Kurzbuch tops first 1:8 qualifier ahead of Groskamp

Simon Kurzbuch has topped the first round of qualifying at the German round of the Euro Nitro Series in Ettlingen.  Top Qualifier last year when the track made its debut on the ENS calendar, the Shepherd driver would post the only 19-lap run over the 4-minutes heading the times from the Infinity of Jilles Groskamp.  With just 1.2 seconds covering the Top 10, Serpent’s Merlin Depta would complete the Top 3 despite running in the third fastest heat.  Top seed for qualifying after open practice times were used to determine the heats when rain forced the cancellation of timed practice, Robert Pietsch would manage only the 10th fastest time. Making an error on the opening lap, this lost time would be compounded by his Mugen having too much brake over the final 2-minutes resulting in it being ‘difficult to drive’.

‘A good morning’ was Kurzbuch reaction to his TQ.  Sporting a new look this weekend, the beard part of a Swiss college tradition for the final semester, the World Champion said ‘everything was really good’ adding ‘only 2nd gear was a little too late but it was nothing much’.  With 1:8 drivers losing the second half of yesterday’s practice day due to rain, he said the extra warm-up time given before the first qualifier this morning was ‘great’ to help get back into the rhythm of the track.  Looking to Q2, the winner of the season opener in Italy said the plan was to ‘just adjust the gearbox and try again’ adding ‘I hope it stays dry’.

Having topped the opening 1:10 qualifier, Groskamp said he was ‘kind of surprised’ to end up second fastest.  The former electric touring car World Champion said ‘I checked the lap times and I’m not the fastest but I’m consistent’.   Adding the times are ‘super close’ he said he had two bad laps as a result of the idle being too high on his OS engine causing him to overshoot his corners a few times.  Switching to a softer spring on his Infinity, he said ‘this made it a lot more stable than before’.  Describing his engine as ‘really aggressive’ on power he said this is due to his clutch being too hard and he will change this for Q2 which should allow for even better consistency.

Runner-up at the European Championships at Minidrom Ettlingen last year, Depta was clearly relieved to be back on the pace.  Only 23rd fastest in practice, the German said, ‘its not a bad feeling to be placed behind two World Champions’.  Describing yesterday’s practice as ‘a mess’, adding he was ‘lucky to make 3 so so laps’ he said his car was ‘not drivable for 4-minutes’. Making a front end set-up change to his Picco powered 977 he said today it was ‘a lot better’.  Asked if he would make further changes for Q2 he replied, ‘I wont change anything as that was the first run the car was working this weekend’.

Finishing 5th in the A-Main at the season opener, ARC’s Toni Gruber looks to have carried that form into this weekend as he set the fourth fastest time.  Running in the top heat, the 20-year-old was setting the early TQ pace saying his R8.0 was ‘really good and easy to drive for the first 2-minutes’.  In the second half of the qualifier the German started to lose grip and looking over the car he said he will try running less camber in the hope its more consistent over the 4-minutes.

Winner of the event last year, reigning ENS Champion Dario Balestri would complete the Top 6.  The Capricorn driver said he lost time in the first part of the qualifier due to his Tesla engine being set rich.  The Italian said by the middle of the run the engine was running as normal and able to set the second fastest lap time to Kurzbuch he said ‘the car was ok’.

New team-mate to Balestri this weekend, Rick Vrielijnck would complete the Top 6.  Having only done a National Championship race with the car prior to this weekend, the Dutch driver said ‘for the first 2-minute the car was very good but then got very nervous’.  Having been in the mix for a TQ time, he said he tried to be consistent as the car got difficult but with it having way too much steering he said it was ‘very hard’.  Having changed to a softer rear spring for Q1 he said he will revert back to the same harder spring he ran in practice yesterday when the car was ‘already good’ allowing him to set the fourth fastest time.  He will also run the front of the car wider.

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Groskamp takes Q1 at ENS Germany

Jilles Groskamp has taken the opening qualifier at Round 2 of the Euro Nitro Series in Germany.  The Infinity team driver, who is using a Serpent in 1:10 this weekend, topped the 4-minute qualifier from the factory car of Dominic Greiner by almost 9/10th.  Winner of the race last year in Ettlingen but struggling in the single round of timed practice yesterday, Dirk Wischnewski would complete the Top 3 while for practice top seed Alessio Mazzeo a tyre issue would leave him 34th fastest among the 69 car field.

‘I was surprised it went so easy, it’s a nice start to the day’, was how Groskamp summed up his Q1 performance.  The reigning champion continued, ‘I heard at the beginning I was in the lead and Dirk was 2nd and I could see I was pulling away from him, I was cruising in the end’.  Using the same set of handout Enneti tyres he used in the timed practice, he said his 748 was ‘easy to drive’ and having switched to OS power for Round 2 he said he also had a ‘good engine’.

Top Qualifier of the event last year, Greiner said ‘the run was ok but overall there was very low grip’.  Describing his Novarossi powered 748 as ‘difficult to drive’ he said ‘I tried my best and P2 was not so bad’.  While Groskamp’s fastest lap would be slightly faster than his best, the German said the Dutch driver’s advantage came from being ‘more consistent’.  Hoping there will be more traction when Q2 comes around but not knowing how the track is going to be he said ‘I don’t know what to change (on the car)’ .  Greiner’s team-mate Mazzeo had one of his tyres come unglued and while the Italian tried to get around with ‘no mistakes’ the car was ‘very hard to drive’ resulting in a number of offs.

‘Better than yesterday’ was Wischnewski’s reaction to his P3 run.  The Shepherd driver, who leads the standings having taken victory at the season opener, had ‘a moment’ in the warm-up when he lost a screw from the camber link.  Quick work from pitman Marco Muscara meant he made the start but Wischnewski said his Orcan engine wasn’t fully up to temperature as a result of the lost time.  Describing his Velox V10 as ‘not perfect’, the former European Champion said ‘as more traction comes up it should suit our car better’.

Leading the Xray charge in Q1 would be Leo Arnold.  Running in the second fastest heat, the French ace said having suffered with his NT1 being a ‘little loose’ in timed practice, overnight set-up changes left it ‘not so bad’ for Q1.  Driving ‘a safe run’ so as to have a ‘banker’ result should like yesterday the rain halt racing, the 20-year-old plans to leave his car unchanged for Q2.  For team-mate Bruno Coelho, the opening round would see him post the 13th fastest time after he lost 3-second when he traction rolled in front of the pits.  Struggling for traction in timed practice which left him in the 3rd fastest heat, he said traffic was OK adding ‘I was expecting it to be more of a problem’.

Second fastest in practice, Kyle Branson would open qualifying with a P5 saying, ‘I don’t know how I didn’t crash because my car was terrible’.   The Capricorn driver added, ‘It was loose, tried to over rotate and just super hard to drive so 5th was actually OK’.  Having made a diff oil change overnight he said ‘this shouldn’t have affected the car this much. Maybe it was all the rain but I need to check over the car to see there is nothing wrong with it’.

Team-mate to Groskamp in 1:8 but using a Capricorn chassis in 1:10 this weekend, Teemu Leino would complete the Top 6.  The Finn said his run ‘was ok until I flipped at the end of the straight’.  He continued, ‘having struggled for steering there in practice I didn’t expect to traction roll there’.  Describing the car as ‘maximum twitchy’, he concluded, ‘we need to change something’.

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Pit Focus – Merlin Depta

Team: Serpent
Neighbours: Rudi Scherer (left), Dominic Greiner (front)
Charger: Xceed
Tools: Arrowmax
Setup Tools: Arrowmax setup board, Arrowmax set up station.
Car Stand: Arrowmax
Transport Bag: Serpent
Features: Self made plug inspection monocole, Hawkers&Co sunglasses, Xceed oil bags, Xceed glow plug igniter, Samsung Galaxy phones, Fanta can.

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Rain halts practice at ENS Germany

Rain has brought proceedings at ENS Round 2 to an early finish, the event now set to go straight into qualifying tomorrow morning when improved weather is expected.  While 1:10 would manage to get in a full & dry round of timed practice, which was headed by Serpent’s Alessio Mazzeo, the heaven’s opened as the first of the two 1:8 timed practices was underway.  With the sun returning, the organisers waited for the track to dry in the hope of getting at least one run also for the 1:8 drivers.  Just as the track was reaching a point at where it could be driven on again the rain returned leaving no option but to call time on the day, the track has an 20:00 curfew for the running of engines.  While the 1:10 qualifying heats will be determined by the single timed practice, with no seeding practice the 1:8 heats will be based off the 5 rounds of open practice with manual adjustments for any drivers who find themselves out of position.  This means that Mugen’s Robert Pietsch will be the top seed ahead of Shepherd’s 2015 Top Qualifier Simon Kurzbuch and reigning champion Dario Balestri, the Capricorn driver the winner in Germany last year.

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