Kurzbuch to start title defence from the TQ at Dutch ENS

Simon Kurzbuch is set to start the defence of his Infinity Euro Nitro Series title from the TQ. The Shepherd driver claimed the first championship point of Season #5 by posting a third TQ run in as many qualifiers on the championship’s first visit to the Netherlands.  Opening the day with a TQ run over rival Dario Balestri, he would continue to reign over proceedings in Q2 and 3 to secure his ninth ENS career TQ.  Fastest from Dutch surprise Jeffrey Rietveld in the second qualifier, it would be fellow countryman Silvio Hächler who get P2 in the penultimate qualifier with the ARC driver now looking to make it a Swiss 1-2 on the grid in the final qualifier.

‘One point already, it’s perfect. We start as we finished’, was Kurzbuch’s reaction his 5th consecutive pole position of the championship.  With Q3 the slowest of TQ runs, he said, ‘there was a lot of traffic and we were all together.  The first plan was to stay behind because I had a good gap but then it started to get very tight again but we did it.  In the end it was really tight with my friend Silvio who I wouldn’t mind losing out to but still it good to have the TQ done already’.  Asked about track conditions, Q3 taking place at a similar time to tomorrow’s A-Main, he said,  ‘it was a bit slower but the handling felt the same’.  With one qualifier still remaining, the 2015 World Champion plans to use the track time to test the 45-minute final.  He said, ‘I will not change the set-up but I will try small tyres to get the feeling and fuel consumption’.

A very happy looking Hächler said, ‘Before the race I was pretty confident but then I struggled with the track the first two days.  It was a combination of the car and my driving. I had trouble with the corner onto the straight which was really difficult’.  A Worlds Finalist, he said, ‘we made a small change in the set-up which had dramatic consequences in improving the car and I also improved my driving so everything came together’.  Asked about the final qualifier, he concluded, ‘Now we go for a Swiss 1+2 on the grid’.

Getting another Top 3 in the penultimate qualifier to go with his opening run, Robin D’hondt was pleased with his performance. The Capricorn driver said, ‘we tried a different engine for that one and it had more bottom power but slightly less at the top.  We also ran harder oil in the front for the warmer weather’.  Holding P4 on the grid going into the fourth & final qualifier he said, ‘we will leave the car like it is and push but try to make minimum mistakes and see what happens’.

Summing up his latest two qualifiers, Rietveld said, ‘Q2 was really good. We made the engine a little leaner and that gave me extra power. I again had a clean track and could push hard the whole time’.  On Q3 in which he was 4th quickest, the Serpent driver said, ‘I didn’t change anything but got stuck in traffic.  I think without this I could have got a TQ run.  Vying for a Top 3 starting position when his only other ENS outing saw him race in the C-Final, the Dutch driver said, ‘I hope for clean run and we have to see what the track will do but my car is good when it is hot or cool.  Another Top 3 would be nice’.  Behind Rietveld it would be Indonesian driver Chavit Saligupta who would be best of the Infinity runners finishing ahead of Japanese team-mate Takaaki Shimo while World Champion Balestri posted a P10 leaving him 6th overall with one qualifier to go.

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Groskamp takes Q2

Jilles Groskamp has taken the second round of the qualifying at the Infinity Euro Nitro Series in the Netherlands, the Infinity driver reversing the result of Q1 to top the times from Alessio Mazzeo.  Teemu Leino would again complete the Top 3 after a spin with 3 laps to go dropped him off the TQ pace. Eduardo Escandon would also repeat his Q1 result with another P4 run. Having failed to start Q1, Top Seed Dominic Greiner’s bad luck continued with a chunked tyre causing him problems including an off on the final lap leaving him to finish P7.

‘It is nice to TQ a round of the ENS again, the last one was quite some time ago’, was Groskamp’s reaction.  The former Champion continued, ‘It was a good run. The first lap the engine was quite rich but it came in nicely.  The track was a little more loose as the temperature came up’.  He concluded, ‘Things are really close but I am really happy with my package’.

Mazzeo said, ‘It is very close for sure. That was the hottest track conditions we have had so far but we made a change for it to improve the corner speed’.  The Xray driver added, ‘I had luck with that one mistake from Teemu which gave me second but for sure we are competitive and it is going to be a good battle for the overall TQ’.  As it stands, the Italian holds the advantage of having the faster TQ time which could prove critical in a tie break giving how closely matched the leading drivers are.

‘It was good. We changed the car a little bit and I was leading until the 2nd or 3rd last lap and spun coming onto the straight and lost the TQ. It was my mistake’, was how Leino summed up his second qualifier.  He added, ‘the track was slower because the sun has come up but my lap times were faster so it shows the car was better’.  Also suffering an moment coming onto the straight in Q1, he said, ‘I will try to have no mistake the next one’.

Commenting on his second attempt Escandon said, ‘I played safe but I think it was too safe from my side’.  The Shepherd driver added, ‘It’s ok because I have two good results and now I can push harder and try some things on the car’.  Behind the Spaniard, Mark Green would register his first time following his engine failure in Q1 warm-up with 1:10 rookie Lamberto Collari completing the Top 6.

Having got his weekend off to the perfect start by topping both free and timed practice, qualifying hasn’t gone the way of pre-season title favourite Greiner.  With a DNS in Q1, the Serpent driver struggled with tyres for Q2.  ‘The tyre gluing was bad and the car was difficult to drive but then they chunked and it was almost impossible to drive.  Its only been bad luck so far but I think the pace is there.  We changed a few things so the car is easy to drive and consistent’.

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Kurzbuch takes opening qualifier at Dutch ENS

Having set the pace in practice yesterday, reigning 1:8 Champion Simon Kurzbuch opened qualifying at Round 1 of the Infinity Euro Nitro Series with a TQ run.  The Shepherd driver, who again topped the time sheets from Dario Balestri, stopped the clocks with a 1-second advantage over his Italian rival who in turn had a 1-second advantage over third. Backing up his strong showing in seeding yesterday, it was Robin D’hondt who completed the Top 3 at the De Baanbrekers track ahead of the surprise of Q1, Jeffrey Rietveld, the Serpent driver running in the second fastest heat.

Summing up his first qualifying attempt, Kurzbuch said, ‘The car was perfect. I had a really good feeling and was able to push over the first 3, 4 laps and pull away. After that I was able to control my pace’.  Describing the track as ‘different to yesterday’, the Swiss driver said , ‘there was more grip which better suits my car’.  As for his plans for Q2, he replied, ‘I will leave it as is for the next one and try to put in the same run again’.

Balestri said, ‘I think everything was OK, we just need to find something to go a little faster’.  He continued, ‘I think we will try a different pipe to close the gap to Simon, but this is not news it is alway like this’.  The World Champion concluded, ‘We will try to use qualifying to improve the car for the finals’, a statement which appeared to be an admission that he was conceding the TQ to Kurzbuch.

‘It was a good run but I lost a little time trying to catch Naoto’, was D’hondt’s view on Q1.  The Capricorn driver added, ‘the car was very good but felt a little too easy to drive’.  Planning changes for Q2 to make the car a little more aggressive, the reigning European Champion said, ‘I will change the set-up but I’m not sure yet what’.

Only 15th fastest in timed practice, Rietveld was very happy with his P4.  Only returning to racing last year after a break of a number of years, the 22-year-old Dutchman said he had a ‘flawless run’.  Reporting his engine as being ‘a little rich’ he said ‘I think I can go a little faster’.  Making the C-Main on his only previous ENS outing last year at Ettlingen, he said he has previous knowledge of the track having tested here last year but it is not his local track.  Putting part of his impressive run down to having a clear track ahead of him he said, ‘I was lucky not to have any traffic so I could go flat out the whole session’.

Posting a P5 run ahead of Lars Hoppe, Carmine Raiola wasn’t overly pleased with his run.  The Italian former Worlds Finalist said, ‘I just tried to finish and get points. I played safe’.  Asked about his car, the Infinity driver replied, ‘It is OK but we need to find a better set-up, we need more steering’.

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Mazzeo TQs opening qualifier at ENS

Alessio Mazzeo has TQ’d the opening round of 1:10 qualifying at the Infinity Euro Nitro Series in the Netherlands. A very close Q1, the Xray driver would top the times from the Infinity’s of Jilles Groskamp and Teemu Leino. With the Top 4 covered by just half a second, Shepherd’s Eduardo Escandon would get a P4 for the first of the four qualifiers ahead of WRC’s Melvin Diekmann.  For Top Seed Dominic Greiner, a broken rear belt in the warm-up would prevent him from starting the qualifier while Serpent team-mate Mark Green also failed to start suffering an engine failure in the warm-up.

‘We are really happy. This is the best possible start we could ask for’, was Mazzeo’s reaction to his TQ.  Leading the defence of Xray’s 1:10 title as reigning Champion Bruno Coelho’s schedule has ruled him out of the ENS this season, the Italian added, ‘It was a clean run except for two mistakes.  I had a bad plug which made the engine go rich and then go lean and this caused me to miss my lines two times’.  The former race winner, who is slightly under the weather here in Rucphen, said, ‘it is very close with Jilles, Dominic and Teemu and Eduardo is now also better.  For the next one I will not change the car, just put in a new glowplug’.

Groskamp said, ‘It was a super close race and I think everyone had a bad lap’.  The former champion continued,  ‘I took the curb and lost 1-second.  Also my engine was too rich for the first part of the heat. Maybe that cost me the TQ but I am happy with my pace’.  Running a prototype of Infinity’s upcoming IF15, he said, ‘I wont change anything for Q2, just make the engine more lean.  I’m still happy with second and that I was only 1/10th (of a second) behind Mazzeo’.

Summing up his opening qualifier on what is a beautiful sunny morning at the De Baanbrekers track, Leino also reported the engine tuning as his only real issue.  The Finn said, ‘We had a little problem with the engine tuning being too rich.  I also got sideways onto the straight which cost me 4/10th, which is a lot when it is so close but 3rd is OK’.  The 2016 Champion was quick to point out Greiner’s absence from Q1 saying, ‘Dominic didn’t drive so we need to see how he goes and see where we are at.  I think we need to improve to be competitive against Dominic’. Leino will make ‘small adjustments’ to his car for his second qualifier.

‘I lost it on the last lap’ was Escandon’s reaction to his Q1 performance.  The Spaniard continued, ‘I heard I was 2nd so I pushed on the last lap but made a little mistake’.  On his car he said, ‘the car and engine was pretty good and easy to drive so I am really happy.  I will leave it the same and just try to make a completely clean run in the next one’.

Diekmann was very pleased with his P5 saying, ‘this is very good for me,  I got lucky that Dominic didn’t run’.  The German who made a number of A-Main appearance’s last season added, ‘my goal is Top 10 so I am very happy. I had a lot of clear track which helped.  The car is good so I will just try to drive another clean run in the next one’.

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Kurzbuch tops practice at ENS Round 1

Simon Kurzbuch has ended the first official day of the 2018 Infinity Euro Nitro Series season at the top of the time sheets, the Shepherd driver fastest in the seeding practice from World Champion Dario Balestri.  Having topped the first of the two timed practices at the Southern Dutch De Baanbrekers track, the reigning ENS Champion found almost 3/10ths on his second run while Balestri found marginally more time to jump from P6 after TP1 to second 0.134 off over the fastest 3-consecutive laps.  Behind the ENS’ only 1:8 Champions,  Robin D’hondt continued his strong showing moving up to complete the Top 3 ahead of Naoto Matsukura who failed to better his time in TP2.

‘The track didn’t change so we need to adapt the car for tomorrow’ was Kurzbuch’s reaction despite again topping the times in TP2.  Chasing his 10th ENS career win this weekend, Kurzbuch didn’t change his car for the final run feeling the track had changed a lot from the final free practice to the first timed run.  Wanting to wait to see if the track would change back, it didn’t, and so the Swiss driver now will make small adjustments.  He said, ‘we are quite close to what we want. The engine is there so I don’t think it will be a problem to get the set-up right for the first qualification’.

Summing up his day, Balestri said, ‘It’s going ok but the track is really difficult’.  He continued, ‘you change something small and it completely changes the car.  For example 1/4 turn spring change is like you made a drastic change.  It is one of the most difficult tracks to work on set-up’.  On his gap to Kurzbuch, the Italian said, ‘I have my best engines for qualifying which I think will give me the 1/10th I’m missing so I’m happy I can challenge Simon for the TQ’.  Describing his IF18 as ‘really consistent’ he said, ‘we still need to find the right balance for the bumps on the track but this is normal that we are always trying to improve the car’.

‘The car felt really stuck to the track’, was the reaction of a very pleased looking D’hondt at the end of the day.  The former European Champion added however, ‘when I push really hard it starts to bounce in the rear so maybe now it is too narrow so I will go out a little again’. Describing his car as ‘easy to drive so I am able to do consistent lap times’, the Belgian concluded, ‘I have two good engines with good power for qualifying’.

Suffering a loose side pulley in the final practice which took 3-minutes to fix, Matsukura said as a result he could break in his tyres for the run but said at the end the feeling of his car was good’.  This was something the reigning 1:12 World Champion put down to moving the shocks into a more upright position.  Asked if he planned more changes for Q1 in the morning the Infinity driver replied, ‘I am thinking what more we can change for tomorrow but I think the qualifying is going to be maximum close and a clean run will be very important’.

Team-mate Lamberto Collari would end the day a frustrated 5th fastest.  The legend of the sport said, ‘I have had some trouble with the tyres coming unglued and because of this can not get consistency in my run because I have to stop to change tyres.  It is hard to gauge exactly where we are at’.  He concluded, ‘this morning was super fast but now we are 3/10th slower’.

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Greiner Top Seed for Dutch ENS

Dominic Greiner is the top seed at season opening round of the Infinity Euro Nitro Series in the Netherlands.  The Serpent driver left his mark on Friday’s track action by topping free practice and then both of the timed practices, the second of which would be 3/10ths quicker than the first.  Behind the winner of last season’s finale, Jilles Groskamp would improve to the second fastest time with Infinity’s new car while Xray’s Alessio Mazzeo turned around a difficult day to finish up 3rd quickest.  Making it four different cars at the top of the times, new WRC recruit Melvin Diekmann would post the 4th fastest 3-consecutive laps ahead of Teemu Leino and 1:10 rookie Lamberto Collari.

‘I am pretty confident for qualifying but it really close with Jilles, Teemu and now Mazzeo like always’, was Greiner’s reaction at the end of the first official day of the event at the De Baanbrekers track.  Having not been completely happy with his car in the first timed practice, but still quickest, asked if he found conditions better for TP2, the World Champion replied, ‘I think a lot depends on the tyres but we tried something and it was better. We also got another free practice run after and tried something else so now we know what we can do if the track changes’.

‘Better’ was how Groskamp summed up the second timed practice.  P4 after the first run, he continued, ‘the track was maybe slightly better that time and I also made the rear stable.  It was a good run and I closed the gap to Dominic a little more so I’m ready to go qualifying. I’m really happy to be close to him’.  The 2015 Champion added, ‘I don’t know if Dominic has any surprises for qualifying but I am going to start with what I have.  3 laps is way different to 4-minute pace’.  On his car he said, ‘our new touring car is working very good, good steering, good power because the transmission is really free and I only need to make small changes each time not like before when we had to change everything’.

Summing up his day, Mazzeo said, ‘the car finally works good’.  The Italian added, ‘yesterday and this morning have been difficult but we worked hard and now have found a good set-up balance’. Describing the track layout as ‘very hard’, the Vice-World Champion said, ‘the gear ratio is very critical for 1:10 but we have everything good now for qualifying’.

Putting his improved in TP2 down to ‘the driver improved’, Diekmann highlighted this being his first ENS race with WRC saying ‘It’s a new season and a new challenge’.  The 19-year-old said having put the car on the track for the first time yesterday with his ‘basic set-up’ he has had to make very little changes.  The biggest changes has come with a switch of bodyshell from a Spark to Protoform’s P47 which he said improved the car’s corner speed.  On the track, he said it was a bit like Ettlingen with the ‘fast corner suiting (his) driving style’.

Never one to give away too much, Leino summed up practice with, ‘we are ok, the final is on Sunday’.  The former champion said ‘From talking to a few drivers the split between the front and rear shore of the tyres is higher than the practice tyres.  Maybe the track changed too I don’t know but we still have a few things we want to try’.  The Finn concluded, ‘It’s not an easy track. It looks easy but it’s not’.

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