September 21, 2018

Greiner & Kurzbuch top seeding in Fiorano

Dominic Greiner and Simon Kurzbuch are the top seeds for qualifying at the season finale of the Infinity Euro Nitro Series after they topped the two rounds of controlled practice at Fiorano.  Fastest in free practice, Greiner repeated the feat in the seeding runs but with a significantly slower time over the 3-consecutive laps.  Having had a 6/10th advantage, his rivals closed the gap in controlled practice with the Xray of Alessio Mazzeo going second fastest only 1/10th off the Serpent driver.  Infinity’s Teemu Leino completed the Top 3 with Eric Dankel’s Mugen making it four different manufacturers in the mix at the front.  Championship leader Jilles Groskamp was next up with the fifth fastest time.  Fourth fastest in free practice Kurzbuch put his Shepherd top of the times ahead of Carmine Raiola, the Infinity driver fastest in CP1.  Controlled practice would also see Kurzbuch’s main title rival Dario Balestri move up with the Infinity driver completing the Top 3 ahead of free practice pace setter Robert Pietsch.  For the third of the potential champions, Toni Gruber, practice ended with the WRC driver dropping to seventh quickest.

Chasing a hat trick of ENS wins at Fiorano, Greiner summed up his controlled practice runs as ‘so, so’.  The German added, ‘we tried a few things on the car and it was nothing better so we will go back to when the car was fastest in free practice.  We must leave with this, it is not a problem though because the car is very good’.  Mazzeo who could influence the championship outcome by winning or finishing in between Greiner and Groskamp was pleased with his pace in controlled practice saying, ‘2nd behind Dominic is really good. I’m happy with everything’.  Trying a different diff in the final practice, the Italian said, ‘It was good to go back to what we had before for Q1’. An upbeat Groskamp summed up the completion of practice by saying, ‘It was super close, especially in the second run. I was 3/10ths off in the first one but now I am 3/100ths. I’m very happy to be close now and with tis package we can fight for sure.  We found steering.  It still is not enough but I won’t change for the first qualifier and will just go for a clean run’.

Kurzbuch was happy to be back at the top of the time sheets explaining he had an issue with second gear changing too late in CP1.  The Swiss ace said, ‘we fit a new second gear for the second one and got the adjustment 95% right so we should have it perfect for Q1’.  In terms of his car set-up, he said, ‘I could use a bit more front grip but I think this is the same for everyone’.  Confident for qualifying, the opening round taking place this evening he did express concern over traffic saying, ‘with 11 cars in the heat I hope there is not too much traffic and everyone gives each other room’.  Balestri summed up his improvement with ‘we are on the way’.  The Italian, who is twice Top Qualifier in Fiorano but yet to take a 1:8 win, said, ‘we are still trying to get the same speed as before.  The track and tyres changed again from free practice. I had understeering before and now we’re working to get more corner speed but we are going in the right direction’.  Gruber put his P7 time down to not getting three good laps together, the WRC driver adding, ‘the car is good and it’s ready for qualifying’.

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September 21, 2018

Chassis Focus – Dominic Greiner

Chassis – Serpent 750
Engine –Novarossi Mito WC
Fuel – Energy
Tires (handout) – Matrix
Radio/Servo – Sanwa
Body – Xtreme Hammer

Remarks – Dominic is running the preproduction version of Serpent’s new 750 with the World Champion’s praise for the new car reflected in his early pace.  Key differences compared to its predecessor include different rear suspension which has a new geometry, new aluminium bulkheads and new closed wishbones.  The new wishbones allow for quick switching between a carbon or plastic insert to adjust the arm flex.  The car’s flex is also influenced by a new design radio plate and chassis. Also on the car is a new aero front bumper and rear diffusor. While the car features some silver parts, the final kit with be all black finish with kits set to be available prior to the Worlds next month, the recent storms in Hong Kong delaying final production slightly.  Asked the main characteristic differences between the old and the new car he said, ‘it’s more stable and easier to drive which means you can push even more’.

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September 21, 2018

Greiner & Pietsch head free practice at ENS Finale

At the end of free practice at the Infinity Euro Nitro Series Season Finale in Fiorano, Italy, it is Dominic Greiner and Robert Pietsch who head the times.  Running Serpent’s new 750 chassis, Greiner topped the times from the Infinity of new European Champion Teemu Leino.  Former Fiorano winner Alessio Mazzeo was third quickest over 3-consecutive laps with his Xray.  1:10 Championship leader Jilles Groskamp, who can only be denied his second ENS title by Greiner, would set the fourth fastest time.  In 1:8, Pietsch’s Mugen was just 0.006 quicker than Infinity’s Carmine Raiola with Toni Gruber quickest of the title contenders in 3rd.  Points leader Simon Kurzbuch was behind him in fourth while Dario Balestri found himself down in P11.

Summing up the 10 rounds of free practice held over the last two days, Greiner said, ‘It’s all going pretty good. So far the new car works really good.  We have tried many engines and we have everything ready to go racing’.  With two rounds of controlled practice to decide the order for the heats, Groskamp said, ‘The car has been ok.  We are mainly competitive when it’s warm.  For when it is cooler we have to find some pace and we have to understand why.  The only double winner this Season, the Infinity driver added, ‘It is not easy to get at the same pace as Dominic.  We are looking for more steering without losing the rear’.

Pietsch described free practice as having gone ‘good’ and running his ‘normal package’.  He declared himself happy with his pace both over the 3-laps & over longer runs adding he is ‘confident for qualifying’.  On car set-up, the Mugen driver said, ‘it was very good at the beginning but then the traction changed and I lost steering so we had to go searching for more steering but we found it again’.  Best of the title contenders. Gruber said, ‘yesterday we had a good practice but today we have had a few problems’.  Running tyres from the previous ENS encounter yesterday he said his WRC was very good but today on new tyres the car feels different and they also experience an issue with rear rims rubbing on the suspension.  Finding a solution to the issue, he concluded, ‘It has not been the best start but we are now on a good way’.  Going for his fourth consecutive Fiorano win, Kurzbuch said it was ‘good to test again’ and the Shepherd driver declared ‘everything should be fine for qualifying’.  Unfortunately for Balestri, an early incident yesterday destroyed his race car.  The World Champion said, ‘I had a big crash yesterday when a car came from opposite side of the track and destroyed my car.  Now we are working on trying to get back up to speed’.

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September 20, 2018

ENS Champions to be crowned in Fiorano

The Infinity Euro Nitro Series concludes this weekend (21-23 September) and while the new for 2018 1:8 40+ class champion is already confirmed, the overall 1:10 and 1:8 titles are still to be decided. One of the world’s most popular tracks among drivers both for its layout, facilities and unique atmosphere, Fiorano is once again the venue for the season finale, the race marking the 20th ENS Championship race and the conclusion of Season #5. With the 1:10 World Championships in the US just one month away the fourth stop on the ENS calendar carries even greater significance this year as it is the last major international race before the Worlds and an opportunity for teams and drivers to gauge form for next month. Given the year that is in it, 1:10 has been ultra competitive this season and former champion Jilles Groskamp comes into the weekend leading the points with reigning World Champion Dominic Greiner set to challenge him for the title. In 1:8, the title fight is between three drivers with Simon Kurzbuch also facing competition from the reigning World Champion in the form of Dario Balestri and Toni Gruber.

With Greiner ultimately needing to TQ and then win on Sunday to lift the ENS title for the first time, the Serpent driver does come with a good record at the iconic onroad nitro track. The Championship’s most winning driver, the German has won on the last two visits and TQ for the last three years, his 2015 dominance of 1:10 only ended by an engine failure in the final. The only other winners were Dario Balestri in the inaugural year of the championship and Alessio Mazzeo the following year, denying Groskamp in the final laps of the race. Groskamp has enjoyed two wins this season with Infinity and last time out in Aigen the team enjoyed a 1-2 finish with Francesco Tironi taking second. This weekend former champion and reigning European Champion Teemu Leino is back to make for a very strong Infinity line-up.

While out of contention for the overall title, Mazzeo isn’t making the trip to the season finale to make up the numbers. The Xray driver has been quick all season but has had his issues. He started off his campaign with a TQ at the season opener and on a track where he is always strong he will be looking to add that win he has been working so hard for, a result that could see him become Vice Champion. Elsewhere Mugen will be hoping former Champion and Round 2 podium finisher Eric Dankel can deliver a win, backed up by Dirk Wischnewski.

In 1:8, Kurzbuch has his sights set on a fourth ENS title and will be aiming to achieve it with his 11th ENS career win, a result that would give him a more than 50% success rate. The Shepherd driver has won the season finale for the last three years with the only other Fiorano winner being 9-time World Champion Lamberto Collari in 2014. Despite his winning record, Kurzbuch has only started from the TQ once (2017) with Balestri having the best qualifying record with TQs in 2015 & 16. The Italian had a DNF at the previous round in Austria but taking each drivers worst score into account is only 1-point off his Swiss rival. The Infinity driver secured his 2015 ENS title at Fiorano and will now be aiming to give Infinity its first 1:8 ENS title to go along side Arie Manten’s 40+ championship victory.

Having missed the season opener, Gruber lies 13th in the championship but with podiums in the other two races he could become champion with a victory. The WRC driver has yet to join the ENS Winner’s Roll of Honour, only 7 drivers having achieved this in 5-seasons, but there is no doubting the German’s ability or speed. Elsewhere, after securing his first podium finish at Round 3, Serpent’s Merlin Depta will be aiming to secure a Top 3 in the overall championship but faces strong competition from Shepherd’s Lars Hoppe, 3rd coming into the weekend, and Mugen’s Robert Pietsch.

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July 8, 2018

Kurzbuch takes first win of season at ENS Aigen

Simon Kurzbuch has taken his first win of the 2018 Infinity Euro Nitro Series in Austria.  Coming into the weekend with three consecutive ENS wins at the Aigen track, the Shepherd driver continued to add to that tally adding his 10th ENS career win. Capping off the perfect win having TQ’d all four rounds of qualifying, today’s result means the title goes down to the final round in Fiorano in September.  In contrast to the reigning champions successful weekend, for his main title rival & points leader coming into the event it was a 10th place DNF for Dario Balestri.  Starting 3rd, the Infinity driver suffered an early flame out but on his recovery drive he would later clash with Silvio Hachler with his car suffering damage that would end his race.  Pushing Kurzbuch in the first half of the race, Toni Gruber would finish 2nd with Merlin Depta taking advantage of others issue to secure the final podium placing ahead of Lars Hoppe.

‘It was a good final from our side.  We made no mistakes’, was how Kurzbuch summed up today’s vital win.  The Swiss ace continued, ‘we ran a different strategy to the rest. On my second stop we changed the outside tyres so all the time I would have enough tyres to push if needed.  This strategy also meant I could push for the stint before we did our full tyre stop’.  Having been robbed of victory due to engine stops in the opening two rounds of the championship, the 2015 World Champion dedicated the win to those involved in the development of the new engine.  He said, ‘the engine was very good and this is the new Mephisto line’s first win. Daniele (Ielasi) and the guys at Novarossi have worked really hard for this’.  He added, ‘My pit crew did a perfect job and now we have one more race to go.  We knew what we had to do, take the TQ and win in Aigen, and now we have to do the same in Fiorano’.

‘Finally a second place. I start 2nd and finished 2nd so I am happy’, said Gruber after the 45-minute final.  The WRC driver went on, ‘the car was really good at the start.  I picked the best of the two sets of tyres we ran in the warm-up to start the race and they were really good. I could really push.  After the tyre change the car felt difficult to drive and I think it was a tyre problem.  I knew it was not possible then to pass Simon so then I drive easy to save my second position and bring it home’.  Missing the opening round due to his wedding, Gruber opened his campaign with a 3rd in Ettlingen and now a 2nd with an ENS win still eluding him.  He said, ‘get a win is on my mind but my goal is to finish on the overall podium (3 of the 4 rounds counting in the final standing).  Fiorano is a good track for me so I will drive as fast as I can and hope for at least a podium’.

Claiming his first ever ENS podium finish, Depta said, ‘I took advantage of the casualties. Robert (Pietsch) and Dario had better pace but they were not there at the end’.  The Serpent driver continued, ‘I had a good battle with Silvio and Lars but Dominic (Greiner) was just telling me to safe fuel.  It was super close. Every stint was different. He was telling me push, don’t push but in the end it paid off’.

‘A little unlucky’ was how Hoppe summed up just missing out on the podium.  The Shepherd driver and a former podium finisher in Aigen, he said, ‘until the tyre change all was perfect. I was 3rd and had an easy gap over 4th but in the stop a shock came out at the top.  I had to drive one lap on three shocks and then they fixed it.  After that I had some engine tuning issues and the engine was too rich’. The German concluded, ‘P4 was good but more was possible today’.

In the 40+ class, the ENS crowned its first 2018 Champion as Arie Manten completed his third consecutive perfect weekend.  Starting from the TQ, the Infinity driver had an easy win over Tono Sloboda and is now uncatchable in the championship standings.

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July 8, 2018

Groskamp leads Infinity 1-2 at ENS Aigen

Jilles Groskamp lead home an Infinity 1-2 at the third round of the Euro Nitro Series in Austria today.  Starting from 4th on the grid, the Dutch driver would win the 45-minute encounter from team-mate Francesco Tironi, benefiting from engine troubles that would strike both Top Qualifier Dominic Greiner and Eric Dankel.  Taking early control of the race, Greiner looked destined for his second win of the season with his team executing a perfect tyre stop but as the Serpent driver rejoined the track his engine cut in the sweeper.  Brought back to the pit lane, it fired up immediately, but again in the sweeper it stopped but again it was fired up without hesitation and third time lucky it kept going for the remainder of the race but it cost the dominant German any chance of the win.  The only driver to really take the fight to Greiner today, Dankel’s race started to come undone when he made contact with Alessio Mazzeo who was exiting the pits but in the end the Mugen driver’s frustration would only get worse with a flame out, contact with a backmarker and finally a broken engine. All the while Groskamp was having a steady race even overcoming a slow tyre stop to take his 2nd ENS career win ahead of Tironi with Mazzeo hanging on to complete the podium ahead of Greiner.

‘I had the pace for the podium but not the win today but we ran super safe and others had problems’, was how Groskamp summed up his win.  The former champion continued, ‘we started with a rich engine and it never got up to temperature which cost me some time and again my arm went numb which was the same problem I had in Holland and which is something I need to get checked but we went with a safe strategy, 5-minute fuelling, all four tyres.  The tyre stop went wrong and we lost a nut but it didn’t matter because the others hit trouble. We went safe, the others were on the limit and our approach paid off today’.  Extending his championship lead ahead of the season finale in Fiorano, with Greinier needing a dominant qualifying and race to deny him the title, he concluded, ‘we have to improve for sure. The car needs to be better but I’m happy with today’s result’.

Summing up his race, having started 5th behind Groskamp, Tironi said, ‘In the beginning I think we lose the race but from 5th you have to try to overtake, sometimes it works, sometimes not. I make a little crash and I have to wait to give back the position and lose a lot of time’.  The incident he was referring to was his contact with Shepherd’s Thilo Todtmann who having started 3rd ended up in the grass at the end of the straight following the contact.  A former Top Qualifier of the Aigen race, the Italian went on, ‘the car was good so I was able to push.  Everything in the pits was really good and we also were a little lucky but we were always competitive for a podium today.  To be part of an Infinity 1-2 feels good’.

‘Tired’ was Mazzeo reaction after the 45-minute encounter. The Xray driver said, ‘In the morning (A-Main practice) the car was super fast but to try improve the steering under braking we changed the diff for the final and it was undriveable’.  The Round 1 Top Qualifier continued, ‘I had a quiet race and some luck came to me as Dominic and Eric went out which out me second but the magnetism went in the nut spinner and we lost a nut in the tyre stop which cost me 20-seconds’.  With Greiner closing in the final laps of the race, he said, ‘I was never under much pressure as I knew the gap was too big.  The big problem today was the bad choice of the diff.  For sure the podium is always good but I am not satisfied with the race but as you see Dominic was fastest all weekend and finished 4th, that is racing.  Congrats to Jilles for the win.  We will keep fighting for Fiorano’.

‘Like most of the time, unbelievable’, was how a bemused Greiner summed up his problems.  The World Champion continued, ‘we changed tyres perfect but then on full throttle it flamed out, it fired up again, then again on full throttle it stopped again.  We changed nothing and started it again and it ran perfect for the rest of the race. I don’t know what caused this’.  With some of his rivals expected to take risky strategies for the race in order to try in somewhat make up speed deficit to Greiner, it was him who would actually break from the norm.  He said, ‘We went 5:40 because we thought maybe Jilles make but we only did it for the first one once we saw everything was going 5 and we had a good lead.  The 5:40 then meant we had an empty pitlane for the rest of our 5-minute stops’.

Clearly annoyed with Mazzeo, telling the him he ‘maybe needs glasses’, to which the Italian replied, ‘I just stayed on my line’, Dankel said Mazzeo’s actions destroyed his race.  Closest to Greiner in terms of outright pace, the German said, ‘I had a chance for the win before Mazzeo hit me but in the end the engine broke’.

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