Teemu holds TQ in Thailand
At the end of the first day of qualifying for the 1:10 Nitro Touring Car World Championships it is Team HB driver Teemu Leino who holds the provisional TQ honours in Bangkok after the Finnish ace ran a time of 39/10:01.655 outpacing Q1 pace setter Jilles Groskamp by half a second. Andy Moore completed the Top 3 ahead of former World Champion Keisuke Fukuda with a time thats somewhat off the pace of the Top 2.
Leino said after his TQ run that while the result was good his car was still very loose. Again lacking rear traction he said the overall base set-up of his LRP powered R10 is quite good but when he pushes it to the limit it can be a bit of a handful. Known for his aggressive driving style he said he is still thinking about what to try tomorrow to give him that extra 2% grip he needs.
Groskamp said he was happy with his Q2 time as it was a personal best for him, the now Thai based Dutch driver having done a lot of pre-event testing here, but the result could have been even better had he not had an incident just before his pit stop. Planning to stop a lap later than everyone else so as to avoid any dramas in the pit lane, as he started his in lap he came undone. Driving down the inside of Surikarn and Balestri, who had just exited the pit lane following his fuel stop, Groskamp’s Capricorn was touched by Surikarn’s Xray sending it into a spin costing the 2008 Worlds Top Qualifier 2 seconds and a potential second TQ run. Afterwards Surikarn apologised to Groskamp for the incident. Groskamp said his engine tuning was a little rich at the start of the run but after the fuel stop it was fine something he thinks has to do with the fuel tank which has been in the car for some time. For tomorrow he will fit a new tank along with all new fuel tubing.
Moore said his R10 was decent but his driving was not up to scratch. Having improved his car from Q1 by changing to a softer tyre compound he said he still needs to find more steering. While currently 3rd fastest the nitro novice said he doesn’t believe his time will be quick enough to keep him inside the magical Top 4. Planning to run a softer front shock set-up he said he will also try a different preparation of his front tyres.
Fukuda, who prior to Q2 hasn’t really featured at this event, said a change to softer tyres on his Picco powered Mugen improved the car a lot. Still looking for more steering the Japanese driver will make a small set-up change for Q3 but said he must be careful that he does not end up with a car that wants to traction roll.
Atsushi Hara failed to finish the second qualifier but with his Q1 time sits fifth. The HB driver said he ran his best set-up from the practice on his OS Speed powered R10 but the conditions where not the same and it was edgy to drive. In the end he would run out of fuel just before the end of the 10-minute run. Having had good economy from his OS engine he said they had a problem during the stop which while his pitman put down the car caused fuel to spill onto the exhaust. Cooling the pipe it caused the engine to run rich for a few laps and this combined with the spilled fuel left him short. Summing up the performance he said his set-up is about 80% and he needs to find the other 20% in tyre choice and the timing of his additive.
With KM Racing’s Dario Balestri loosing time when his car traction rolled early in the run after he went the wrong way with his set-up, it was Biagio Spataro who is now the top Italian. The 18-year-old ran too small a diameter tyre in Q1 which while it gave him a fast car early in the heat left him struggling at the end. Increasing the diameter by 2mm for Q2 it gave him a much more consistent car and he was able to post the 5th fastest time for the round to leave him sixth overall and the top Xray. Happy with the set-up on his G-Mar powered NT1 he plans to continue with the same set-up for tomorrow when the top groups will run both Q3 & 4 in the morning.
Although he improved his time Takaaki Shimo’s factory Kyosho dropped from 6th to 7th with a great run from young local kid Mongkolplan Lomrose securing him 8th spot ahead of fellow Mugen driver & 1:8 Onroad World Champion Robert Pietsch. Having had a flame out in Q1 Pietsch had another less than perfect run. Starting with his engine too rich his MTX-5 was not changing gear on the infield which cost him some time and when he came in for his fuel stop he overshot his pit box resulting in a ‘Horrible’ pit stop. Top Qualifier at the last Worlds he said as the engine leaned out over the qualifier the gearbox was fine as was the handling of the car and German believes he has the pace but just needs the luck to go with it.
The surprise of Q1, JJ Wang didn’t better his time in Q2 but the Mugen driver will be very pleased to leave the track this evening as the tenth fastest and top American driver.
Top 15 after Round 2 of Qualifying
1. Teem Leino – HB/LRP – 39/10:01.655 (2)
2. Jilles Groskamp – Capricorn/Maxima – 39/10.02.182 (2)
3. Andy Moore – HB/Maxima – 39/10:06.779 (2)
4. Keisuke Fukuda – Mugen/Picco – 39/10:07.537 (2)
5. Atsushi Hara – HB/OS Speed – 39/10:09.303 (1)
6. Biagio Spataro – Xray/G-Mar – 39/10:10.845 (2)
7. Takaaki Shimo – Kyosho/OS Speed – 39/10:11.229 (2)
8. Mongkolplan Lomrose – Mugen/Maxima – 39/10:612 (2)
9. Robert Pietsch – Mugen/Novarossi – 39/10:12.177 (2)
10.JJ Wang – Mugen/Novarossi – 39/10:12.349 (1)
11.Surikarn C – Xray/Max – 39/10:13.616 (2)
12.Sinnosuke Yokoyama – 39/10:13.696 (2)
13.Paul Lemieux – Xray/Max – 39/10:14.861 (2)
14.Marc Rheinard – Capricorn/Capricorn – 38/9:59.920 (2)
15.Dario Balestri – KM Racing/Novarossi – 38/10:00.116 (1)
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