Clean sweep gives Kurzbuch German ENS TQ

Simon Kurzbuch is Top Qualifier for the German round of the Euro Nitro Series. The reigning ENS champion secured pole position with a clean sweep of the opening three qualifiers at Minidrom Ettlingen.  Making a marked improvement for Q3, Bologna Top Qualifier Dario Balestri would push him, crossing the line just 0.038 off the Swiss driver’s time.  His second overall ENS TQ, its bonus point extends the Shepherd drivers lead in the championship standings over Balestri to 5 points.

Seeking a second consecutive ENS victory, having secured his first at the previous round in Austria, Kurzbuch was happy to wrap up the TQ having opened with a strong qualifying in Aigen only to lose the TQ when he hit issues in the closing heats.  Describing his Velox V8 and Novarossi engine as ‘really good for qualifying’, he added the rear was ‘really really loose’ which while fine for qualifying he now needed to change the set-up and make it more safe for the final.  Looking to improve run time for the final, the high speed track layout causing high fuel consumption, he will change to a different engine and work on getting it ready for tomorrow’s 45-Main. Asked about tyres for the final, he replied while the wear is low the issue is more controlling the engine rpm on small tyres down the straight rather than having enough tyre to finish the race and with this in mind he plans one tyre stop.

Balestri was very upbeat about his improved pace adding that he now had enough track time to catch up to his rivals, who enjoyed more testing than him. Improving his Tesla powered C03 ‘step by step’ each qualifier the reigning European Champion said everything is ‘now ok’.  Asked if he planned to use the remaining qualifiers to prepare for the final, he promptly respond ‘no no, I want to go faster’.  He continued that with the ENS tyre rules of set diameter handout pre-trued tyres, which he added he ‘enjoys’, he doesn’t have to make a strategy with tyres for the final as he knows everyone is working off the same tyre.

Posting the third fastest time Robert Pietsch said he made a mistake in choosing to run the same set of tyres for a third time.  The Mugen driver made the call having set his fastest lap towards the end of Q2 but he said they were too small and in Q3 it made his MRX-5 ‘difficult over the bumps’.  With the overall TQ done and his place in the Main secured, the former World Champion will now work towards getting ready for the final.  With ‘fuel mileage an issue’ due to the nature of the track, he will try a different Picco engine in Q4.

Having ‘crashed quite badly’ in Q2 with his Shepherd needing to be rebuilt, Rick Vrielijnck said considering this P4 for the round ‘was OK’.  He said while the car was ‘good’ it suffered from oversteer leading him to make ‘small mistakes’.  The Dutchman who also ran a P4 time in Q1 yesterday, is confident that a wing adjustment will get the steering back in his Picco powered Velox V8.

Behind Vreilijnck was Shepherd team-mate Oliver Mack but the championship returning German while happy with the handling of his car said he is still lacking outright speed.  Having changed engine and clutch he said nothing improved and he is now suspecting something is wrong within the car.  Happy at having already secured a place in the final, his goal coming into the weekend, he will use the final two qualifiers to try a few changes that he hopes will result in him finding speed from the engine.

While ARC’s Lars Hoppe couldn’t back up his strong Q2 performance due to engine issues, Robin D’Hondt would with a P6.  The BMT backed driver said his Picco powered 984 is ‘getting faster but getting more difficult to drive’.  While managing a best lap of 12.8, almost matching Kurzbuch’s fastest lap of the round, he said he can get consistency.  Planning to lower the rear roll centre, go harder in the rear shock oil and move the body more to the rear of the car, the multiple World Championship finalist hopes this will in addition to making the car more easy to drive help reduce the initial steering without taking away overall steering.

View complete event results here.

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Chassis Focus – Teemu Leino

Chassis – HB R8
Engine – Novarossi Mito 9-C
Fuel – Maxima
Tires (handout) – Shepherd Tyres
Radio/Servo – Sanwa
Body – Protoform R18

Remarks – Making his first 1:8 outing of Season #2, Round 2 1:10 winner Teemu Leino is running an almost out-of-the-box version of the HB R8 car. Opting for a titanium screw set for the upper side of his car, the Finn is using a Capricorn clutch on his Novarossi engine.

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Greiner Top Qualifier at German ENS

Dominic Greiner is the Top Qualifier for Round 3 of the Euro Nitro Series in Germany.  The Serpent driver claimed his second consecutive ENS TQ when he completed a clean sweep of the first three qualifiers at Minidrom Ettlingen.  Having dominated yesterday’s opening two qualifiers, this morning in Q3 he faced a strong challenge from Shepherd’s Dirk Wischnewski who pushed him hard.  Seeing off his fellow German by just a tenth of a second Greiner would secure his third overall TQ making him the championship’s most successful qualifier.

‘Very, very close’, was Greiner’s reaction after the run.  With his Max engine running rich in the much cooler conditions than the tough heat experienced yesterday, the World Championship Top Qualifier said he had to ‘push maximum hard’ and as a result made a ‘couple of small errors’.  With ‘Dirk very fast’, the two having a distinct advantage over their rivals, Greiner predicts a tough final between himself and the former European Champion.  With the TQ settled and still two more rounds of qualifying to run, last years Austrian ENS winner will use the track time to test small tyres and run time as preparation for the 45-minute Main.  Asked about the final he said it was ‘not possible to do to do the race without a tyre change’.  Running a simulated final during testing at the Ettlingen track 2-weeks ago, he said ‘after 25-minutes the car gets very difficult to drive’.

Wischnewski’s reaction was similar to Greiner, the vice-champion summing up the qualifier as ‘Super close’.  Commenting on the improved performance he said ‘finally the engine setting was ok’, him having struggled a little with the tune on his Orcan engine in Q1 & 2.  Having had concerns about the track following the overnight rain it would prove to be the same as yesterday with him describing his Velox V10 as ‘really good’.  Taking ‘one corner not so good’ he said this cost the TQ run and the chance to challenge Greiner for pole in the final over the remaining qualifiers.  Instead he will now start looking at his set-up for the final planning to run used tyres to gauge the car on small tyres as well as testing how his painted bodyshell works having run a white shell so far.

Heading the second group of drivers again posting the third fastest time Leino said his HB team regrouped last night.  Running in both classes he said they struggled as a result yesterday and today they will as part of a new approach try a new set-up every run.  The Finn, who claimed his & HB’s first ENS win at Round 2,  said the problem they are faced with is the front end has too much bite making the rear end loose and now their focus is on making the car ‘smooth’ to drive for the final.

Having left his car unchanged since the start of qualifying Rene Pupke continued his strong showing with a P4 in Q3.  The Shepherd driver, who made his first ENS final at the previous race in Aigen, felt the latest set of tyres he had was not so good but with three good rounds in the bag it was time to start trying some set-up changes with the final in mind.

Claiming his third P6 time, joint championship leader Jilles Groskamp appeared a lot happier today.  Deciding at last night’s HB team meeting to make a chassis change on his Maxima powered R10, he was confident they were now in a much better place.  Having been running a ‘softer’ chassis, he is now running a standard kit chassis which has made the car more stable and ‘way more easy to drive’.  Also bringing on understeer, the Austrian ENS runner-up is confident that a combination of the stiffer chassis and a set-up he ran yesterday will cure that.  Having run a P37 bodyshell he will also switch to an SRS which should also induce more steering.

View complete event results here.

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Chassis Focus – Eric Dankel

Chassis – Capricorn Lab C03
Engine – Tesla T12
Fuel – Maxima
Tires (handout) – Shepherd Tyres
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/AME
Body – Protoform SRS

Remarks – Making his return to the series missing Round 2 in Aigen due to taking up a new job at Audi Sport, reigning champion Eric Dankel is running a pretty standard version of the latest Lab C03 from Capricorn. Apart from some lightweight screws, the only change on the car would be the addition of 30 grams on the front bumper to reduce traction rolling.

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Another TQ run from Kurzbuch

Picking up where he left off yesterday Simon Kurzbuch has TQ’d the second round of qualifying at the ENS in Germany. The Shepherd driver again topped the times from Robert Pietsch, the Mugen driver almost 4/10th off at the end of the 4-minutes.  As he did in Q1, Capricorn’s Dario Balestri completed the Top 3, the Italian closer to his rival’s pace this morning.  The biggest improvements on the start of Day 2 of the event would come from Aigen podium finisher Lars Hoppe and Belgian Robin D’Hondt who posted the 4th and 5th fastest times respectively ahead of Oliver Mack.  Unfortunately for Francesco Tironi his Q2 would be short lived.  Getting out of shape on lap 2, his Shepherd would get collected by the ARC of Silvio Hächler forcing Tironi out with a broken suspension with the incident also ending Andrea Lorenzi’s qualifier.

Describing his P4 run as ‘a little difficult’, Hoppe said the result was good after ‘a lot of problems in practice’.  With traction lower today following overnight rain,  the German said his R8.0 was much better in Q1 but the driver was terrible.  Making a ‘huge’ adjustment to the rear toe on his car in the warm-up for Q2, he said even with this the rear was still loose.  A two time ENS podium finisher, he reported his gearbox as changing too late adding he needs to adjust it for Q3.  Happy to open the day with a good run, he said hopefully for Q3 the temperature and traction will be higher as these conditions would suit his car better.

Running in the second fastest heat along with Hoppe, D’Hondt said he made ‘too many mistakes (himself)’ over the run.  Leading the efforts of small Italian manufacturer BMT since the departure of Daniele Ielasi, he said his Picco powered 984 was better today but still difficult to drive. Running a set-up that is ‘completely different to what (he) would run anywhere else’, he feels he can still find something to improve the car further for the Minidrom Ettlingen’s unique asphalt.

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

Video – 1/8 Controlled Practice Rd2

[youtube]https://youtu.be/tKE_8byyJ7A[/youtube]