Groskamp tops timed practice
Drivers have just completed timed practice here in Gubbio and it is Serpent’s Jilles Groskamp (26/07:10.527) who set the pace over 7 minutes finishing 2.5 seconds ahead of impressive Euros debutant Alexander Hagberg (26/07:13.009). Groskamp, who also posted the fastest lap of the one and only timed practice with a 16.044, said he was happy with his pace but felt the traction was much lower today most likely as a result of people walking on the track at last night opening ceremony. The Dutch ace ran 37/40 Xceed tyres on his Max powered 733 but plans to run a harder rear in the qualifiers. Swede Hagberg reported his Xray was pushing a little for the first half of the run and plans to run a softer Matrix wheel for the first qualifier to cure the problem. Setting the second fastest lap time with a 16.080, the front running electric touring car racer is one of the drivers expected to be reseeded to a higher heat giving him a really good chance of playing with nitro racing’s established stars.
Giorgio De Felici (26/07:13.134) was happy with third fastest despite his Max powered Xray being a little too lean. The Italian who was running 37/40 Matrix tyres said his car was suffering from a little understeer but a very slight change to the set-up should cure that. Two time Belgian National Champion Jerome Renaux (26/07:14.951) continued his strong showing setting the fourth fastest time with his Novarossi powered Xray. The Euro B Finalist said his 37/40 Krono shod car felt slightly slower than yesterday but was easier to drive thanks to heavier rear shock oil.
Fifth fastest was factory Xray driver Martin Hudy (26/07:15.325). The Slovak driver could have been faster but switching to his good Max engine for the final practice before qualifying he forgot to re-adjust his carburettor end point settings and the car was not getting full throttle. Hudy said other than his mistake with the carb his car was good but felt also that traction was less than yesterday but he doesn’t plan to chase conditions as the traction should be back up come his first qualifier. Fellow Xray driver Dirk Wischnewski (25/07:01.167) completed the top six but describe the run as ‘shit’. The German National Champion and recent Bumod Grand Prix winner said his Novarossi engine, which was very strong yesterday, didn’t run well with a bad glowplug suspected to be the problem. Wischnewski said the car felt Ok but without a good engine it was very hard to say how it will be when he pushes harder.
Elsewhere defending Champion Dario Balestri struggled with traction roll while current World Champion Daniele Ielasi knocked a rear shock off his Shepherd when he cut a curb and rolled. Serpent’s Michael Salven had to use his run to reset his Mega ZX engine after making a number of changes to it last night but said his car felt very loose and he has no idea why. Madrid Top Qualifier Teemu Leino had to use the session to put more mileage on a new Team Orion engine as did Sirio team driver Francesco Tironi whos engine features a vertical finned cooling head. Warm Up race winner Giuseppe D’Angelo described his run as ‘so, so’ but did manage to post the fifth fastest lap time for the session. 15-year-old Biagio Sapataro, the star of yesterday’s controlled practice, set the third fastest lap time but couldn’t manage a decent seven minute run suffering from a lack of rear grip on his Xray.
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