Balestri off to a good start in qualifying

Dario Balestri has got his quest for a hat trick of European titles off to a good start by TQ’ing the opening round of qualifying for the 2009 EFRA 1:10 200mm Euros.  The defending Champion recorded a run of 26 laps in 07:12.928 to beat the Serpent 733 of Jilles Groskamp by 7/10th of a second but the Dutch ace, along with Robert Pietsch and Adrien Bertin, was later disqualified for his bodyshell being under the minimum permitted height. Balestri said his Team Magic felt good but in the later part of his run the clutch loosened causing his G4RS 09 to be very slow out of the corners.  With Groskamp’s time disallowed Mugen’s Francesco Tironi ended the round with the second fastest time.  The Italian said he was too conservative with the settings on his Sirio engine running it very rich due to the super high temperatures which have reached 40 degrees in the shade with the track hitting 63 degrees. Having found the car to push a little Tironi plans to run slightly larger diameter tyres for the second of the four rounds of heats which many feel could be when the track is at it fastest.

Making it three different manufacturers in the Top 3, Niki Duina took his Max powered Xray to the only other 26 lap run and the Italian declared himself pleased with the performance. Fourth fastest was pre race favourite Giuseppe D’angelo with his Reds Racing powered Mugen despite failing to complete the run. The Warm Up race winner struggled a little with the rear of his modified MTX-4R stepping out and also set his engine a little too rich. To improve the car the Italian plans to run harder front shocks for Q2, the last run for today.

A definite name to watch for the future, Biagio Spataro was classified fifth but the 15-year-old was not happy with his JP engine which was too rich making his Xray difficult to drive.  Setting the fastest lap time for the first qualifying round, with a 16.111, one wonders what Spataro can do when he gets the car to his liking. Completing the Top 6 was another young driver with former European Junior Champion Kyle Branson sorting the engine problem, that prevented him from starting the timed practice this morning, to be the top Serpent 733.

Groskamp, who is baffled by his disqualification after the car safely passed through pre race scrutiny, said the heat was a bit of a learning curve for him. Feeling his Max was too rich in the warm up he had it adjusted but due to the high temperatures it was too lean by the end of the 7 minute run. Famous for his super clean racing lines Groskamp admitted that the run was not very tidy and this cost him some time. One of the other drivers to have his time disallowed, Pietsch felt the penalty was harsh. Having passed pre race scrutiny three times his bodyshell failed for being 0.2 of a millimetre under, a piece of paper being used to gauge the tiny discrepancy. The experienced international racer feels a warning would have been more appropriate.

A lot of top names hit trouble during the opening qualifier. 2004 & 2005 Champion Michael Salven stripped a gear on his 733 while teammate Mark Green suffered an engine cut. Others to suffer engine cuts were Madrid Top Qualifier Teemu Leino and Capricorn’s Martin Christensen. Daniele Ielasi made a mess of his run with a costly crash in the pitlane.

Top 10 after round 1 of qualifying
1. Dario Balestri – Team Magic/Novarossi – 26 Laps in 07:12.928
2. Francesco Tironi – Mugen/Sirio – 26 Laps in 07:14.052
3. Niki Duina – Xray/Max – 26 Laps in 07:15.490
4. Giuseppe D’angelo – Mugen/Reds – 25 Laps in 06:58.823
5. Biagio Spataro – Xray/JP – 25 Laps in 07:00.433
6. Kyle Branson – Serpent/Sirio – 25 Laps in 07:01.058
7. Jerome Renaux – Xray/Novarossi – 25 Laps in 07:01.095
8. Giorgio De Felici – Xray/Max – 25 Laps in 07:02.033
9. Alexander Hagberg – Xray/Max – 25 Laps in 07:02.102
10. Dirk Wischnewski – Xray/Novarossi – 25 Laps in 07:03.112

View our event image gallery here.

Manufacturers Stats

EFRA have today released information about who is using what here in Gubbio.  Based on the details supplied by each of the 111 competitors, Xray is by far the most popular chassis of choice with over half the racers running their NT1.  The next most popular choice is Kyosho with 20 cars followed Serpent and Mugen, who are each represent by 13 drivers.  Although they are the European Champions since 2007 Team Magic is the choice of only three drivers.  Making a very welcomed first appearance on the EFRA Manufacturers Stats list are Capricorn and Shepherd who are making their Euros debut with preproduction cars. Italian company Capricorn have two of their yet to be named chassis’ here while Shepherd have just a single car but its in the very capable hands of World Champion Daniele Ielasi.

Engines wise Max Power tops the list with 27 drivers choosing them for this power circuit.  Novarossi, the defending European Champions are the second most popular choice with 22 units.  In the very competitive tyre market, with a massive 18 different brands being listed, it is Italian company Matrix who dominated with 44 drivers using their foam compared to the second most popular brand ATS who has 12 drivers. Blitz is clearly the No.1 bodyshell with a massive 75 drivers running the Altis 2.3.

Click more to view full stats list

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.

View our event image gallery here.

Defending Champion goes fastest

After being somewhat off the pace, defending champion Dario Balestri (15.950) has got it together topping the last controlled practice here in Gubbio. The Italian had struggled in the opening four sessions but reverting back to his set-up from yesterday he was able to take his Novarossi powered Team Magic around the track in a sub lap record time. Running 37 shore tyres all round, Balestri said the car was now very good and he can look forward to tomorrow’s qualifiers.  Second fastest was Niki Duina (15.957). The Italian Xray driver said his NT1 has been working perfectly all week and other than changing to a harder rear spring he hasn’t touched the car’s set-up. Asked where he found the extra speed he said a simple switch to his good Max engine did the trick.

Electric touring car star Alexander Hagberg (16.000) was again quick with his Xray setting the third fastest time. The Swede said he was very happy now with his package and his main aim for tomorrow’s timed practice is to try and get reseeded in a better group. Jilles Groskamp (16.049) was happy with his day posting the fourth fastest time in the final session. The World Championship Top Qualifier said he only made some small droop changes to his Serpent 733 and believes the car is pretty much perfect for qualifying. Groskamp feels the fuel stops will play a big part in outcome of qualifying with a lot of time to be gained or lost both on the entry and exit of the raised pitlane.

Two time Belgian National Champion Jerome Renaux (16.065) was fifth fastest with his Novarossi powered Xray. The European B finalist said a switch to heavier front diff oil had improved his car a lot but it is still a little loose. Renaux will change to a heavier rear shock oil to try and further improve the set-up. Having set the pace for much of the day 15-year-old Biagio Spataro (16.086) completed the Top 6 followed closely by Michael Salven (16.091) but the German is still having problems with his Mega ZX cutting out.  The Serpent 733 designer said when the engine he is running is really strong but is at loss as to why it intermittently cuts out.

Current lap record holder, setting the 16.015 lap time at the Warm Up race back in May, Robert Pietsch (16.129) was a little happier with his pace this evening. The factory Mugen driver said his car is working better now but he is struggling to get it to be more aigle in direction change with bringing on traction roll.

Elsewhere World’s Finalist Martin Christensen didn’t feature much in terms of outright lap times but the Dane said he has had a very production day with the new Capricorn chassis.  Trying a lot of different set-ups he feels the speed is there for the seven minutes.

Our coverage, which is supported by Team Orion, Serpent and Mugen, continues in the morning when drivers will get one timed practices after a reseeded will be made ahead of the two qualifiers that make up Friday’s timetable.

View our event image gallery here.