Q1 goes to Leo Arnold

Continuing on where he left off in timed practice Leo Arnold took the opening qualifier in Bologna ahead of the closely matched Infinity pairing of Jilles Groskamp and Teemu Leino. Alessio Mazzeo was 4th, despite running out of fuel, with Thilo Todtmann putting in a clean 4-minutes to take 5th. Describing his run as ‘pretty clean’ Arnold said he had only one slide and continued to compliment his new Xray saying the ‘car was perfect’, Xray seeming to make a big leap in performance with their 2019 car. Commenting that he needs ‘just one or two more good runs’ the French man’s plan for tomorrow’s remaining 3 qualifiers is to ‘leave the car as is’.

‘I’m ok with 2nd’ was how Groskamp summed up his first qualifier, continuing by saying ‘I came out of the pitlane ahead of both Mazzeo and Leo so it wasn’t so nice to have that pressure from the very start’. Admitting to having some mistakes during the run the Infinity driver said ‘It was clear during the run that Leo was faster’ and with Mazzeo flaming out late in the run he declared himself ‘lucky to get 2nd’. Looking to tomorrow, Jilles plans a change to a new stiffer chassis plate as the one on his car is from last year’s Worlds in Miami and a fresher chassis might improve things.

Taking 3rd spot, only 2 tenths back on his team mate, Teemu Leino complained that his car ‘just wasn’t there’, the problem being too much understeer. Not understanding why it had changed so drastically the Finn believes it could have been the tires or even the changing track but either way he will make changes to the setup of his IF15 to try dial back in more steering.

Mazzeo was on pace to take a top 2 finish before running out of fuel on the last lap. Asked about the unusual flameout the Xray driver admitted that the fuel gun was not completely empty, declaring it ‘a little mistake’. Despite the problem the Italian was very happy with his car, declaring that ‘everything’s good’. The trio of Shepherds remained closely match through qualifying with Thilo Todtmann emerging out on top of the intra team battle with Eduardo Escandon in 6th and Melvin Diekmann in 7th.

View the complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

Pietsch ends timed practice as top seed

Despite being one of only 3 drivers in the top 20 not to improve their time in the final timed practice session Robert Pietsch will go into qualifying as top seed. While the advantage he held after the opening practice was substantial, that gap was all but eroded away by the chasing pack with Dario Balestri putting in a much improved run to end up in 2nd just 1 tenth back. The World Champion despite being fast said his car was much too nervous and while it was not bad it was still not perfect. Dominic Greiner ended up in 3rd putting his improvement down to his driving and some tweaks to the OS engine in his Serpent and going into qualifying needs to make the car a bit more stable to have a good 4 minute pace. Despite also improving Simon Kurzbuch dropped 2 places to complete practice in 4th, just ahead of Lamberto Collari in 5th. In the 40+ class it was veteran Italian racer Stefano Solaroli who headed practice by a substantial 9 tenths over 3 laps followed by German Shepherd driver Andreas Giesa in 2nd with Austrian Rudi Scherer 3rd, while reigning champion Arie Manten and Alain Levy complete the top 5.

View the complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

Leo Arnold tops 1/10th seeding at ENS season opener

Leo Arnold is top seed for the 1/10th scale class at the ENS season opener in Bologna, the Xray driver improving on his CP1 time to go over 2 tenths quicker in his 2nd timed run. The Frenchman put his improvement down to changing to a shorter first gear which improved the drivability of his NT1. His team mate Alessio Mazzeo also improved his time but will stay as 3rd seed, behind Teemu Leino who failed to improve in the 2nd session having tried a different body shell but finding it much slower. Jilles Groskamp who was continuing experimenting with setup took 3rd in CP2 but being slightly slower than his CP1 time he ended practice 4th and will now revert to his setup from the final free practice session. The Shepherd trio of Melvin Diekmann, Eduardo Escandon and Thilo Todtmann complete the top 7 after practice.

View the complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

Robert Pietsch heads first timed practice by large margin

In the opening timed practice for the 1/8th scale class it was former world champion Robert Pietsch who was the clear leader, the Mugen driver some 5 tenths up on his nearest rival over 3 laps. Francesco Tironi was the best of the rest, the Italian driver heading another former World Champion Simon Kurzbuch in 3rd, with Andrea Pirani and current World Champion Dario Balestri completing the top 5. Asked about his rather large advantage on his rivals, the German put it down to a number of factors such as his good working relationship with his mechanic and new engines from sponsor OS which he says has more power which together makes for a better overall package. Looking ahead he doesn’t plan to make any changes to his Mugen, instead focusing on his driving saying ‘the track is easy, but it also very easy to push too much and go wide, losing a lot of time’, continuing ‘my main focus is stay calm and drive smoothly’.

Tironi was very pleased with his car and engine combo, the Infinity driver saying the feeling with the car is really good having worked a lot on setup and ending up using a much narrower track width setting which they normally can’t use, but which the current conditions allow. Working closely with Max Fantini, Francesco has been testing a lot of different engines as well as settings and now has to pick the best one before qualifying gets underway this afternoon.

Some 7 tenths back on Pietsch, Kurzbuch was very happy with his Shepherd but will continue to try different things, such as further shock changes. The Swiss driver’s main focus is to select the correct engine, looking for the best balance between outright speed and fuel economy. On that point he has been testing different blends of fuel from fuel sponsor Energy to get the most out of his package.

Andrea Pirani sits in 4th place following CP1 and described practice so far as ‘quite good’. Searching for more steering as well as more traction, the aim is to make the car more safe to drive due to the heavy tire wear. For CP2 he plans to raise the rear shocks on his Shepherd as well as check the run time so that are no surprises when qualifying starts. Completing the top 5 is reigning ENS champion Dario Balestri, who heads two of his Infinity team mates Lamberto Collari and Rick Vrielijnck, with Dominic Greiner, Luca Piromalli and Anthony Abisset rounding out the top 10.

View the complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

Teemu Leino tops CP1 in Bologna

Teemu Leino has topped the first of two controlled practice sessions here in Bologna for the 1/10th class, the Infinity driver making up one of a very close trio that was competed by the Xray pairing of Alessio Mazzeo and Leo Arnold. Split by less than 7/100ths, behind the top 3 was reigning class champion Jilles Groskamp, followed by the Shepherd trio of Melvin Diekmann, Thilo Todtmann and Eduardo Escandon completing the top 7 with the difference between first to seventh less than a second over 3-consecutive laps. Asked about how his practice has been so far, Leino simply said ‘good’, before elaborating saying that they have changed the car every run, but now it is the best it has been. Feeling there is still a little bit still to come he said his IF15 is very easy to drive and the setup they have is perfect for the final.

A very close second in the opening round of controlled practice, Alessio Mazzeo was very content with his new Xray NT1. With the 2019 spec being released recently, the likeable Italian was very happy with the changes made, which he said made the car more like the brand’s EP car in terms of adjustability. Very happy with his current setup, he finished up by saying ‘it’s looking good for the race’.

Also very happy with his new Xray ride, Leo Arnold was the final driver in the 50 second range. The Frenchman summed it up by saying ‘ it was easy to drive and consistent over the 6 minutes’ expanding on that by saying ‘the car has more traction so we can go more aggressive on the front’. Asked his opinion on tire wear, he feels that for sure the wear is high but mostly on the right side meaning they will have to manage trim carefully in the race and for sure ‘change the right side tires at least twice in the final’.

Completing the top 4, current ENS Champion, Jilles Groskamp, who is running in his first race with new engine sponsors Max Power and Maxima fuel, commented on how close it was at the front. ‘Power track, more power equals more speed’ the Dutchman felt there is more to come from his engine but said there is no point in finding the limit so soon in the event.

View the complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

Track Focus – L.Collari RC Raceway

Track Name – L.Collari RC Raceway
Owner – Lamberto Collari
Country – Italy
Location – Bologna
Direction – Anti-clockwise
Surface – Asphalt
Previous ENS races hosted – 2 (2015, 2016)

Back on the Euro Nitro Series calendar after a 2 year hiatus, Italy’s first ever permanent track is again the venue for the start of the 2019 ENS.  Built in 1978, the Pista Futura track is responsible for starting the career of one of RC racing’s all time greats Lamberto Collari, and in 2013 the 9-time World Champion, together with Luca Rauli, took ownership of the track which has aptly been renamed L.Collari RC Raceway. Retaining its original fast 308 metre long layout over its 40-year existence, it was last resurfaced 10-years ago. Speaking to Simon Kurzbuch, who won the race the last time the track hosted the ENS back in 2016, the Shepherd driver said, ‘the track is the same as always, however the tire wear this year is very high’, the multiple ENS champion quick to lay blame on the surface rather than the handout Matrix foam. With a threat of rain on Sunday, the series organisers have decided as a precaution to run one round of 4-minute qualifying this afternoon, following controlled practice, and make a final decision tomorrow on the remainder of the schedule based on a more accurate forecast outlook for Sunday.

Image Gallery