Stadler in A-Main on nitro debut

Making his nitro racing debut at the Euro Nitro Series in Germany, emerging electric touring car talent Dionys Stadler will line-up for the 12-car 45-minute A-Main after heading an Xray 1-2 in the B-Main ahead of team-boss Martin Hudy.  Starting from second on the grid behind Rico Kröber, the 18-year-old took the lead on the opening lap. Leading for the majority of the reduced 12-minute encounter, rain delaying morning proceedings at Minidrom Ettlingen, only Kröber would manage to get in front of him but that lasted just 5-laps before Kröber’s engine stopped on track.  Starting from last on the grid having bumped up from the C-Main, Hudy would work his way through the field to finish over 10-seconds behind to secure his second A-Main start of the season. For reigning World Champion Alexander Hagberg, the race would bring to an end to what has been a tough weekend for the Swede.  Running 3rd, the Xray driver would collect another car resulting in him retiring with a broken car.  Also a casualty of the race was Bologna ENS Finalist Gerhard Kandelhart who had the radio box ripped from his Shepherd when he hit the foot of Krober’s pitman who was recovering the German’s car.

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Balestri to start 2nd after topping final qualifier

Dario Balestri will start the 1:8 A-Main at the third round of the Euro Nitro Series from 2nd on the grid.  With reigning champion Simon Kurzbuch wrapping up the overall TQ in Germany early, his Shepherd topping the first four qualifiers, in the final round at Minidrom Ettlingen it was Balestri’s Capricorn that would set the pace.  Outpacing the Mugen of Robert Pietsch by 4/10ths, the result would snatch 2nd on the grid for the Italian ahead of the German.  Behind them Oliver Mack has made an impressive return to the ENS securing P4 as his starting position ahead of an equally impressive Robin D’hondt, whose BMT will line up fifth for tomorrow’s 45-minute encounter.

A driver who has developed a smile that has been growing over the second official day of the event, Balestri said, ‘I only needed time to adjust the car’.  Having felt he has been playing catch up due to his rivals arriving at the Minidrom Ettlingen a day earlier than him, the reigning European Champion is now confident he’s now in a position to match his rivals on pace.  ‘Very happy’ with his C802 and Tesla engines, he is now ‘feeling confident for the final’.  Having tested yesterday on small diametre tyres, the Bologna ENS Top Qualifier and race runner-up said this presents no issue for him so it’s all ‘looking good for a good race tomorrow’.

Acknowledging that Balestri has now entered the mix, Pietsch used the final two qualifiers to test set-ups for the final.  In Q4 the changes were ‘not good’ but making further changes to his Picco powered MRX-5 for Q5 he said it was running ‘OK’ until the last minute when his engine went lean and it was this that lost him the time to Balestri.  Having twice TQ’d an ENS but failed to convert those into victory, Pietsch said he was not unhappy not to be starting out front.  Highlighting that the ENS tyre rules make everyone so close in lap times as everyone starts with the same diameter tyre, this makes it hard to pull away so for him it is easier to start off the race following someone else.  Feeling the track changed following the overnight rain he said he didn’t find the best set-up as he had yesterday.  Still looking for better stability in the car he has ‘more to test’ in the 10-minute A-Main practice.

Testing a different set-up in the final qualifier, Kurzbuch said the change to a harder rear spring was ‘better for the feeling but not for the lap times’.  Also switching engine in his Velox V8, he said it was set too rich leaving him lacking power.  Planning to leave the set-up unchanged for the A-Main practice he wants to test it with a different Novarossi engine ‘to see how it works’.

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5 out 5 for Greiner but Leino shows promise for final

Having already wrapped up the overall TQ in the third round of qualifying at the German ENS, Dominic Greiner didn’t let up taking the remaining two qualifiers at Minidrom Ettlingen.  Completing the clean sweep, the Serpent driver is clearly the man to beat in tomorrow’s Main as he seek his first win at the Round 3 of the championship, but the biggest news of Q4 & 5 was the improvement made by Austrian ENS winner Teemu Leino.

Set to line-up third on the grid behind the two early dominant drivers of weekend Greiner and Dirk Wischnewski, a complete rebuild of his HB R10 for Q4 had Leino in contention for a TQ run.  Unfortunately catching a backmarker on his final lap the Finn would end up on the grass denying him a shot at ending Greiner’s reign.  In Q5, Leino would again swap times with the German the gap at the end half a second.  Also racing 1:8 this weekend, Leino said after Q3 together with his Japanese mechanic Takashi Miyashita they made the call to focus on the 1:10 car and able to fully rebuild the 1:10 car as a result he was immediately ‘back in the game’.  Saying the car ‘just need the extra attention’, the former World Championship Top Qualifier is feeling confident for the final.  Asked about strategy, he said he would do his calculations tonight in terms of tyres but in the engine department he was happy with his mileage adding that he wasn’t so sure his rivals were in the same positive position with run time.

Although joint leaders of the championship Jilles Groskamp and Bruno Coelho have just scraped into the Main and will line up 8th and 9th respectively behind reigning champion Eric Dankel.  Groskamp said he is ‘still struggling’.  Switching back to an SRS bodyshell the HB/Maxima team driver said his R10 is still not right with it feeling as if it gets stuck in the corners.  Feeling this is also effecting his engine with it lacking bottom end power, he said they have tried a lot of stuff but can’t find the problem.  Suffering from too tight a clutch in the final qualifier he said while he is not the only top driver having problems with the track’s unique asphalt, he said Leino is running the same car and has managed to get back on pace.  Hopefully he can find something in the A-Main practice session tomorrow, he said its going to be hard to fight for the win but the fact that he is in the final ‘you never know what can happen’.

Struggling with getting a set-up that lets him push the car without traction rolling, Bologna ENS winner Coelho said it been a ‘tough weekend’.  The Portuguese driver with such high grip they have struggled to get the NT1 to work especially on big tyres.  While the car was better in Q5, he said the final will be about ‘damage limitation’ in terms of the championship standings rather than challenging for the win. While admitting he is running out of time he hopes they can further improve the car for the 45-minute Main.  Highlighting his team’s struggles this weekend team-mate & reigning World Champion Alexander Hagberg has qualified 14th meaning he will have to hope he can finish in the Top 2 of the in the B Final in order to bump up and complete the 12-car A-Main starting grid.

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Clean sweep gives Kurzbuch German ENS TQ

Simon Kurzbuch is Top Qualifier for the German round of the Euro Nitro Series. The reigning ENS champion secured pole position with a clean sweep of the opening three qualifiers at Minidrom Ettlingen.  Making a marked improvement for Q3, Bologna Top Qualifier Dario Balestri would push him, crossing the line just 0.038 off the Swiss driver’s time.  His second overall ENS TQ, its bonus point extends the Shepherd drivers lead in the championship standings over Balestri to 5 points.

Seeking a second consecutive ENS victory, having secured his first at the previous round in Austria, Kurzbuch was happy to wrap up the TQ having opened with a strong qualifying in Aigen only to lose the TQ when he hit issues in the closing heats.  Describing his Velox V8 and Novarossi engine as ‘really good for qualifying’, he added the rear was ‘really really loose’ which while fine for qualifying he now needed to change the set-up and make it more safe for the final.  Looking to improve run time for the final, the high speed track layout causing high fuel consumption, he will change to a different engine and work on getting it ready for tomorrow’s 45-Main. Asked about tyres for the final, he replied while the wear is low the issue is more controlling the engine rpm on small tyres down the straight rather than having enough tyre to finish the race and with this in mind he plans one tyre stop.

Balestri was very upbeat about his improved pace adding that he now had enough track time to catch up to his rivals, who enjoyed more testing than him. Improving his Tesla powered C03 ‘step by step’ each qualifier the reigning European Champion said everything is ‘now ok’.  Asked if he planned to use the remaining qualifiers to prepare for the final, he promptly respond ‘no no, I want to go faster’.  He continued that with the ENS tyre rules of set diameter handout pre-trued tyres, which he added he ‘enjoys’, he doesn’t have to make a strategy with tyres for the final as he knows everyone is working off the same tyre.

Posting the third fastest time Robert Pietsch said he made a mistake in choosing to run the same set of tyres for a third time.  The Mugen driver made the call having set his fastest lap towards the end of Q2 but he said they were too small and in Q3 it made his MRX-5 ‘difficult over the bumps’.  With the overall TQ done and his place in the Main secured, the former World Champion will now work towards getting ready for the final.  With ‘fuel mileage an issue’ due to the nature of the track, he will try a different Picco engine in Q4.

Having ‘crashed quite badly’ in Q2 with his Shepherd needing to be rebuilt, Rick Vrielijnck said considering this P4 for the round ‘was OK’.  He said while the car was ‘good’ it suffered from oversteer leading him to make ‘small mistakes’.  The Dutchman who also ran a P4 time in Q1 yesterday, is confident that a wing adjustment will get the steering back in his Picco powered Velox V8.

Behind Vreilijnck was Shepherd team-mate Oliver Mack but the championship returning German while happy with the handling of his car said he is still lacking outright speed.  Having changed engine and clutch he said nothing improved and he is now suspecting something is wrong within the car.  Happy at having already secured a place in the final, his goal coming into the weekend, he will use the final two qualifiers to try a few changes that he hopes will result in him finding speed from the engine.

While ARC’s Lars Hoppe couldn’t back up his strong Q2 performance due to engine issues, Robin D’Hondt would with a P6.  The BMT backed driver said his Picco powered 984 is ‘getting faster but getting more difficult to drive’.  While managing a best lap of 12.8, almost matching Kurzbuch’s fastest lap of the round, he said he can get consistency.  Planning to lower the rear roll centre, go harder in the rear shock oil and move the body more to the rear of the car, the multiple World Championship finalist hopes this will in addition to making the car more easy to drive help reduce the initial steering without taking away overall steering.

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Greiner Top Qualifier at German ENS

Dominic Greiner is the Top Qualifier for Round 3 of the Euro Nitro Series in Germany.  The Serpent driver claimed his second consecutive ENS TQ when he completed a clean sweep of the first three qualifiers at Minidrom Ettlingen.  Having dominated yesterday’s opening two qualifiers, this morning in Q3 he faced a strong challenge from Shepherd’s Dirk Wischnewski who pushed him hard.  Seeing off his fellow German by just a tenth of a second Greiner would secure his third overall TQ making him the championship’s most successful qualifier.

‘Very, very close’, was Greiner’s reaction after the run.  With his Max engine running rich in the much cooler conditions than the tough heat experienced yesterday, the World Championship Top Qualifier said he had to ‘push maximum hard’ and as a result made a ‘couple of small errors’.  With ‘Dirk very fast’, the two having a distinct advantage over their rivals, Greiner predicts a tough final between himself and the former European Champion.  With the TQ settled and still two more rounds of qualifying to run, last years Austrian ENS winner will use the track time to test small tyres and run time as preparation for the 45-minute Main.  Asked about the final he said it was ‘not possible to do to do the race without a tyre change’.  Running a simulated final during testing at the Ettlingen track 2-weeks ago, he said ‘after 25-minutes the car gets very difficult to drive’.

Wischnewski’s reaction was similar to Greiner, the vice-champion summing up the qualifier as ‘Super close’.  Commenting on the improved performance he said ‘finally the engine setting was ok’, him having struggled a little with the tune on his Orcan engine in Q1 & 2.  Having had concerns about the track following the overnight rain it would prove to be the same as yesterday with him describing his Velox V10 as ‘really good’.  Taking ‘one corner not so good’ he said this cost the TQ run and the chance to challenge Greiner for pole in the final over the remaining qualifiers.  Instead he will now start looking at his set-up for the final planning to run used tyres to gauge the car on small tyres as well as testing how his painted bodyshell works having run a white shell so far.

Heading the second group of drivers again posting the third fastest time Leino said his HB team regrouped last night.  Running in both classes he said they struggled as a result yesterday and today they will as part of a new approach try a new set-up every run.  The Finn, who claimed his & HB’s first ENS win at Round 2,  said the problem they are faced with is the front end has too much bite making the rear end loose and now their focus is on making the car ‘smooth’ to drive for the final.

Having left his car unchanged since the start of qualifying Rene Pupke continued his strong showing with a P4 in Q3.  The Shepherd driver, who made his first ENS final at the previous race in Aigen, felt the latest set of tyres he had was not so good but with three good rounds in the bag it was time to start trying some set-up changes with the final in mind.

Claiming his third P6 time, joint championship leader Jilles Groskamp appeared a lot happier today.  Deciding at last night’s HB team meeting to make a chassis change on his Maxima powered R10, he was confident they were now in a much better place.  Having been running a ‘softer’ chassis, he is now running a standard kit chassis which has made the car more stable and ‘way more easy to drive’.  Also bringing on understeer, the Austrian ENS runner-up is confident that a combination of the stiffer chassis and a set-up he ran yesterday will cure that.  Having run a P37 bodyshell he will also switch to an SRS which should also induce more steering.

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Another TQ run from Kurzbuch

Picking up where he left off yesterday Simon Kurzbuch has TQ’d the second round of qualifying at the ENS in Germany. The Shepherd driver again topped the times from Robert Pietsch, the Mugen driver almost 4/10th off at the end of the 4-minutes.  As he did in Q1, Capricorn’s Dario Balestri completed the Top 3, the Italian closer to his rival’s pace this morning.  The biggest improvements on the start of Day 2 of the event would come from Aigen podium finisher Lars Hoppe and Belgian Robin D’Hondt who posted the 4th and 5th fastest times respectively ahead of Oliver Mack.  Unfortunately for Francesco Tironi his Q2 would be short lived.  Getting out of shape on lap 2, his Shepherd would get collected by the ARC of Silvio Hächler forcing Tironi out with a broken suspension with the incident also ending Andrea Lorenzi’s qualifier.

Describing his P4 run as ‘a little difficult’, Hoppe said the result was good after ‘a lot of problems in practice’.  With traction lower today following overnight rain,  the German said his R8.0 was much better in Q1 but the driver was terrible.  Making a ‘huge’ adjustment to the rear toe on his car in the warm-up for Q2, he said even with this the rear was still loose.  A two time ENS podium finisher, he reported his gearbox as changing too late adding he needs to adjust it for Q3.  Happy to open the day with a good run, he said hopefully for Q3 the temperature and traction will be higher as these conditions would suit his car better.

Running in the second fastest heat along with Hoppe, D’Hondt said he made ‘too many mistakes (himself)’ over the run.  Leading the efforts of small Italian manufacturer BMT since the departure of Daniele Ielasi, he said his Picco powered 984 was better today but still difficult to drive. Running a set-up that is ‘completely different to what (he) would run anywhere else’, he feels he can still find something to improve the car further for the Minidrom Ettlingen’s unique asphalt.

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