July 22, 2009

Newcomers impress themselves

Drivers are continuing to clock up the laps here in Gubbio and walking through the pits this evening one can see a lot more happy faces.  One guy with a big smile on his face is World Champion Daniele Ielasi who is carrying all the hopes of 1:10 newcomer Shepherd on his shoulders. Running the sole Velox V10, the Italian said coming to the event he had set himself the goal of making the main final which would be like a victory for the car but the performance of the chassis in free practice is giving him the feeling they can aim higher. Running the same pace as the race favourites, Ielasi said the base set-up of the car is very good and this has allowed them to concentrate on trying lots of different things to see how the car reacts including large tyres. Commenting on the most distinctive features of the V10, its Direct-V-Brake System, Ielasi is very happy with the cars stopping power which can be set very strong without causing the car to lock up.

Also debuting a new car here is the not so well known Capricon RC.  The Italian company has been offering engines and tuning parts for other cars for some time but will shortly become a fully fledged car manufacturer with the release of its 1:10 200mm kit. Heading the two car entry is Martin Christensen. The Danish ace has had a busy day trying to gather as much set-up data as possible about the new creation but said already it is proving very consistent and easy to drive. Cristensen believes he is running about a 1/10th off the fastest pace but feels a fresh engine should make that up.

For Serpent, the company that invented 1:10 nitro racing, this week is an important one for their latest creation the 733. A preproduction car ran at the Bumod Grand Prix in Turkey but now the full team are equipped with production versions. Heading that team is the cars designer Michael Salven. The two time European Champion said his and the rest of the team’s cars are working really well but his main problem was his lack of engine power. On the second of his two race deal with Serpent, Jilles Groskamp is the leading 733 at the moment in terms of pace with his Max powered version. The Dutch ace only arrived here in Gubbio yesterday due to other racing commitments that saw him claim back to back Euro Touring Series titles in Germany over the weekend. Working with former Serpent designer Rene Cornella who has been drafted back into the team for the week to look after the electric touring car ace, Groskamp said he is surprised at how close he is to the established nitro racers who arrived here on Monday.

Britain’s Mark Green is very happy now with his Novarossi powered 733 after getting it to his liking today but said the biggest problem is with his driving.  Missing his apexes in the chicane, the two time Euros runner up feels if he can get that sorted he we be well on the pace.  Asked who he feels is looking strong so far he responded by saying ‘Apart from the entire Italian team’, Jilles looks really good driving perfect lines every lap and with 29 laps predicted for the 7 minutes heats that consistency is going to add up. Alessio Mazzeo and Kyle Branson are the young guns of the Serpent team but it’s been a tough start to the event for the teenagers. Madrid podium finisher and former European B Champion Mazzeo said his car is working well but he is having many silly problems during his runs like a dead receiver battery and a tyre coming off the rim.  For British Champion Branson tyres was the issue, a lack of them. The former two time Junior Champion had arranged a tyre sponsorship deal ahead of the event but the tyres never arrived leaving him in trouble, but Xceed have stepped in and he will continue the event running their tyres.

After a difficult start to the event Kyosho’s Adrien Bertin said things are much better now after taking a short sleep. The former World Champion flew directly to Italy from the US, where he was supporting Team Orion drivers at the American 1:8 Off Road Nationals, and his travels caught up with him. Feeling a lot fresher today and able to drive in a straight line he has found a good base set-up on his V-One RRR and can now start to work on getting his lap times down.

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