Pietsch claims 1:8 pole in Melzo

Despite the best efforts of 9-time World Champion Lamberto Collari, driving a privately entered Mugen, factory Mugen driver & designer Robert Pietsch will start the opening round of the Euro Nitro Series in Melzo, Italy from pole position.  Having set the fastest 4-minute qualifier in the third of the four qualifiers having also TQ’d Q2, this was enough to give the 2011 World Champion the overall TQ honours on tie break over Collari who backed up his morning’s Q1 topping run with another TQ round in the concluding round of qualifying at the Mini Racing Ayrton Senna track.

His first race for Picco, this being the home track of the World Champion engine manufacturer, Pietsch was very happy to start off the new relationship with overall TQ honours.  Trying ‘something different’ for the final qualifier, the German said it worked well but a decision to run the same set of Matrix tyres he ran in Q3 left him lacking top speed due to a smaller diameter meaning he couldn’t run with Lamberto.  While posting the third fastest time, he said the set-up change has given him a really good car for the final but he added with the field so closely matched the race is very much ‘wide open’.  Describing tyre wear as normal, he said fuel strategy is going to be key to the race.  Feeling his engine is able to run long he said any driver who has to stop early is going to be at a big disadvantage due to the closeness of the field, the Top 10 in Q4 separated by just 2.4 seconds.

Having made some small set-up changes to his OS powered MRX5 for the final qualifier, Collari said the car worked better and although he missed out on the overall TQ he was pleased with his run.  Describing it as easy to drive he thinks this is how he will run it for the final, using the A-Main practice to decide what if and changes are needed.  World renowned for his race strategies, he said he was really looking forward to his first ENS final as the race involves no tyre additive something he said made his strategy planning impossible.  Commenting on his rivals he expects a tough race with Pietsch but added Alberto Picco, who knows this track better than most, should be in the equation too.

Securing third on the grid, Picco said he was happy with the result but added he was still looking to find overall grip.  Running his self modified MRX-4, for the final qualifier he ran a stiffer front ant-roll bar but this left him with no steering and he could only manage the sixth fastest time, his worst run of the four qualifiers.  Asked about the final he said he was most likely going to have to take a gamble on a set-up but he hoped that the A-Main practice would allow them to sort a good car for the final.  Commenting on today’s conditions he felt the wind had a part to play with the difficult conditions as it carried a lot of dust on to the track.  In terms of fuel consumption and tyre wear the very personable veteran of the sport said both were fine and of no concern for the race.

Despite having problems with traffic in Q4 leaving him to post the 10th fastest time, Daniele Ielasi said for a debut with a new car and engine package, 4th on the grid was OK against the best drivers in the world.  Very happy with his BMT set-up, the former 200m World Champion said he has a good car for the final and with his RB engines appearing to have good run time he is hopeful of a good race tomorrow.

After a bad start to qualifying, with a DNF in Q1 and only 18th fastest in Q2, Simon Kurzbuch ended the day strongly to secure 5th on the grid.  Making changes for Q4, the Swiss factory Shepherd driver said for the conditions the set-up was better and for the final this should also work well with his main focus now being to come up with a good strategy for the race.

Enjoying his best run of qualifying with a competitive 2nd in Q4, although it did little to improve his starting position of 6th on the grid, Kyle Branson was pleased to finally get a competitive run in.  Having struggled on new tyres in Q1 he ran pre-run tyres in Q2 and they turned out to be mismatched.  Having to again run fresh tyres in Q3 he ran the tyres again in Q4 allowing him to finish just half a second off Collari’s TQ pace for the round.  The 20-year-old Capricorn backed driver said other than adjusting the C801’s ride height he will run the same set-up in the final.  Asked about strategy he said he expected to make just one tyre stop however his father Andy, who will do that stop said they have been having issues with getting front tyres on the car and he hopes this doesn’t cause them an issue in the race.

Completing the grid, which sees no less than 6 different manufacturers represented, which could increase depending on the two drivers that bump up from the lower finals, is Shepherd’s Oliver Mack (7th), WRC’s Andrea Pirani, new Shepherd recruit Francesco Tironi and newly signed KM Racing team driver & World finalist Silvio Hachler.

1:8 A-Main Grid
1. Robert Pietsch – Mugen/Picco – 310 pts
2. Lamberto Collari – Mugen/OS – 310
3. Alberto Picco – Mugen/Picco – 306
4. Daniele Ielasi – BMT/RB – 305
5. Simon Kurzbuch – Shepherd/Novarossi – 303
6. Kyle Branson – Capricorn/XRD – 302
7. Oliver Mack – Shepherd/Sonic – 301
8. Andrea Pirani – WRC/OS – 299
9. Francesco Tironi – Shepherd/Novarossi – 297
10.Silvio Hachler – KM Racing/Novarossi – 294

1:8 Q4 times – Top 10
1. Lamberto Collari – Mugen/OS – 14/4:15.017
2. Kyle Branson – Capricorn/XRD – 14/4:15.539
3. Robert Pietsch – Mugen/Picco – 14/4:16.283
4. Simon Kurzbuch – Shepherd/Novarossi – 14/4:16.811
5. Francesco Tironi – Shepherd/Novarossi – 14/4:17.131
6. Alberto Picco – Mugen/Picco – 14/4:17.156
7. Teemu Leino – HB/Novarossi – 14/4:17.181
8. Michael Salven – Serpent/Picco – 14/4:17.213
9. Mirko Salemi – BP Racing/Novarossi – 14/4:17.350
10.Daniele Ielasi – BMT/RB – 14/4:17.421

View the complete results here.

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Leino ‘Top Qualifier’ at ENS season opener

Teemu Leino continued his impressive return to 1:10 onroad nitro racing, the factory HB driver securing the overall TQ honours this evening at the opening round of the all new Euro Nitro Series in Melzo, Italy.  Having topped practice and the opening round of qualifying yesterday, the Finn was not to have it all his own way as Capricorn’s Dario Balestri took Q2 & 3 setting the stage for a head to head in the fourth & final round of qualifying. However when it counted most the World Championship Top Qualifier delivered an all important TQ run in Q4, his Q1 fastest time giving him the tie break over Balestri to secure the R10’s second international race pole position.

Having not raced the R10 since November 2012, when it made its Worlds debut, Leino was happy to be so competitive on his return to competitive action adding it was particularly rewarding to beat the drivers from the country that invented nitro racing on their soil.  In terms of his set-up the former European electric touring car champion said the car, the same one he ran at the Worlds, was hard to drive and this was far from ideal for tomorrow’s 45-minute final. Suffering from understeer yesterday he said today the problem was a lack of rear traction and although they made set-up changes every run they didn’t manage to cure it.  With a practice session for the A-Finalists tomorrow he said they, the car’s designer Takashi Miyashita his mechanic this weekend, needed to figure out something to try in the hope that they can have a less difficult car for the long race.  Running Novarossi engines in the car for the first time, he was very complimentary of these saying they ‘feel so good’ adding that the run time is also ‘very good’.  Asked who he expected his main rivals to be in the final he joked ‘all the Italians’ but looking down the grid he said apart from Balestri he expects Eric Dankel and Francesco Tironi to be in the mix.

Balestri said he messed up the final qualifier making a change to his front shocks that didn’t work.  The multiple former European Champion also said he had a mismatched set of rear tyres which made the car difficult to drive.  Posting the 9th fastest lap for the round, he still managed to post the fastest lap of the round.  Feeling he had a better car yesterday, looking ahead to the final he said going back to his set-up of Q3 it should give him a good car for the final.  Describing Leino as ‘one of the best in the world’, he said over 45-minutes anything could happen but as its the home track of Tironi he expects the Shepherd driver be a serious contender.

Set to start the final 3rd on the grid, Tironi said ‘for sure’ he has the advantage of track knowledge for the final but added that having switched only recently to Shepherd he does not have so much experience of the Velox V10 over a long distance. Setting the third fastest time, having been P2 in Q1 & 2, he said he lost rear traction after 3-minutes and he is not sure why but planning to go up in his diffs for the final he thinks the car should be fine.

Losing out on third position on tie break with Tironi, Capricorn’s Eric Dankel will start fourth.  Posting the second fastest time in Q4, he said for a 45-minute race the starting position would make little difference but based on his car’s performance in the final two qualifiers he is very confident for tomorrow.  Describing it as both easy to drive and fast he said with all the drivers so close on pace it was going to be a long race but with good mileage from his Maxima engine he is well positioned for the final.

Running out of fuel in the final qualifier due to his engine being set too rich, Serpent’s Dominic Greiner said having also tried a different set-up on his 747 it was not great.  Planning to run his basic set-up for the final, he said while its not so fast it makes the car easy to drive and this is important for a long final.  Top Serpent in Q4 was Greiner’s team-mate Mark Green.  Switching to his World Championship set-up, the British ace said it was a lot better and while the track got slower he was able to post his fastest qualifying run of the weekend helping him to secure 9th on the grid for the final. Describing the car as now being comfortable to drive he said he still needs to find between 1 to 2/10ths of a second a lap if he wants to be competitive in the final.

Completing the Top 6 on the grid ahead of former European Champion Dirk Wischnewski, Luca Redaelli ended qualifying as the best placed Xray.  Failing to finish the final qualifier after a crash while running 4th, the reigning European B Champion said it was ‘not a good day’.  Struggling with ‘no steering, no traction’, he plans to try a completely different set-up for tomorrow’s A-Main practice adding he hopes to ‘find something’.

Completing the line up of 10 direct qualifier, two more drivers from the lower finals set to join the back of the A-Main grid based on their fastest race times, HB/Orion driver Adrien Bertin lines up 8th ahead of Green with Xray’s Alexander Thilo securing tenth having put in his best round in Q4 with the 7th fastest time.

1:10 200mm A-Main Grid
1. Teemu Leino – HB/Novarossi – 310 pts
2. Dario Balestri – Capricorn/XRD – 310
3. Francesco Tironi – Shepherd/Novarossi – 306
4. Eric Dankel – Capricorn/Maxima – 306
5. Dominic Greiner – Serpent/Picco – 302
6. Luca Redaelli – Xray/Picco – 301
7. Dirk Wischnewski – Shepherd/Orcan – 301
8. Adrien Bertin – HB/Orion – 299
9. Mark Green – Serpent/Novarossi – 297
10.Alexander Thilo – Xray/Orcan – 295
(2 more drivers to bump up from lower mains)

1:10 200mm Q4 times – Top 10
1. Teemu Leino – HB/Novarossi – 13/4:18.258
2. Eric Dankel – Capricorn/Maxima – 12/4:00.047
3. Francesco Tironi – Shepherd/Novarossi – 12/4:00.664
4. Adrien Bertin – HB/Orion – 12/4:01.270
5. Mark Green – Serpent/Novarossi – 12/4:01.559
6. Dirk Wischnewski – Shepherd/Orcan – 12/4:01.640
7. Alexander Thilo – Xray/Novarossi – 12/4:01.721
8. Rene Pupke – Shepherd/Sonic – 12/4:04.279
9. Dario Balestri – Capricorn/XRD – 12/4:04.443
10.Rico Krober – Xray/Orcan – 12/4:04.686

View the complete results here.

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Q3 Update – Pietsch & Balestri fastest again

The third & penultimate round of qualifying was a repeat of Q2 in terms of TQ runs with Robert Pietsch’s Mugen again topping 1:8 while Dario Balestri’s Capricorn set the pace once more in touring cars.  Posting the fastest time of the three qualifiers, Pietsch also took the round by the biggest margin so far as he outpaced Alberto Picco by .573 of a second.  Having been fastest in practice, Shepherd’s Simon Kurzbuch finally got a clean run in to post the 3rd fastest time followed by team-mate Oliver Mack.  Having TQ’d the opening qualifier Lamberto Collari was on another strong run until an exhaust spring broke and he was forced to pull off on his final lap leaving him 10th for the round.  Collari is the only one now that can challenge Pietsch for the overall TQ honours in the fourth & final qualifier this evening at Melzo.

1:10 was a similar story as Balestri too took a more convincing TQ run this time over Eric Dankel, the separation being 1.596 seconds. Still holding the fastest 4-minute pace, set when he TQ’d yesterday’s opening qualifier, Teemu Leino was third fastest. Having suffered engine problems in Q2, new Shepherd signing Dirk Wischnewski enjoyed his best run as he posted the 4th fastest time with Luca Redaelli and Dominic Greiner completing the Top 6.  Like 1:8 the result means the battle for the overall TQ of the inaugural Euro Nitro Series season opener with be a two way battle in Q4 between Balestri and World Championship Top Qualifier Leino.

1:8 Q3 times – Top 10
1. Robert Pietsch – Mugen/Picco – 14/4:14.537
2. Alberto Picco – Mugen/Picco – 14/4:15.110
3. Simon Kurzbuch – Shepherd/Novarossi – 14/4:15.968
4. Oliver Mack – Shepherd/Sonic – 14/4:16.747
5. Andrea Pirani – WRC/OS – 14/4:17.293
6. Kyle Branson – Capricorn/XRD – 14/4:17.441
7. Daniele Ielasi – BMT/RB – 14/4:17.466
8. Michael Salven – Serpent/Picco – 14/4:18.041
9. Francesco Tironi – Shepherd/Novarossi – 13/4:18.402
10.Lamberto Collari – Mugen/OS – 13/3:58.183

1:10 200mm Q3 times – Top 10
1. Dario Balestri – Capricorn/XRD – 13/4:17.963
2. Eric Dankel – Capricorn/Maxima – 13/4:19.559
3. Teemu Leino – HB/Novarossi – 13/4:19.680
4. Dirk Wischnewski – Shepherd/Orcan – 13/4:20.212
5. Luca Redaelli – Xray/Picco – 12/4:00.549
6. Dominic Greiner – Serpent/Picco – 12/4:01.539
7. Francesco Tironi – Shepherd/Novarossi – 12/4:01.632
8. Mark Green – Serpent/Novarossi – 12/4:03.624
9. Michael Derderian – Xray/Gimar – 12/4:05.394
10.Gerhard Kandelhart – Shepherd/Orcan – 12/4:05.935

View the complete results here.

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Pietsch & Balestri take Q2 in Melzo

Mugen’s Robert Pietsch and Capricorn’s Dario Balestri TQ the second round of qualifying at the Euro Nitro Series season opener, Pietsch topping the 1:8 times from Alberto Picco by just .007 of a second while Balestri was the only driver who could manage 13-laps in 1:10 taking the qualifier over Francesco Tironi and Q1 pace setter Teemu Leino.

Having changed his engine for the run, having lacked power in Q1, Pietsch said he also adjusted the gearbox on his Picco powered MRX5 but in combination with the different engine it left the car to change up ‘way too late’ losing him some time.  Describing both his car and engine as good, he said with the gearbox set right everything should be fine for the penultimate qualifier.  A slower time than the morning, despite what started out as a damp track this morning having seen a full round of qualifying for the 120 car field, Pietsch said he was not so sure why the track was slower as it didn’t feel any worse for him and the temperature hadn’t increased significantly amount since Q1.

A driver who knows the track probably better than most, Picco described conditions as ‘worse’ even though he ran pre-run tyres having run fresh large diametre tyres in Q1.  Happy that changes to the bodyshell position and rear geometry adjustments had given his Mugen more steering he said overall the grip levels were ‘still very low’.  For Q3 his brother Edoardo, together with whom he runs Picco engines, will make some small changes to their self modified MRX4 to try and get it better suited to the loose track conditions.

Third fastest in 1:8 was Daniel Ielasi, the top 3 seperated by .036 of a second after 4-minutes.  The new BMT/RB signing said a glitch in his engine meant he had to open up to allow Capricorn’s Kyle Branson through which would later cost him time as he couldn’t get back passed the British driver who would set the 6th fastest time for the round. Having adjusted his engines bottom end having suffered from fuel starvation 3 times in Q1, he said while it was a lot better but he still had it happen once.  He will adjust the low end needle further for Q3 leaving his new 984 chassis set-up as is.

Having taken the opening qualifier with a time that was 1.3 second faster than Pietsch Q2 pace, Lamberto Collari posted the fourth fastest time.  Having made changes to his Mugen MRX5, he said they were not so good and he will revert back to his Q1 set-up for the next one.  Behind the 9-time World Champion, Shepherd’s Oliver Mack set the fifth fastest time.  The German said having started off well the rear end of his Velox V8 got very loose after 2-minutes and so for Q3 he will go to a harder front spring together with adjusting the position of the rear upper arms.

In 1:10 Balestri was pleased to post a TQ run having suffered a throttle servo failure in yesterday’s opening qualifier, but the Capricorn driver said the track (was) very loose.  Expecting the track to be different again for Q3 he will go with a softer oil in his front shock adding he hopes he can get another good run so as to lock himself into the A-Main – a drivers 2 best rounds of 4 to count.

Repeating his Q1 performance, posting another second fastest time, Tironi said he was pleased with his pace.  With a strong position secured in the A-Main, the Shepherd driver plans to use Q3 to try some ideas he has for his set-up.   2/10ths behind Tironi, Leino summed up the track for Q2 as ‘maximum loose’ and for the next qualifying said he will try a different set-up on his HB R10 as he searches for more grip.

Fourth fastest, Eric Dankel was very happy with his equipment second time round saying his Capricorn chassis and Maxima engine were really good but two mistakes cost him a shot at the TQ while leading.  Getting out of shape through the sweeper he also did some curb hopping but going into the next round he is feeling very confident.

Serpent’s Dominic Greiner, despite his Picco engine being too rich, would post the 5th fastest time followed by the Xray of Italy’s Luc Redaelli.  Greiner said a change of shock position after Q1 had made his 747 nicer to drive but said in addition to his engine tuning the driver was not so good adding he hopes for a better third run.

1:8 Q2 times – Top 10
1. Robert Pietsch – Mugen/Picco – 14/4:18.024
2. Alberto Picco – Mugen/Picco – 14/4:18.031
3. Daniele Ielasi – BMT/RB – 14/4:18.060
4. Lamberto Collari – Mugen/OS – 13/4:00.127
5. Oliver Mack – Shepherd/Sonic – 13/4:00.889
6. Kyle Branson – Capricorn/XRD – 13/4:01.009
7. Mirko Salemi – BP Racing/Novarossi – 13/4:01.691
8. Francesco Tironi – Shepherd/Novarossi – 13/4:02.033
9. Teemu Leino – HB – Mugen/Picco – 13/4:02.433
10.Andrea Pirani – WRC/OS – 13/4:02.512

1:10 200mm Q2 times – Top 10
1. Dario Balestri – Capricorn/XRD – 13/4:19.236
2. Francesco Tironi – Shepherd/Novarossi – 12/4:00.525
3. Teemu Leino – HB/Novarossi – 12/4:00.792
4. Eric Dankel – Capricorn/Maxima – 12/4:01.212
5. Dominic Greiner – Serpent/Picco – 12/4:01.298
6. Luca Redaelli – Xray/Picco – 12/4:03.679
7. Adrien Bertin – HB/Orion – 12/4:03.744
8. Alexander Thilo – Xray/Orcan – 12/4:05.075
9. Christian Costanzo – Shepherd/Picco – 12/4:06.237
10.Basile Concialdi – Capricorn/Novarossi – 12/4:06.995

View the complete results here.

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Collari opens ENS 1:8 qualifying with TQ run

After some rain delays, 1:8 qualifying at the opening round of the new Euro Nitro Series saw Lamberto Collari top the first of the four qualifiers in Melzo, Italy.   Driving a privately entered Mugen/OS combination the 9-time World Champion topped the round from the BMT of Daniele Ielasi with Mugen’s Robert Pietsch completing the Top 3 of what was an extremely competitive affair with the first 8 drivers covered by just 1.8 seconds.

After a 3-hour delay to proceedings this morning at the Mini Racing Ayrton Senna track due to overnight rain, light rain having already caused the postponement of Q1 of 1:8 yesterday evening,  when the drivers did take to the track the general feedback was that conditions were loose.  Having been some what under the radar for most of yesterday’s practice runs, Collari said a change of shock oil and springs on his MRX5 for Q1 had improved the feeling of his car even though conditions were ‘loose from (the) rain’.  Pleased with his run, the ENS  running point qualifying rather than Fastest time, the Italian legend will make a few further changes to his OS powered chassis in anticipation of  improved track conditions, the sun now shining at the track.

Having only driven his new BMT984 for the first time on Thursday, former 200mm World Champion Ielasi said he was ‘really really happy’ to start his qualifying with a second.   Switching to RB engines for the 2014 season, he said his engine was set a little too lean on the bottom end with this costing him some time – his separation from Collari over the 4-minutes being just 1/10th of a second.  In terms of his chassis set-up he said the feeling he has with the car is good and so for Q2 he will leave it as is.

‘A solid run’ was how Robert Pietsch described his opening qualifier.  The former World Champion said his MRX5, on which he is running a prototype chassis, the same as Takaaki Shimo & Atsushi Hara ran at the World Championships in Japan, was good but his engine was a little down on power.  For Q2 the German will fit a new Picco engine leaving everything else as is.

Having pre-run tyres in yesterday’s timed practice run in preparation for qualifying, with the track conditions a little off Alberto Picco ran his opening qualifying on a brand new set.  Describing the run as ‘very conservative’, the Italian still managed to post the fourth fastest time.  On the large diameter tyres he said his was unable to push but feels saving the tyres for the later qualifiers is a good call.  Looking to get more grip for Q2 he moved the position of the bodyshell on his self modified MRX4 along with changing the rear upright geometry.

Making his race debut for KM Racing this weekend, World finalist Silvio Hachler said he went for a safe run and overall he was pretty happy with 5th.  Having to learn a lot about the Novarossi powered K8, and not having another competitive driver to work with, the 22-year-old Swiss driver said under braking the rear end of the car is a little loose but he isn’t exactly sure what is the best changes to make to rectify this.

Driving a prototype chassis from WRC, the number of new manufacturers an encouraging development for 1:8 Onroad,  Anrea Pirani was pleased with his car’s performance but maybe not his own driving.  In contention for a TQ run a late mistake left the Italian 6th as he lost 1-second when he got out of shape through one of the tracks high speed corners.  Having arrived on Wednesday for testing last night he gave the car a full rebuild saying that this improved the feeling of the chassis, the three days of track time having taken its toll.  Planning to leave the car as is for Q2 he said he will instead wait for the track to improve.

British driver Kyle Branson used a fresh set of tyres for Q1, Matrix being the handout tyres for ENS Round 1, saying that this cost him a lot of time early in the run with him ending up 7th fastest.  With his Capricorn improving over the run he plans to run the same set of tyres in Q2, drivers having to leave tyres they wish to reuse in a controlled area before leaving the pitlane after their runs.  Looking to make the C801 a little easier to drive for Q2 he will add toe out to the front as well as adding a 1mm shim to the top of the rear hub.

‘Not so bad, not so fast’ was how Oliver Mack summed up his run to 8th.  With the times ‘so close’, he said a lean bottom end on his Sonic engine meant he twice suffered from it starving for fuel costing him precious time.  While his Shepherd Velox V8 was ‘not so easy to drive’ compared to yesterday he is putting this down to the track conditions and will leave it as is for Q2.

Having topped yesterday’s practice Mack’s Shepherd team-mate Simon Kurzbuch would post the 9th fastest time despite not finishing the 4-minutes.  On a TQ run with a lap to go his Novarossi engine stopped, a broken fuel tank having afterwards being discovered to be the cause of the problem.  With the engine damaged the 2011 World Championship Finalist will fit a new engine but having run it yesterday he said its good so everything should be fine for Q2.  Just missing out on 14-laps BP Racing’s Mirko Salemi completed the Top 10 ahead of Francesco Tironi and 200mm Q1 Top Qualifier Teemu Leino.

1:8 Q1 times – Top 10
1. Lamberto Collari – Mugen/OS – 14/4:16.691
2. Daniele Ielasi – BMT/RB – 14/4:16.804
3. Robert Pietsch – Mugen/Picco – 14/4:16.883
4. Alberto Picco – Mugen/Picco – 14/4:17.164
5. Silvio Hachler – KM Racing/Novarossi – 14/4:17.266
6. Andrea Pirani – WRC/OS – 14/4:17.791
7. Kyle Branson – Capricorn/XRD – 14/4:18.142
8. Oliver Mack – Shepherd/Sonic – 14/4:18.278
9. Simon Kurzbuch – Shepherd/Novarossi – 13/3:57.386
10.Mirko Salemi – BP Racing/Novarossi – 13/4:00.635

View the complete results here.

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‘From Race Control’ – Day 2, Qualifying/Lower Finals

Unfortunately its a damp start to the second day of the Euro Nitro Series in Melzo, Italy.  With light rain arriving during the opening round of 1:8 qualifying yesterday evening forcing organisers to cut short the day’s programme.  The rain would get worse into the night leaving the track unraceable this morning at the original 08:00 start time.  Postponing the start by an hour, officials have since extended that by a further hour as they wait for the sun to break through the grey morning skies.  The good news is the forecasts for the area shows it will be a sunny day so it is just a matter of playing the waiting game for the track to dry.  On the schedule for Day 2, which is now somewhat provisional, is all four rounds of 1:8 qualifying, the cut short Q1 being fully rerun for all drivers, the remaining 3 rounds of 1:10, the weather having been perfect for their opening qualifier, followed by the first leg of the lower finals.  Unlike the traditional fastest time qualifying format used in road nitro racing,  for the ENS qualifying is done by points per round with 2 of 4 to count meaning a change in conditions should not effect too much the outcome of qualifying.