Collari fastest in Q4, Pietsch still TQ

Lamberto Collari was fastest in the fourth round of qualifying here at the 2009 IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship but the time was only good enough to lift the defending World Champion up to third overall with Robert Pietsch still holding the TQ spot. Collari, whose off in Q3 was found to have been caused by a bad battery lead in his Kyosho, said the run was good but that track conditions were not as good as this morning. Second fastest for the round was Alberto Picco followed by Motonica’s Stefano Solaroli but both failed to improve on their Q3 times. Other than Collari the only other top driver to improve was Serpent team driver Andrea Cristiani but 15th is not a true indication of the Italian’s talents. Retiring from this morning’s qualifier with a faulty receiver, the Vice World Champion said his 966, which has been fitted with a new Max engine, is working much better today but feels he lost time trying to pass current European Champion Jernej Vuga during the second run.

Due to the higher track conditions current TQ holder Robert Pietsch decided to use the round to test his second factory Novarossi engine. The German said the engine, which has less running on it was a little rich but ran for over four minutes. Pulling up just after half way through the run the Mugen driver said he will revert back to his first engine for the penultimate qualifier which is scheduled for 10:30 in the morning and has the potential to see some very fast times set.

‘Its nice to be competitive again’ was how Team Shepherd driver Josh Cyrul summed up his second round despite stripping a gear six minutes in. Having switched to harder springs all round on his Velox he said the car had great pace despite the hotter conditions which don’t appear to be effecting him much as his rivals. Setting the fastest lap of Q4 with a 20.037, the American drops one place to sixth due to Collari’s improvement but plans no set-up changes for the morning when he is confident of moving back up the
order.

Having had a great Q3 Team Motonica may be without one of their star drivers for the rest of the event. Dario Balestri was found to have run an unmarked engine in Q4 and faces exclusion from the entire event. Race officials are deliberating over the matter with an announcement expected later this evening.

Elsewhere things appear to be getting worse for current 1:10 World Champion Daniele Ielasi.  The Italian is struggling to find a set-up that works on his Shepherd with his best run set in the last qualifier only good enough for 37th spot, one place ahead of European Champion Jernej Vuga.  Mugen driver Vuga said he can’t a good set-up for the current conditions and even tried that of Andrea Pirani but didn’t like the feeling it gave.  The big problem for the Slovenian driver is a lack of steering.

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Incomplete run nets Pietsch new TQ!

Despite failing to complete the full 10-minutes in the third round of qualifying Robert Pietsch has bettered his overnight TQ time. This morning’s cooler track conditions lived up to expectations with the majority of the front runners setting down quicker times. Starting the heat in last position Pietsch’s Mugen was on for a 30 lap run but on his last lap he thought the computer announced the race over and the German came into the pits but that was not the case for the No.3 car. Afterwards he said the computer announcements are not very clear in the rostrum but wasn’t too upset about missing out on the 30 lapper saying his 29/9:59.566 was just as good. Alberto Picco recorded the second fastest time but had a scare when he was told he was disqualified for his pitman leaving the pitlane without handing in his controlled Orion fuel. It soon turned out that officials had mistaken Picco’s pitman for that of Andrea Pirani who during his first pitstop took a front wheel off his Mugen having hit the pitwall.

Heading an overnight transformation at Team Motonica, 20-year-old Belgian star Robin D’hondt put in a stunning run to jump into third position. The current German National Champion, who found his P81 was tweaked at the end of yesterday’s qualifying,  was surprised himself at how much dialling this out had transformed the Novarossi powered car and was delighted with his performance. D’hondt plans to adjust the rear downstops to try get a little more steering but feels it will be hard to better his time.

Setting the 4th fastest time, Japanese driver Masao Tanaka said he is finding the Lostallo track very difficult but was happier with the grip levels this morning. Still not 100% happy with the set-up on his Max powered Kyosho he will make further changes for Q4.

Team Shepherd driver Josh Cyrul found new speed this morning jumping into the Top 5 for the first time. The American said his car set-up has been good all week but getting a good tuning balance on his Novarossi between the bottom & high end was difficult with it running super rich low down. Fitting an exhaust gas cooler this morning he said this had cured the problem and made the Velox V8 much nicer to drive due to the smoother power band.

Lamberto Collari, who held second overnight, failed to capitalised on the faster track conditions with a mistake costing him any chance of improving on his time from yesterday.  As a result the the Kyosho drops to sixth.

Working on his Motonica late into the night seems to have paid dividends for Dario Balestri.  The 2007 Worlds Finalist posted the seventh fastest time as Motonica start to come into contention here in Lostallo but says his P81 is still not at its full potential. The Italian is looking for a better balance between steering and rear end grip.

Serpents Mark Green improved his time but the Serpent 966 drivers drops three places to eight.  Having had a difficult day yesterday Japan’s Takaaki Shimo was pleased to go the full 10 minutes posting the 9th fastest time but the OS team driver said he is capable of more.  Motonica designer Stefano Solaroli completed the Top 10.

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‘Perfect’ qualifier for Pietsch

Robert Pietsch believes he has just driven the best qualifier of his racing career after the Mugen driver produced a 29/10:03.705 run to move into povisional pole for the World Championships here in Lostallo.  The German ace, who took TQ honours at the Warm Up race back in June, said the run was faultless and his MRX-4X was superb. Despite the engine being slightly to rich on the bottom end in the second qualifier, the factory Novarossi driver feels it will be extremely hard to beat the time even in the expected cooler conditions tomorrow with the Warm Up TQ time being slower in temperatures 10 degrees lower than it is here now in Switzerland.

Fastest in the opening qualifier Lamberto Collari, who is running just one fuel stop, improved his time and described the run as better but drops to second. The defending champion said he will make some changes to the set-up of his Kyosho as he would like a little more steering. Alberto Picco’s switch away from a one stop fuel strategy worked well as he managed to jump up to third in the qualification ranking.  The Italian will now stick to 2 stops as it removes the risk of running out of fuel with the end result the same in terms of time. The winner of the ‘Warm Up’ race, Picco was full of praise for his Picco/Mugen combination but criticised his own driving. Overdriving the car he feels he lost a number of seconds over the 10 minutes and will focus now on being more accurate in Q3.

Having run out of fuel in the opening qualifier Team Shepherd driver Oliver Mack bounced back in the second with the fourth fastest time. The German said getting a good tune on his Novarossi was again difficult. In the warm up he found the engine too rich and leaned it off but by the end of the run the engine was extremely lean.

Mark Green described his Serpent 966 as ‘really, really good’ and said he was able to stick with Pietsch until about 2 minutes in when his Novarossi went rich. The 2007 World’s Finalist said it was a real shame as the car is easily capable of running a Top 4 time. Tomorrow the British ace plans to lean his engine right off for what is expected to be the best chance for drivers to set their quickest times. Another good run from local ace Marco Muller saw his Shepherd complete the Top 6 followed closely by Italians Andrea Pirani and Andrea Cristiani.

2007 World Championship Top Qualifier Massimo Fantini finally broke into the Top 10 with his Serpent 966, stopping the clocks with the 9th fastest time. The Italian, who is the man behind Max Power engines, said he is still looking for a good set-up and that a repeat of his pole in Argentina was looking very difficult. Changes to the set-up will focus on giving his car more steering. Former World Champion Adrien Bertin competes the Top 10 for the opening day of qualifying.

Elsewhere Winternats Champion Paolo Morganti heads the US challenge lying 15th overnight.  The Serpent driver is pleased with his day saying his aim coming here was to qualify in the Semis but will change his set-up for the morning in the hope of improving his corner speed.  2007 World’s podium finisher Chris Tosolini lies 19th just ahead of another US driver Josh Cyrul.  Tosolini was looking good in his second heat until the inside of his front tyre came unglued effecting the handling of his Sirio powered Kyosho.  For current 1:10 World Champion Daniele Ielasi a faulty steering servo was discovered to have been his problem yesterday and not the set-up of his Shepherd.  Today the car was much better but trying for single fuel stops he failed to make it on both occasions and finds himself 29th, a position he joked was better than expected. Tomorrow he is confident of moving towards the sharp end of the field.

We are glad to report that Michael Salven’s mechanic was back at the track this evening. Bertram has nothing broken following the pitlane incident but his hand did require stitches. It looks unlikely he will be able to pit for the rest of the event which is a pretty big blow for Salven.

Top 10 Qualification Ranking after Round 2
1. Pietsch Robert (DE) – Mugen/Novarossi – 29/10:03.705
2. Collari Lamberto (IT) – Kyosho/Novarossi – 29/10:07.585
3. Picco Alberto (IT) – Mugen/Picco – 29/10:09.882
4. Mack Oliver (DE) – Shepherd/Novarossi – 29/10:11.551
5. Green Mark (GB) – Serpent/Novarossi – 29/10:11.602
6. Müller Marco (CH) – Shepherd/Novarossi – 29/10:12.972
7. Pirani Andrea (IT) – Mugen/Novarossi – 29/10:12.984
8. Cristiani Andrea (IT) – Serpent/Max – 29/10:13.540
9. Fantini Massimo (IT) – Serpent/Max – 29/10:14.484
10.Bertin Adrien (FR) – Kyosho/Team Orion – 29/10:15.029

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