Salven confident ENS will put ‘fun back in racing’

Veteran onroad nitro racer and chassis designer Michael Salven has given the Euro Nitro Series a firm vote of confidence as final preparations are made for the opening race in the all new series for onroad nitro racing which takes place this weekend.  A former World & multiple European Champion, the German said all the racers he has spoken to are very excited that the organisation behind the hugely successful Euro Touring Series are bringing their concept to nitro onroad and while they have high expectations he is confident the ENS will be a success and will put the ‘fun back into racing’ helping to revive the onroad nitro racing scene just like the ETS has done for electric touring cars.

Salven, who himself will contest both ENS ‘Pilot Series’ races, made the comments following the announcement that Serpent are to join Xray, Shepherd, Novarossi and KM Racing as primary sponsors of the new series.  A pioneering company, Serpent played a huge role in the development of the class that kick started the hobby of rc racing, the first 1:8 Onroad World Champion being crowned in 1977.  Some of the technology which is the norm now in nitro onroad such as the Centax clutch, the 2-speed gearbox and the the INS-Box were all Serpent innovations.

With the use of tyre additive in recent years having had a very detrimental effect on nitro racing across Europe, Salven said the Euro Nitro Series’ adoption of a controlled spec tyre is going to be key to the rebuilding of the class and everyone will be watching to see how it works in the ENS.  At Race 1 of the ‘Pilot Series, which takes place this weekend at the Hockenheimring in German, 1:8 drivers will use a Matrix tyre while the 1:10 cars will all run a tyre provided by Enneti.

Race 1 of the Euro Nitro Series officially gets underway with controlled practice on Friday and culminates with 12-car 45-minute Mains on Sunday. 10 drivers will qualify directly for the main event with the 11th & 12th positions on the grid to be filled by the 2 drivers with the fastest race times from any of the lower finals.  All the action from Hockenheimring can be followed on RedRC where regular updates will be published throughout the weekend.

KM Racing joins Euro Nitro Series

With final preparations well underway for the first race of the Euro Nitro Series, the organisers of the exciting new championship for onroad nitro racers today announced that reigning 1:10 200mm World Champion manufacturer KM Racing will join the series coming onboard as a Primary sponsor of the two race ‘Pilot Series’.  Set to release its first 1:8 Onroad contender, the K8, which is currently under going final development testing, KM Racing join Xray, Shepherd Micro Racing and Novarossi as the key sponsors of the inaugural season of the ENS.

KM Racing will be pinning their hopes of a successful ENS campaign on two time 200mm European Champion Dario Balestri and new signing Adrien Bertin.  The only driver to be a World Champion of both 1:8 and 1:10 200mm, Bertin will contest both classes at Race 1 of the ‘Pilot Series’ at the Hockenheimring in Germany which takes place over the weekend of May 31–June 2. The French ace, who is the man behind Team Orion’s engines, will play a major part in the development of KM Racing’s K8 1:8 chassis.

Novarossi supports Euro Nitro Series

World famous Italian engine manufacturer Novarossi are to support the inaugural Euro Nitro Series, the multiple reigning World Champions joining Xray and Shepherd Micro Racing as a Primary sponsor of the exciting new nitro onroad series.  The sport’s most successful maker of RC racing engines, Novarossi will have a very strong representation at both races that will make up the ENS ‘Pilot Series’ the most notable of whom will be reigning 1:8 World Champion Robert Pietsch.

Created by the organisation behind the hugely successful Euro Touring Series, the concept for the Euro Nitro Series is to establish a number of high profile 3-day events that count towards crowning an overall 1:10 and 1:8 Champion. Aiming to replicated the motto of the ETS, ‘World Class racing for Everyone’, the ENS is open to drivers of all levels and already Race 1 (May 31 – June 2) of the ‘Pilot Series’ at the Hockenheimring in Germany is close to attracting a capacity entry.

Shepherd commit to Euro Nitro Series

Shepherd Micro Racing is the latest company to get behind the inaugural Euro Nitro Series, the German chassis manufacturer signing up to become a primary sponsor of the ‘Pilot Series’ and committing to field an international driver line-up at both races. With their headquarters located just 15km from the Hockenhiemring, which will host the first ever ENS event in one months time, it was Shepherd’s annual European Nitro Challenge which lead to the creation of the Euro Nitro Series.

Having contested a number of Euro Touring Series races during the nitro season’s traditional winter break, Shepherd owner Patrick Schäfer saw the potential for a similar concept in nitro onroad and offered his company’s event to the ETS organisers setting in motion the creation of the new series.

For Race 1 of the ‘Pilot Series’, which takes place over the weekend of May 31-June 2 in Germany, Shepherd has entered an eight strong team with top Italian drivers Michele Romagnoli & Andrea Pirani and World Championship Finalist Simon Kurzbuch heading their challenge in 1:8.

In 1:10 Touring, the team will be headed by former World Champion Daniele Ielasi who at last year’s European Nitro Challenge finished on the podium. The Italian will be joined by Schäfer himself, who was winner of the 2011 European Nitro Challenge, former European B Champion Patrick Nähr, electric touring car ace Freddy Südhoff and top international Austrian racer Gerhard Kandelhart.

In addition to Shepherd becoming a Primary sponsor, it was also confirmed that the company’s Sonic engine brand will also support the inaugural ENS as an Associate sponsor. Receiving a very positive reaction since details of the series were officially announced last month, Race 1 of the Euro Nitro Series has already attracted 110 entries with registration still open.

Xray back Euro Nitro Series

Xray are to back the inaugural Euro Nitro Series, the organisers of the new championship for onroad nitro racing are delighted to announce the World Champion manufacturer as the first primary sponsor of the two race ‘Pilot Series’ that will kick off at the end of next month at the Hockenheimring in Germany. A key partner of the Euro Touring Series, in which they are the defending Pro Stock Champions, Xray have played an instrumental role in the creation of the ENS offering their support for the series as far back the middle of last year.

The reigning 1:10 Nitro Touring European Champions, the Slovak manufacturer will be a major ENS title contender in that class with team drivers Dirk Wischnewski, Adrian Berntsen, Alexander Hagberg and NT1 designer Martin Hudy. Prior electric touring car commitments on the same weekend means the latter two factory drivers will miss Race 1 but as winner of the European Nitro Challenge, the precursor to the ENS at the Hockenheimring last year with Wischnewski, the team head to the race over the weekend of May 31-June 2 as per-event favourites.

In addition to announcing Xray as the first Primary sponsor, the organisers confirmed Contact as its first Associate sponsor. One of the series tyre partners, Contact will be the official controlled handout tyre for 1:10 Touring at the second race which takes place at Stöhr-Ring in Austria from the 28-30th of June.

Despite having only been announced less than a month ago, Race 1 of the Euro Nitro Series ‘Pilot Series’ has already attracted over 100 entries with further team/driver announcements set to be made over the coming days.