Pietsch ‘Top Qualifier’ for ENS Race 2

Robert Pietsch is the Top Qualifier for Race 2 of the Euro Nitro Series ‘Pilot Series’ taking place in Austria after he completed a hat trick of TQ runs in the third round of qualifying to wrap up early pole position for the tomorrow’s 1:10 and 1:8 A-Main finals. The German’s closest rivals in the opening two qualifiers, Jilles Groskamp and Eric Dankel, both crashed in Q3 and retired allowing him to take the round unchallenged ahead of Serpent’s Dominic Greiner and a much improved Dirk Wischnewski. In 1:8 which is lacking the dept of field seen at Race 1 in Hockenheim, Pietsch was easily the class of the field topping the times by over 6-seconds from the Shepherd of Euro B Champion Daniel Sieber and Xray’s Jernej Vuga.

Top Qualifier in 1:8 at the opening ENS Race at Hockenheim, Pietsch was particularly pleased to take the overall 1:10 TQ honours among the high quality field who he will come against in August as he tries to get back the European Championship title which he held in 2011. ‘Really happy’ with the performance of his car and Novarossi engine over the three qualifiers, changing very little between rounds, he said he is pretty confident for the finals as his cars and his driving tend to be better the longer the race is. Asked if he plans to use the remaining two qualifiers to work on a set-up for the 45-minute Mains he said while he would use the runs to try a few things this was purely as practice and that his intention is to run the cars the same as he did in qualifying.

Greiner was pleased with his run to the second fastest time. Less than 6/10ths off, the Serpent driver said his Picco powered 747 was real easy to drive. Planning to leave the set-up as is for the penultimate qualifier, the Euro B Vice Champion said he might try a different bodyshell to get a back to back comparison between the Protoform P37 he has run so far and Xceed’s Spark shell.

Looking a lot happier than he has so far this weekend, Wischnewski said a complete change of shock set-up gave him a car he is a lot more comfortable with. Having struggled with a lack of overall traction he said the base feeling of his Novarossi powered NT1 is now quite good and with a small bit of fine tuning together with him getting his confidence back he should be a lot more competitive in the final two qualifiers. Suffering an engine failure in Q2, he said his second engine, while set a little too rich, ran well and should run even better in Q4 with a little more fine tuning. Team-mate Alexander Hagberg posted his best round in Q3 setting the fourth fastest time but the Swede said he is just not fast enough. While the car feels good to drive he plans to take a completely different direction with the set-up for the remaining 2 heats.

Best of the Capricorn drivers for the round was French driver Leo Arnold who posted the 5th fastest time. The 17-year-old said compared with the morning, when his Orion powered LAB-C02 was difficult to drive, the car was now very good. Making a pretty radical set-up change after Q1, he said the car is now almost were he would like it to be and for the next run he will just make one change and run less rear toe-in. Team-mate Eric Dankel went from a 100K to 80K rear diff in his Novarossi powered example but said it was ‘not good’ and he will revert back to his Q2 set-up for the next run. Only 10th fastest, Francesco Tironi said he is struggling with a lack of steering. A Matrix tyres team driver, he said the handout Contact tyres and rims are very different to the Matrix he is used to running and as a result the set-up changes he is making have a different effect on the way the car reacts.

Completing the Top 6 and best of the Shepherd drivers was Patrick Nahr. The German said his Velox V10 PRO is not easy to drive with the warmer conditions of Q3 making the rear much looser than the morning qualifiers. Team-mate Groskamp whose was swapping the lead pace with Pietsch said he just pushed too hard resulting in his off half way through the run. The Dutch ace said while it is possible to ride all the curbs bar one this was the one he hit which sent his car airborne and off onto the grass ending his run as the car flamed out. Groskamp said he didn’t have a very good feeling from the way his clutch was set but planning to switch engine for the remaining qualifiers it should be better next time out.

For KM Racing’s Adrien Bertin, Q3 was the French veteran’s fastest run so far as he set the 8th fastest time just behind Shepherd designer Patrick Schafer and ahead off Xray designer Martin Hudy.

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Qualifying times – Round 3

1:10 Qualifying Round 3
1. Robert Pietsch – Mugen/Novarossi – 13/4:00.151
2. Dominic Greiner – Serpent/Picco – 13/4:00.712
3. Dirk Wischnewski – Xray/Novarossi – 13/4:01.480
4. Alexander Hagberg – Xray/Orcan – 13/4:02.802
5. Leo Arnold – Capricorn/Orion – 13/4:03.198
6. Patrick Nahr – Shepherd/Novarossi – 13/4:03.433
7. Patrick Schafer – Shepherd/Sonic – 13/4:05.154
8. Adrien Bertin – KM Racing/Orion – 13/4:05.154
9. Martin Hudy – Xray/Orcan – 13/4:05.398
10.Francesco Tironi – Capricorn/Novarossi – 13/4:05.875

1:8 Qualifying Round 3
1. Robert Pietsch – Mugen/Novarossi – 15/4:08.987
2. Daniel Sieber – Shepherd/Sonic – 15/4:15.203
3. Jernej Vuga – Xray/Reds – 15/4:15.264
4. Maximilian Vogl – Shepherd/Sonic – 14/4:01.346
5. Michael Klausner – Mugen/Novarossi – 14/4:01.469
6. Toni Gruber – Serpent/Xceed – 14/4:02.721
7. Torsten Muller – Xray/Tecnopower – 14/4:03.609
8. Christofer Hedlund – Xray/Orcan – 14/4:05.040
9. Alain Levy – Mugen/Picco – 14/4:05.160
10.Andreas Baumann – Mugen/Sonic – 14/4:07.602

Q2 Update – Pietsch Again

Robert Pietsch backed up his Q1 performance with a second TQ run in the second round of qualifying at Kirchberg. Running a slightly slower time in both 1:10 and 1:8, the German said his slower 1:8 time was down to running his tyres for a second time but that the 1:10 while a 13 lap run was very close to the time of his 14 lap opening run, him missing 14 laps by .961 of a second. Capricorn’s Eric Dankel was second fastest in Touring Car with Jilles Groskamp third despite losing part of his brake linkage in the closing laps of the run which left him without brakes. The round saw problems for Xray’s Dirk Wischnewski who suffered an engine failure on the opening lap and Serpent’s Dominic Greiner threw away a strong run when he made a mistake on lap 11 which cost him over 3-seconds.

1:10 Qualifying Round 2
1. Robert Pietsch – Mugen/Novarossi – 13/4:00.961
2. Eric Dankel – Capricorn/Novarossi – 13/4:01.200
3. Jilles Groskamp – Shepherd/Maxima – 13/4:01.284
4. Francesco Tironi – Capricorn/Novarossi – 13/4:03.208
5. Alexander Hagberg – Xray/Orcan – 13/4:05.372
6. Leo Arnold – Capricorn/Orion – 13/4:05.501
7. Patrick Hahr – Shepherd/Novarossi – 13/4:05.527
8. Patrick Schafer – Shepherd/Sonic – 13/4:05.538
9. Dominic Greiner – Serpent/Picco – 13/4:05.876
10.Gerhard Kandlehart – Shepherd/Orcan – 13/4:06.348

1:8 Qualifying Round 2
1. Robert Pietsch – Mugen/Novarossi – 15/4:09.425
2. Jernej Vuga – Xray/Reds – 15/4:16.154
3. Maximilian Vogl – Shepherd/Sonic – 14/4:00.469
4. Michael Klausner – Mugen/Novarossi – 14/4:01.806
5. Christian Rosler – Shepherd/Novarossi – 14/4:03.651
6. Andreas Baumann – Mugen/Sonic – 14/4:07.612
7. Torsten Muller – Xray/Tecnopower – 14/4:08.037
8. Christofer Hedlund – Xray/Orcan – 14/4:08.172
9. Daniel Sieber – Shepherd/Sonic – 14/4:04.190
10.Franziska Lechner – Serpent/Novarossi – 14/4:04.241

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Pietsch tops opening ENS qualifier in Austria

Robert Pietsch set the pace in the opening round of qualifying at Race 2 of the the Euro Nitro Series in Austria this morning, the Mugen driver topping the 4-minute qualifier ahead of Shepherd’s Jilles Groskamp. The only drivers to record 14 laps of the Stöhr-Ring track, the pair were separated by just 3/10ths with Capricorn’s Eric Dankel the fastest driver on 13 laps in third. Pietsch would make it the perfect morning by also topping the times in 1:8 from Serpent’s Toni Gruber with the Xray of former European Champion Jernej Vuga completing the Top 3.

Continuning where he left off yesterday when he set the pace in practice, Pietsch was happy to take Q1 but said nerves played a part in some less than perfect laps at the beginnng of the run. Very happy with how his Novarossi powered MTX-5 is working he said for Q2 the plan is just to fit a fresh set of the handout Contact tyres and improve his driving, something he said should be no problem now that the first qualifier is out of the way. On his 1:8 performance in which he was over 5-seconds faster than his closest rival, the World Champion said the track really suits his driving style and with no tyre additive he is also able to steer his MRX-5R from the rear adding he is really enjoying driving the car here this weekend.

Groskamp said he was ‘quite surprised’ by how close he got to Pietsch pointing out that he just needed to find 2/100th per lap to match the German. Admitting that while he doesn’t have the fastest car the Electric Touring Car World Champion said he is able to compensate somewhat for this by his consistency. His first tyre additive free race since returning to Shepherd he said everything in terms of set-up is different and to learn the new car he will make just one single change to the set-up, running new tyres each time, to see what effects the change has. His first 200mm race since last year’s World Championships, he said this weekend is all about building up as much data as possible for the European Championships.

Dankel was ‘not happy’ with his run after he made two mistakes, the first of which was on the opening lap and which cost him a 14 lap run. The ENS Race 1 winner said it was simply bad driving on his behalf as changes to the car since practice have given him the steering he was looking for. Describing his Novarossi powered LAB-C02 as really good he said he will make one small adjustment for Q2 and lower the rear roll centres. Team-mate Francesco Tironi took his car to the 8th fastest time splitting the Shepherds of Patrick Nahr and Patrick Schafer. Running a radio plate that gave the car more flex he said it was the wrong choice and he will revert to the standard one for Q2. Also distracted by a mosquito that landed on his glasses during the run, the Italian said while he may not have the pace to match Pietsch he is sure he can be much more competitive than he has been so far. The World Championship podium finisher is still trying to get to terms with the points system used in the ENS as he normally only needs just one good run to qualify well rather than the three required using this system and he needs to be more mindful of this.

Serpent’s Dominic Greiner was reasonably happy with his run to the fourth fastest time but thinks there is plenty of room for improvement. Changing the gearing on his Picco powered 747 for the first qualifier, the German said it was too short and he lost time on the straight as a result. The 21-year-old Euro B Championship runner-up also drove ‘too safe’ and for Q2 with the right gearing fitted the plan is to ‘push harder’.

Behind Greiner Dirk Wischnewski was the fastest of the Xray drivers setting the fifth fastest time just ahead of his team-mate Alexander Hagberg. Clearly not happy with his performance the former European Champion said his Novarossi powered NT1 was not much better than yesterday. Suffering a ‘lack of overall traction’, he said they will try running a heavier shock oil in Q2 and just take a single step by step approach to trying to improve the car and hopefully end up with something that allows them to be competitive come the final. Hagberg was pretty happy with the performance of his NT1 but was hampered by a clutch that went loose during the run.

For KM Racing’s Adrien Bertin it was not a good start to the day. The former World Champion crashed heavily in the warm-up resulting in a broken connector on his battery lead. Missing the start of the run while they fixed the lead, when the Frenchman did get up and running it was discovered that the crash had also broken the front bumper which was rubbing the ground. The Orion engine guru said he got the feeling the crash on the straight may have also tweaked the HK-1 and so they will fully rebuld the car for Q2 as a precaution.

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Qualifying times – Round 1

1:10 Qualifying Round 1
1. Robert Pietsch – Mugen/Novarossi – 14/4:17.489
2. Jilles Groskamp – Shepherd/Maxima – 14/4:17.816
3. Eric Dankel – Capricorn/Novarossi – 13/4:00.005
4. Dominic Greiner – Serpent/Picco – 13/4:01.468
5. Dirk Wischnewski – Xray/Novarossi – 13/4:02.037
6. Alexander Hagberg – Xray/Orcan – 13/4:02.470
7. Patrick Nahr – Shepherd/Novarossi – 13/4:02.547
8. Francesco Tironi – Capricorn/Novarossi – 13/4:03.208
9. Patrick Schafer – Shepherd/Sonic – 13/4:03.308
10.Gerhard Kandlehart – Shepherd/Orcan – 13/4:05.393

1:8 Qualifying Round 1
1. Robert Pietsch – Mugen/Novarossi – 15/4:07.324
2. Toni Gruber – Serpent/Xceed – 15/4:12.893
3. Jernej Vuga – Xray/Reds – 14/4:00.168
4. Maximilian Vogl – Shepherd/Sonic – 14/4:03.046
5. Christian Rosler – Shepherd/Novarossi – 14/4:03.492
6. Alain Levy – Mugen/Picco – 14/4:03.624
7. Torsten Muller – Xray/Tecnopower – 14/4:03.763
8. Erich Scharler – Mugen/Novarossi – 14/4:04.423
9. Christofer Hedlund – Xray/Orcan – 14/4:08.064
10.Andreas Baumann – Mugen/Sonic – 14/4:11.836

Pietsch tops Day 1 at ENS

Robert Pietsch ended Day 1 of the Euro Nitro Series in Austria as the man to beat, the Mugen driver setting the pace in controlled practice in both 1:8 and 1:10 at the Stöhr-Ring track.  In 1:8, the reigning World Champion set the pace over 3-consecutive laps from newly crowned European B Champion Daniel Sieber but it is the German’s pace in the highly competitive 1:10 class in which he was fastest from ENS Hockenheim race winner Eric Dankel that is the big news from Kirchberg.

With most of the 1:10 drivers using Race 2 of the ENS ‘Pilot Series’ as preparation time for the upcoming European Championship, Pietsch was pleased to end the day ahead ahead of the drivers he will go head to head with in August as he tries to win back the European title he won in 2011.  Making just little changes to his MTX-5 for each of the two 7-minute controlled practices, the Mugen designer had little to report other than that he is pretty happy with how the car is working and he is looking forward to qualifying getting underway tomorrow.  With 5 rounds of qualifying scheduled, unlike tradition nitro events where a drivers single fastest round counts, the ENS sees point awarded based on each drivers finishing position at the end of the round with the best 3 to count in determining the finals.

3/10th off Pietsch over 3-laps, Dankel said there was ‘no shame in be second to Robert’.  The factory Capricorn driver said overall it was a good day although he made the mistake of running tyres for a second time in CP2 which due to the high wear meant the car felt really bad after just a few laps. Struggling a little with oversteer through the sweeper at the end of the straight he is confident that a droop adjustment to his LAB-C02 should make it more stable there and allow him to match or hopefully better Pietsch’s pace over the full 4-minutes of the qualifiers. Dankel’s team-mate Francesco Tironi would end the day only 10th fastest but the humorous Italian said for his first day at the track he was ‘quite happy’.  The World Championship podium finisher, who suffered a diff failure in CP2, said his car was consistent but not yet fast enough and for tomorrow hopes a change of shocks and adjusting the flex of the radio plate will help give him the little bit of extra steering his is looking for.

‘Not so bad’ was how Jilles Groskamp summed up his run to the third fastest time.  The Shepherd driver said while he still needs to find a little more steering on his V10 PRO, he feels for the controlled practice runs he went the wrong direction with his set-up with the car feeling much better in the morning’s open practice runs.  Planning to go back in the direction of his earlier set-up the Dutch drivers believes this should leave him not too far off Pietsch.

Groskamp’s team-mate Patrick Nahr was much happier with his car in controlled practice, a change to a thinner roll bar making the rear more stable.  Fitting a new glowplug to his Novarossi engine, having had problems with the consistency of the engine earlier, the 21-year-old said it was running ‘perfect’.  Behind Nahr was Gerhard Kandlehardt.  Having made his Shepherd debut at ENS Race 1, the Austrian said the car was working a lot better than in Hockenheim and he was pleased with his pace. Shepherd boss Patrick Schafer would end the day 9th fastest, although not overly happy with his position he said having fully rebuilt the car after problems he had in open practice, but not finding anything wrong or broken, it felt right again and he can now go about making some fine adjustments for qualifying.

Serpent’s Dominic Greiner would set the fourth fastest time with his Picco powered 747.  Another driver for whom this is their first time at the Stöhr-Ring, the 21-year-old said for the first day he was pretty happy with how things went adding that tomorrow he can go even better.  A main contender at this year’s Euro B Championship in Italy where he missed out on the win by just 3-seconds, the German said he hopes a change from a 2.2mm to a 2.5mm rear roll bar will cure his car of the little understeer he suffered today.

Xray’s Dirk Wischnewski was not too happy with his day, the former European Champion admitting that he is struggling.  Suffering from understeer through the high speed corners the 200mm specialist said he is losing a lot of time at the end of the straight and having tried a number of changes which didn’t really improve his NT1 he is ‘not really sure what to do’.  Planning to sleep on it he hopes tomorrow with prove a better day.  The only other Xray in the Top 10, setting the 8th fastest time, Alexander Hagberg is also scratching his head at the end of Day 1.  The Swede said his NT1 feels fine on the track but on the time sheets ‘its just too slow’ and he has no idea why.

Still looking for more high speed steering, KM Racing’s Adrien Bertin ended the day 12th fastest but still getting back into the groove after a long absence from 1:10 the French ace should be able to improve with track time and some set-up changes to his Orion powered HK-1 Meen edition.

While Pietsch topped 1:8 by a commanding margin from the Shepherd of Sieber, the World Champion did have some issues suffering an engine failure in the first controlled practice.  This meant he had to focus on tuning his spare engine in the second practice but despite this he was still able to take his MRX-5 around the track for 3 laps over a second faster than his nearest rival. Completing the Top 3 in the class, which is missing Race 1 winner Mark Green due to work commitments and his Serpent team-mate Michael Salven due to a wedding, the Mugen of Euro B podium finisher Michael Klausner is followed by the Serpent of Toni Gruber and the Xray of returning former European Champion Jernej Vuga.

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