Leino takes Q3 to hold overnight TQ at Worlds
Infinity’s Teemu Leino holds the overnight TQ at the 1:10 Nitro World Championship after the Finn became the third different driver in as many rounds to top the times at the Huge RC Circuit in Bangkok today. Having come close to a TQ run in the second qualifier only to hit traffic at the end of the run allowing team-mate Dario Balestri to take it with the smallest of margins, this time round it was a clean run for Leino who was fastest by 8/10ths of a second from Jilles Groskamp. The second P2 run from Groskamp it is the Dutch driver who sits second in the ranking overnight ahead of Q2 pace setter Dario Balestri and Toni Gruber who claimed the fastest time in the opening qualifiers of these the 10th running of the Nitro Touring Car class Worlds.
Describing his Q3 TQ as ‘a really good one’, asked if it was a perfect run, Leino replied, ‘it was a clean run, I took off the steering a little bit and it went a little bit slower but it was much more easy to drive.’ Asked about concluding the first of the two day’s of qualifier as the provisional TQ holder, the former World Championship Top Qualifier said, ‘yeah it’s not too bad and the car feels great so we will see what’s going to happen tomorrow.’ On his approach to the final three qualifiers he said, ‘tomorrow we will stay the same. Now the less steering was better but it depends on the weather at the time of the runs but I would say now it is better to put it safe here.’
After his engine issues & DNS in Q2 asked about his run to another P2 Groskamp replied, ‘I was a little bit worried because we had to change engine and this was my second best engine which I still struggle with the idle but we had a solid run and I am happy to finish the day with two times second. It was a little bit rich in the bottom so that is why sometimes it shifts a bit late still a good time and I am happy to get second place.’ The former electric touring car World Champion added, ‘Teemu and me where quite a lot faster than the rest now and it was a good battle and I am still happy with the car and the driving is good. It’s nice that there are three different guys who have TQ now so it’s still really open for tomorrow there is nobody who made three times a zero.’ Asked about tomorrow the Dutch driver said, ‘I just have to be a bit more lucky with the engine and we find a better tuning and make it more stable. We have to check the head shim clearance and maybe there is something wrong with the carburetor. We try another engine for sure tomorrow just to make ready for the finals.’
Backing up his Q2 TQ with the 6th fastest time, Balestri said, ‘I was close to Teemu until I broke second gear 4-laps before the end, we need to check why’. The two time 1:8 World Champion for whom the 1:10 Title eludes him despite always being in the hunt and being the 2018 Top Qualifier, he continued, ‘my car was ok so I will keep same for tomorrow and tomorrow is another day. Everything is still open because I still have the fastest time.’
Summing up his final effort of the day, Gruber said, ‘Overall not bad, it was P5. I was a little too slow in the beginning before we refuel, there I lost the time. I drove too safe.’ He continued, ‘I took too long to build up the confidence, for the car, for the line, for the speed. I need too long to feel that I can push and then on the refuel the cable for the lid got caught in the engine head and the fuel tank stays a little bit up. So when the fuel tank was full it was spilling out on the brake and I think on the tyres, so I miss a little bit of steering and no brake anymore but after a few laps when fuel went down it was not a problem anymore. With the lid still open the engine was more lean so I had more power which for 2-minutes was ok and then the car was really good.’ After about his contrasts in days between yesterday’s P18 in seeding and now sitting P4 with a TQ run to his credit he said, ‘Completely different, you cannot compare today to the rest of the 5-days, it was a completely new day. Tomorrow is another day so lets see.’
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