Groskamp opens ENS season with first win

Jilles Groskamp has opened the 2018 Infinity Euro Nitro Series in the Netherlands with his first ever win of the championship.  Despite being the 2016 Champion, a title that came from consistency, the Dutch driver claimed the win in Rucphen with a perfect strategy while his rivals hit problems. Top Qualifier Alessio Mazzeo would quickly struggle with an engine problem dropping him off the earlier lead. Having quickly worked his way from fifth on the grid, World Champion Dominic Greiner would also have a similar faith after looking like he was about to dominate proceedings. Eventually retiring from the final, the race was a continuation of what was to be an ‘unlucky’ weekend for the pre-season favourite. With their rivals out of contention, the race turned into a battle between Groskamp and his Infinity team-mate Teemu Leino but with the INS box knocked off in the previous fuel stop the Finn’s engine ran lean resulting in plug failure. In the end it would be WRC Racing’s Melvin Diekmann who would take second with Eduardo Escandon, who had clutch issues in the second half the race having lead for a time, completing the Round 1 podium. While Mazzeo would cross the line third, when Diekmann was reinstated missed laps, the Xray driver was classified 4th ahead of 1:10 rookie Lamberto Collari.

‘It is really nice to win my first ENS in Holland.  The new car was great this weekend’, was the reaction of Groskamp.  He continued, ‘the race started really good but then I back off behind Alessio until he had a problem.  I tried to stay ahead but Dominic was fast and I didn’t know what strategy he was on so when he made a pass down my inside I let him go.  I then just planned to keep in touch but at 15-minute I could feel the car was getting loose so I made the call to stop for tyres at 20-minutes but that meant I would have to run 25-minutes on my second set.  I then started to have trouble with my throttle finger which start to go numb so I was trying to stretch out my arms to get the feeling back.  I looked it was going to be a battle to the end between me and Teemu but he flamed out but then I had to deal with a lot of traffic and even on the last lap Lamberto spin in front of me and I hit him.  Anyway in the end we had good pace and a good strategy and I am super happy to get the win’.

Somewhat in disbelieve that he finished 2nd, Diekmann said, ‘I’m very happy.  I don’t believe that this could happen at the beginning of the weekend’.  The 19-year-old German continued, ‘the car was awesome, the pitstops were awesome. Everything was awesome.  I have to say a big thanks to my dad and Tim (Benson) for the tyres stop’.  Asked about his strategy he said we planned to stop for tyres half way and fuel at 4:30, it was all perfect.  The only problem in the race was at 10-minutes when I had one mistake and went off at the end of the straight’.

‘I’m not 100% happy’, was how Escandon summed up his 3rd place.  The Shepherd driver added, ‘the first half was the best race ever. I was behind Dominic and could take the lead but after the tyre change the clutch was gone and after that I just tried to go to the end.’  On the clutch issue he said, ‘I was only getting second gear on the straight nowhere else. I pushed to get second gear in the field but started making mistakes’.  Now an established 1:10 front runner, the Spaniard, who is now in his 2nd season with Shepherd, said, ‘for sure we are much more competitive now so I am looking forward to the next one’.

Having opened the season with his first ever ENS TQ, Mazzeo said, ‘for sure it was a bad race’.  The personable Italian continued, ‘we had too much problems with the engine which lost us too much time in the pits. We don’t know what the problem is because the first 6-laps all was OK’.  The Xray driver concluded, ‘After all the hard work to arrive a 4th is very disappointing’.

Making his first ever 1:10 race this weekend, Collari said, ‘As a first time, finishing 5th is like a small win but I have a bit cheated because another driver hit me and I had to pit for the body’.  He continued, ‘for the conditions I think we made the best strategy. I started 8th, was 3rd most of the race and was 2nd near the end. I can’t do better’. Asked if he would race 1:10 again the 9-time 1:8 World Champion didn’t give a definitive yes or no answer but with this a 1:10 World Championship year he did hint he might be interested in making the trip to Miami later in the year.

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Chassis Focus – Silvio Hächler

Chassis – ARC R8.1
Engine –OS Speed R2103
Fuel – Energy
Tires (handout) – Matrix
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/Savox
Body – Xtreme Diablo

Remarks – Having started out the weekend somewhat struggling which seeded him into the second fastest heat, Silvo turned things around in the latter half of qualifying.  Claiming his best ever ENS start he qualified 2nd behind friend & fellow countryman Simon Kurzbuch.  The ARC driver is running a prototype narrower rear bulkhead together with longer arms which Silvio said is just following the recent trend of the class.  He said the change creates more traction and makes the car easier to drive. Other than the rear end he said the rest of the car is standard apart from some titanium screws.

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Chassis Focus – Simon Kurzbuch

Chassis – Shepherd Velox V8 Team Edition
Engine –Novarossi Prototype
Fuel – Energy
Tires (handout) – Matrix
Radio/Servo – Futaba/Futaba
Body – Xtreme Diablo

Remarks – Showing he is still the benchmark in 1:8 Onroad, Simon is running Shepherd’s ‘Team Edition’ of their Velox V8.  Taking his 9th ENS career TQ here in Rucphen, other than the car featuring the full range optionals, he said it is otherwise standard. The main thing of interest in the car is the new as yet unnamed prototype Novarossi engine. Having worked on the new engine for the last month & a half testing mostly in Italy, he said ‘we are really on a good way with this engine’. In terms of a release, Simon has no specific details but expects it to go on sale ‘soon’.

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Hächler makes it ‘all Swiss front row’ at Dutch ENS

Silvio Hächler is to start second on grid for tomorrow’s opening round of the Infinity Euro Nitro Series in the Netherlands. Having jumped into contention for a starting position at the front of the A-Main grid with a P2 run in the penultimate qualifier, the ARC driver repeated the feat again in Q4 to put himself second behind Top Qualifier Simon Kurzbuch. For reigning champion Kurzbuch the final qualifier would be the opportunity to test small tyres having wrapped up the overall TQ a round early, but even ‘as a test run’ the Shepherd driver could complete a clean sweep of qualifying with his fourth TQ run. With Dario Balestri third quickest in the final qualifier, that is where the Infinity driver will line up for the 45-minute encounter ahead of surprise of the weekend Jeffrey Rietveld and Robin D’Hondt.

‘An all Swiss front row’ joked Hächler. Bettering his previous best ENS qualifying position of a 4th he took last year in Aigen, he continued, ‘yes it was again a good run. I had a small mistake which put me behind Jeffrey but I could overtake him again when he hit traffic so in the end it was a good run’. Describing his R8.1 as ‘easy to drive’, he added, ‘it should be good for tomorrow’. Asked his thoughts on the track’s high tyre wear he replied, ‘I have to think about it tonight but I think 2-times all four tyres’.

Balestri summed up his P3 with, ‘I had trouble in traffic in the previous one (Q3) and we lose second position because of this’. Standing next to Infinity boss Kenji Taira, the World Champion continued, ‘I already say to my boss I think it will be hard to beat Simon really. We need to improve the balance (of the car) for the bumps’. Asked about strategy the Italian replied, ‘I don’t think strategy will be an issue because after 10-minutes the tyres are finished’.

‘This is really exceeding my expectations. I was hoping to be at the front in the C-Main’, was how Rietveld summed up his impressive P4 on the grid. The Serpent driver added, ‘from the first few practices the car was on the pace but then in controlled practice we made a few stupid mistakes with set-up and that is why I ended up 15th’. On his final qualifier the 22-year-old said, ‘I was really on the pace but with 1-minute to go I hit a train of traffic and that cost me 2nd’. Looking to the final he said, ‘I think it will be about tyre management & strategy and fuel, it is going to be really close’.

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Mazzeo claims first TQ at Dutch ENS

Alessio Mazzeo has claimed his first ever TQ start of the ENS.  The Xray driver secured pole position for tomorrow’s season opener by taking two of the four rounds of qualifying in the Netherlands today. He will start ahead of the day’s other two TQ runners, Jilles Groskamp and Teemu Leino.  With Mazzeo backing up his ‘rocket round’ Q1 TQ with another fastest time in Q3, it was then only Groskamp who could challenge him for the top spot in the final qualifier.  A slower track however prevented this and while Groskamp would finish ahead of Mazzeo it was Leino who would register the TQ time, albeit it the slowest of the day.  This would secure Leino third on the grid ahead of Shepherd’s Eduardo Escandon. For title favourite Dominic Greiner, an unlucky day will see him line up 5th but given how closely matched everyone is, the Serpent driver knows it is still all to play for for the win.

‘For sure I’m super happy. It is the first TQ of the ENS for me’, was Mazzeo’s reaction after securing pole.  The Italian continued, ‘the competition this year is very high with all the Infinity team, Dominic, and Eduardo, and this is important for the 1:10 category because it is a Worlds year’. With one previous ENS win to his credit, he said, ‘we worked a lot over the winter and now we are in a good direction with the car’.  Suffering a broken tyre from the first lap of Q4 but still able to post a P3 time, on the final and the track’s high tyre wear he said, ‘I think we change tyres two times but in the practice tomorrow we will see of we can do something different with the strategy.  Engine is also important because it is a lot of the time in 2nd gear so we need to be safe for this’.

Groskamp said, ‘It is a shame the track was slower. I already knew the TQ was gone so I tried a harder front diff which didn’t make much difference but again the times were close’.  The former EP Touring Car World Champion continued, ‘Dominic was very fast but again had a problem with his car. We are very close so I think it is going to be all about the strategy.  We have a good car but the tyre wear is quite high so it is going to be interesting who decides what to do.  On Thursday I did a long run and my car felt good on small tyres but it takes so long to change tyres in 1:10. You could save a lot of time changing only the outside tyres instead of a full change. It’s going to be interesting’.

Commenting on his TQ run Leino said, ‘we changed to my good engine we will use in the final and even though I had one spin I was still able to make TQ.  The engine change was a big step forward for sure’.  Asked about the tyre wear and a possible strategy, the Finn replied, ‘I think everyone will do the same, we are all going to measure the tyres after the practice and then decide the same thing. Everyone is very close, nobody is faster when they have a good run, so it is going to be a very close final’.

Escandon said, ‘I’m happy with 4th but we made changes for Q3 & 4 and went the wrong way. I will go back to a mix of both set-ups for the final tomorrow and think it will be OK’. On his strategy for the final, the Spaniard said, ‘I will check in practice, I think tyre wear is ok for me. My car is good on small tyres but I think someone will play with the tyre strategy. It is super close so everyone needs to push so maybe it will be driver mistakes that will decide the race’.

‘A very unlucky day today’ was how Greiner summed up qualifying.  The World Champion, who was the benchmark in practice yesterday would suffer his second retirement of the day in the final qualifier.  Having broke a rear belt in Q1 in the warm-up and not starting, he would break a front belt in Q4.  Still, the championship’s most crowned Top Qualifier and joint race winner, is positive for tomorrow saying, ‘we are confident for the final. 5th is not too bad and it is very close at the front so we can battle for the win.  We just need to check how often we need to change the tyres’.  Behind Greiner, team-mate Mark Green will start sixth ahead of Melvin Diekmann and Lamberto Collari, who makes his 1:1o race debut tomorrow.

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