Pietsch takes control
Robert Pietsch has made up for his rather embarrassing incident before the start of the first qualifier here at the Bumod GP to set the new benchmark with a provisional TQ run of 33 laps in 10:08.106. The German laid down some super fast laps finishing well clear of his international rivals with DJ Apolaro being the best of the rest. After a terrible opening round the American was really happy with his 966 having switched to a larger diameter tyre to combat the high tyre wear.
Michael Salven described his run as ‘terrible’, but it was enough to move him up to third. Having badly damaged his new bodyshell in the warm-up for his opening heat, he ran an old body in the second qualifier but the much heavier shell made the car totally different to drive. Making a number of mistakes the German finished the heat but with a broken wheel on one side of his 966 and a chunked tyre on the other. Still managing a 32 lap run, Salven has repaired his lighter shell with Shoe Goo which is now drying in the very hot Turkish sunshine.
Once again Patrick Schaefer was enjoying a good running but exiting the pitlane after his fuel stop he hit the pitwall catching his front wheel in one of the bolts used to join the lengths of delrin. This resulted in him breaking his second servo saver of the day but as Schaefer put it himself ‘it is better than being down to servos’. The German said the car was running well but it may have been difficult over the second part of the race as he had started on smaller diameter used tyres so as to save his new tyres for this evenings cooler runs.
Having held the TQ after the opening round Sabrina Lechner had a troublesome second heat. As she was in the pitlane waiting for the track to open the receiver battery in her Serpent went dead. Missing the start as they changed the pack she then ran out of fuel as she entered the pitlane for her first pit stop.
In 1:10 Austrian Xray driver Gerhard Kandelhardt topped the round with a 30 lap run that moves him up to 4th. ‘Kandi’ said his GQ shod NT1 was working well but felt his Orcan engine was lacking in power. Second fastest for the round was Dirk Stammler with America Scott Rister third fastest with his Xray/Max combination. The fastest three from the first round, times which were not beaten in the second, all made mistakes. Provisional TQ holder Jilles Groskamp started off his heat running a faster pace but after hitting a car he was lapping he then started to make mistakes on his own. Eventually he had a big off which broke both front wheels on his Serpent. Having switched to harder tyres Dirk Wischnewski said his car was better but driver error ended his run. Surikarn C. made two mistakes on his run. Having switched to the OS, having found the Max to run very hot in the opening heat, he said the car was running much faster now. Apolaro, who is driving the new Serpent 7XX, had a wheel come off which incidentally was put on by the car’s creator Michael Salven! The 200mm Winternats Champion said he not getting enough time to work on the car and this is being compounded by his lack of knowledge of the new model.
Round 3 will see the 1:8 drivers reseeded which should allow the top drivers to push harder however the high temperatures will most likely mean a slower track.
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