Depta tops 1:8 practice at ENS Bologna

Merlin Depta topped 1:8 practice at the Euro Nitro Series season opener in Italy this morning, the Serpent driver fastest from reigning champion Dario Balestri over 3-consecutive laps.  With the majority of drivers posting their fastest time in the first of the two controlled practices, an improvement in CP2 would see WRC’s Andrea Pirani complete the top 3 ahead of World Champion Simon Kurzbuch.  With the event marking the official debut of class newcomers Infinity it was Francesco Tironi who was fastest of the star studded team, posting the 6th fastest time ahead of team-mates Jesse Davis and Carmine Raiola.  Racing at L.Collari RC Raceway, track owner and No.1 Infinity recruit Lamberto Collari would manage only the 22nd fastest time.

Although annoyed with himself for destroying a new bodyshell in the first practice which he had only prepared last night, Depta summed up his somewhat surprise topping of practice as ‘not bad’.  Having played around with rear body height in free practice yesterday he also switched between a wide and a narrow front track finding the wide made the car easier to handle. Over the two controlled practices he moved the rear shock position to the lowest hole which while not effecting the car’s pace did make it ‘easier to drive’.  Declaring the track as one of his favourites since his first visit in 2014, he will leave his Picco powered 977 unchanged for the first of the four qualifiers.

‘With strange grip and strange tyres it is not easy but its a good start’, was Balestri’s view of being a 1/10th of a second off Depta’s pace.  The Capricorn lead driver was referring to the polishing the track surface underwent in January and to the race’s controlled Contact tyre.  Running the new RS version of the LAB-C08 which features new rear geometry, the Top Qualifier of this event last year said he has used practuice to adjust the balance of the car and he is happy with where it is at going into qualifying.

Pirani was suprised by his Top 3 time saying, ‘Third! My feeling with the car was not very good’.  Finishing on the podium here 12-months ago, the Italian is running the 2016 version of the car he is responsible for designing.  Featuring a new front flex system he is ‘fighting low grip in the front end’ but added ‘I hope to make a better set-up and think I can go faster’.

Kurzbuch said, ‘the first (practice) as really good and I was in the Top 3 but the second it rained a little and the track was not so good’.  Looking to get more steering on corner entry the Swiss ace feels there are ‘little improvements’ he can make to his Shepherd for Q1.  Declaring he ‘should be ready for quaifying’ he added ‘it will be interesting to see how everyone works in qualifying conditions’.

Top French driver Anthony Abisset made it a promising morning for Serpent, their drivers having locked out the Top 3 in 1:10 pratice.  Setting the 5th fastest time, when asked if it was good morning for him he replied ‘yes for once’.  A former European B Champion, that title came here in 2014.  Making small changes to his also Picco powered 977, he said the biggest change came from changing bodyshell.  Switching between a Blitz and a Protoform body, he said the PF R18 made the car more stable out of the corner and he will run the car unchanged for Q1.

Completing the Top 6, Tironi said he is finding speed everytime he runs it as both the car and track improve. Describing the times as ‘really close’ the popular Italian added ‘I think we are competitive’.  Looking to the opening qualifier after ‘a little problem’ with his engine he will fit a new one adding, ‘the aim is to make a clean run with a Top 5 or better the target’.

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Serpent opens ENS#3 with strong 1:10 practice

Serpent have opened the 2016 Euro Nitro Series season with a strong show of force as their drivers locked out the Top 3 in controlled practice in Bologna, Italy, this morning.  With drivers getting two rounds of controlled practice which will determine the heat seeding, it was last year’s season finale winner Alessio Mazzeo who set the pace around the high speed L.Collari RC Raceway.  Behind the Italian it was Mark Green, just 0.049 of a second off over 3-laps, with Serpent’s 2015 title contender Dominic Greiner on a further 0.075 adrift.  Best of the rest would be Erik Dankel, the 2014 ENS Champion making a good start to his Mugen debut with only 0.029 his deficit to Greiner.

With Serpent’s factory drivers running first samples of a soon to be released new internal transmission for the Natrix 748, Mazzeo declared, ‘we are happy’.  Setting his fastest time in the first of the two practices, he said having tried a different set-up in CP2, he will revert back to his previous set-up for the first of qualifiers.  With rain forecast for tomorrow, organisers have brought forward qualifying with all 4 rounds now scheduled to run today.  Also new on his Gimar Speed 2016 powered 748 is a Novarossi clutch, the unit the first centax system to be released by the Italian engine manufacturer.

‘Very good’ was Green’s reaction to the practice.  Describing his car as ‘really consistent’, the British driver added that the new transmission ‘allows the car to run more free’ resulting in ‘smooth acceleration’.  Also running big bore shocks on his car he said having left his car unchanged over the two practices he would continue with it that way for Q1, the car’s designer Michael Salven joking on that because he doesn’t need to change anything and ‘actually he is bored’.  Having made the switch to XRD engines, a strong engine key to track’s fast layout, he declared ‘my new engines are fantastic’.

A drivers who is known for determination to be P1, Greiner described his P3 in practice as ‘ok’.  Describing the new transmission as ‘a lot better’, the German said his car is actually ‘too easy to drive’ and he is ‘looking for more steering’.  Another driver to switch engines over the winter going in the opposite direction to team-mate Green by joining Novarossi, he said his new engines have been running ‘very good’.

‘Good so far’ was Dankel’s summary of practice.  Having endured a torrid start to his title defence in Bologna last year failing to make the final, he said it was ‘good to make first race without problems’.  In the second practice, he did have a problem with his car going straight on and across the grass – a loose battery connector suspected as causing the glitch.  Working very closely with the car’s designer Robert PIetsch he said ‘Robert is helping a lot and I really appreciate that’.  Making a change to his Orcan powered MTX-6 for CP2 when he ran a softer rear anti roll bar, as it didn’t improve the car he will revert to a set-up he ran in free practice yesterday.

A driver who showed strong at the final round in Fiorano last year, Spanish KM driver Eduardo Escandon looks to have picked up where he left off by laying down the 5th fastest time. Behind him Bruno Coelho completed the Top 6.  Winner here in Bologna last year, the Xray driver set his time in the second of the practice runs having topped the times on the slower track.  The Portuguese ace said his ‘car was very good in the last run but the track was slower.  We improved the car a lot so we are on a good way’.  Looking for more steering, admitting ‘everyone has the same problem’, he said ‘we have some more things to run through but it looks good for qualifying’.  Coelho’s World Champion team-mate Alexander Hagberg would post the 8th fastest time.

Heading Team Shepherd’s 1:10 campaign with the 7th fastest time, Dirk Wischnewski hinted that this weekend was  about damage limitation in terms of championship points.  Describing practice as ‘so so’, the German continued ‘we improved compared to yesterday when we struggled a lot’.  Suffering from understeer, he conceded that ‘normally (these) conditions are not on my side’ and ‘I hope for good run over the 4-minutes’, the ENS running 4-minutes qualifier.

Posting the 9th fastest time ahead of the similar car of Britain’s Kyle Branson,  reigning champion Jilles Groskamp said ‘its not so bad, it (his pace) is very close to the other guys’.  Having joined the Infinity team over the winter, the former HB driver said his focus so far this weekend has been on his 1:8 programme.  With Infinity not yet having a 1:10 car, the Dutch ace is running a Capricorn adding he has ‘not put much effort into 1:10 yet’.  Doing one race with the car in Singapore, where he said track conditions where very different, he said he would like to dial out some understeer and will go through the set-up a bit more now that is 1:8 is running well.

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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 – 1 (2015)

Making its first Euro Nitro Series calendar appearance last year when it hosted the season opener, Italy’s first ever permanent track is again the venue for the start of the 2016 ENS.  Built in 1978, the track is responsible for starting the career of one of the RC racing all time great Lamberto Collari.  Only 6-years old when the track then called Pista Futura was built, it is here where the 9-time 1:8 Onroad World Champion mastered his legendary driving skills and things turned full circle in 2013 when Collari, 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 38-year existence, one change to the track since last year’s ENS visit is a cleaning of the track surface in January.  Last resurfaced 8-years ago, in preparation for the 1:5 European Championships it will host in July the track was polished with a steel ball cutting agent that clears away the tyre build up and makes the track surface more abrasive providing better traction for the large rubber tyres the class uses.  Unfortunately for the ENS which uses foam tyres, Contact the official tyre suppliers for the opening round of ENS Season #3,  the work has resulted in lower traction.  Reigning 1:10 Champion Jilles Groskamp said the lower traction has made for slower lap times but also means more tyre wear as the cars are sliding around more, especially in the 1:8 division.  On the track layout, the new factory Infinity driver said ‘it’s wide open’ adding ‘while you always need a good engine it is especially important here’.  On double duty this weekend, racing Maxima powered cars in both 1:8 and 1:10, he said in 1:10 ‘it is difficult to find good steering as a result of the high speed’.

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