Q3 Update

Simon Kurzbuch took his second TQ run of the day, throwing down the only 17 lap run of the event so far, to respond in the best way possible to Dario Balestri’s Q2 TQ run. The Italian crossed the finish line in 2nd and was just less than a second ahead of a much improved Robert Pietsch in 3rd who put in his best time of the weekend. Dominic Greiner complete the quartet of World Champions at the front of the field as the Serpent driver came home 4th just ahead of engine maestro Alberto Picco.

Following a little hiccup in Q2, Leo Arnold also bounced back to take the 3rd round of qualifying in the 1/10th class. The Xray driver was joined at the top of timesheets by his team mate Alessio Mazzeo who finally managed to get in a trouble free run. Teemu Leino was next up followed by the trio of Shepherd drivers with Eduardo Escandon getting the better of his team mate Melvin Diekmann, who flamed out on the final lap and failed to finished, with Thilo Todtmann in 6th, while Jilles Groskamp ended the round in 7th. For all drivers there is one final round of qualifying this afternoon before we head straight into the lower finals.

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Balestri takes Q2 with late charge

The 2nd round of qualifying for the 1/8th scale class at the season opening round of the 2019 Euro Nitro Series has gone to Dario Balestri. Putting in some very fast laps at the end of the run, the Italian was able to overhaul Simon Kurzbuch who ended the run in 2nd. Carmine Raiola took 3rd from the 2nd fastest heat while Dominic Greiner recovered from an unlucky Q1 yesterday to take 4th, in front of Mirko Salemi while top seed Robert Pietsch had a messy run to take sixth, the top 17 for the round covered by 5 seconds. Describing his run as ‘not perfect because of traffic’, Balestri elaborated by explaining that when you run close to a competitor in front of you at this track it affects the cars aerodynamics meaning you loose some time. Once passed and into clear air the run went a lot better and he was able to push for the rest of the run. His Max engine spluttering once passed the finish line, the World champion said he can’t do more, ‘fuel is marginal but everyone has the same problem’.

Having lead for the majority of the race, Kurzbuch said ‘I don’t know what happened with Dario in the last 3 laps’, joking ‘I need to ask him what line he took’, his rival setting the fastest lap of the race on the 3rd last lap. On his own run he was happy calling it ‘really good and consistent’ but for the 3rd qualifier he will change engine as he feels his current unit has lost power and he knows he can gain a few tenths with one of his other engines.

Carmine Raiola once again put in a very good performance from the 2nd fastest heat, the Infinity driver now sitting in 3rd place after 2 rounds. Also in consistent form and coming out of the same heat Mirko Salemi, driving for Capricorn was once again 5th, the Italian sitting 4th overall.

Asked about his improvement in pace, Greiner mentioned that he wasn’t taken out this time, before going to say it was a good run but he was a little nervous at the start causing him to lose a few tenths saying ‘a few tenths are a few positions’. Taking a pragmatic approach to the remainder of qualifying the German says his first goal is to make the final and despite his car feeling too aggressive, once assured of his place in the 45 minute main tomorrow, he will will play around with setup further.

Top seed Robert Pietsch called his 6th place ‘another bad run, driving very shit’, quick to emphasise that the Mugen car he has designed is working very well and the fault lies with the driver. Making 3 mistakes during the heat, he feels that starting system that the ENS uses, where all drivers go at their own pace to the line, means there is always traffic and this makes him too nervous.

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Chassis Focus – Jilles Groskamp

Chassis – Infinity IF15
Engine – Max XP3 World Edition
Fuel – Maxima
Tires (handout) – Matrix
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/Sanwa
Body – Xtreme Hammer

Remarks – Jilles Groskamp is running what he calls a standard IF15 from Infinity with the optional stiffer chassis. Looking for a mix between corner speed and steering he feels he has found a good balance using his standard setup from fast tracks like Fiorano. Going for a softer setting on the front anti-roll bar to get the initial turn in, he says the Bologna track is deceptive in its speed as while it has some very fast corners there are a number of very tight hairpins. Also playing with different bodies he is currently using the Hammer from Xtreme but feels that the P47 from Protoform would make the car more settled and so is an option for the main.

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Chassis Focus – Leo Arnold

Chassis – Xray NT1 2019
Engine – Max XP3 World Edition
Fuel – Maxima
Tires (handout) – Matrix
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/SRT
Body – Protoform P47

Remarks – Top seed for qualifying Leo Arnold is running the much improved NT1 from Xray. The 2019 spec features a whole host of changes to the rear of the car, the result being much improved rear traction and with this extra traction Leo says he can now make a more aggressive front end. Running it for the first time at last weekend’s French Nationals, he is using the same setup from that track with only minor changes to the front and rear roll centre.

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Groskamp takes Q2 as rivals hit trouble

Jilles Groskamp has topped the 2nd round of qualifying here in sunny Bologna this morning, aided to some extent by problems for his competitors. Teemu Leino first hit trouble when his back pressure tube came off causing him to slow dramatically. This in turn forced a fast approaching Leo Arnold to take avoiding action, resulting in him clipping the pitlane and breaking both right side tires. Another to suffer a broken tire was Alessio Mazzeo who felt the damage occurred when he clipped the inside of the curb coming on the straight. Behind Groskamp was the inseparable Shepherd team lead by Worlds podium finisher Eduardo Escandon in 2nd, Thilo Todtmann in 3rd and Melvin Diekmann in 4th with Jakub Rozycki taking 5th. Having changed to a stiffer, and more importantly new, chassis plate on his IF15, Groskamp said the pace was similar but now much easier to drive, enabling him to carry more corner speed. Planning to make the rear suspension slightly stiffer for Q3, the Dutchman concluded by saying ‘so far I’m very happy, the pressure is now on the other guys’.

Spanish driver Escandon described his run as OK, admitting he was a ‘little nervous’ at the start and that he made a number of small mistakes in the 4 minute run. Happy to have Alex Kempe on hand to help him with his car setup as well as in the pitlane, his first duty however was to talk to race control and get back a lost lap which failed to be counted. For the next round he will make some adjustments to the clutch and go for a repeat performance.

The second of the Shepherd team in Q2, Thilo Todtmann said it was a clean run and that he benefitted from the mistakes of the others. Feeling that the track is changing every run because of the sun, this is causing him problems with finding the right setup. For Q3 he will make some changes to the front of his Velox V10, making the anti-roll bar stiffer in an effort to bring back some more corner speed.

The last of the trio of Shepherd drivers, young German Melvin Diekmann was happy with his 4th place describing it as ‘really good’. Quick to admit that he was helped by the problems that hit the others in the run, he also felt that the car was better this run, having focused on aerodynamics rather than the chassis itself which he says is really good. Changing body position as well as adjusting the rear wing, he found more mid corner steering and was able to make it less edgy in the big corner before the main straight. He will again change body for Q3 to compare and see if it was in fact the body change or the track conditions that was the cause of the improvement.

View the complete event results here.

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