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Robert Pietsch and Teemu Leino were fastest in Q3 at the ENS as they notched up their first TQ runs at round 2 of the high profile onroad nitro championship. In 1:8, Pietsch ended Simon Kurzbuch domination of the event as he topped the Swiss ace by just 0.081 of a second with Lars Hoppe again posting the third fastest time. In 1:10, Leino laid down the fastest time ahead of Q2 pace setter Dominic Greiner and Jilles Groskamp who topped the opening qualifier the Top 3 separated by only 4/10ths.
Commenting on his TQ run, Pietsch said a change of bodyshell which mounts it more forward on his MRX-5 gave him more steering in particular through the fast sweeper. Opting also to run used tyres, he said while these worked ‘good at the beginning’ towards the end they were done. Happy with the improvement brought by the body change he said for Q4 he will leave the car unchanged and instead just run on new tyres.
Setting the fastest lap of the qualifier, Kurzbuch said he had a problem with second gear which was coming in to early. Losing a lot of ground to Pietsch at the start he said he tried at the end to make back up the time, his fastest lap being his last, but he was a lap short of denying his rival the round and securing the overall TQ.
Running his HB R10 unchanged from Q2, Leino was pleased with his run describing it in typical reserved Finnish style simply as ‘a good run’. Top Qualifier at the season opener in Italy, he said he would continue with the car as is for Q4 although he might change to his painted bodyshell something his mechanic and the cars Japanese designer Takashi Miyashita isn’t so keen on as it didn’t bring them much look in the A-Main at Bologna when he crashed into the pitlane wall while holding a commanding lead.
‘Very good’ was how Greiner summed up his latest qualifier. Running on new tyres, the Serpent driver said this gave his 748 Natrix more steering and this would catch him out. Describing the competition as ‘super close’ he said even the smallest of mistakes cost places.
Having stripped a gear in Q2 but managing a few laps after fitting a new one, Groskamp ran his third qualifier on the same set of tyres he used in the previous two rounds. He said ultimately they would be too small at the end but looking ahead to the final it was a good test. Very happy with his Maxima powered R10 he said he doesn’t believe there is any time to be gained from the set-up and for Q4 he will just fit new tyres.
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Chassis – Serpent 977 Viper “Evo”
Engine – Xceed DSX-EM
Fuel – Runner Time
Tires (handout) – Contact
Radio/Servo – Ko Propo/Savox
Body – Blitz TS 030
Remarks – Best of the Serpent drivers here in Aigen, Merlin Depta is running a 977 equipped with a pre-production version of the soon to be released “EVO” conversion kit. The new radio tray has a more open design and is now a single piece incorporating the flex system. The chassis is narrower at the front for a different flex characteristic and the new bumper features plastic inserts that can be removed to change the aerodynamics. The gearbox is also new and completely redesigned with a smaller module and reduced rotating mass, while the gearing range is now wider. In the rear end, the body mount is now stiffer and features an additional mounting position, while the wishbones allow for a narrower track width.
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Simon Kurzbuch has picked up where he left off at the Euro Nitro Series by opening Day 2 of the Austrian round with another TQ run in the second qualifier. The Team Shepherd driver once again topped the times from Robert Pietsch, the Top 4 the same as last night’s Q1 with Lars Hoppe third ahead of Dario Balestri. The biggest improvement of the round came from new WRC signing Daniele Ielasi who posted the fifth fastest time ahead of Merlin Depta.
Having survived a thrust bearing failure with two laps to go in Q1, Kurzbuch said, ‘no problems now so a good start to the day’. The reigning champion, who is looking like one of the most relaxed drivers in the pits this weekend having not had to change the set-up on his Velox V8 since the the second round of free practice, said ‘it was all good’ adding that even ‘traffic was no issue’. Asked if he would be making any changes for Q3 when he could lock in the overall TQ he just smiled a replied ‘just continue with it as is’.
Pietsch felt he had improved his Mugen a little from yesterday. The MRX-5 designer said with the track different in the cooler morning conditions he didn’t risk changing too much from Q1 but feels the changes he did make are ‘slowly in the right direction’. Able to match Kurzbuch’s outright pace, his best lap being a 15.552 compared to the Swiss drivers 15:504, the former World Champion said it is over the first-5 laps that he is losing the time to his rival. Kurzbuch posted his fastest lap on his opening lap while Pietsch posted his on lap 12 of 16.
ARC’s Hoppe said his R8.0 was a ‘little tricky’ but overall he was happy with the result and his pace as he was just half a second off Pietsch. Making an ackermann position change to his car after Q1 he said he started out with understeer then had a ‘perfect car’ in the middle part before leading to oversteer towards the end as the rear became loose. The German said he will ‘make a very small set-up change’ to try and make the car a little more consistent over the 4-minutes adding he might also try running used tyres but said with the high wear that might be a big risk.
‘Different day, same problem’ was how Balestri summed up Q2. The Capricorn driver is still struggling with a lack of overall grip saying set-up changes are having no effect on the car as it just can’t get traction.
Having been on a Top 3 pace in Q1 before crashing, Ielasi said is GTX was not as good today but he was happy with the P5 result. Having to change the front bumper after his off yesterday, he said the bodyshell was sitting correctly for Q2 and because it was high it brought on understeer. Set to trim the bumper for Q3 he will leave the set-up unchanged having been very happy with the car in Q1.
Having ran used tyres in Q1 and been very happy with his 977, Depta would run a new set of the Contact controlled tyres for Q2 but found it ‘very difficult’ on the larger diameter. Messing up a strong first qualifier as he struggled with seeing the curbing due to the setting sun, the German said he has two used set of tyres available to him and he hopes with them on for the next two qualifiers he can capitalise on the cars Q1 pace.
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