Balestri to start 2nd after topping final qualifier

Dario Balestri will start the 1:8 A-Main at the third round of the Euro Nitro Series from 2nd on the grid.  With reigning champion Simon Kurzbuch wrapping up the overall TQ in Germany early, his Shepherd topping the first four qualifiers, in the final round at Minidrom Ettlingen it was Balestri’s Capricorn that would set the pace.  Outpacing the Mugen of Robert Pietsch by 4/10ths, the result would snatch 2nd on the grid for the Italian ahead of the German.  Behind them Oliver Mack has made an impressive return to the ENS securing P4 as his starting position ahead of an equally impressive Robin D’hondt, whose BMT will line up fifth for tomorrow’s 45-minute encounter.

A driver who has developed a smile that has been growing over the second official day of the event, Balestri said, ‘I only needed time to adjust the car’.  Having felt he has been playing catch up due to his rivals arriving at the Minidrom Ettlingen a day earlier than him, the reigning European Champion is now confident he’s now in a position to match his rivals on pace.  ‘Very happy’ with his C802 and Tesla engines, he is now ‘feeling confident for the final’.  Having tested yesterday on small diametre tyres, the Bologna ENS Top Qualifier and race runner-up said this presents no issue for him so it’s all ‘looking good for a good race tomorrow’.

Acknowledging that Balestri has now entered the mix, Pietsch used the final two qualifiers to test set-ups for the final.  In Q4 the changes were ‘not good’ but making further changes to his Picco powered MRX-5 for Q5 he said it was running ‘OK’ until the last minute when his engine went lean and it was this that lost him the time to Balestri.  Having twice TQ’d an ENS but failed to convert those into victory, Pietsch said he was not unhappy not to be starting out front.  Highlighting that the ENS tyre rules make everyone so close in lap times as everyone starts with the same diameter tyre, this makes it hard to pull away so for him it is easier to start off the race following someone else.  Feeling the track changed following the overnight rain he said he didn’t find the best set-up as he had yesterday.  Still looking for better stability in the car he has ‘more to test’ in the 10-minute A-Main practice.

Testing a different set-up in the final qualifier, Kurzbuch said the change to a harder rear spring was ‘better for the feeling but not for the lap times’.  Also switching engine in his Velox V8, he said it was set too rich leaving him lacking power.  Planning to leave the set-up unchanged for the A-Main practice he wants to test it with a different Novarossi engine ‘to see how it works’.

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

Chassis Focus – Simon Kurzbuch

Chassis – Shepherd Velox V8 EC
Engine – Novarossi Mito 9-C
Fuel – Meccafuel
Tires (handout) – Shepherd Tyres
Radio/Servo – Futaba
Body – Protoform R18

Remarks – Swiss ace Simon Kurzbuch TQ’d Round 3 of the Euro Nitro Series here in Ettlingen running a V8 EC equipped with a number of option parts. The transmission features a new reverse clutch, lightweight wheel axles and hard low friction pulleys, while the front end sports an aluminium servo saver. Simon is also using the new C7TGFP plug on his Novarossi Mito.

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5 out 5 for Greiner but Leino shows promise for final

Having already wrapped up the overall TQ in the third round of qualifying at the German ENS, Dominic Greiner didn’t let up taking the remaining two qualifiers at Minidrom Ettlingen.  Completing the clean sweep, the Serpent driver is clearly the man to beat in tomorrow’s Main as he seek his first win at the Round 3 of the championship, but the biggest news of Q4 & 5 was the improvement made by Austrian ENS winner Teemu Leino.

Set to line-up third on the grid behind the two early dominant drivers of weekend Greiner and Dirk Wischnewski, a complete rebuild of his HB R10 for Q4 had Leino in contention for a TQ run.  Unfortunately catching a backmarker on his final lap the Finn would end up on the grass denying him a shot at ending Greiner’s reign.  In Q5, Leino would again swap times with the German the gap at the end half a second.  Also racing 1:8 this weekend, Leino said after Q3 together with his Japanese mechanic Takashi Miyashita they made the call to focus on the 1:10 car and able to fully rebuild the 1:10 car as a result he was immediately ‘back in the game’.  Saying the car ‘just need the extra attention’, the former World Championship Top Qualifier is feeling confident for the final.  Asked about strategy, he said he would do his calculations tonight in terms of tyres but in the engine department he was happy with his mileage adding that he wasn’t so sure his rivals were in the same positive position with run time.

Although joint leaders of the championship Jilles Groskamp and Bruno Coelho have just scraped into the Main and will line up 8th and 9th respectively behind reigning champion Eric Dankel.  Groskamp said he is ‘still struggling’.  Switching back to an SRS bodyshell the HB/Maxima team driver said his R10 is still not right with it feeling as if it gets stuck in the corners.  Feeling this is also effecting his engine with it lacking bottom end power, he said they have tried a lot of stuff but can’t find the problem.  Suffering from too tight a clutch in the final qualifier he said while he is not the only top driver having problems with the track’s unique asphalt, he said Leino is running the same car and has managed to get back on pace.  Hopefully he can find something in the A-Main practice session tomorrow, he said its going to be hard to fight for the win but the fact that he is in the final ‘you never know what can happen’.

Struggling with getting a set-up that lets him push the car without traction rolling, Bologna ENS winner Coelho said it been a ‘tough weekend’.  The Portuguese driver with such high grip they have struggled to get the NT1 to work especially on big tyres.  While the car was better in Q5, he said the final will be about ‘damage limitation’ in terms of the championship standings rather than challenging for the win. While admitting he is running out of time he hopes they can further improve the car for the 45-minute Main.  Highlighting his team’s struggles this weekend team-mate & reigning World Champion Alexander Hagberg has qualified 14th meaning he will have to hope he can finish in the Top 2 of the in the B Final in order to bump up and complete the 12-car A-Main starting grid.

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

Chassis Focus – Dominic Greiner

Chassis – Serpent Natrix 748 TQ
Engine – Max RP3-5
Fuel – Runner Time
Tires (handout) – Shepherd Tyres
Radio/Servo – Futaba
Body – SRC Spark

Remarks – Top Qualifier at Round 2 in Aigen, Dominic Greiner has backed that result up here in Ettlingen running a pretty standard version of the latest Serpent car. His Natrix 748 TQ is only equipped with a front solid axle, brass balancing weights attached to the chassis and an Arrowmax titanium screw set.

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