Balestri to start 2nd after topping final qualifier

Dario Balestri will start the 1:8 A-Main at the third round of the Euro Nitro Series from 2nd on the grid.  With reigning champion Simon Kurzbuch wrapping up the overall TQ in Germany early, his Shepherd topping the first four qualifiers, in the final round at Minidrom Ettlingen it was Balestri’s Capricorn that would set the pace.  Outpacing the Mugen of Robert Pietsch by 4/10ths, the result would snatch 2nd on the grid for the Italian ahead of the German.  Behind them Oliver Mack has made an impressive return to the ENS securing P4 as his starting position ahead of an equally impressive Robin D’hondt, whose BMT will line up fifth for tomorrow’s 45-minute encounter.

A driver who has developed a smile that has been growing over the second official day of the event, Balestri said, ‘I only needed time to adjust the car’.  Having felt he has been playing catch up due to his rivals arriving at the Minidrom Ettlingen a day earlier than him, the reigning European Champion is now confident he’s now in a position to match his rivals on pace.  ‘Very happy’ with his C802 and Tesla engines, he is now ‘feeling confident for the final’.  Having tested yesterday on small diametre tyres, the Bologna ENS Top Qualifier and race runner-up said this presents no issue for him so it’s all ‘looking good for a good race tomorrow’.

Acknowledging that Balestri has now entered the mix, Pietsch used the final two qualifiers to test set-ups for the final.  In Q4 the changes were ‘not good’ but making further changes to his Picco powered MRX-5 for Q5 he said it was running ‘OK’ until the last minute when his engine went lean and it was this that lost him the time to Balestri.  Having twice TQ’d an ENS but failed to convert those into victory, Pietsch said he was not unhappy not to be starting out front.  Highlighting that the ENS tyre rules make everyone so close in lap times as everyone starts with the same diameter tyre, this makes it hard to pull away so for him it is easier to start off the race following someone else.  Feeling the track changed following the overnight rain he said he didn’t find the best set-up as he had yesterday.  Still looking for better stability in the car he has ‘more to test’ in the 10-minute A-Main practice.

Testing a different set-up in the final qualifier, Kurzbuch said the change to a harder rear spring was ‘better for the feeling but not for the lap times’.  Also switching engine in his Velox V8, he said it was set too rich leaving him lacking power.  Planning to leave the set-up unchanged for the A-Main practice he wants to test it with a different Novarossi engine ‘to see how it works’.

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