Matusukra opens Day 2 of qualifying with first TQ run
Naoto Matsukura has opened the second day of qualifying at the 1:10 20mm World Championships in Miami with a TQ run. Having opened qualifying with a P2 but having had issues in Q2 and 3 yesterday, the Infinity driver bounced back in the 4th round to top the times from team-mate Andy Moore. Continuing Infinity’s reign at the top of qualifying, Matsukura’s TQ is the first 24-lap run of the Homestead RC Raceway with his advantage over Moore over 2-second. Unfortunately having TQ’d the opening two rounds of qualifying and ending the day with a P2, Dario Balestri could not continue his form as he got his car hooked up in a corner board which cost him over 6-seconds. Third fastest would be Dominic Greiner, the reigning champion posting a new fastest pitstop of the weekend of 4.2-seconds as pitman Klaus Lechner bettered the previous record set in the heat before by Moore’s pitman Trin NungGai. The big improver of the Q4 would be Teemu Leino, the European Champion who had a best of a P10 from yesterday setting the fourth fastest time ahead of Tadahiko Sahashi and Francesco Tironi.
‘That was very good. It was perfect and I also drove very good with no mistake’, was how Matsukura summed up his TQ run. The 200mm rookie continued, ‘before refuelling I had the lead so in the fuel stop we made a safe stop after the problem we had yesterday during the pitstop’ – his mechanic having trouble opening the fuel tank lid in Q3. The 2014 Electric Touring Car Champion said, ‘we changed the set-up and now was the best the car has been so far. It still has a little but I am super happy to make 24-laps and will keep it the same for the next one’.
Just under a second off his Q3 TQ pace, Moore described his latest effort as ‘another solid run’. The British driver continued, ‘we tried a different spring based on how the track was yesterday but now there was cloud cover and there was way more traction. I was fast the first few laps but it didn’t feel good in the second half of the run’. The former 200mm Worlds Finalist would also have a mistake during the 7-minute qualifier explaining, ‘I thought I was going to spin so I turned into it and went wide which allowed Erik (Dankel) to pass me but he gave me room to back by him but it cost me around 1-second’. Looking to the penultimate qualifier, Moore said, ‘depending on the sun for the next one we might change back to what I had on the car yesterday’. He concluded, ‘anyway now I am for sure in Super Pole but I still have a chance at the TQ’.
Greiner explained, ‘I had two little mistakes because the car felt loose and then after the stop I hit traffic and had to pass Lamberto’. With the traffic, that also included Balestri and Pietsch, it negated any advantage of his super fast pit stop but the German was quick to compliment Matsukura’s driving saying, ‘Naoto had a crazy fast run’. He added, Andy was also just a little faster but 3rd is not so bad for a not so perfect run’. Moore’s time was just 13/1000ths faster. For Q5 Greiner plans to adjust his rear toe in saying, ‘this will give me more traction and overall rear grip. I just need a little bit’.
‘I had a better feeling with the car. That was the first time I was driving the car this week. We finally found some balance’, was Leino’s reaction to his P4. The 2012 Worlds Top Qualifier, continued, ‘the big problem is the rear tyre. It is 8 to 10 shore harder than what we should be running so the Warm-up race we did was a waste of time. It is the same for everyone but only now have we found a car that is drivable’. He concluded, ‘we will do a little fine tuning with the set-up for the next one but I have a car I can race in the finals’. Behind Leino, Infinity team-mate Sahashi equalled his best run with another P5 but the Japanese driver’s time was slightly slower today.
Another driver to equal his best performance from yesterday, Tironi joked, ‘I am still awake’. Putting his P6 in Q3 yesterday evening down to the fact he had woken up, the Italian continued, ‘It was OK. We didn’t change anything on the car because yesterday I had a good feeling’. He added, ‘maybe I could have tried to be faster but I wanted to make a safe run to secure a place in the Semi final. It all works good but I will try something to improve the corner speed a little for the next one’.
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