Groskamp fastest as third days comes to a close

Jilles Groskamp topped the unofficial time sheets for Day 3 of the 1:10 200mm EC in Madrid with the Xray NT1 driver the only one to break into the 16 seconds with a lap time of 16.998. The vastly experienced electric touring car racer recorded the time in the final of today’s four 10-minute free practice sessions, bettering his earlier time by a 1:10th of a second.

‘Today was good, the morning started off with a good track cause it was cool and grip was higher. We still had some issues with the clutch. Some laps were really fine but some were not so fine so we tried some different set-ups with the clutch. The set-up in the morning was not perfect cause the grip was higher and I think we needed a harder tyre. The third round was really really good because I ran consistently for the ten minutes. We also used it to figure out the tyre wear and fuel consumption which was very good so no problem in that case’.

Commenting on the new magnesium head from Sirio which he ran in the 2nd and 3rd sessions Groskamp said, ‘It felt actually really really good. I talk later with Sirio and see what we are going to do with the head but it was really good. Tomorrow we are going to try it again. The heat is different. The temperature of the engine is different but the head is much lighter so it would help with traction roll.’

Closest on lap time to the Dutch driver was Swede Roland Strom with his RB powered Kyosho. ‘It was better this morning. The car was fast. In the evening the car was a bit slippy. I didn’t think the traction was going to change that much as usually for me my set-ups are not that sensitive to track conditions but on this track its a really big difference. I was really struggling in the 2nd and 3rd run mainly because I had a problem with the brakes. In the last run I made the car too soft and it was really rolling around a lot but I am much happier today’.

Next fastest was local Mugen driver Daniel Vega followed by Darren Johnson and Oscar Cabezas both on 17.159. With a number of top drivers still not running transponders it is hard to get a true indication of things but Adrien Bertin and Michael Salven, both of whom can be expected to be at the sharp end of the field, appeared pleased with the performance of their cars today.

Another not running a transponder but who should feature strongly come the heats is Italy’s Francesco Tironi. The Sirio backed Kyosho driver said, ‘My car today is good in the morning when the track is cold. It’s very fast and I’m happy. In the afternoon I tried another set-up on the car and it was not very good. I think the best time for qualifying will be the last heat on Friday night and on Saturday morning’.

Leading UK entry Mark Gilliland had similar views on the day, ‘Conditions were good in the morning when it was cold and we were able to get into the low 17s. It’s a bit of struggle to get the times when the track warms up as you lose a bit a grip in the steering. The final heat on Saturday morning will probably be the fastest run.’

Current Champion Dario Balestri did not appear to have a good day with his Team Magic, ‘I am not very happy. I try many different parts and it get no better. Tomorrow is another day.’

Drivers will have one final 10-minute practice run in the morning with two 5-minute timed runs scheduled for the afternoon. Red RC will keep you updated throughout the day.

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