was time for the qualifying session: it started to rain, and this gave me even more confidence as I knew that my team mate and my self normally are amount the absolute fastest drivers in the rain. I was one of the first drivers out on the track line up for the qualifying session, and as I started my first lap, I wanted to get to know my braking points so I attacked a little, but braked early, to ensure that I would not get any accidents, and I then took it very easy trough the chicane, and almost took an excursion of the track in the 2nd last corner, but still managed a time of 1.04.7. I was catching the drivers in front of me very fast, so I slowed down, on the second lap to try and get as much space between them and my self so I might be able to get 1 or 2 full race laps in before catching up to them.

Coming up to the start of the 3rd lap, I pushed hard, and as I came around the first corner the car just went dead for a split second, but then ran fine again, and quickly looked at the fuel gauge, and everything else in the car and determined that everything was fine, as I was going down towards the chicane. Just as I drove into the chicane the car when complete dead again, but this time, stayed dead, with nothing working and no servo etc, so the car was suddenly a big handful, and I was trying to miss the barriers and not the corner, which I just managed as the car roll to a full stand still.

I franticly checked everything in the car, and tried to start the car again and again, but there was no life at all in the car, I then looked at the kill switch, to see if I somehow had managed to turn of the car, but that was also in its right position, so I had to give up and leave the cars on the track side, and walk back to the pits, while everybody else was racing around trying to put in their best lap times.

For a while it actually looked good, as my time of 1.04.7 stood as the fastest time for almost ½ of the session, but then it started to tumble, and at the end of the session I was down in 11th place. I was angry at my self for not pushing more on my out lap, as I knew I was able to go much faster than that, and that would have put me in a lot better position for the race, but now I was stuck right at the back, while the championship leaders were at the front. The only good thing that happened, was that my team mate, managed to put him and his car on P2, which was good for the team.

There was now only one thing to do, and that was to pray for rain, as it would be nearly impossible to overtake on this track in the dry.

Sunday Morning the whole Island of Phuket was wrapped in thick clouds, and as we came to the track it started to rain, and rained quite a while, and the warm-up session was therefore held in the wet, with the rain poring down heavily. The track conditions were a lot worse, and the times quickly showed that the track was about 1.5 - 2 sec slower than the day before. I drove 2 slower laps to get used to the rain, as I did not want to risk anything, and then put in 4 fast laps doing quicker and quicker times each lap, and the 6th lap I managed to better my time with a few hundreds from the day before, but in conditions that was much worse, so I was quite happy with that, and that time ended up at as the 3rd fastest of the morning, but only 0.15 sec of P1, and I had a lot more left to give, so I just went in, and saved the car for the race, and hoped that it would stay wet the whole day.

Our race was delayed by a few accidents, as the Lady’s drove in the rain, and the race had to be stopped 3 times during to accidents. The Vios C class also had to be stopped, with a more serious accident, where a spectator actually needed to be sent to the hospital. When it came to our race, the rain had stopped and the track had dried out completely, so it was going to be very hard work.

I had a very good start, but with no room at all in the first corner, I basically parked the car waiting for everybody to go around the corner, for the next few laps I tried to catch up to the drivers in front of me, and block, a hard charging Ray Macdonald in car No. 99. A few mistakes at the front, gave me an option to slip past them, which I used, but Ray kept hanging on, and I knew that if missed a gear and made a small mistake, he would be there to take advantage, a few more mistakes, allowed me to slip up past Jack, and Amarin, and I was now up into 8th place, and still pushing hard. My biggest problem, was that I several places had to come of the gas to avoid hitting the driver in front of me, which was car No. 29.

At lap 16 or 17 I was trying to set him up for an overtaking, and really pushed hard to be right on his tail out of the corner. I had followed him for the last 6 laps, and knew exactly how he took the corner each time, and where he would be slow etc….I set up the car, went slightly sideways, and came of the accelerator early, to be right on his tale, but this time, he had under steer going into the corner, and in the middle of the corner it looked like he came of the gas or braked, as the speed suddenly slowed down, with the effect that I had no where to go than straight into the back of him, and I quickly came of the gas, lifted my hands to apologies, and let him get some air between him and my self, before taking up the chase again.

2 laps later a car rolled over and was in the middle of the road as I came around the corner, so the race was red flagged, and stopped.  

The race was restarted again, with me in 7th position and Car No. 29 in 6th position, and I knew he was a lot slower than me, but was blocking very well, so the only chance I would have was in the start. I had a great start, and came right up behind Car. No. 43 in 5th place, with Car no. 29 on might right side. As he saw my slipping into the gap, realizing that I would be in the best position in the first corner, and likely pass him, he just turn right into my car, and kept trying to push me of the track, and onto the pavement, or up or into the curb. I don’t know if he thought that this would work, or that he would be able to intimidate me to let him have his place back, but he just kept on coming and coming, and I nearly his the curb. I had Amarin and Jack right up my tail, so I could not brake, without risking them colliding with me, and I had Car. No. 29 on the right trying to push me into the curb, and car no. 43 in front of me, so I was boxed in, and I just tried everything I could to stay away from the curb, and tried to steer away from the curb.

As we came to the corner, I braked , which resulted in Car. No. 29 suddenly spinning in front of me, as his steering wheel was turned all the way to the left, trying to push me of the track, but when I suddenly no longer where there, his car spun, with the result that he was blocking the way, and almost everybody in the back passed us. I still has a few cars behind me, so I felt it was dangerous to back up, against the oncoming traffic, so I went forward, and tried to get clear of Car. No. 29, but he just kept turning to the left, and once again, trying to run me into the curb, and off the track, so I braked, and let him hit the curb instead, and then went around him on the outside.

I have never in my 28 years of driving seen anybody drive like this, and I was amazed, frustrated, and started to get really angry, as I was going around, trying to catch up to the end of the group. On the next lap, when I passed the start and finish line, I was right up behind Ray Macdonald and Amarin again, but to my great amazement I was shown a Stop and Go penalty……..????????

I was now furious, and decided to take the penalty, even though I knew any change of advancing further would be gone. I took the penalty and then drove like a mad man to try and get back up there, just in case the were another accident before the end of the race, and in the process I actually managed to set the fastest lap of the race with a 58.92 which was a full 0.2 seconds faster than the winning driver.

Little did it help, and I finished in a lonely 8th place and only managed to get 3 points, as the leading duo, pulled even further away, as they came in as a 1-2 in the race and gained maximum points.

I am now in a must win situation to try and salvage as much as possible for the overall championship position. Theoretically its still possible to win, but that would mean that the leading duo needed to go out in one race each, and not finish higher that 5th in the other race, and I would have to win both of the remaining races. Winning both of the remaining races is definitely possible, as I showed that by setting fastest time of the race, as since they now will have to carry an additional 20 and 3  kgs each I should be at an even greater advantage for the last 2 remaining races. They are how ever both very good drivers, and I think it will be fairly easy for them to finish in the top 5, so realistically my chance are very slim.

I would like to say a big Thank you to both Kittipong for his efforts stop the cheating with illegal modifications to the cars, and to Amarin, Ray Macdonald, and Jack for a lot of great, good fair racing and lots of over takings and blocking, It was really true sportsmanship shown from these drivers during the whole event.

Thomas Raldorf racing in Udon Thani, June 2007

A weekend with mixed feelings…..

On the 23rd and 24th of June, I joined the Toyota Yaris One Make Race Series in Udon Thani.This was the 2nd round in the Series, and I knew I needed to get as many point as possible, to be able to keep up with the leading drivers in the Championship, as I was in 6th place after the first race and already 14 points behind the leader.

The track layout was quite interesting as we for the first time were using the real streets and not closed of parking areas etc…The Track was quite wide in several places, and in other places very narrow. There was only 1 real spot where you could overtake other drivers, unless it was because they made mistakes, so the qualifying session was going to be one of the most important parts of the race, I felt.

I had a lot of track time, and get to grips with the track very fast, and I knew I was between the 5 fastest on the track during practice, how ever I also knew that I was almost 1 sec slower than the 2 fastest drivers. The qualifying session was a 15 min run, with all the cars on the track, so I was important to get a clean run, and nobody in front of you that could slow you down.

I started out doing lap times of 57.1 and 57.2, and 57.3 which was all fairly consistent, but would only be good enough for a 4th or a 5th place, so I pushed hard, but always just seemed to make a small mistake here and there, which meant that I was not improving on my time.

The last lap I had, it all seemed to come together, and when I passed the “Alfano” lap time transponder, the onboard computer showed 56.65, so I was very happy for a split second. The problem was that the real timing strip was 100 Meters further up the road, and from the Alfano lap timer to the real timer, I missed a gear shift, and therefore did not improve on the actually time, and ended up in stating position as 5th for the race.

After a good nights sleep, I was back on the track in the morning warm-up, and was constantly doing lap times of 56.6 or 56.7, so I was very happy, and felt that I had a good car and set up for the race. On race day the track was full of Spectators, and as the pits were open for “pit walks in the lunch break, there activities where quite hectic. At one point a spectators come sup to us, and gives us a book and asks us to sign our Autograph in it……we all stared at each other in amazement as we had never been asked this before, and since we were not one of the movie / TV stars etc… we had to ask twice to see if we had understood it correctly, but yes it was correct, and later that day I signed several others and took loads of pictures with Young kids, and moms and dads etc….A great day for all I think.

Our race was the last race of the day, and as we lined up on the grid, the tension started as I knew it was now or not….. I got of to a great start and moved up from 5th to 4th going into the first corner, and coming out of the corner I got passed “FIAT” in 3rd and it was all looking great until I, a few seconds later flicked the gear from 2nd straight to 5th and totally lost the momentum, on the back straight, as I saw car after car just passing me. I was trying hard to get it back into 3rd as fast as possible, but it just would not go into 3rd, and when I finally got it in I was down to 7th position.

I now pushed hard, and quickly got up behind Apichai in Car No. 14, and tried to get passed him, but he is a really good driver, which a lot of experience, and you can not force him to make any mistakes, not matter how much pressure you put on him. I knew I was much faster though, due to his height and weight…..(I have been racing for 27 years now, and I have always been the big kid / driver, but next to Apichai I was dwarfed…..as he is about 2 Meters tall and weighs in at around 125 kg.).

He drove a great defensive line, and left me no where to go, and I tried and tried corner after corner, but with no luck. Meanwhile, Pheet was gaining on us, and as I tried to overtake Apichai, and he blocked me, Pheet, swept inside and almost took us both, but Apichai just managed to keep his place. ( Now while Apichai is on one end of the scale, Pheet is on the other end, as he weighs in at around 55-60 kg only) I therefore felt that he would make a short process of getting by Apichai, which he did, next lap going down the straight, be simply drove past him, as he carried more speed going out to the straight.

I was now getting desperate as I now was down in 8th place, and knew if I finished 8th everything would be lost. I pushed hard, and this time, managed to get past Apichai at the end of the straight, under braking, and then pushed even harder, as I now had a free track ahead of me, and my times, dropped down to 56.6 and 56.7 ever lap, and I started to gain a little on Pheet, and on the 3rd and 4th placed drivers also.

A few laps later, it was like, Pheet increased his pace, and just left me lap by lap. I could do nothing and just kept on pushing in the hopes that something would happen up front. Towards the end of the race I saw a White Singha car slowing down with smoke coming from the rear tires, and as I passed him, I realized that it was “Trai” in car No. 19 who had won in Chiang Mai, and who had been leading the race, so I was now back up to 6th place, which was not good, but still acceptable, and would give me enough points to still keep a small chance alive.

I finished the race in 6th place, and on the slowing down lap rolled down the window, and saw all the spectators cheering and clapping at all the drivers, which was a great and fun feeling. After the race, quick calculations revealed that I was still in 6th place in the championship, and I had only lost 1 point to the new leader compared to before, and had actually gained on all the other drivers, getting me closer to the front end of the pack.

Next race is in Phuket on the 18th and 19th of August at “Saphan Hin”.

Now the weight distribution is getting more and more even in the class, with The leading driver and one of the second placed drivers now carrying 1080 kg, and the other second placed drivers and the 4th placed driver carrying 1070 kg, and the 5th placed driver weighing in at 1110 kg. As I weigh in at 1095 Kg I now have a better chance of driving on more equal terms, so I at least will not be able to use that as an excuse.

I expect that the following drivers will be challenging for the win if the race will be held in the dry conditions: FIAT (Kittipong), Trai, Pheet, Amarin, Chariya, My self, and Martin, Jack, and Krituch (The current leader of the championship). If the race will be held in wet conditions, I think it will stand between the following drivers: Apichai, My self, FIAT (Kittipong), Martin, Chariya, Trai.

Lets see, personally I hopes for a wet race for once.

Thomas Raldorf, Bill Heinecke and Paul Kenny in Bangkok

BF Goodrich Super Special 2007, Round 1

As part of the practice for driving in my new Yaris, I decided to enter a Gymkhana event in Bangkok on Sunday the 10th of June. The event was sponsored by BF Goodrich and was organized together with the VCD magazine called “Mototracks”.

The event was held at the newly opened “Wonder World” Theme Park, opposite Fashion Island on Ramintra Road. The event was very popular and had somehow attracted up toward 150 drivers, who joined in the different classes which was raced, depending on the engine, size, modifications done to the car and 2 or 4 wheel drive etc…… I joined the C class, which was the class that matched the Yaris “One Make race car” I was driving.

The event it self was quite fun, as they had made it in the same style as when the race the annual race called “The Race of Champions” where 2 cars actually race each other on the same track side by side crossing over and under each other, to complete a full lap on the same track against the clock, and each other. The huge amount of drivers came as a big surprise for the organizers, and result din a regular traffic jam, lack of parking and a lot of standing around and waiting.

After the race the organizers apologized and informed us, that at their next event that would limit the amount of drivers allowed to enter so that this would not happen again, and since there is a total of 7 race in the series, they still have some time to try and get it right. We got to drive the track 1 time on a practice round, before we had to drive it in anger, and it was very important to be very tight and precise so I decided to drive the car over the limit to try and find the limit in my first practice round, with the result that I plowed into several cones and almost onto the opposite line on the track. This turned out to be a good way of doing it as hitting cones in the actual race would cost you 1 sec per cone even if you just touched them.

I joined 2 classes The super open unlimited, knowing that I would not stand a chance, but I would at least get to drive the track 1 more time that most others. I managed to do the run in 64.8 seconds but hit 2 cones, which gave me a 2 sec penalty, so I finished in a low 11th position out of 18 drivers.

After having stood and waited for 4 hours I finally got to drive in my proper class the C class, so I was determined to make a neat run, and not hit anything at the cost of the speed. I managed to do my first run at 65.05, but not hitting any cones, and this later turned out to be the fastest lap of all the 24 drivers in my class. The fastest 4 then went onto a semifinal which was a shoot out, where the winner would go onto the final and the looser would go onto a runners up final for the 3rd and the 4th spot.

I got a great start and was starting to feel more and more comfortable in the car around this small and narrow track, and managed to do the lap in 64.6 sec, my fastest lap so far, which was also enough to bring me into the final. The other driver in the final was Khun Kai, a very well versed race driver, with many years of skill, and a former Toyota Vios One Make race driver also. I knew that he was going to be hard to beat, so I had to go all out to try and do my best, but still being neat and tidy, so no cones was touched.

We both got of to a good start, and steamed down the straight side by side, and I saw how he flicked the car around the cone in the tight 180 degree turn using the hand brake, and knew I was in for it, so I pushed and pushed, to the extends that I 2 places almost hit the curb. Going over the bridge, I shifted into 2 going up the hill not being able to see where I was going, and just kept my foot down, so the car lifted its wheels a little as a crossed the top, and kept the foot down, coming down the hill into the slalom section., as we came out to the straight, we were still side by side, but it looked like I had a small advantage, so I now pushed even harder to try and keep it.

I quickly decided to try and use the hand brake like Khun Kai had done it (Like I did when I was 18 back in Denmark, wrecking my moms car in parking lots….sssss I hope she does not read this……..oh hi mom, how are you…….. naaaaa I never did that……*smile*) and it worked very well.

As I came around the end of the track, going out onto the straight, I saw the nose of Khun Kais car coming up on the side of me, also turning out on to the straight, and then it was just putting the foot down, and going all out for the line, and hoping for the best………

I crossed the line 0.4 sec ahead of Khun Kai, and took, my first ever win in this type of event. Since I now lead the championship, I will try and join the next race also and see how it goes and then take it from there.

A big “Thank you” to the Organizers for this event and to my Sponsor’s Who makes this possible for me.

Thomas Raldorf in Chiang Mai for the first Toyota Yaris race of the season

1st race of the 2007 season in my new Toyota Yaris.

The first race of the season was held at Chiang Mai's Sports Complex which was built for the SEA games in the 90'es. The track was 1.4 Km long and was in most places fairly wide, but in the important places where overtaking would / should be possible, the track was quite a bit more narrow, making overtaking very difficult unless you could manage to outbreak the other driver in front of you.

On Saturday the 5th, I had my first drive in the new car, which was during the first practice session of the weekend. The track was wet as it had been raining the whole night. It took a few laps to get used to the handling of the car, but after that I felt very confident, as it handled more or less like a go-kart handles, and the grip was very good during the wet session.

After the first session I was confident that it we would get a wet race on Sunday I would get a good result even though I have not had time to practice in the car and work on the set up except for the 3 short 10 min practice sessions on Saturday. The weather forecast for the whole weekend was rain, rain and even more rain, so I was very happy.

After the 3 practice session there was break in the program, for 4 hours, and although the weather report said rain, rain and more rain, it actually dried out and the qualification session was going to be held in the dry. Here I made my first big mistake of the weekend.

The Toyota Vios which I drove last year did not have ABS brakes, but the new Toyota Yaris had. We had all been told that it was up to us, whether we wanted to drive the cars with the ABS connected or disconnected. Both my team mates had disconnected them, but since I had not had problems with them in the rain session, I told my mechanics to leave the car as it was, since I had set the fastest time of the class during all 3 practice sessions in the wet.

My second and third mistake was to change the setting of my shock absorbers, and the tire pressure, as I did not get any of them right for the short 10 min qualification session.

During the qualification period, my onboard lap timer was not working, so I had no idea of how fast I was driving, but looking at some of the other drivers on the track, who I know was fast last year, I gathered I was doing well, although I knew the ABS was costing me a lot of time, at the end of both straights, as the ABS was kicking in every time, I was breaking hard, as it made me lose my concentration, and missing the gear shifts and over shooting the corners etc......

After the qualification, I was told I had been 4th fastest, and with another 9 drivers to go, it looked like I could end up a long way down the field. After the second group, I was told that I had finished 9th over all, which was very disappointing after having been fastest in the rain the whole day. Even worse was it that it again started to rain 1 hour later we finished the qualification, and the Vios group had to qualify in the rain.

I was now hoping for rain in the race, as it would then be possible for me to advance further up the leader board, as I knew I was fast in the wet.

Sunday morning when I woke up I looked out the window, and saw it was raining, so I felt good and confident of making a good result in the first race of my season in the new car. In the morning warm-up, I was 3rd fastest, but was not pushing too hard. The fastest on the track was my team mate Martin Stuvik, which made me feel very good, knowing that he was so fast, and that I still had a lot to give.

Once again the weather played a trick on us, and although it rained most of the day up until lunch, it still managed to almost dry out before the race. I know made my 4th mistake of the weekend, while I was on the grid, as I told my mechanics to change the tire pressure, which resulted in me not being able to get enough grip on the first 10 laps of the race.

I got a fairly good start, but was maybe being a little too careful in the first corner so 3 cars got past me, and as I was coming out of the corner, "Fiat" in car No. 88 was stationary on the track, right in the line I was taking, and I again lost a few laces, trying to get around him. Down the straight I now had Ray Macdonald up on my side, and he was trying to outbreak me at the end, but he over did it and spun the car, right in front of me, so I last even more time getting around him.

The next 10 laps I spend chasing down the driver in front of me, while I was down in 12th place. On lap 11 of the 25 laps the tires came on, and I quickly dropped over 2 seconds per lap, and was now chasing down the driver in front of me, and quickly got past him, and then went after "Yup" in car No. 11, and also quickly closed up on him, but he is a very skill full driver, and blocked me in every corner. Several times I was all the way right up behind hi bumper on the straight, and 2 times, I was actually along side him half was trough a corner, but he still managed to cut me off, which meant I either had to brake, or hit him, trying to get past him.

Late in the race, "Pheet", "Amarin" and "Chariya" came together and I just managed to avoid them, and gained 3 places. With 3 laps to go, I saw "Prasert" gaining quickly on us, since "Yup" was slowing me down a lot. I decided that I would let him pass for 2 reason, 1 I did not want to be taken out with 3 laps to go, and I knew he drives very hard, and if he tried to pass yup, he might end up taking both g the out, so I fell back, and let him, pass and then stayed very close behind him, just in case he would managed to get passed "Yup", so that I could follow him trough, or if he failed, then I could overtake him again, and still keep my place.

On the last lap, he shot up alongside "Yup" but overshot it, and I pass him on the inside, and kept my 6th place in the race. After 25 laps on the track in Chiang Mai, I finished my first race in the Toyota Yaris class in 6th place, with my Team mate Martin Stuvik in forth place.

It was hard to stand a look at Martin on the Podium, as I really wanted to be up there, and I felt that I had the speed for it, but from a team perspective, I was very happy, as he drove a great race and deserved to be there.

Now its time for practice before the next race which will be on the 23rd and 24th of June in Ubon Ratchathani.

Thomas Raldorf at the 2007 season launch press conference

Thomas Raldorf is again confirmed in the Toyota series for 2007. This time he will be racing a Yaris in the Group B series and is again looking to challenge for the championship like he did in 2006. Thomas has already had an early feel for the Toyota Yaris and feels confident this is a car he can make fly. The cars are expected delivered in their full sponsor livery by mid April and the team will surely be out testing at the Bira Circuit shortly after that. We wish Thomas the best of luck challenging for the 2007 Championship.