Ongaro TQ’s 2nd Euros qualifier
Young Italian talent Davide Ongaro has TQ’d the second round of qualifying at the 1:8 Offroad Euros. After a disappointing opening qualifier, the Mugen driver put in an impressive run setting a new fastest time around the Redovan RC track to top the times ahead of Q1 pace setter Elliott Boots. Running in the same heat as Boots, Ongaro would improve on his own pace a massive 11-seconds ending up 8/10th quicker than the reigning champion. Behind them Robert Batlle would post the third fastest time with an almost identical time to his Q1 pace with Davide Ronnefalk again completing the Top 4 in Spain.
Asked were his improvement in Q2 came from, Ongaro replied, ‘No wind and better driving’. Also changing to a softer insert in his Procircuit Road Runner tyres, the 15-year-old said this also helped make his MBX7R ‘more stable’ and therefore ‘more consistent to drive’. The reigning European Junior Champion, finishing 4th overall at the Euro last year at his home track in Italy, said other than ‘a little bobble at the whoops’ it was a clean run and his aim was to try repeat a similar drive in Q3. Asked if he planned any changes to his car looking at his mechanic he replied ‘definitely not’.
‘A bit of a scruffy start’ was Boots response when asked about Q2. The Kyosho driver continued, ‘On the first lap I caught the piping on the straight which put me out in the dust, the first few laps were a little scatty’. Going on to post the fastest lap of the round with a 52.358, he would later get his MP9 up on two wheels saying it was ‘difficult out there’ but complimented Ongaro on his TQ saying he ‘drove well’. Putting his P2 down to the driver rather than his car, the British ace was pleased that he was already racing in his finals tyre adding this was his third run on the same set of Pro-Line Fugitives. For Q3, the last qualifier of the day, he added he will ‘probably run new ones for the next one’.
Changing to a harder compound tyre, Batlle said traction was better but a rear shock change to improve steering on his Mugen was ‘so so’. With the car ‘still pushing a little’, the 2012 World Champion said they need to work on the set-up more to get more steering. The Spaniard concluded, ‘At least we have 2 good qualifiers and have three more to get another good one’.
‘I felt I was driving good but the pace just too slow compared to Ongaro and Boots’, that was reaction of Ronnefalk. The HB Racing driver continued ‘Yannick (Aigoin) had a crash and I caught his car which lost me time but anyway I still wouldn’t have been fast enough for TQ’. Winner of the Warm-up Race, the Swede said ‘I was happy with my driving, I was hitting all my lines so we need to find speed in the car’.
Posting the fifth fastest time, Bloomfield said ‘it feels good and feels like I can go faster but when I do it all gets a bit wobbly’. Making one mistake in the whoops, which he said was unusual as his Agama ‘has been really good through there’, the Bullit powered A215 got turned around costing him over a second and a potential Top 3 for the round. For Q3 the former Champion said he is ‘just going to stick with it (the same set-up)’ adding ‘Elliott looked like he was going to have 3 crashes on a lap and mine don’t look like that, I was just unfortunate to have one’.
Completing the Top 6, Bryan Baldo put his improvement down to better driving. The host of the race, who after each days racing has to carry out track repairs, the Mugen driver said his MBX7R was very good in the first qualifier but he made two driver errors. Starting off with a more cautious pace in Q2 looking to get in a banker he said by the end of the 5-minutes he was starting to push. Saying ‘I don’t think I will make any changes for the next one’, he will try for one more safe run adding ‘then I can push tomorrow’, the final two qualifiers making up Friday’s schedule.
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