Greiner on pole for ENS Round 2

Last year he won a wet race in Austria from 3rd on the grid but after a super close final qualifier Dominic Greiner will start the second round of the Euro Nitro Series from pole position.  In contrasting weather conditions to last season at the Aigen-Schlägl track, Greiner went into the final qualifier in a head to head battle with ENS Italy Top Qualifier Teemu Leino.  While Leino would do what he had to and post his second TQ run, matching Greiner, it was a blistering fastest last lap that would secure the German his second ever ENS TQ.  Getting ahead of Leino’s team-mate Jilles Groskamp for a P2 as a result of the lap it was this race time that would give the factory Serpent driver the tie break by just 0.15 of a second. On his first visit to the difficult track Groskamp will line up 3rd with Capricorn’s Thilo Todtmann securing 4th.

Having crashed out of the final at the season opener in Bologna, Greiner was happy to put his Max powered 748 at the front of the grid saying ‘the TQ point is for sure an important first step to the weekend’.  With tyre wear on every driver’s mind for tomorrow, the World Championship Top Qualifier said ‘its a big problem’.  Planning to work on his strategy in the A-Main practice tomorrow he said while he hopes for no rain tomorrow a bit of overnight rain might not be the worst thing in terms of tyre wear.  With the times throughout qualifying extremely close over all five rounds, Greiner said with ‘its going to be an interesting race with everyone so even’.

‘Maximum close’ was how Leino summed things up after qualifying.  A two time ENS Top Qualifier, he said ‘its going to be a tough race for sure and will be all about what happens in the pits’.  Having previous highlighted that the narrow racing line is going to make overtaking very difficult without mistakes, he said tyre & fuel strategy is where the position changes will come from over the 45-minutes.

‘(I) think it is going to be close’, that was Groskamp’s prediction for the final.  He continued ‘3 of us are really close and the others are not far behind’.  Commenting on his qualifying the Dutch ace said he tried too hard in qualifying and its a track that doesn’t reward hard driving.  Able to better gauge his pace in the race as he will be able to see his rivals, he is confident of a good race.  Very happy with the run time from his OS Speed based Maxima engines he said he knows where to save both fuel and tyres leaving the Round 1 podium finisher pretty upbeat going into the final day.

Starting sixth behind Todtmann and Shepherd’s Dirk Wischnewski, ENS Italy winner Bruno Coelho said his Xray was a little strange in the final qualifier and they need to improve it for tomorrow.  The Portuguese ace said ‘its not going to be an easy race’ adding the starting position is not important as a lot with change over the 45-minutes.  ‘A difficult track’ he said as a result it will be almost impossible to run consistent for the entire final and this will be compounded by the high tyre wear, many drivers expected to do two tyre changes.  Alexander Hagberg, who finished on the podium in Bologna from 8th on the grid, starts behind his Xray team-mate in 7th.

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Pietsch is Top Qualifier at ENS Austria

Robert Pietsch is Top Qualifier for tomorrow’s 1:8 A-Main at Round 2 of the Euro Nitro Series in Austria.  The Mugen driver claimed only his second ever ENS TQ when he topped the fifth & final round of qualifying at Aigen-Schlägl track ahead of a much improved Dario Balestri.  Unfortunately for reigning champion Simon Kurzbuch, engine issues in the final two qualifiers meant he was unable to maintain his early dominant form and the Team Shepherd driver will start second on grid in the 45-minute final.  Behind last year’s title rivals, Lars Hoppe will start his first ENS outing of the season from 3rd on the grid ahead of ENS Italy Top Qualifier and race runner-up Dario Balestri.

After a poor result at the season opener in Bologna, which he hopes will turn out to be his dropped round, Pietsch was pleased to get the bonus TQ championship point.  The Mugen designer said the final qualifier was not as easy as it looked. While he knew Kurzbuch was out he said running close to Balestri he could see the Capricorn driver had improved a lot and he was going to have a tough fight with him.  Pietsch’s observation in the warm-up was correct, the separation at the end of the 4-minutes just 0.030 of a second.  Asked about the finals the 2011 World Champion said he planned to test a different chassis on his MRX-5 which he feels will better suit the low grip conditions over the longer race.  Asked about tyre strategy the German said he didn’t think it would be as important as fuel strategy due to high tyre wear as everyone would have to change and it was ‘impossible to go long enough to save 1-tyre stop’.  Describing the run time from his Picco engine as ‘very good’ he said this is were the advantage would be gained over the race.

‘Unlucky Dario didn’t get it’, that was Kurzbuch’s reaction after the final qualifier.  Had Balestri pipped Pietsch it would have handed the Swiss ace the overall TQ but looking to the final Kurzbuch said ‘it is going to be a very exciting race’.  Complimenting both Shepherd and Novarossi for giving him the pace to TQ two of the five qualifiers, he said in the end ‘I just had some bad luck and we missed out on the (overall) TQ’ but he is happy going into the final knowing he has the speed to race for the win.  Having run the set-up on his Velox V8 unchanged throughout qualifying and most of practice, he said he would continue with this for the final highlighting that he would even continue with the same ride height.

Hoppe was very happy with his P3 starting position.  His first big nitro race with ARC, he used the last qualifier to test for the final saying afterwards ‘I think we will have a great car and it should be a nice fight’.  Feeling they are ‘perfectly prepared for the final’ in terms of tyre & fuel strategy he said his Reds Racing engine is very strong having both good power & run time.  Of the 10 direct qualifiers, with the Top 2 from the B-Main set to bump up, ARC are the best represented car with Hoppe being joined by Shasa Lackner in P6, new signing Silivo Hachler P7 and last year’s race winner John Ermen P10.

Having looked somewhat dejected for most of the day, Balestri was rejuvenated after his Q5 performance.  Having struggled to get his Capricorn to react to any set-up changes, raising the ride height of his C802 had transformed the car for the final qualifier with him posting the fastest lap.  An ENS race winner in 1:10, he said the ride height he had been running was what he normally runs everywhere but the bumpy nature of the track here meant the suspension didn’t have enough travel.  While the break through has come late, he said he was happy to know what the problem was adding tomorrow is a new day.  One thing clear from the Italian’s body language was that its now game on in terms of challenging for the win tomorrow.

Having not made the final at the season opener in Bologna, Ielasi was ‘super happy’ with fifth on the grid especially the fact this is also his first race with his new WRC team. Posting the 3rd fastest time in Q4, a performance he put down to having his shocks rebuilt by HB’s Teemu Leino, the former 200mm World Champion said a change for Q5 was not so good.  Planning to revert back to his previous set-up he said tyre tactics would be key to the final, the Italian adding ‘the wear is extreme’.  Completing the direct A-Main qualifiers Serpent’s Merlin Depta will start 8th just ahead of the similar 977 of Tobias Kerler.

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Greiner puts in second TQ run

Dominic Greiner has posted a second TQ run at the Euro Nitro Series in Austria.  The Serpent driver topped the penultimate qualifier from Q3 pace setter Teemu Leino putting the German in strong contention to start the race he won last year from pole position.  Behind them Jilles Groskamp would again complete the Top 3 putting the winner of the opening qualifier out of contention for the overall TQ on his first vist to the Aigen-Schlägl track.

‘Very good’ was Greiner’s reaction to his second TQ run.  The German said while his Max powered 748 was ‘not so easy to drive’ it was ‘fast’ which is good for the 4-minute qualifiers.  Admitting he will have to change the car set-up for the 45-minute A-Main which is expected to a tough race due to the track’s high tyre wear, he said for now his focus is on trying to take the overall TQ and the bonus championship point that goes with it.

Leino, who had more to say about the shocks he built for 1:8 racer Daniele Ielasi for Q4, described his P2 as ‘OK’.  Running his HB R10 unchanged from Q3, the season opener’s Top Qualifier said with everyone so closely matched this weekend together with the narrow racing line overtaking is going to very hard in the final.  Adding this is going make fuel and the expected mutliple tyre stops critical to making up position Ielasi, who is pitting next to the Finn and looking to return the favour of the shock rebuild, offered to support Leino’s mechanic Takashi Miyashita in the pits for the race.

Running the fourth qualifier on new tyres, his first time to do so, Groskamp said his Maxima powered HB R10 was ‘not so good’.  The multiple 200mm World Championship finalist said ‘the balance is not there on new tyres’ and they need to work on set-up for the final.  With the overall TQ out of his grasps now he said he will try one set-up change in the final qualifier, the A Finalists getting a 10-minute Practice session tomorrow ahead of the B-Main.

‘Consistently 1-second too slow’, was how Capricorn’s Thilo Todtmann summed up his P4 in the fourth qualifier.  The German who has been impressive throughout qualifying said having run every run safe and booked his place in the A-Main for the final qualifier he would push harder.

Team Shepherd’s Dirk Wischnewski would record the 5th fastest time.  The German, who was third in Q1 and fourth in Q2 despite an off tune engine, both run in cooler conditions, said his Velox V10 is ‘struggling a little in the heat’.  ‘Hoping for clouds’ for the final qualifier he will gamble on a set-up change to see if that improves things for the hot temperature Q5 taking place at a similar time of the day as to when the A-Main will run tomorrow.

Completing the Top 6, World Champion Alexander Hagberg summed up his his performance as ‘slow & steady’.  The Xray driver is ‘struggling with the handling’ with his NT1 lacking corner speed.  Making changes each run the Swede said it has no effect on the car adding ‘I guess this is a problem for many guys’.  Team-mate Bruno Coelho would take P10 after again making the same mistake in the same place that put him out of contention for a TQ run in Q2. Making his nitro debut this weekend, Xray’s Marco Kaufmann is enjoying the experience posting the 9th fastest time in Q4.  On target for an A-Main start, the quick multiple Euro Touring Series A-Finalist is hoping to get more nitro outings with Xray.

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Pietsch & Leino fastest in Q3

Robert Pietsch and Teemu Leino were fastest in Q3 at the ENS as they notched up their first TQ runs at round 2 of the high profile onroad nitro championship.  In 1:8, Pietsch ended Simon Kurzbuch domination of the event as he topped the Swiss ace by just 0.081 of a second with Lars Hoppe again posting the third fastest time.  In 1:10, Leino laid down the fastest time ahead of Q2 pace setter Dominic Greiner and Jilles Groskamp who topped the opening qualifier the Top 3 separated by only 4/10ths.

Commenting on his TQ run, Pietsch said a change of bodyshell which mounts it more forward on his MRX-5 gave him more steering in particular through the fast sweeper.  Opting also to run used tyres, he said while these worked ‘good at the beginning’ towards the end they were done.  Happy with the improvement brought by the body change he said for Q4 he will leave the car unchanged and instead just run on new tyres.

Setting the fastest lap of the qualifier, Kurzbuch said he had a problem with second gear which was coming in to early.  Losing a lot of ground to Pietsch at the start he said he tried at the end to make back up the time, his fastest lap being his last, but he was a lap short of denying his rival the round and securing the overall TQ.

Running his HB R10 unchanged from Q2, Leino was pleased with his run describing it in typical reserved Finnish style simply as ‘a good run’.  Top Qualifier at the season opener in Italy, he said he would continue with the car as is for Q4 although he might change to his painted bodyshell something his mechanic and the cars Japanese designer Takashi Miyashita isn’t so keen on as it didn’t bring them much look in the A-Main at Bologna when he crashed into the pitlane wall while holding a commanding lead.

‘Very good’ was how Greiner summed up his latest qualifier.  Running on new tyres, the Serpent driver said this gave his 748 Natrix more steering and this would catch him out.  Describing the competition as ‘super close’ he said even the smallest of mistakes cost places.

Having stripped a gear in Q2 but managing a few laps after fitting a new one, Groskamp ran his third qualifier on the same set of tyres he used in the previous two rounds.  He said ultimately they would be too small at the end but looking ahead to the final it was a good test.  Very happy with his Maxima powered R10 he said he doesn’t believe there is any time to be gained from the set-up and for Q4 he will just fit new tyres.

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Another TQ run for Kurzbuch

Simon Kurzbuch has picked up where he left off at the Euro Nitro Series by opening Day 2 of the Austrian round with another TQ run in the second qualifier.  The Team Shepherd driver once again topped the times from Robert Pietsch, the Top 4 the same as last night’s Q1 with Lars Hoppe third ahead of Dario Balestri.  The biggest improvement of the round came from new WRC signing Daniele Ielasi who posted the fifth fastest time ahead of Merlin Depta.

Having survived a thrust bearing failure with two laps to go in Q1, Kurzbuch said, ‘no problems now so a good start to the day’.  The reigning champion, who is looking like one of the most relaxed drivers in the pits this weekend having not had to change the set-up on his Velox V8 since the the second round of free practice, said ‘it was all good’ adding that even ‘traffic was no issue’.  Asked if he would be making any changes for Q3 when he could lock in the overall TQ he just smiled a replied ‘just continue with it as is’.

Pietsch felt he had improved his Mugen a little from yesterday.  The MRX-5 designer said with the track different in the cooler morning conditions he didn’t risk changing too much from Q1 but feels the changes he did make are ‘slowly in the right direction’.  Able to match Kurzbuch’s outright pace, his best lap being a 15.552 compared to the Swiss drivers 15:504, the former World Champion said it is over the first-5 laps that he is losing the time to his rival.  Kurzbuch posted his fastest lap on his opening lap while Pietsch posted his on lap 12 of 16.

ARC’s Hoppe said his R8.0 was a ‘little tricky’ but overall he was happy with the result and his pace as he was just half a second off Pietsch.  Making an ackermann position change to his car after Q1 he said he started out with understeer then had a ‘perfect car’ in the middle part before leading to oversteer towards the end as the rear became loose.  The German said he will ‘make a very small set-up change’ to try and make the car a little more consistent over the 4-minutes adding he might also try running used tyres but said with the high wear that might be a big risk.

‘Different day, same problem’ was how Balestri summed up Q2.  The Capricorn driver is still struggling with a lack of overall grip saying set-up changes are having no effect on the car as it just can’t get traction.

Having been on a Top 3 pace in Q1 before crashing, Ielasi said is GTX was not as good today but he was happy with the P5 result.  Having to change the front bumper after his off yesterday, he said the bodyshell was sitting correctly for Q2 and because it was high it brought on understeer.  Set to trim the bumper for Q3 he will leave the set-up unchanged having been very happy with the car in Q1.

Having ran used tyres in Q1 and been very happy with his 977, Depta would run a new set of the Contact controlled tyres for Q2 but found it ‘very difficult’ on the larger diameter.  Messing up a strong first qualifier as he struggled with seeing the curbing due to the setting sun, the German said he has two used set of tyres available to him and he hopes with them on for the next two qualifiers he can capitalise on the cars Q1 pace.

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Greiner takes Q2 at ENS Austria

Dominic Greiner has TQ’d the second round of qualifying at the Euro Nitro Series in Austria.  The Serpent driver just missed out on a 15-lap run around the Aigen-Schlägl circuit to top the times from HB’s Teemu Leino by 9/10ths of a second.  Another close qualifier, 5-seconds covering the Top 10, Capricorn’s Thilo Todtmann completed the Top 3 on what is another hot day at the track.  For Q1 pace setter Jilles Groskamp he would miss the start of the qualifier after a suspected loose engine caused a stripped gear in the warm-up.

Having had a troubled opening qualifier, Greiner described Q2 as being ‘a lot of second run tyres’, last year’s winner said his Max powered 748 Natrix was ‘amazing’ for the first half.  Setting the fastest lap of the round on his third lap with a 17.000, over the second half he said the car got ‘tricky’ to drive as the rear tyre diameter became smaller than the fronts.  The World Championship Top Qualifier said due to the track’s high wear while used tyres are quickly initially he will do each of the remaining three qualifiers on new sets of the handout Contact tyres.

Leino described his qualifier as a ‘clean, good run’ adding ‘its so close with so many drivers fast’.  ‘Missing a little steering’ he said overall his Novarossi powered R10 was ‘OK’ and needing just one more ‘good run’ to book his place in the A-Main he would ‘keep safe’ and leave it unchanged for Q3.

With work commitments forcing reigning champion Eric Dankel to miss Round 2, Thilo Todtmann has risen to the role of being Capricorn’s lead 1:10 driver in Austria.  Second in Q1, the German wasn’t overly pleased with his Q2 performance.  Describing his Tesla powered LAB CO-3 as difficult to drive due to the difference between the left and right tyre diameter being too big, he said he brought on the problem himself by driving too hard in the warm-up.  Describing the car as being ‘very good in the warm-up’ he said he needs to go easier next time and safe it for the actually qualifier.

Posting the fourth fastest time, Dirk Wischnewski said his Shepherd was not as good as yesterday due to his Orcan engine which was ‘not tuned 100%’.  The German said ‘the feeling of the car was OK so I will leave it the same and just tune the engine better’.  Team-mate Patrick Nahr would complete the Top 6.  The former European B Champion said a change to a harder spring for Q2 had made his Novarossi powered Velox V10 better but it was still a little difficult to drive leading to ‘2 or 3 little errors’ over the 5-minutes.  The German plans to make some small changes for Q3 to try and make the car a little easier to drive.

Having been mixing the times with Greiner early in the qualifier, a roll over would leave Bruno Coelho 5th fastest.  The Xray driver said a steering set-up change for Q2 had made his Max powered NT1 ‘super good’.  Commenting on his mistake, which saw his car rolled over and landed on its wheels at the hairpin before the main straight he said it was a ‘small but costly mistake’. Team-mate Alexander Hagberg had engine problems needing to pit during the qualifier to have it tuned leaving him to finish 22nd.

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