Greiner marks 1:10 ENS return with quickest time in free practice
Dominic Greiner has marked his return to 1:10 in the Euro Nitro Series with the fastest time in free practice at the Mini Autodromo Jody Scheckter track in Fiorano, Italy. The Serpent driver was quickest over the 10 rounds of free practice with his fastest 5-consecutive laps recorded in yesterday’s closing run. Also setting his best time in FP7, championship leader Bruno Coelho would be the closest to Greiner with Xray team-mate Alessio Mazzeo completing the Top 3. Of the three free practice rounds run today, it was Mazzeo who had the advantage, topping 2 of the rounds with FP9 leaving him 3rd quickest overall ahead of Dirk Wischnewski and Toni Gruber.
‘Ok so far’ was how Greiner summed up Free Practice. The 1:10 World Champion, who has contested all previous ENS encounters this year in 1:8 as part of his 1:8 Worlds preparations, continued, ‘the car is fast but it is not easy to drive so we still need to find the perfect set-up’. The victor here last year, the German added, ‘it is a little difficult to drive over a full run but there is more in the set-up and we will try to find that over the 2 rounds of controlled practice’.
Coelho summed up his performance so far as ‘not perfect yet but it is going well’. The winner in France and Germany, he continued, ‘the track looks easy but it is very specific’. He added, ‘they had a 1:5 race here recently and I think this is why the track feels strange. There is a lot of grip which makes it completely different to the other races but we are getting it figured out’.
Mazzeo, winner here in 2015, declared free practice as having gone ‘very good’. The Italian continued, ‘I have a good feeling in the car. For sure we can improve but for the start of a race weekend it is very good’. Asked what specific details he would like to improve in his NT1 set-up he said, ‘I would like it to be faster in the change of the direction’. For CP1 he plans to run a softer roll bar in the front to try achieve this.
Keen to highlight he has taken a step back from his days as a professional driver, Wischnewski summed up his P4 pace with, ‘so far it is ok’. The Mugen supported driver continued, ‘I am lacking a little steering and I have tried many things. Finding the best compromise between being fast and easy to drive is hard to find. Its a very narrow line to find’. He concluded, ‘there is definitely more in the car from getting that right set-up balance’.
Posting the 5th fastest time ahead of Italian David Loppini, Gruber said his WRC is ‘not bad but we are working still to find the best set-up’. The European Champion, who normally only races 1:8 in the ENS, said he is not yet happy with the balance of the car as he tried to find the best compromise between the right amount of steering the the right amount of rear end traction. While a fan of the track, the German is finding running both 1:10 & 1:8 for the first time as ‘busy’ adding his 1:8 practice was ‘not good’.
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