Loppini & Krägefski progress, Hagberg out

Xray drivers David Loppini and Tom Krägefski will complete the line-up for the 1:10 A-Main at the Euro Nitro Series season finale in Italy, the pair denying World Champion Alexander Hagberg from progressing to the main event.  Starting from third on the grid, after 20-minutes of close racing it was Loppini who would take the win by 2.2 seconds from Krägefski with a similar gap back to Hagberg, all three drivers having taken turns at leading the race.

Direct A-Main qualifier at the Fiorano based event last year, the 21-year-old had to work a little harder for his place on the 12-car grid this time.  Struggling with a little understeer at the start of the race which then turned to oversteer, he said overall the car was good but looking to the longer 45-minute final he said he is going to need to make some tweaks to his self modified NT1.

Having started the race from pole position, Krägefski said it was a ‘difficult’ race in terms of fuel consumption.  Opting to go safe rather than risk 5-minutes between stops from his ORCAN engine, the 26-year-old who has attended all four rounds of the ENS was happy to book the final spot on the grid for his first A-Main appearance of the season.  Planning to just run a ‘safe race’ in the final, the German is targeting a midfield finish.

‘Struggling with the feeling of the car’, Hagberg said his NT1 was ‘difficult to drive’ adding he needs to look for something wrong with the car. Running 5-minute fuel stops, saving him one stop over Loppini and Krägefski, the factory Xray driver said it still wasn’t enough as he was just ‘way too slow’. This was also highlighted by the Swede’s 17-second fastest lap when the rest of the field bar one running 16-second laps.

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