Pietsch leads the way in Ettlingen

Robert Pietsch appears to be the man to beat at Round 3 of the Euro Nitro Series, setting the pace in the first timed practice at Ettlingen.  The Mugen driver was 2/10th faster than new Shepherd signing Rick Vrielijnck who in turn was 2/10ths faster than Alberto Picco, the top three all using Picco engines.  Almost matching Picco’s pace fellow Italian Dario Balestri was fourth fastest ahead of championship returnee Oliver Mack.  For defending champion Simon Kurzbuch his run was hampered by the loss of a front shock spring retainer and he would post the 21st fastest time.

Describing his MRX-5 as ‘the best it’s been’ throughout all the practices, Pietsch said the car is ‘really really good’ adding that while there is always room for improvement he feels they are on top of the set-up for the track’s ‘unique asphalt’.  Having suffered a thrust bearing failure in the final open practice, he said the rebuilt clutch was slipping a little and that is the only thing he needs to sort for the final timed practice, each driver’s fastest 3-consecutive laps counting towards the seeding of the qualifying heats.  Chasing his first win of season #2 of the ENS having finished runner-up last year, the German is liking the new track layout despite the ‘really different’ track conditions the resurfacing has brought.

Having made the switch from Mugen to Shepherd ahead of the race, Vreilijnck has looked very impressive on his debut for the German manufacturer.  Asked about the switch the Dutch driver said ‘the Mugen is a very good car but it was too stable for my driving style’.  Pleased to be able to work a deal to join Shepherd half way through the racing season, he said working alongside Mack he has been able to get the Velox V8 to his liking very quickly.  With both drivers now running very similar set-ups, the multiple Worlds finalist is also enjoying the track, he said the car is fast allowing him to focus for the final practice on scrubbing in tyres for this evening’s opening qualifier.

While describing the track as ‘really nice’, Picco said he was not used to what for him was ‘such low traction’, the Italian National Championship running tyre additive. Feeling they are ‘struggling a bit to find the right set-up’ he continued ‘we are  ‘improving step by step’.  Running a Mugen chassis he said, ‘I can’t complain as we are close but still not 100% yet’.

Balestri didn’t have a good start to his first timed run, chunking a rear tyre on only his third lap.  Having only got to run 30-minutes of testing yesterday, the Round 1 Top Qualifier feels he is still playing catch-up to his rivals. He said ‘for sure’ his C802 was getting better each run adding he hoped they were now going in the right direction in terms of a set-up for qualifying.

Mack was very happy with his early pace on what is his first ENS outing of the season.  While suffering from a broken clutch, the German said his ‘lap times are pretty good’ and with the target being just to make the Main he was ‘happy’ with how things had started off.  Having found working with Vrielijnck in testing yesterday very beneficial he said his Picco powered Velox V8 was ‘pretty easy to drive’ and while he could make it faster it would take away its consistency so he will leave it unchanged.  Behind Mack, team-mate Francesco Tironi completed the Top 6.

While he couldn’t get a good time due to his shock issue, Kurzbuch was happy how the early practices had gone adding he felt everything was ‘ok’ for qualifying.  Having ran a spare engine today, the Novarossi driver will switch to his race engine for the final practice to ensure everything is ready for Q1.

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