Mazzeo leads way in inaugural eGT World title fight

In contention for the overall TQ in the established IFMAR 1:8 GT Nitro World Championship, Raptor’s Alessio Mazzeo leads the way in the inaugural Electric GT World title race which is also running in Chile.  While just 10-drivers make up the entry list for the quieter class, it is again proving to be an all Italian battle at the front.  EFRA’s inaugural eGT European Champion back in 2023, Mazzeo would post three TQ runs today with the only other driver to top a round being Natanaele Senesi when he took Q3.  Behind them it is Capricorn’s Alex D’Angelo who sits third in the overnight ranking.  With the final two qualifiers set to run tomorrow, potentially Senesi still has a shot at becoming the Top Qualifier in Santiago but he’ll need the perfect day to deny Mazzeo the TQ starting position.

Giving his reaction to Day 1 of eGT qualifying Mazzeo called it a, ‘A very good day’, adding , ‘we just had bad luck the third quali that I made a small mistake and broke the car.  It was the last two laps and I lost a bit the focus on the race.  It was my fault 100%.’  Explaining what happened, he said, ‘I crashed it alone, a super slow crash but the steering was on full lock so when I crashed it broke.’  Asked how he finds switching between the two categories, the fastest nitro heat immediately followed by the electric GT heat, he said, ‘the first laps are difficult because with the electric you have to break early, sooner.  So the first few laps they feel super long.’  While the Raptor electric car is 300 grams heavier than the nitro version, he said the problem is actually the power.  He highlighted, ‘with electric you make almost 120kph on the straight, with Nitro it is just 90kph so you see why I have to change a bit in the set-up.’

Speaking about his qualifying Senesi said, ‘Q1 we made P2 behind Alessio and also in Q2 but in Q3 we TQ’d because Alessio had a small problem.’  He continued, ‘We actually ran out of batteries in that one (Q3) but luckily D’Angelo did not close and we stayed in first place.  So after that we made a few changes with speedo settings for Q4, it was a little bit slower but in the end we were able to make the 7-minutes.’  Asked if run time was a fine line in the opening two qualifiers, Senesi replied, ‘No, in the first two the power was super good but it became warmer so it heated the batteries too much and they went out of temperature range so it is always difficult to find a balance with these changing conditions.’  He added, ‘Overall we have P2 and we can maybe still shot for the TQ tomorrow because there are still two rounds.  Alessio has 3 TQs, I have 1, so technically it can be.  The strategy there is to start with used tyres in the final and only have one new set’.  With three 7-minute finals awaiting the field, Senesi believes the lack of a warm-up in the finals will challenge drivers as they now only get one warm-up lap.  A GT specialist, asked about switching between nitro GT to electric GT, he said for his driving style it’s very difficult because he likes to push a lot into the corner, braking & turning at the same time, and in nitro this is more easy to do.  In electric you have a lot of power and you should run like a touring car, so more attached to the corner and more easy while cornering.’

Asked how his eGT efforts had gone so far, D’Angelo replied, ‘We didn’t put too much attention into the class because I have no mechanic and we have to choose the one to do better in.’  On his car’s performance he said, ‘I have a little bit of understeer but overall it is not that bad but of course I am not the fastest on the grid.’  A self confessed nitro guy, asked how he felt driving the two different cars compared, he said, ‘because of the extra weight of the electric car you have to be more round on the corner.  You can not stop, turn, and go on the gas.  Also the brake feeling is a lot different because one is a normal brake and the other has a lot more brake.’  He finished up by saying, ‘lets see for tomorrow, we are improving step by step.  We should need two more days for this one (eGT) but we don’t have it but lets see the three finals, anything can happen.’