Wang takes opening 2 qualifiers to lead the way at Asia Nitro Party

After two rounds of qualifying at the inaugural Asia Nitro Party it is JJ Wang who leads the way, Mugen Seiki holding the top two spots as qualifying reaches the half way distance at the Hongyu GDC track in China.  A much warmer day than drivers experienced yesterday in Foshan, run time was the big talking point of qualifying with Wang’s strategy to refuel in each of his 4-minute runs paying dividends.  The Chinese American admitting himself that he may not be the fastest driver on track as he gets used to his brand new MRX7, his last competitive 1:8 Onroad outing being the 2019 IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship in California.  With a second in Q1 and running at the top of the timing screens again in Q2 until he again started running out of fuel, this time dropping him to 5th, it is O.S. Speed’s Sinnosuke Yokoyama who holds second in a ranking that is completely scrambled due to the number of drivers running out of fuel.  Having topped practice yesterday, Infinity’s Naoto Matsukura was on for a TQ in Q1 until Nicole Marrone traction rolled in front of him leading to contact that broke the Japanese driver’s car.  Having opted to do a fuel stop in Q1, after his opening DNF Matsukura risked going the full 4-minutes in Q2 but came up well sort on his runtime.  One of the favourite’s coming into the event, Serpent’s Andrea Catanzani has yet to shine.  Making a mistake in Q1 he would eventually run out of fuel leading him to do a stop in Q2 but the Italian said they lacked speed in the car and he ended up P3 behind Wang & Marrone.

Reacting to his TQ runs, Wang said, ‘I’m quite surprised myself.  I am more focusing on getting the car right.  The car was definitely feeling better that run (Q2) but it is still not what I would like it to be.’   Explaining that point further, the 28-year-old said, ‘the track condition changes all the time so I am just trying to fine tune to get the best set-up so I can actually push out there.  I mean it is nice to be on top but its hard to tell where exactly we’re at because everyone is running out of fuel.  It is definitely close on run time.’  He added, ‘We are going to fine tune again, we are running the new car so learning that and trying to keep up with everyone else.  I think on pure speed I am not the fastest, but you know, we finished.’

Having been on target for TQ runs in both qualifiers before having to nurse his car to the line with low fuel, Sinnosuke believes he can get the job done without the need for a fuel stop.  The World Championship finalist believes the track’s layout is the contributing factor to run time with a lot of time on full throttle and he plans to try and adapt his driving to stretch out extra fuel he needs along with making some changes to his engine set-up.  Happy with how his MRX7 is running, this his debut race with the car, he will leave it unchanged despite the warmer weather today leading him to having a little more understeer than yesterday.

Summing up his opening two qualifiers, Matsukura explained, ‘In Q1 I stopped for fuel and after that somebody traction rolled in front of me, then the car was completely finished.’  Skipping the fuel stop for Q2, he continued, ‘in the second one the feeling is not good.  I tried to do the 4-minutes with no stop but I was short by 2-laps!’  Asked if making the 4-minute run time was just an issue at this track, the World Champion across multiple disciplines replied, ‘No, in Japan we had it also.  At the Japanese Nationals it was also really on the limit.  If you have a good engine you have good power but the last 2-laps you can not finish’.  Finishing runner-up at the Nationals behind World Champion elect Shouki Takahata, he explained, ‘I had to use an engine from a long time ago to get the run time.’  Describing his car’s handling in Q2 as ‘totally shit’, he explained ‘before it was very good, perfect, but then since the crash its not a good feeling.  I need to check that something else is not broken that we might have missed.’

Asked about his efforts, Catanzani explained, ‘Q1 I made a mistake but then also the fuel was finished.  We said we would try for the first one to not stop but it was not right.  The second round we tried with a stop but we have to find something to be more fast.’  Asked if he is surprised that 4-minute run time is an issue, the World Championship Top Qualifier replied, ‘This is not normal.  For us in Italy it is not normal.  I think maybe because the fuel here has a bit more nitro the consumption is more high.  We will see in the next two but there is no chance to go the distance.  It is not about taking a risk because for sure you don’t not the finish without a fuel stop.’