Boots is Top Qualifier at 35th Euros
Elliott Boots is Top Qualifier at the 35th running of the 1:8 Offroad European Championships in Italy. The former World Championship Top Qualifier secured his first Euros TQ when he posted the second fastest time in the final qualifier ahead of defending champion David Ronnefalk – the only driver who could deny him the honour. With different drivers taking the opening four qualifiers, Robert Batlle would be the only driver to top the times twice when he set the fastest 5-minute time around the Ongaroring in the fifth & final qualifier. That result would promote the former champion to second in the final ranking ahead of Ronnefalk with young Davide Ongaro best of the many local talents, ending up fourth. With all 12 drivers for the 45-minute final having to progress from the Semis, the Top 16 direct Semi qualifiers includes the last 5 champions who have reigned over the class for the past 9-years setting the stage for some tough racing in Sacile tomorrow.
‘Well happy’ was Boots’, a multiple Junior European Champion, reaction to securing the overall TQ in what was an interesting two days of qualifying with not one driver dominating. The 22-year-old Kyosho/Reds Racing backed driver said it was consistency which got it for him. Winner of the warm-up Race, the British ace said looking after tyres was going to be key to success come the final. With most finishing the Warm-up Race Main with slicks and the track conditions getting near to how they were for that event back in May, he said it was ‘happy days’ for him. Very comfortable with his Pro-Line shod MP9 he said the track suits his driving style and having focused on consistency from the start of the event on Tuesday he is feeling confident for the finals. Asked about his rivals, he said Ronnefalk looks to have to drive really hard to be fast and Batlle while fast is making more mistakes than usual. While planning to leave his car unchanged for the Semi practice he expects the track to change a lot by then following the running of the lower finals.
Pleased to TQ the final qualifier, Batlle said ‘It was a good battle with David and Elliott’ but added his Mugen is ‘not 100% ready’. Winner of the last of his two titles in 2011, the former World Champion after his clean final qualifier feels his Ultimate engined MBX-7R is maybe too comfortable and they need to change it to get more speed for the final. Predicting racing tomorrow to be ‘really tough’ he believes there will also be a lot of crashes, adding he wouldn’t be immune to making mistakes as the track is now ‘so difficult’.
Switching to AKA Impact tyres for the final qualifier, Ronnefalk said he was a bit slower, lacking the speed to keep up with Batlle. The HB driver, who was Top Qualifier for the previous two years, said the set-up of his Orion powered D815 ‘really good’ and they just now needed to think about tyres. Predicting a ‘pretty close race’ and a much tougher race than the previous two years he said tyres were going to be key to the final. Chasing a third consecutive title, him missing out on a first title in 2012 to Darren Bloomfield after a thrilling close race finish, the 19-year-old said he is going to have to stay on ‘top of (his) game’ from start to finish as the track gets more and more difficult.
One of five of Italy’s emerging offroad talents to qualify directly for the Semis, Ongaro said after how practice went he was expecting worse. The 14-year-old said coming into the event he had set himself as a high target and ending up fourth was no better than he expected. Top Qualifier when the track, which is owned by his father, hosted the Euro B Championships in 2013, the Mugen driver said qualifying fourth showed he could match some of the best drivers in the world. He said while he knows the track better the others have got it figured out now so he has no advantage that way. Asked about the final he said it was going to be tough but unlike his rivals he said it wasn’t going to be due to the track but down to the quality of drivers. He said qualifying fourth showed he can match them and with his car and LRP engines working good its all down to him to get it into the final. Behind Ongaro, newly crowned Euro B Champion Riccardo Bertin secure 5th with his Kyosho after P8 in the final qualifier moved him ahead of Serpent’s Joern Nuemann and the highest placed TLR of Q4 pace setter Alex Zanchettin.
‘I say I am happy with sixth’, was how Neumann summed up his qualifying. His first European Championships with Serpent, the German described his final qualifier as ‘medium’ adding ‘maybe the driver was too aggressive’. Also his first season with Maxima engines he said everything was good for the finals as he had been working from the start of the event towards the longer races rather than 5-minutes. Expecting the race to be tough on the cars he said it is easy to make mistakes everywhere and due to the high speed of the track that’s going to be hard on equipment.
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