Groskamp tops final practice at Worlds

Practice for the fifth running of the IFMAR 1:10 Nitro Touring World Championship has been completed with Capricorn’s Jilles Groskamp topping the time sheets after the Dutch ace set down a blistering pace in the third & final controlled practice in Bangkok, Thailand, bringing Day 3 of the event to a close.  The newly crowned electric touring car World Champion knocked over half a second off his CP2 topping time leaving his opposition scratching their heads with Dario Balestri, who set the second fastest time, saying Groskamp was ‘too fast’ referring to the 4/10th extra pace he had over three consecutive laps.

Groskamp was very happy with his performance today and felt he could probably have run even faster had his engine not been as rich at the beginning of the run.  Not happy with his Maxima engine’s tuning in CP2, the engine tuner rebuilt the engine between runs and as a precaution it was set rich for the start of the run meaning Groskamp did not get the full advantage of his tyres with the additive most effective at the start of the run.  Once they leaned off the engine he said if felt ‘really good’. Keeping his pitting to a minimum in the final practice Groskamp said while his car lost some pace over the 10 minutes he thinks compared to his rivals his drop off in performance is less. Planning to leave the set-up the same for the first round of the six rocket round qualifiers he will just freshen up the LAB C-02 by fitting new belts and drives shafts for tomorrow.

A former two time European Champion, Balestri was happier with the set-up of his Novarossi powered KM Racing H-K1 for the final practice but overall described it as ‘so so’. With the full 10-minutes rather than just three consecutive laps counting for qualifying the Italian said he thinks his car is decent but if he is to be able to in anyway challenge Groskamp they need to make further improvements to the set-up.

Setting the third fastest time of the day in CP3 Teemu Leino said his new HB R10 was good but ‘like always’ he wanted to make it better. The Finn, who has been nick named ‘Grandpa’ by his team-mate Atsushi Hara due to him being the oldest member of the HB team, said he is lacking a little in terms of rear traction. Asked what he planned to change for Q1 he said it would be a combination between a set-up change and additive adding that the cars could, like in 1:12 racing, be tuned through the additive.

Only managing to post the fourth fastest time in the final practice having start the day off fastest in CP1, Hara said he was ‘not happy’ with the result.  Trying a different rear tyre in the round he said it was very good at the beginning of the run but it quickly overheated.  Planning to try cure this with a change of shore he said the key for qualifying is going to be consistency rather than outright speed something he is confident he can achieve tomorrow.  Commenting on Groskamp’s advantage in practice the former electric touring car and 1:8 Offroad World Champion said while he believes he has a quicker car when conditions are warmer the Dutchman is better in the cooler, faster, conditions but added that if they both make the 1-hour Main he believes its going to be a very close fought race between them.

Behind Hara, thanks to their CP2 times, Thai drivers Chavit Sirigupta and Surikarn C ended practice as the best placed Mugen and Xray respectively with 5th & 6th fastest times. Although he improved his pace in the final practice former European Champion and 2010 finalist Dirk Wischnewski dropped to the seventh fastest time.

Breaking into the Top 10 for the first time taking his Serpent 747 to the 8th fastest time for the day in CP3, Mark Green was very happy with the progress the team have made.  Running the set-up the same as CP2, the British National Champion and former World finalist said he focused instead on adjusting his driving to suit the track layout.  Adjusting with the weights on his chassis he said he was also still fine tuning his tyre preparation but having reached the pace they now have after just three days at the track is a great testament to the Michael Salven designed 747.  Setting his best time in CP3 to end up 24th fastest just ahead of fellow Team USA driver JJ Wang, Serpent’s Paolo Morganti was also happy with the progress made today. Having tried a few things in the final run that were not great he feels he can, based on the feeling of those changes, put a better set-up on his 747 which should be good for the first round of qualifying.

Top Qualifier at the World Championships last time round Mugen’s Robert Pietsch improved his time in CP3 to end practice 9th fastest behind Green.  The reigning 1:8 Onroad World & European Champion said while his MTX-5 was better the difference between the start of the run and the end was much too big.  In the beginning the car was close to traction rolling while at the end of the 10 minutes it suffered from understeer.  While the German feels he now has a better base set-up he said its ‘super difficult’ to find the right direction with the additive.

Of the two former World Champions competing in Thailand, reigning champion Ralph Burch unable to attend due to a broken hand, Keisuke Fukuda was quickest in practice setting the 15th fastest time.  Daniele Ielasi, who took over the reign from Fukuda when he won the title in Portugal in 2008, is having was is best described as a difficult event managing his best run in CP3 which was only good enough for the 64th fastest time.

For the two qualifiers that will make up tomorrow’s (Tuesday) timetable the heats have been divided into two groups with heats 1-7 running both their qualifiers in the first half of the day with heats 8-15, the quicker grouping of driver, running their rounds in the evening.  That order with be reversed for rounds 3 & 4 on Wednesday and will see qualifying run straight through in reverse order starting with group 4 for rounds 5 & 6 on Thursday.

Top 15 after final Controlled Practice
1. Jilles Groskamp – Capricorn/Maxima – 44.409 (3)
2. Dario Balestri – KM Racing/Novarossi – 44.859 (3)
3. Teemu Leino – HB/LRP – 44.892 (3)
4. Atsushi Hara – HB/OS Speed – 44.990 (3)
5. Chavit Sirigupta – Mugen/Maxima – 45.082 (2)
6. Surikarn C – Xray/Max – 45.122 (2)
7. Dirk Wischnewski – Xray/Orcan – 45.139 (3)
8. Mark Green – Serpent/Novarossi – 45.144 (3)
9. Robert Pietsch – Mugen/Novarossi – 45.195 (3)
10.Francesco Tironi – Capricorn/Capricorn – 45.340 (2)
11.Alexander Hagberg – Xray/Orcan – 45.366 (3)
13.Andy Moore – HB/Maxima – 45.366 (1)
14.Takehiro Terauchi – Mugen/Novarossi – 45.410 (1)
15.Keisuke Fukuda – Mugen/Picco – 45.510 (3)

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