Video – 1/8th Controlled Practice Rd2

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-q7qexL6JY[/youtube]

Kurzbuch tops first 1:8 timed practice at ENS

Former 1:8 World Championship finalist Simon Kurzbuch set the pace in the first timed practice at the opening round of the all new Euro Nitro Series which is taking place this weekend in Melzo, Italy.  The factory Shepherd driver posted the fastest 3-consecutive laps to head team-mate Oliver Mack by .070 of a second with former World Champion Robert Pietsch completing the Top 3.  Top Italian on the timesheets at the Mini Racing Ayrton Senna track with the fourth fastest time would be Alberto Picco.

Having removed weight from his Novarossi powered Velox V8 for the run, Kurzbuch said this together with a small camber & caster adjustment gave him a better car to what he had for the morning’s two free practice runs.  Planning to leave his set-up as is for the final practice, the 22-year-old Swiss driver plans to use the 6-minute run to prepare tyres for qualifying, the first of which takes place this evening, bringing Day 1 of the ENS to close.

Describing his example of Shepherd’s Velox V8 as ‘very consistent’, Mack was very happy to be second fastest in such a high quality field. Pleased with the performance of his Sonic engine, the German will switch to another motor for the final practice to tune it up as a spare should it be required during qualifying.

Winner of the last season’s two race ENS Pilot Series and one of the big instigators of the setting-up of the Euro Nitro Series, Pietsch said basically everything feels OK but he said the tyres felt different to the morning’s practice runs and he will use the final practice to try and determine if that was down to a change in the track or just the set of tyres he got for TP1.

Running a self modified Mugen MRX4 chassis Picco declared himself 90% happy with his practice run.  A driver who knows the track better than most as it is where he does majority of his testing, the Picco engine factory being just 30-minutes away, he said conditions are ‘still slippery’.  Admitting that in 1:8 you are always looking for grip lacking either steering or rear end traction he said he used the run to prepare a set of the handout Matrix tyres for qualifying and he will do the same again in the second run.

Posting the sixth fastest time behind the BP Racing chassis of Mirko Salemi, Andrea Pirani was pleased with the pace of his WRC prototype saying the car has a good balance front & rear.  Also a newly signed OS engine driver, the Italian was very happy with the fuel consumption from the Japanese engine. Planning to leave everything as is for the final practice he will use the track time to pre-run tyres for qualifying adding the smaller the tyre the better it will be for the 4-minute qualifier.

Setting the 7th fastest time, Britain’s Kyle Branson said his Capricorn was not good as he had ‘no rear traction’ through right turns.  Having been happy with his car in the free practice runs he said he is not sure why the car changed but suspects something might have been binding on the car.  Having looking over the car but found nothing for the final practice he will make a rollbar change in the hope of getting better stability.

Eight fastest, Serpent’s Michael Salven says he is having just one problem with his 977 Viper.  Coming out of the hairpins he said unless he has his car perfectly lined up straight he can’t get on the power for the following chicane as he gets out of shape due to a lack of traction.   While elsewhere the car is ok, the German will try a different shock set-up in the hope of curing the issue.  Behind Salven the Shepherd’s of Francesco Tironi and Max Vogl completed the Top 10.

Running a brand new package this weekend as he races for the first time a Mugen chassis and OS engines which he has bought himself rather than being sponsored, 9-time World Champion Lamberto Collari posted the 19th fastest. The Italian said for the moment his focus is on building up his knowledge of these new products rather than on trying to top the times but added winning is always the end goal.

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Balestri fastest in first ENS practice

Dario Balestri has set the pace in the first 1:10 200mm timed practice at the opening round of the all new Euro Nitro Series in Melzo, Italy. The factory Capricorn driver ran the fastest 3-consecutive laps of the Mini Racing Ayrton Senna track over the 6-minute session to head HB’s Teemu Leino by .097 of a second.  Behind the two well known racers Xray driver Luca Redaelli was 3rd fastest as the Top 5 was filled by cars from 5 different manufacturers, Shepherd’s Dirk Wischnewski fourth fastest and Dominic Greiner’s Serpent 5th.

Changing to a different pipe & manifold for the first of the two timed practices to test run time, Balestri said this resulted in his own edition of his XRD Racing engine running hotter and having less overall speed.  Planning to revert back to the pipe set he ran in free practice, drivers having 2 untimed runs in the morning, he said in terms of his car he will leave it as is, describing it as ‘very good’.

Having been limited to what he could try in yesterday’s open practice day after his luggage with all his spares was lost by his airline, Leino said considering they are having to catch up a little today it was an ‘OK’ run.  Having not raced since the World Championships in Thailand in 2012 where he was Top Qualifier on the debut of the R10, the Finn now has all his spares and for his final practice run will try a different & slightly stiffer shock spring. Running Novarossi engines he will also try a different motor.

Running his Picco powered NT1, Redaelli was pleased with his car set-up sighting traffic as his biggest issue with 15 cars running on the large track for practice.  Struggling a little with his clutch set-up, for the final practice the Italian will fit a new one along with testing a different front shock set-up.

Making his debut for Team Shepherd, former European Champion Wischnewski said he has a lot to learn but added its getting better every run.  Looking to find more steering the German plans to try a heavier rear diff in his Orcan powered Velox V10.

Greiner was another driver looking to find more steering. Having changed to a solid front axle in his Picco powered 747 for the first timed practice, the 21-year said overall there was ‘not much difference’ between it and the gear diff due to how heavy an oil he was using when he ran the diff in the morning’s practice runs.  Admitting most drivers are looking for more steering he is undecided as to what he will change for his next run.

Setting the 6th fastest time Francesco Tironi declared himself happy with his early pace.  Living just 2km from the track,  the multiple World Championship finalist is running in both categories describing the undertaking as ‘not easy’.  Feeling quite comfortable with both his Shepherd chassis, in 200mm he will run the rear arms in a lower position to try and improve the car’s steering.

‘Not bad but not good’ was how Eric Dankel described his run to the 7th fastest time.  An ENS Pilot Race winner last season, the Capricorn driver tried a different front spring for the run.  Having ran a rear spring in the front which he said is perfect for German track conditions he followed his team-mate Balestri’s spring choice.  While it made the car more responsive and it was a good direction to take in terms of set-up for this track he said he needs more time to adjust his driving to get the best out of the change.

A 1:8 winner in the ENS Pilot Series, Serpent’s Mark Green is this weekend running 1:10.  Setting the 8th fastest time with his Novarossi Virtus powered 747, the British ace said he is struggling to get out of his 1:8 driving style.  Confident his car set-up is good he said he is just driving it way too aggressively and he needs to calm it down a bit.

Making a return to onroad nitro after a 3-year absence, Denmark’s Martin Lissau took his Reds Racing powered Shepherd to 9th fastest.  With no suitable conditions to practice ahead of the race in his home country, the former 1:5 world Champion said considering the mileage he has with the car its going ok.  Looking to find more corner speed for the final practice he will switch to a stiffer shock set-up.

Completing the Top 10 and another driver making a debut for a new manufacturer this weekend was Adrien Bertin.  Now running for HB, the former World Champion said he is ‘working & learning how to be fast again’ having not raced 1:10 for quite some time.  Conducting just 2-days of testing with the new car in his home country of France before coming out to Italy, the Orion engine’s head of development said the car is super consistent but added he needs to find more slow speed steering from the R10 under braking.

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Chassis Focus – Daniele Ielasi

Chassis – BMT 984
Engine – RB CXR
Fuel – MLC
Tires (handout) – Matrix Tyres
Radio/Servos – Sanwa
Remarks – Daniele Ielasi is running a completely new package this weekend as well as an all new car. Having just signed for BMT and RB the former 200mm World Champion ran both engine and car for the first time yesterday and so far is very happy with how it is going. The BMT 984 is the company’s re-entry into the 1/8th scale onroad market having spent many years focussed on Rally Game. A pretty standard affair in terms of configuration Daniele is working on trying to find a good set-up with the limited time available to him, the car having only just went on sale last week. In terms of engine, his RB CXR clocking a respectable 112kmh on the main straight with very little run time on the motor.

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Chassis Focus – Robert Pietsch

Chassis – Mugen MRX-5 WC
Engine – Picco
Fuel – Maxima
Tires (handout) – Matrix Tyres
Radio/Servos – Sanwa
Remarks – Former World Champion and reigning ENS Champion Robert Pietsch is running his standard MRX-5 with his new Picco engines. Feeling very confident in his new power package’s run time and speed, hitting 110kmh on the main straight, his main focus has been on setting his car up for this unique track. Running stiffer springs than he normally runs as well as a stiffer anti-roll bar to deal with the high speed banked corners, to prevent it bottoming out, he has also had to make some changes to the wheel axle offset, the Matrix wheels run with a different offset than his sponsor Contact’s rims.

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Track Focus – Mini Racing Ayrton Senna (Melzo)

Track Name – Mini Racing Ayrton Senna (Melzo)
Owner – Boni family
Country – Italy
Location – Melzo (20km east of Milan)
Direction – Anti-Clockwise
Surface – Asphalt
Previous key events hosted – Italian Nationals and EFRA GPs

Internationally known as the Melzo track, the Italian onroad nitro track ‘Mini Track Ayrton Senna’ this year celebrates its 20th Anniversary.  In the middle of construction when Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna was tragically killed on May 1st in Italy during the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola,  it was decided to name the track after the Brazilian racing icon.  Requiring permission to name the track after the 3-time Formula 1 World Champion,  Senna’s sister Viviane visited the track to present an official certificate making it a member of The Ayrton Senna Foundation.

Situated on a 6,000 square metre site the track is in its second incarnation, the latest layout being very popular with drivers.  With a lap covering a length of 340 metres, the track features banked corners both coming onto and coming off the main straight, the 1:8 cars sounding particularly impressive as they turn into the sweeper at the end of the straight on full throttle – one observer describing the high pitched sound as ‘how Formula 1 used to sound’.  Open to members seven days a week, one of the key figures in day to day operation of the track is Angelo Boni, the father of Matrix tyres boss Cristian.  A new development to the track for the 2014 season is the addition of a raised pitlane.

In size the club has a membership of between 120-140 drivers with it being the home track of some of nitro’s top international drivers including Alberto Picco, the Picco Engine factory being about 30-minutes away, former 200mm World Champion Daniele Ielasi and Francesco Tironi, who lives just 2km away.  In terms of lap times in 1:10 at good lap is a mid to late 19-seconds while in 1:8, the F1 of r/c racing, the cars are running a lap of the track in late 17-seconds.  With the ENS running a controlled tyre system, a different manufacturer supporting each round, at Mini Track Ayrton Senna all drivers will race the weekend on Matrix tyres.

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