wasn’t to be for the man to beat, as a blown steering
servo just six minutes into his semifinal ended the
week for the brilliant British star.
Day One
Round one of qualifying was a sign of things to come for
Robert Batlle; the Spanish champion and three-time
European Champion took the momentum of winning
the Pre-Worlds into the first round of qualifying and
beat the next fastest time, turned in by TLR wonder-teen Dakotah Phend, by over four seconds. Boots,
TRAVELOGUE: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
As is tradition, IFMAR announced the host of the 2012 World Championships during the 2010 running of the race, originally allocating the event to Jundial, Brazil. At the time of the an- nouncement, IFMAR also projected that, in anticipation of problems with international teams
traveling through customs in Brazil like those experienced in 2004 during the 200mm nitro touring car
event, the race could be moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Eight months later, amid concerns that the
host facility was not on pace to provide the proper accommodations, IFMAR announced the move to
Buenos Aires, unearthing a whole new set of issues that plagued the event:
Flooding — IFMAR has rules in place for
determining the outcome of a race affected by
inclement weather; in a nutshell, these regulations call for the race to continue until the track
becomes unsafe for turn-marshals or impossible for the cars to navigate. Yet just days before the start of the World Championships, the
Internet was flooded (pun intended) with photos
of the Speed Paradise course nearly submerged,
with just the tips of the jumps peeking above
the water line. The track was recovered in time
for the beginning of practice, with the first few
rounds of cars sliding around while blowing the
silt from the racing line. However, by the start of
qualifying, the surface had been groomed quite
nicely. The rain picked up again before the final
day of practice and once again rendered the
track inoperable, but the racers and track crew
made the necessary repairs ahead of qualifying.
Customs — Several U. S. drivers attended the
official IFMAR Warm-Up race just a few months
before the event and were stuck in customs for
hours while trying to free themselves and their
equipment in order to attend the event. With
customs concerns being a key factor in moving
the race from its original location in Brazil, those
traveling internationally went into the IFMAR
Worlds with apprehension about a repeat ex-
perience; luckily, the teams and press were able
to get through customs much more easily for
the actual race dates, with much of the customs’
agents concerns being that the equipment
would be taken back out of the country after the
race had concluded. The host facility published a
simple customs packing form for attendees to
fill out and present upon arrival to Argentina, and
all went smoothly.
Political Unrest — With an economy yet to
recover from its 2001 collapse, the nation of
Argentina has been consumed by escalating
political unrest. Just weeks before the start of
the World Championships, the country was
overwhelmed with widespread protest and its
first union strikes in over a decade. Over half
a million people marched on Buenos Aires on
November 8, and it was unclear how the strikes
or protests would affect the organization of the
race, though no major issues were reported.
Toxic cloud — On December 6, which would’ve
been the final day of qualifying, a shipping
container full of pesticides in Buenos Aires’ main
port caught fire, billowing smoke into the air and
releasing a toxic cloud that covered the city. The
city’s inhabitants were told to stay inside, with
those venturing outdoors having done so with
scarves and masks over their faces. The cloud
covered the city and though hundreds of cases
of nausea and eye irritation were reported, the
city’s Security Minister said there were no serious risks due to the low levels of toxicity present
in the air.
International travel always brings with it the
concerns of the unknown, but we’re pleased
to report that the race went smoothly with no
harm done to racers or crew members. The
Speed Paradise track crew and IFMAR worked
together to organize the best event possible
given the factors they could not control – hats
off to the staff for making the race happen so
that a new World Champion could be crowned!
