Greiner posts first TQ run in Bologna

World Championship Top Qualifier Dominic Greiner posted his first TQ run of the Euro Nitro Series season opener with the Serpent driver claiming the fifth qualifier in Bologna.  Becoming the fourth driver to top the time sheets, only Teemu Leino managing two TQ runs when he was again fastest in Q4, Greiner headed the times by just 0.093 of a second from an impressive Joe Kerry. Having got Day 2 of the event off to a strong start but retiring from Q4, France’s Leo Arnold would post his first Top 3 time.

Not looking like someone who just posted a TQ run, Greiner said his car & engine combo was the worst it’s been around the L.Collari RC Raceway since the start of qualifying but he was more than happy to take the TQ.  Making a set-up change for Q5 he said his 748 had too much steering and was lacking corner speed.  Also not happy with his engine, for the penultimate round of qualifying he will put his World’s Max engine in the car along with switching from a solid front axle to a diff.  The 2014 ENS race winner and top qualifier will also revert to his ‘standard caster set-up’.

Feeling he got a bad set of tyres for the first qualifier of the day, Kerry said this left him struggling in Q3.  With a new set for the next run he said his Capricorn was better although the car did suffer a little understeer but working around this he would post the fourth fastest time.  Taking off some rear toe and increasing the rear ride height for Q5 the British driver said the changes gave him a ‘really good’ car with him having more steering. His first ENS appearance and on target to put himself directly in the 12-car A-Main grid, he said he was happy to leave the car as is for Q6.

Having found a good set up for Q3 and posting the fourth fastest time unfortunately for Arnold the fourth qualifier would be short lived.  On the opening lap the 19-year-old would get caught up in a mistake by defending champion Eric Dankel with his car making heavy contact with the German resulting in a broken front body post mount and a hole in the bodyshell. Fixed for Q5, he said his Orion engine was ‘very good’ and getting 3rd but still needing another strong run he would be leaving everything the same for the second last qualifier.

Having posted the third fastest time in the fourth round, Alessio Mazzeo was on target for his second TQ run but with Leino running on his tail he was asked to give way to the Finn.  Obeying the incorrect call, he opened up for the HB driver but then ended up running into his rival.  Commenting on the incident afterwards the 23-year-old said they both had ‘the same speed’ and the crash was ‘unfortunate’ for both of them.  Just how even they where could be seen in their fastest laps of the race with Mazzeo running a 16.464, fastest lap of the race, compared to Leino’s 16.467.  Making a droop change to his Gimar powered 748 for the qualifier the former European Champion said this gave him better steering and he will leave it the same for the next run.

Having made a mistake of his own earlier in the run, Leino wasn’t overly concerned about the incident with Mazzeo.  Having found his chassis to be a little tweaked after Q3 he fixed it as well as fitting all new bearings to the car, the former Worlds Top Qualifier said his R10 felt really good as he took it to a TQ run in round 4.  With two rounds of qualifying remaining he sits top of the qualification ranking.

Another driver making his ENS debut this weekend is electric touring car ace Viktor Wilck.  The new Serpent signing, who has raced a Serpent nitro programme before when he was a Tamiya driver, said Q5 was the first time he finally didn’t have engine issues.  Suffering engine cuts, a change of fuel to one with a higher oil content allowed the Swede to complete the full 4-miutes with him able to take his 748 to the 6th fastest time.

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Pietsch takes Q3 at ENS

After a ‘disastrous day’ yesterday, Robert Pietsch has bounced back at the Euro Nitro Series season opener in Italy to TQ the third round of qualifying ahead of defending champion Simon Kurzbuch.  The Mugen driver & designer was able to open Day 2 with a new fastest time with the Shepherd of Kurzbuch just 2/10ths off. Behind them WRC’s Andrea Pirani is proving mister consistent as he ran another Top 3 qualifier while engines issues left yesterday’s pace setter Dario Balestri to record the 5th fastest time.

‘Super happy to start out so well’ said Pietsch adding he was ‘lucky to be even driving today’.  Going for dinner last night with his engine sponsors Alberto & Edo Picco, when the 2012 World Champion came out from the restaurant his road car full with his racing equipment was gone.  Presuming his car had been stolen they contacted the police who then tracked it down to a towing company.  Parking in a disused petrol station across from the restaurant, the owner on seeing Pietsch park his car via a webcam called a towing company who came and took the car away while Pietsch was eating his dinner.  With the yard where his car had been taken to closing for the weekend at midnight there was a scramble to get to the location. Luckily with just 5-minutes to closing they arrived to retrieve his car and his racing equipment.  In terms of his Q3 performance, he said the car was really good as it was yesterday and that was highlighted by him recording the fastest lap of the round.  Suffering an engine cut in Q1 and crashing in Q2 as he struggled to see his MRX5 in the dark conditions, he said today was his first time to get a clean run and planning to leave it unchanged for the next qualifier he said he hopes he can repeat the run again.

Simon Kurzbuch said while he ‘hoped for a TQ run’ Q3 went ‘very good’. Pointing out that he had no traffic issues he said the 4-minutes were really good.  Targeting another strong run in Q4 which would lock him into the A-Main, he said other than fitting a new bumper he would make no changes. Suffering an off during the warm up he said while this damaged the bumper it did not affect the car’s performance for the run.

Pirani declared his latest qualifier as ‘another good run’ although the Italian felt his driving wasn’t perfect as he missed his lines a number of times.  With the GTX designer now locked into the A-Main, he will use Q4 to try a different front anti-roll bar as he tries to increase the steering and mid corner speed.

Behind Pirani, Italian Mugen driver Mattia Rinaldi would post the 4th fastest time, half a second up on Balestri’s Capricorn.  Taking both qualifiers yesterday, the Balestri struggled with a lean bottom end on his Tesla engine and he had to nurse it through the run.

Rick Vrielijnck completed the Top 6, the Dutch driver one of many in the top heat who just could not see his car in Q2 which due to the effects of rain ended up running in the dark with the track only partially lit by floodlights.  With the bad Q2 result, the Mugen/Picco driver said he ‘didn’t push fully’ as he needed another good run.  Describing the performance of his car & engine as being ‘still great’, he plans to push harder in Q4.  If he can get a good result from that he said he might consider, if the weather permits a fifth round of qualifying, switching from an R18 to a 909 bodyshell.

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Coelho opens Day 2 of ENS with TQ run

Team Xray’s Bruno Coelho got Day 2 of the Euro Nitro Series season opener in Bologna, Italy, underway with a TQ run.  The third round of qualifying at the L.Collari RC Raceway, the Portuguese driver set a new fastest time as he outpaced Team Shepherd’s Dirk Wischnewski by 1.6-seconds with Serpent’s Dominic Greiner a further 3/10ths off in third.  For yesterday’s pace setters the morning run would see Teemu Leino, who took Q2, post the 5th fastest time with Q1 top qualifier Alessio Mazzeo completing the Top 6.

‘Super good, no mistakes’ was how Coelho summed up his run having had incidents in both qualifiers yesterday.  Running new tyres on his Max powered NT1 ’15 for each of his runs, he said other than double check the car set-up before the run the car is still as he ran it from the start of qualifying.  Happy with how everything is running, he said the plan is to ‘continue the same’.

Wischnewski said he had a ‘clean run’ but the German felt his Orcan engine was ‘maybe too rich’.  The former European Champion admitted he benefited from other guys having issues but overall the performance of the car was ‘fine’.  With ‘three ok rounds’ he plans to use the next qualifier to test a lighter front diff adding while not far off he could do with a little more steering from the Velox V10.

Having suffered an engine flame out in Q2, Greiner said ‘overall 3rd not bad’ but the World Championship Top Qualifier was annoyed by a mistake he made on his penultimate lap.  On a TQ pace he hit the curbing through the sweeper leading onto the straight losing over 2-seconds.  Happy with his 748 the German said he will make an engine change for Q4 as he looks for more power.

Setting the fastest lap of the qualifying in Q3 to post the fourth fastest time, Leo Arnold said the qualifier was ‘not so bad’.  The French Capricorn driver said his car was hard to drive yesterday as he had too much steering.  Also hampered by traffic in Q1 and then making a mistake in Q2, he said a harder front spring made the car easier to drive in Q3.  Happy with the car now he will run it unchanged for the fourth qualifier.

Top Qualifier at last season’s opening race and in contention again this year, HB’s Leino would suffer an early spin at the end of the straight that cost him 3-seconds.  Running the car the same as when he TQ’d Q2, he said today his R10 felt tweaked with him having to save it a few times as it broke loose. He will check over the car for Q4 to see if he can pin point the problem.

In the closing stages of the run while in the mix for a second TQ run, Mazzeo would suffer a broken gearbox on his Serpent.  Stuck in 2nd gear the 2013 European Champion would finish the run with three 17-second laps dropping him to 6th.  Very happy with his 748 up to that point, he said with a new gearbox fitted everything should be good for the next round.

For defending champion Eric Dankel it was a again a poor qualifier but this time the Capricorn driver took full responsibility.  Having had car issues yesterday, the German said today his car was really good.  Running in the same heat as Arnold, the second fastest group, he was on a TQ pace until the final lap when he made a mistake which he said was completely his own fault.  With his ‘car good now’ he said the ‘TQ pace is there’.

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Balestri again in Q2

Dario Balestri made it two from two on the opening day of the Euro Nitro Series in Bologna when the Capricorn driver overcame difficult conditions to top a late run Q2 from WRC’s Andrea Pirani and the Shepherd of defending champion Simon Kurzbuch.   With rain effecting what was orginally planned to be a day of practice and with more rain forecast for tomorrow, championship organisers were forced to run two qualifiers at the L.Collari RC Raceway but with light fading fast the top heat of 1:8 drivers found themselves running in the dark with only the front side of the track having lighting.  Such was the low light that although 3rd fastest in the top group Francesco Tironi would end up only 8th fastest overall while Robert Pietsch and Lamberto Collari found themselves outside the Top 10 as they struggled with visibility.

‘Very difficult’ was Balestri’s reaction to his second TQ run but the Italian added it was a ‘good first day’ for him.  Struggling to see his car he said he just tried to drive consistently for the 4-minutes as he couldn’t do the same fast lap as in Q1.  With his best lap of Q2, 3/10ths of a second off his fastest lap time of the opening qualifier he said the consistency paid off with him only taking up the TQ pace in the final minute and a half and being the only driver to run 17-laps.

Having set the early pace Pirani said his GTX was working really well and the only problem was the light.  Having improved the tune on his OS Speed engine he said he had a better feel with the car and hoping for a ‘dry daylight run tomorrow’ the car’s designer will just continue with an unchanged package.

Having ran out of fuel in Q1, Kurzbuch was able to go the full distance this time around having switched to a different Novarossi engine.  The Swiss driver said ‘conditions were very hard for drivers with it nearly too dark but I’m happy with third’.  He said while he was slower because of the light the power from his second engine was good and he will continue with it.  Hopeful of getting dry running tomorrow he said he had a few small set-up changes to his Velox V8 he planned on trying.

Having had traffic issues in Q1, BP Racing’s Mirko Salemi would have a strong second qualifier to post the fourth fastest time.  Making a number of tweaks to the set-up on his RS4, the Italian said this also contributed to the improved pace.  Running a Novarossi Vertus engine but feeling he needs more bottom end power for tomorrow he will consider switching to a Keep On unit.

Swiss driver Silvio Hachler, who for 2015 has switched to Mugen, would post 5th for the round.  Making small set-up changes to his MRX-5, the World Championship finalist said ‘it was too dark for him to tell if they made any difference.

Veteran racer Stefano Solaroli would complete the Top 6 half a second up on the Capricorn of Kyle Branson.  Running a Picco powered Shepherd, this is the Italian’s first race with the Velox V8 and he said it ‘feels really good’.  Although not his home track he said he knows it very well and this is a big help when running a new car.  Changing to a much heavier front rollbar for Q2 he said the car was able to carry better corner speed and he hopes to be able to build on his performance tomorrow.

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Leino takes Q2 in Bologna

Having lost out on a TQ run after he was blocked by a backmarker on the final lap of the opening qualifier, Teemu Leino was able to run a clean Q2 at the Euro Nitro Series in Bologna to top the times from Bruno Coelho.  Finishing 1.2-seconds clear of the Xray driver, the result sees the HB driver end Day 1 of the season opener as the provisional overnight Top Qualifier as rain again looks set to affect proceedings tomorrow.  With the second qualifier resulting in a DNF for reigning champion Eric Dankel, it was British driver Joe Kerry who completed the Top 3 ahead of Q1 pace setter Alessio Mazzeo.

Leino said unlike many of his rivals who ran their Q1 tyres for a second time he went with a new set of the handout Matrix tyres adding for now he is happy how that approach has played out.  Admitting that small tyres would probably be faster, the Finn’s plans for tomorrow’s Q3 are to stay the same but he added depending on if future qualifiers can be run, the local weather giving rain for the afternoon, he might test something different with a view to the finals.

Challenging Leino for the TQ pace, Coelho said his NT1’15 was ‘super good’ but he was ‘unlucky’.  Running behind Alessio Mazzeo, he would crash into him when the Italian suffered a spin, the incident costing him a chance at a TQ run.  Having had a mistake in Q1, the Portuguese star said ‘the speed is there and I just need a bit of luck’.  Hagberg said it was a day ‘everything went wrong’.  Describing his cars as undrivable in Q1 he said he managed to improve it for the second run but in this he had a clutch issue which left him 11th fastest.  He says he hoped tomorrow would be dry long enough for him to get in some competitive heats.

Having ran on used tyres for Q1 which left the rear of his Capricorn very lose, Kerry went for fresh tyres in Q2 saying it felt much better.  With a poor first round, the 23-year-old said he played it safe for Q2 and he was ‘happy with 3rd’.  His first ENS outing, for tomorrow he said he will probably make a set-up change to his OS Speed powered LAB C03 as he would like to have more onpower steering.  For Capricorn’s lead factory driver Dankel, the round would see the German struggle with his gearbox changing up with the delayed shift resulting in him getting collected by a following car and he missed the start as the car flamed out and suffered a broken body post.

Another driver to have problems in the warm-up as a crash broke a rear tyre, Mazzeo would manage to get fourth.  Having to replace the broken tyre with a brand new one, the Italian said this made his Serpent difficult at the start of the 4-minutes leading to a number mistakes. By the end it was good with him again setting the fastest lap improving on his Q1 lap time by over 1/10th of a second. For his Serpent team-mate Dominic Greiner, having set the fastest opening lap of the heat, an engine flame out would end his chances on lap 2.  Rejoining the race after losing over a minute, he said his 748 was very good and he hopes with a higher idle setting he will get the chance to run a good second qualifier tomorrow if it stays dry.

Fifth fastest for the round, Dirk Wischnewski said harder shocks improved his Shepherd but he messed up with a mistake.  Clipping the curbing he said this unsettled his Orcan powered Velox V10 and trying to stay off the grass he lost a couple of seconds.  Encouraged that the speed is now there he said he would wait and see what tomorrow brings before deciding his game plan.

Completing the Top 6, Jilles Groskamp said things started off good but in the final 2-minutes he would suffer a spin through he sweeper leading onto the straight.  Losing almost 3-seconds as result, he said while not sure why it spun out, the corner has been a problem area for his car.  Feeling there is a small tweak in his R10 but having checked the chassis and it is straight he said maybe the problem is in the rear rollbar which he will change for tomorrow. Also running 1:8 this weekend, the former European Champion said this is proving a challenge in terms of keeping on top of the finer details of the car’s maintenance.

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Balestri TQs first 1:8 qualifier at ENS

Making the switch to 1:8 for this season’s Euro Nitro Series, a number of key drivers changing over as it is a 1:8 World Championship year, Dario Balestri has topped the opening round of qualifying at L.Collari RC Raceway. Racing at the home track of Lamberto Collari, the 2014 ENS 200mm race winner TQ’d the first qualifier of a rain affected day by 0.360 of a second from the 9-time World Champion with WRC’s Andrea Pirani completing the Top 3.  For last year’s title protagonists Simon Kurzbuch and Robert Pietsch the round would see them both have engine issues.  For Pietsch a flame out on his out lap cost the Mugen driver a run while Kurzbuch’s engine would run out of fuel on the last lap however such was the champions pace he managed to get the 6th fastest time.

Setting the fastest lap on the way to taking the qualifier, Balestri was clearly happy at having taken the TQ from Collari in his own backyard.  The Capricorn driver said other than his 2nd gear coming in a bit late everything else was ‘all ok’ and he was ‘happy’.  Planning to adjust his gearbox the Italian said other than this he would just run the car as is for Q2 which is set to bring Day 1 of the event to a close.

Making some small changes to his OS Speed powered Mugen, Collari said while it felt pretty good it was better in the morning’s free practice. Having ran a 6mm chassis on his MRX5 yesterday which he said improves the car for the high grip conditions, following the overnight rain and the overcast day he reverted the car back to a kit standard spec.  Very happy with the run time from his engine, for Q2 he plans to ‘try something different’ in terms of the car set-up adding it will be through small tweaks rather than anything too significant.

Pirani was very happy with his performance considering he finished with a stripped front belt and came close to an engine cut on the third lap.  ‘Really happy’ with the performance of his WRC chassis, he said his OS engine was set too lean and coming onto the straight for the third time he had to come off the throttle to keep it running which lost him valuable 1/10ths of a second.  Happy to keep it going he said he drove the rest of the race controlling full throttle on the radio. Not making any set-up changes for Q2, the Italian is very confident for the next run.

Having not raced 1:8 since last year’s European Championship, Francesco Tironi described his 4th fastest time as ‘not bad’.  Still trying to find his rhythm with the 1:8, having finished 3rd overall the ENS last season in 200mm, he said Q1 was like a test for him.  Making the move to XRD engines for 2015, he said he was very happy with how they ran and while he would like to try a longer 2nd gear he said to be safe he will leave everything as is for Q2 and if that goes well he will change the ratio for tomorrow.

Mugen’s Rick Vrielijnck said he went for an ‘easy run to have a finish’ and he was pleased to end up 5th fastest.  Not quite sure of the run time from his Picco engine around the power circuit he said this was also a factor in him taking it easy but afterwards he said he had plenty of fuel left so he now knows he can push much harder in the second qualifier.  The Dutch driver said he is also driving the track ‘better and better every run’ so things are looking good.

‘I think I am very fast but the tank was empty on the last lap’, that was Kurzbuch summary of things.  The Swiss ace said said both his Velox and Novarossi engine where great but the engine is using too much fuel.  For Q2 says he expects to change to a different engine to try make the 4-minutes.

Former World Champion and ENS instigator Pietsch will also make an engine change for the second qualifier. The Mugen designer said his Picco engine flamed out and on checking things afterward everything looks fine including the glowplug.  Looking to allow a gap to build up between himself and the car starting ahead of him he said he didn’t throttle the car and this was the problem but as a precaution they will change engine.

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