French ace Aigoin is ‘Astra Nitro Cross’ Top Qualifier

French offroad ace Yannick Aigoin is the Top Qualifier for the 2011 Astra Nitro Cross and could very well pull off a clean sweep of qualifying at the Czech Republic event.  Having claimed the overall TQ honours when he topped the fourth round of qualifying from Team Losi Racing team-mate Martin Bayer by just 4/10ths of a second, the former European Champion went on to set a new outright fastest run in Q5 when he once again narrowly pipped defending champion Bayer.

Aigoin said his nVision powered 8ight was really dialled in for Q4 & 5 but always keen to explore possible set-up options will try the set-up of Bayer for the final qualifier.  Although Bayer has produced the fastest lap around the Auto Bayer track, Aigoin described the switch as very high risk as he has in the past tried the Czech Champions set-up and it hasn’t suited his driving.

Responsible for putting on the Astra Nitro Cross, this being the fifth running of the 3-day international event, Bayer has turned around a tough morning but with two non-finishes he still requires a strong run in the final qualifier.  Currently only 24th in the qualification ranking, a Quarter final starting position, he will be looking to end Day 2 on a high and give himself one less obstacle to putting himself in the 45-minute Main final.

Bayer’s younger brother Ales currently holds second in the points for qualifying but is still not happy with his set-up despite posting the third fastest time in Q5.  The new Xray signing said his XB808 is ‘very nervous’ and will try a completely new shock set-up in an attempt to give him more confidence with it.  Xray currently have two cars in the Top 3 with fellow Czech Jiri Mara third in the points despite having problems on his last outing.

Fourth overall which assures him a place in the Semis, Dominic Bauer will use the last qualifier to test a set-up for the finals.  Fitting a fresh Novarossi engine into his Mugen MBX6, the Austrian teenager will also try out a set of Procircuit tyres having run Proline in qualifying.

Tying on points with the star of the Euro B Championships is Finland’s Petri Myllari, the Losi driver putting in a great fourth round when he posted the third fastest time. French Losi driver Maxance Bon completes the Top 6 having just produced his best run in Q5.

View complete results and live timing here.

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