Kurzbuch on pole for ENS Austria

Simon Kurzbuch will start on pole position for tomorrow’s third round of the Euro Nitro Series, the Shepherd driver claiming the honour of Top Qualifier for a second time this season when he made it three TQ runs in a row in the third of the five qualifiers.  Having set the pace yesterday at the unique Aigen track up in the hills of northern Austria there was no let up in the advantage the World Champion has over his rivals when qualifying started, although in Q4 reigning champion Dario Balestri did close the gap benefiting too from traffic to post his first TQ run.  Balestri would also take the final qualifier, Kurzbuch crashing out while on for another TQ round.  Robert Pietsch continued to shadow Kurzbuch and Balestri posting the 3rd fastest time in the opening four qualifiers.

Reacting to his overall TQ, Kurzbuch said, ‘Q3 was very good. It was closer than before with Dario but we got the job done and took the TQ which is the important thing’.  Looking on target for 3 wins in a row and wrapping up a second ENS title, the Swiss ace added, ‘Dario is closing up which is going to be interesting for the final’.  Expecting to make ‘minimum 2 tyre stops’ in the 45-minute A-Main, the track having high wear, he said while the current set-up on his Novarossi powered Velox V8 is good for a final they may tweak it slightly to add ‘more traction to make the rear slide less for better wear’.  Using the final two qualifiers to ‘try things for the final’, the inaugural ENS champion said ‘I have one engine that can do 5-minutes and one that can do a little less so I have to decide which to use’.

Securing P2 on the grid with his TQ run in the penultimate qualifier, which he repeated in Q6, Balestri was much happier with his Capricorn saying, ‘I changed something in the rear and it was better but not perfect’ adding ‘it’s now more close to where it should be’.  The Italian however says he ‘still (has) a big problem with the bumps’.  Having to run a hard spring on his Tesla powered C802 to ‘keep traction’ he said this is making the track bumps worse to deal with.  Having had his final last year in Aigen ruined by a back marker, looking to tomorrow’s affair Balestri was straight to the the point about the race, saying, ‘the race will be decided in the tyre change. Who is the fastest at this will win’.

Describing his overall qualifying performance as ‘solid’, Pietsch said, ‘the car is very good, I just need more power as I am losing a little bit on the exit of the corners’.  From the outset, the 2011 World Champion said the medium speed track wouldn’t suit his Picco engine, it more suited to high speed track due to its strong stop speed.  Asked about his changes for the final, the Mugen designer said, ‘to be honest I don’t think it is possible to catch Simon’.  He continued, ‘I think he will make long stops and his team is very fast on the tyre stops so it’s hard to beat him’.  Asked if he could take the race to Balestri he replied ‘I might have a chance’.

Securing fourth on the grid, Lars Hoppe said his ARC was ‘very good’ adding ‘it is very easy to drive which is good for the final’.  A podium finisher at the ENS’ first visit to Aigen two years ago, the German said he hopes to make the podium again tomorrow saying that would come down to a good strategy.  With the ‘high tyre wear’, he said it was ‘difficult to get (the strategy) right at this track but ‘I hope to battle for the podium’.

Securing his first ENS podium last time out with an impressive drive at Ettlingen, Toni Gruber secures 5th on the grid thanks to a competitive P2 in the final qualifier.  Lining up for the start in between ARC team-mates Hoppe and John Ermen, who completes the top half of the grid, the 20-year-old said his car was ‘now perfect’.  Having ‘problems earlier’ that included a DNS in Q2, the German said they struggled with ‘too much steering’ resulting in him ‘losing the rear’ of his R8.0.  Acknowledging the contribution of Daniele Ielasi in helping him come up with the new set-up, allowing him to finish only 3/10ths off Balestri despite being delayed by Kurzbuch’s crash, he said based on his speed he feels ‘maybe a podium is possible’.  Describing the track as a little small for 1:8, and admitting it not being his type of track, he concluded ‘with the car as it is now is no problem to drive 45-minutes on this track so I will see what I can do’.

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