Salemi suprises with TQ run in Q2

Mirko Salemi put in a somewhat surprise TQ run in the second round of qualifying at the Euro Nitro Series in Italy.  Having sent out a warning to his rivals in Q1 when from the second fastest heat he posted a P4 time, the BP Racing driver would outpace reigning champion Dario Balestri by half a second on his second attempt.  Behind them Carmine Raiola would make it an all Italian Top 3 with his Infinity just outpacing the Mugen of Germany’s Robert Pietsch.  In 1:10, Serpent’s Alessio Mazzeo made up for a mistake in Q1, to TQ ahead of team-mate Mark Green with Mugen’s Erik Dankel third.

Running the 2016 version of the RS4, Salemi said his car was ‘going very good’.  Running out of fuel on the last lap of Q1 and coasting across the finish-line, the recently turned 24-year-old made a pipe change for Q2 resulting in better run time that would see him finish with a 15.5 second last lap rather than the 16.3 in the first heat.  Making no changes to his car between qualifiers he will again make no set-up changes but will change engine.  Setting the fastest lap of Q2 and with a direct spot in the A-Main secured, he is looking to save the engine and use Q3 to evaluate a second Novarossi engine for the longer final race distance.

Commenting on his qualifier, Balestri said, ‘I lost time with one car’.  Opting not to change the set-up on his Capricorn from that he used to TQ the opening qualifier, the only driver to win races in both ENS classes said he had ‘a big problem with traction this run’.  Putting this down to getting a harder shore of rear tyres in the set of handout tyres he was given for Q2 he said there was no problem with the car and he was confident for the next one.

2013 World Finalist and Italian National Champion Raiola said he was able to improve the balance of his car between qualifiers as he again was the fastest Infinity driver.  Getting a P5 in Q1, a droop change improved the steering and the 24-year-old will make a further downstop change for the next qualifier.

Having retired from Q1 with an engine problem, Lamberto Collari would take his example of the Infinity to P5 behind Pietsch.  The 9-time World Champion said while ‘a better run’, he needs to work more on a set-up to suit the tyres.  Happy they had found a good set-up he said the issue is the tyres are softer than what they used in testing, the large Creation Model team doing extensive testing in the build up to the season opener.

Having blown Q1 with a driver error, Mazzeo summed up his Q2 TQ with ‘no mistakes’.  Fastest in practice, the Italian started off Q2 cautiously as he ‘was nervous after (his) mistake in (the) first run’. Findng his rhythm and hearing he was running the same pace as Green he then ‘started to push harder’. Having raised the downstop on his Gimar powered 748 which improve the steering he will change it again for his heat.

‘Another nice clean run’ was how Green described his Q2.  He said ‘a couple of mistakes cost me the win but it went to my team-mate so I’m still happy’.  With his XRD powered 748 ‘staying super consistent’ he is ‘just having to look over it’.  With the set-up unchanged from the first practice this morning, he said ‘it’s making my job a lot easier’.

Dankel felt he was ‘over driving at the beginning’ of the qualifier.  Making a change to the front shock oil on his MTX-6 for Q2 the former Champion said this made it worse through the sweeper leading onto the straight with it clear to see his car was rolling more than Mazzeo’s.  He will now change to a harder oil.

Taking the TQ in the first one, Bruno Coelho said his Xray was ‘super difficult to drive’.  Thinking there was a problem with the car he said afterwards they discovered the rear right tyre had come unglued.  Considering this he said ‘4th was OK’. New team-mate Leo Arnold was the next best Xray with the sixth fastest time ahead of reigning champion Jilles Groskamp.

Another of the 2015 title contenders, Dominc Greiner said his Serpent was a lot better but again he had a mistake, this time on the last lap.  Hitting the curbing coming onto the main straight he said the car got out of shape costing him almost a second to leave him with a P5.  Planning further set-up changes in his hunt for better steering he said ‘I’ll just have to try and TQ the last two heats’, the overall TQ carrying an important ENS Championship bonus point.

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Chassis Focus – Dario Balestri

Chassis – Capricorn LAB C-02 RS
Engine – Tesla T21 “Black Edition”
Fuel – Tesla by Runner Time
Tires (handout) – Contact
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/Savox
Body – Protoform R18

Remarks – Italian superstar driver Dario Balestri is kicking off his title defence here in Bologna running the RS version of the Capricorn 8th scale car. The main feature on the new car is the chassis, which is narrower in the rear end to allow for longer suspension arms. Dario’s car is equipped with a set of Avid bearings and is powered by a “Black Edition” version of the Tesla engine which features a different crankshaft timing, which produces more punch.

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Balestri & Coelho take opening ENS qualifier

Dario Balestri and Bruno Coelho have claimed the first round of qualifying at the Euro Nitro Series season opener in Italy.  The reigning 1:8 Champion, Balestri topped the times from Robert Pietsch while in 1:10 Coelho was fastest over the 4-minutes from the touring car class’ reigning champion Jilles Groskamp.  Having started out the day with their drivers topping the times in both classes, Serpent wouldn’t be able to maintain their position, driver errors the prblem for Merlin Depta in 1:8 and both Alessio Mazzeo & Dominic Greiner in the 1:10 encounter.  Mark Green would at least see Serpent in the Top 3 of 1:10 while in 1:8, World Champion Simon Kurzbuch was third fastest.

A massive, by L.Collari RC Raceway standards, 2.1-seconds faster than his closest rival, Balestri was clearly happy with his performance and in particular pleased that his only complaint was his Capricorn LAB-CO8 RS version ‘had a lot steering’.  With understeer the common complaint in the pits in Bologna, last year’s Top Qualifier said his car ‘felt really good for the conditions’.  Posting the fastest lap of Q1, with a 15.286 second lap, for the second of the four qualifiers the Italian ‘might run a bit less camber’ to reduce his steering.

Only 11th fastest in practice, Pietsch was happy to get ‘good points for the first round’ admitting he has been ‘struggling a bit with set-up’.  ‘Not so happy with (the) car at the moment’, the former World Champion thinks he ‘maybe (has a) problem with (his) steering servo’.  Having been unable to get the car to his liking the German will fit a new servo for Q2.

Setting the inital TQ pace, Kurzbuch said ‘it was a good start to quali’ adding ‘I have points now to attack for TQ’.  Describing his Novarossi powered Shepherd V8 as ‘at the beginning very good’ the Swiss driver continued ‘it then started to push on the fast corners and I lost a little pace’.  To try and cure this he will adjust the front down stops and caster.

Behind Kurzbuch, BP Racing’s Mirko Salemi, who is running in the second fastest heat, put in an impressive run to post the fourth fastest time. Behind him, fellow Italian Carmine Raiola would be the quickest Infinity driver with a P5 run with new Capricorn signing Robin D’hondt completing the Top 6.  Unfortunately for 2016 race winner Lamberto Collari he wouldn’t complete the first qualifying, his Infinity coming to a stop just half way through the heat.  Having topped practice, Depta would run into the back of another car but said the biggest loss of time came from pacing himself off the car ahead thinking it was quick when it wasn’t.

Winner of the season opener last year, Coelho summed up his Q1 performance as ‘very good’ adding he had ‘no mistakes’.  Improvng his Xray NT1 from practice he said it was still ‘not perfect’ and he would ‘keep working on it to find more steering’.  Getting the opportunity to follow Groskamp on track he said compared to his rival he felt he had the same level of steering, understeer an issue for all drivers today, but he is having to drive more aggressively than the Dutchman adding ‘thats not good for a final, I can’t drive 45-minute like this’.

Groskamp felt he ‘improved (his) car a little bit’ adding his Maxima engine was also better after a pipe change for Q1.  The Infinity driver who is racing a Capricorn in 1:10 this weekend, said the car was not the fastest over a lap but it was a good for a 4-minute run.  In addition to trying to find more steering for Q2, the former Electric Touring Car World Champion will also adjust his second gear to change later.

‘Was Ok’ was Green’s response after Q1, the British driver reporting being held up at the beginning. He continued ‘for the first run the drivers went a bit mad’ so I just tried to be careful’.  ‘A safe clean run’ he added, ‘My fastest lap didn’t come until my second last lap so there is definitely more to come’.  After leading a Serpent 1, 2, 3 in practice, Mazzeo made a mistake that saw his 748 go off track resulting a chunked tyre.  Greiner also made a mistake that intially lead to a body tuck on his warm-up lap that then resulted in a faster car collecting his Serpent causing him to start the heat late.

Behind the Top 3, Erik Dankel was again fourth fastest as he was in practice. Behind the former Champion, Dirk Wischnewski and David Loppini completed the Top 6.

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Depta tops 1:8 practice at ENS Bologna

Merlin Depta topped 1:8 practice at the Euro Nitro Series season opener in Italy this morning, the Serpent driver fastest from reigning champion Dario Balestri over 3-consecutive laps.  With the majority of drivers posting their fastest time in the first of the two controlled practices, an improvement in CP2 would see WRC’s Andrea Pirani complete the top 3 ahead of World Champion Simon Kurzbuch.  With the event marking the official debut of class newcomers Infinity it was Francesco Tironi who was fastest of the star studded team, posting the 6th fastest time ahead of team-mates Jesse Davis and Carmine Raiola.  Racing at L.Collari RC Raceway, track owner and No.1 Infinity recruit Lamberto Collari would manage only the 22nd fastest time.

Although annoyed with himself for destroying a new bodyshell in the first practice which he had only prepared last night, Depta summed up his somewhat surprise topping of practice as ‘not bad’.  Having played around with rear body height in free practice yesterday he also switched between a wide and a narrow front track finding the wide made the car easier to handle. Over the two controlled practices he moved the rear shock position to the lowest hole which while not effecting the car’s pace did make it ‘easier to drive’.  Declaring the track as one of his favourites since his first visit in 2014, he will leave his Picco powered 977 unchanged for the first of the four qualifiers.

‘With strange grip and strange tyres it is not easy but its a good start’, was Balestri’s view of being a 1/10th of a second off Depta’s pace.  The Capricorn lead driver was referring to the polishing the track surface underwent in January and to the race’s controlled Contact tyre.  Running the new RS version of the LAB-C08 which features new rear geometry, the Top Qualifier of this event last year said he has used practuice to adjust the balance of the car and he is happy with where it is at going into qualifying.

Pirani was suprised by his Top 3 time saying, ‘Third! My feeling with the car was not very good’.  Finishing on the podium here 12-months ago, the Italian is running the 2016 version of the car he is responsible for designing.  Featuring a new front flex system he is ‘fighting low grip in the front end’ but added ‘I hope to make a better set-up and think I can go faster’.

Kurzbuch said, ‘the first (practice) as really good and I was in the Top 3 but the second it rained a little and the track was not so good’.  Looking to get more steering on corner entry the Swiss ace feels there are ‘little improvements’ he can make to his Shepherd for Q1.  Declaring he ‘should be ready for quaifying’ he added ‘it will be interesting to see how everyone works in qualifying conditions’.

Top French driver Anthony Abisset made it a promising morning for Serpent, their drivers having locked out the Top 3 in 1:10 pratice.  Setting the 5th fastest time, when asked if it was good morning for him he replied ‘yes for once’.  A former European B Champion, that title came here in 2014.  Making small changes to his also Picco powered 977, he said the biggest change came from changing bodyshell.  Switching between a Blitz and a Protoform body, he said the PF R18 made the car more stable out of the corner and he will run the car unchanged for Q1.

Completing the Top 6, Tironi said he is finding speed everytime he runs it as both the car and track improve. Describing the times as ‘really close’ the popular Italian added ‘I think we are competitive’.  Looking to the opening qualifier after ‘a little problem’ with his engine he will fit a new one adding, ‘the aim is to make a clean run with a Top 5 or better the target’.

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Serpent opens ENS#3 with strong 1:10 practice

Serpent have opened the 2016 Euro Nitro Series season with a strong show of force as their drivers locked out the Top 3 in controlled practice in Bologna, Italy, this morning.  With drivers getting two rounds of controlled practice which will determine the heat seeding, it was last year’s season finale winner Alessio Mazzeo who set the pace around the high speed L.Collari RC Raceway.  Behind the Italian it was Mark Green, just 0.049 of a second off over 3-laps, with Serpent’s 2015 title contender Dominic Greiner on a further 0.075 adrift.  Best of the rest would be Erik Dankel, the 2014 ENS Champion making a good start to his Mugen debut with only 0.029 his deficit to Greiner.

With Serpent’s factory drivers running first samples of a soon to be released new internal transmission for the Natrix 748, Mazzeo declared, ‘we are happy’.  Setting his fastest time in the first of the two practices, he said having tried a different set-up in CP2, he will revert back to his previous set-up for the first of qualifiers.  With rain forecast for tomorrow, organisers have brought forward qualifying with all 4 rounds now scheduled to run today.  Also new on his Gimar Speed 2016 powered 748 is a Novarossi clutch, the unit the first centax system to be released by the Italian engine manufacturer.

‘Very good’ was Green’s reaction to the practice.  Describing his car as ‘really consistent’, the British driver added that the new transmission ‘allows the car to run more free’ resulting in ‘smooth acceleration’.  Also running big bore shocks on his car he said having left his car unchanged over the two practices he would continue with it that way for Q1, the car’s designer Michael Salven joking on that because he doesn’t need to change anything and ‘actually he is bored’.  Having made the switch to XRD engines, a strong engine key to track’s fast layout, he declared ‘my new engines are fantastic’.

A drivers who is known for determination to be P1, Greiner described his P3 in practice as ‘ok’.  Describing the new transmission as ‘a lot better’, the German said his car is actually ‘too easy to drive’ and he is ‘looking for more steering’.  Another driver to switch engines over the winter going in the opposite direction to team-mate Green by joining Novarossi, he said his new engines have been running ‘very good’.

‘Good so far’ was Dankel’s summary of practice.  Having endured a torrid start to his title defence in Bologna last year failing to make the final, he said it was ‘good to make first race without problems’.  In the second practice, he did have a problem with his car going straight on and across the grass – a loose battery connector suspected as causing the glitch.  Working very closely with the car’s designer Robert PIetsch he said ‘Robert is helping a lot and I really appreciate that’.  Making a change to his Orcan powered MTX-6 for CP2 when he ran a softer rear anti roll bar, as it didn’t improve the car he will revert to a set-up he ran in free practice yesterday.

A driver who showed strong at the final round in Fiorano last year, Spanish KM driver Eduardo Escandon looks to have picked up where he left off by laying down the 5th fastest time. Behind him Bruno Coelho completed the Top 6.  Winner here in Bologna last year, the Xray driver set his time in the second of the practice runs having topped the times on the slower track.  The Portuguese ace said his ‘car was very good in the last run but the track was slower.  We improved the car a lot so we are on a good way’.  Looking for more steering, admitting ‘everyone has the same problem’, he said ‘we have some more things to run through but it looks good for qualifying’.  Coelho’s World Champion team-mate Alexander Hagberg would post the 8th fastest time.

Heading Team Shepherd’s 1:10 campaign with the 7th fastest time, Dirk Wischnewski hinted that this weekend was  about damage limitation in terms of championship points.  Describing practice as ‘so so’, the German continued ‘we improved compared to yesterday when we struggled a lot’.  Suffering from understeer, he conceded that ‘normally (these) conditions are not on my side’ and ‘I hope for good run over the 4-minutes’, the ENS running 4-minutes qualifier.

Posting the 9th fastest time ahead of the similar car of Britain’s Kyle Branson,  reigning champion Jilles Groskamp said ‘its not so bad, it (his pace) is very close to the other guys’.  Having joined the Infinity team over the winter, the former HB driver said his focus so far this weekend has been on his 1:8 programme.  With Infinity not yet having a 1:10 car, the Dutch ace is running a Capricorn adding he has ‘not put much effort into 1:10 yet’.  Doing one race with the car in Singapore, where he said track conditions where very different, he said he would like to dial out some understeer and will go through the set-up a bit more now that is 1:8 is running well.

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Track Focus – L.Collari RC Raceway

Track Name – L.Collari RC Raceway
Owner – Lamberto Collari
Country – Italy
Location – Bologna
Direction – Anti-clockwise
Surface – Asphalt
Previous ENS races hosted – 1 (2015)

Making its first Euro Nitro Series calendar appearance last year when it hosted the season opener, Italy’s first ever permanent track is again the venue for the start of the 2016 ENS.  Built in 1978, the track is responsible for starting the career of one of the RC racing all time great Lamberto Collari.  Only 6-years old when the track then called Pista Futura was built, it is here where the 9-time 1:8 Onroad World Champion mastered his legendary driving skills and things turned full circle in 2013 when Collari, together with Luca Rauli, took ownership of the track which has aptly been renamed L.Collari RC Raceway.

Retaining its original fast 308 metre long layout over its 38-year existence, one change to the track since last year’s ENS visit is a cleaning of the track surface in January.  Last resurfaced 8-years ago, in preparation for the 1:5 European Championships it will host in July the track was polished with a steel ball cutting agent that clears away the tyre build up and makes the track surface more abrasive providing better traction for the large rubber tyres the class uses.  Unfortunately for the ENS which uses foam tyres, Contact the official tyre suppliers for the opening round of ENS Season #3,  the work has resulted in lower traction.  Reigning 1:10 Champion Jilles Groskamp said the lower traction has made for slower lap times but also means more tyre wear as the cars are sliding around more, especially in the 1:8 division.  On the track layout, the new factory Infinity driver said ‘it’s wide open’ adding ‘while you always need a good engine it is especially important here’.  On double duty this weekend, racing Maxima powered cars in both 1:8 and 1:10, he said in 1:10 ‘it is difficult to find good steering as a result of the high speed’.

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