Balestri takes opening qualifier as Matsukura loses drive
The opening round of qualifying at the Singapore International Nitro Grand Prix saw Dario Balestri carry his morning seeding form into the first 7-minute affair with the Infinity driver topping the times by a convincing margin after main rival Naoto Matsukura went out just after the 3-minute mark with a stripped first gear. Pushed early on by Matsukura, who seeded second, Balestri in the end was over 5-seconds faster than Teemu Leino, the Finn having a strong morning at the RCMC Marine Parade track. Up against a stacked field of Infinity drivers, Mugen Seiki’s Shoki Takahata opened his Grand Prix debut with the third fastest time despite his engine struggling with the high humidity and 32 degree heat. With many drivers making small mistakes on the high speed circuit, it was Tadahiko Sahashi, who is seeded in the second fastest heat, who was fourth fastest ahead of Takakki Shimo and Thailand’s Chavit Saligupta.
‘It’s been a good morning’, was Balestri’s reaction after Q1. The Italian added, ‘the car was always good since the first day here and we just tried to manage the pace and all the package because everything is really on the limit with the heat, like the engine, also the radio was burning in my hands.’ Looking to Q2 the winner of this event last year said, ‘the biggest challenge is to arrive at the end of the qualification due to the heat. For the next one we will leave everything the same and just try to manage the car and pace to get to the end.’
Pleased with his morning’s effort, Leino said, ‘I change yesterday back to my practice car. I finished running about 2 o’clock and then rebuilt my practice car and tried it this morning and it was really good.’ A regular visitor to the Singapore International Nitro Grand Prix, the 49-year-old is a fan of the track saying, ‘now with the new asphalt it is super nice, it is really fun to drive with good traction. It’s really nice.’ Asked if he planned any changes for his next outing, he replied, ‘No it is all good so I will just keep it the same and try to make another clean run.’
Reacting to his opening qualifier World Champion Takahata said that with all the high speed corners and the hot conditions his engine struggled and was down on power as a result. The 32-year-old said they need to think how they can prevent the power fade in the next round but as yet he is not sure whether he will change engine or just try a different approach for Q2.