Aigoin tops opening Qualifier
Yannick Aigoin has set the pace in the opening round of qualifying at the Astra Nitro Cross in the Czech Republic, the TLR driver topping the time sheets ahead of Xray pairing Ales Bayer and Jiri Mara. Defending champion Martin Bayer failed to start his heat after the screw on his steering servo horn came out during the warm-up laps.
Despite being considerably faster than second quickest Ales Bayer, Aigoin said after his TQ run that both his nVision powered Losi 8ight and the driver could be improved. Aigoin ran a different set-up to yesterday when he topped practice which he said made the buggy feel ‘just OK’ for the conditions which have seen the track start to develop ‘very clean lines’.
Setting the fastest lap of Q1 with a time of 39.133 on his penultimate lap, Ales Bayer said he was happier with his XB808 today following overnight set-up changes. Making three mistakes over the 5-minute qualifier, the 18-year-old Xray team driver is hoping to clean up his driving for Q2 along with making some further minor shock adjustments.
Fellow countryman Mara said changes to his prototype Hudy engined XB808 had made little difference as the track conditions were quite different today. The 2010 podium finisher will make some small adjustments for Q2 but says his biggest problem is that he is struggling to get to terms with the track’s main big air jump.
Setting the fourth fastest time was Czech Serpent driver Petr Klatovsky. The 27-year-old, who uses Orcan engines, said his lap times were slower today but he was more consistent leading to a solid overall time. Hoping to make the car more stable for Q2 he will try softer dampening which he hopes will allow him to push harder and bring down his lap times.
Finland’s Petri Myllari took his OS powered Losi to the fifth fastest time. Describing it as a ‘pretty ok’ opening run, the 25-year-old plans to run a longer chassis set-up for Q2 as he tries to fine tune his 8ight to a track which he says he really likes.
Aiming to open qualifying with a clean run Martin Hudy threw that idea out the window at the first corner. So annoyed with himself for the early mistake he made another more costly mistake but once he calmed down he said everything felt OK allowing him to post the 6th fastest time.
After a strong showing in yesterday’s practice when he ended up third fastest behind factory TLR drivers Aigoin and Bayer, Dominic Bauer could only manage 9th in Q1. The Euro B finalist ran Proline Bowtie tyres with the outer pin removed but with the traction lower today his Mugen was very loose. Despite this the Austrian teenager was potentially on for the second fastest time until a big driver error on his 6th lap of 8 cost him around 10 seconds.
View complete results and live timing here.
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