Pietsch & Leino fastest in Q3

Robert Pietsch and Teemu Leino were fastest in Q3 at the ENS as they notched up their first TQ runs at round 2 of the high profile onroad nitro championship.  In 1:8, Pietsch ended Simon Kurzbuch domination of the event as he topped the Swiss ace by just 0.081 of a second with Lars Hoppe again posting the third fastest time.  In 1:10, Leino laid down the fastest time ahead of Q2 pace setter Dominic Greiner and Jilles Groskamp who topped the opening qualifier the Top 3 separated by only 4/10ths.

Commenting on his TQ run, Pietsch said a change of bodyshell which mounts it more forward on his MRX-5 gave him more steering in particular through the fast sweeper.  Opting also to run used tyres, he said while these worked ‘good at the beginning’ towards the end they were done.  Happy with the improvement brought by the body change he said for Q4 he will leave the car unchanged and instead just run on new tyres.

Setting the fastest lap of the qualifier, Kurzbuch said he had a problem with second gear which was coming in to early.  Losing a lot of ground to Pietsch at the start he said he tried at the end to make back up the time, his fastest lap being his last, but he was a lap short of denying his rival the round and securing the overall TQ.

Running his HB R10 unchanged from Q2, Leino was pleased with his run describing it in typical reserved Finnish style simply as ‘a good run’.  Top Qualifier at the season opener in Italy, he said he would continue with the car as is for Q4 although he might change to his painted bodyshell something his mechanic and the cars Japanese designer Takashi Miyashita isn’t so keen on as it didn’t bring them much look in the A-Main at Bologna when he crashed into the pitlane wall while holding a commanding lead.

‘Very good’ was how Greiner summed up his latest qualifier.  Running on new tyres, the Serpent driver said this gave his 748 Natrix more steering and this would catch him out.  Describing the competition as ‘super close’ he said even the smallest of mistakes cost places.

Having stripped a gear in Q2 but managing a few laps after fitting a new one, Groskamp ran his third qualifier on the same set of tyres he used in the previous two rounds.  He said ultimately they would be too small at the end but looking ahead to the final it was a good test.  Very happy with his Maxima powered R10 he said he doesn’t believe there is any time to be gained from the set-up and for Q4 he will just fit new tyres.

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