Groskamp TQs opening ENS qualifier

Jilles Groskamp has TQ’d the opening round of 1:10 qualifying at the Euro Nitro Series in Austria.  Fastest in timed practice making him top seed for qualifying, the HB driver took the opening qualifier ahead of Capricorn’s Thilo Todtmann who was just 0.030 of a second off.  A very close qualifier, the Top 10 covered by 4.5 seconds, Dirk Wischnewski completed the Top 3 followed by ENS Round 1 winner Bruno Coelho.

Only his second race with HB’s R10, Groskamp described his TQ as ‘just a consistent run’.  Having felt he was ‘a little ahead’ in practice, the 2012 Electric Touring Car World Champion said he was surprised how close the qualifier turned out. He said on one hand he drove safe but on the other he was pushing close to the limit, highlighted by his fastest lap of the round, adding it was like a ‘dare to push a little harder’ as the risk of mistakes was high. Happy to open the event with a TQ he said it gives him scope to push a little more tomorrow. He added that starting from the TQ is always nice but having started 7th at Round 1 and got a podium he said in a 45-minute main the starting position is not a huge factor like in electric touring cars.  Team-mate & Round 1 Top Qualifier Teemu Leino would open with the seventh fastest time, the Finn lucky to even start the qualifier.  As his R10 was put down to start the warm-up his first gear flew off due to them forgetting to put in the screws that at supposed to hold it in place.  Remounting the gear but only getting two warm-up laps, Leino said this lead to a ‘panic drive’ which saw him put the car on the grass.  With the car working well he joked ‘we just need to make sure all the screws are tight tomorrow’.

‘Very good’ was Todtmann’s reaction to his impressive P2 for the round.  The German said he knew from race director Uwe Rheinard that it was a close race for the TQ but as soon as heard it was him and Groskamp that were in contention he messed up his braking and overshot the corner.   Very happy with his Tesla powered LAB CO-3 he said it was very easy to drive and having went for a ‘safe drive’ his plan was to repeat that for the first 2 of tomorrow’s four qualifiers in the hope of locking in a direct A-Main grid position.

Wischnewski said traffic on the last two laps cost him the chance of a TQ. Describing the competition as ‘super close’, last season’s championship runner-up said his Velox V10 and ORCAN engine both ran really well but the setting sun caused him some issues with being able to see the car.  Planning to ‘just refresh’ the car for tomorrow’s four qualifiers, the German said he is confident he can challenge for the overall TQ.

Setting the fourth fastest time, Xray’s Bruno Coehlo sad while his Max powered NT1 was ‘super good’ he didn’t start the qualifier well. Losing time on the first lap after missing his braking point, the winner of the season opener in Bologna said while he tried to make back up the time he couldn’t but he will go into Q2 much more confident in the car.  Team-mate Alexander Hagberg would set the 6th fastest time, the Swede also happy with improvements made to his Orcan powered NT1.  Starting out ‘too slow’ and also having to open up for Todtmann he said while he pace at the end was good he lost too much time early on.  Describing his car as ‘not bad now’, he said for tomorrow he would work more on his driving.

Winner of this race last year, Serpent’s Dominic Greiner was not happy with his opening qualifier.  In the warm-up he would crash his Max powered 748 as a result of having no brakes.  This was traced to a loose brake pulley adaptor. Unfortunately while his crew got to tighten the hub in time for the start of the 5-minute qualifier, the crash had damaged his tyres and together with his engine being too rich he said it was ‘very difficult’ to drive.  Team-mate Nacho Lopez, who is making his ENS debut having driven the 2,000km from Valencia in Spain, would post the 9th fastest time. A race winner in this year’s Spanish National Championship he said he hopes to build on his pace tomorrow.

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