Balestri tops opening seeding round

Dario Balestri has picked up from where he left in free practice yesterday to go quickest in the opening round of seeding at the 1:8 Onroad World Championships in California this morning.  The Infinity driver set his fastest three laps before getting caught out by the extra high morning traction with a roll that chunked at rear tyre and ended his run a minute & a half early.  Behind the reigning Champion, JJ Wang surprised even himself with the second fastest time, the Mugen driver running in the heat before that of Balestri.  Making a return to World Championship action after some time out from the sport, Steven Jovanovic was another surprise at the front of the times sheets as he posted the 3rd fastest time for the first of the 4 rounds of seeding practice.  Next up it was Dominic Greiner in fourth place followed by Silvio Hachler and 2011 World Champion Robert Pietsch.  For 2015 World Champion Simon Kurzbuch the extra traction caused him problems and his Shepherd made contact with the Steel City RC Speedway barriers leaving him 8th fastest.

Summing up his effort Balestri said, ‘It was ok.  I just did not drive so good but anyway it was enough’.  The calm and very collected Italian continued, ‘there was again more traction and I was not able to drive perfect and I rolled’.  Asked if changing the car or adjusting his driving style was the best solution, he replied, ‘the problem is if you stop the flip you stop being fast.  Even with the best set-up in these conditions you have to manage the driving.  I think it’s the same for everyone’.

‘I’m pretty surprised to be honest’ was Wang’s reaction to his 3-laps which were just 6/100th off Balestri.  The American driver continued, ‘the car was super hard to drive in the beginning so I just wanted to get the run over with.  I didn’t see that (time) coming’.  Hoping he can maintain his strong start to the day he will try to improve the car for his second run saying, ‘Everyone is having difficulty at the start, the traction is so high but we will make a few changes and it should be better for the next one’.

Reacting to his time, Jovanovic said, ‘I cant complain, the car is good and the engine is super good’.  The Australian, who is running Capricorn’s new 804 Prototype, explained, ‘the first time I drove the car was when I got here and we got the set-up right pretty quickly after a day or so’.  He continued, ‘clutches and engines were the biggest issue but we got that sorted now and as a combo it’s now working great’.  Looking to his next run, he said, ‘If I can be a little more consistent in my driving we will be alright’.

‘Better’ was Greiner’s reaction to his P4 time.  The Serpent driver continued, ‘now it’s on four wheels all the time but we need a little more steering, then it is good’.  The German also felt he lacked power from his engine saying, ‘the engine was not good so we will change to another one’.  He concluded, ‘things are looking better now than they were yesterday’.

Enjoying consistency in his form having had strong runs throughout free practice, Hachler said, ‘It was a good run I think’.  The ARC driver said, ‘now there is more grip like two days ago and my car is so easy to drive’ before jokingly remarking ‘I hope the traction will increase’.  Happy with his car’s performance, the Swiss racer who finished 5th at the previous Worlds in France two years ago said, ‘we will just change to another engine for the next one to make sure we have three good engines ready for qualification and the racing’.

View the complete event results here.

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