Mack takes overall TQ at ENS in Aigen

Oliver Mack gave Team Shepherd the perfect qualifying result at the Round 2 of the Euro Nitro Series in Aigen, Austria, as he secured the overall TQ honours for 1:8 adding to the 1:10 TQ secured by team-mate Francesco Tironi. Like Tironi, Mack claimed his third & fastest TQ run in the final round of qualifying to secure pole position for the 45-minute 1:8 Main. In the closely contested final qualifier, Robert Pietsch was second fastest just 3/10th off but it will be the Serpent of Q1 pace setter Michael Salven, despite two tough qualifiers today, who will start second on the grid with Pietsch’s Mugen third. Third in both of today’s qualifiers, BMT’s Daniele Ielasi will start 4th.

Delighted to secure his first ENS TQ, Mack said he didn’t realize that Pietsch and himself were so close on the TQ pace in the final qualifier and he had to push really hard at the end. Changing to a different set of tyres so as to save his good damp tyres, he said the change made his Velox V8 harder to drive with this compounded by his Sonic engine also being set too rich. With conditions starting to dry out for the first time in the weekend but with many threatening clouds still in the area, he said it was still too early to make a call on what to do for the final. With a dry car ready to go he said he will also change his wet car to a more suitable Mains set-up and then choose which to run just before the race. If it is damp he said he expects Pietsch, Salven and Ielasi to be though competition but if its a dry affair he said Pietsch is his biggest concern as he showed very good speed in the dry on Thursday.

Pietsch said  it was now super close between him and Mack but he lost out on the TQ run for Q4 due to problems with traffic in the final laps. Changing the overdrive on his Picco MRX5 he added he is now very happy with the performance of his ‘wet’ car. Hoping for a dry final, the former Aigen race winner said his dry car is also ready to go.

Struggling with tyre selection today as he looked to save the good damp condition tyres that took him the Q1 TQ, Salven was both surprised & delighted to get second on the grid despite having ‘terrible runs’ in Q3 & 4. Having found his 977 very loose in Q3 due to a poor tyre choice, a change to another tyre for the final qualifier made the car ‘horrible to drive’. While he has enough damp tyres now for the final, it is looking increasingly likely the final will be a dry affair meaning all drivers will run on the same handout tyre being supplied this weekend by Contact.

Ielasi was disappointed to end up fourth but said the position will make little difference to the outcome of the long race. Describing his Q4 run as ‘OK, like before’,  he said the big challenge was to find the right tyre for later as racing in such conditions between dry and wet makes it very difficult to choose. Running Matrix Umido damp tyres in Q4 he said as the track dried up the wear got very high on the abrasive track surface.  Making his ENS debut Xray team driver John Ermen will complete the top half of the grid with his Reds Racing powered RX8 securing 5th.  The grid will expanded to 12 cars with two drivers, based on their fastest race time, bumping up from the lower mains to join the 10 direct qualifiers.

1:8 Qualifying Round 4 times
1. Oliver Mack – Shepherd/Sonic – 13/4:09.064
2. Robert Pietsch – Mugen/Picco – 13/4:09.383
3. Daniele Ielasi – BMT/RB – 13/4:11.305
4. Simon Kurzbuch – Shepherd/Novarossi – 13/4:13.321
5. Lars Hoppe – Shepherd/Sonic – 13/4:13.729
6. Michael Klausner – Mugen/Novarossi – 13/4:14.515
7. Andrea Pirani – WRC/OS Speed – 13/4:15.829
8. Armin Baier – Motonica/Picco –  13/4:17.020
9. Steven Cuypers – Mugen/Picco – 13/4:17.474
10.Timo Schroder – Shepherd/Somic – 13/4:18.080

1:8 A-Main Grid (2 drivers still to bump up)
1. Oliver Mack (DE) – Shepherd/Sonic – 310 pts
2. Michael Salven (DE) – Serpent/Picco – 307
3. Robert Pietsch (DE) – Mugen/Picco 306
4. Daniele Ielasi (IT) – BMT/RB – 304
5. John Ermen (NL) – Xray/Reds Racing – 302
6. Lars Hoppe (DE) – Shepherd/Sonic – 301
7. Michael Klausner (AT) – Mugen/Novarossi – 299
8. Simon Kurzbuch (CH) – Shepherd/Novarossi – 298
9. Andrea Pirani (IT) – WRC/OS Speed – 298
10.Mirko Salemi (IT) – BP Racing/Novarossi – 297

View the complete results here.

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