Groskamp fastest as third days comes to a close

Jilles Groskamp topped the unofficial time sheets for Day 3 of the 1:10 200mm EC in Madrid with the Xray NT1 driver the only one to break into the 16 seconds with a lap time of 16.998. The vastly experienced electric touring car racer recorded the time in the final of today’s four 10-minute free practice sessions, bettering his earlier time by a 1:10th of a second.

‘Today was good, the morning started off with a good track cause it was cool and grip was higher. We still had some issues with the clutch. Some laps were really fine but some were not so fine so we tried some different set-ups with the clutch. The set-up in the morning was not perfect cause the grip was higher and I think we needed a harder tyre. The third round was really really good because I ran consistently for the ten minutes. We also used it to figure out the tyre wear and fuel consumption which was very good so no problem in that case’.

Commenting on the new magnesium head from Sirio which he ran in the 2nd and 3rd sessions Groskamp said, ‘It felt actually really really good. I talk later with Sirio and see what we are going to do with the head but it was really good. Tomorrow we are going to try it again. The heat is different. The temperature of the engine is different but the head is much lighter so it would help with traction roll.’

Closest on lap time to the Dutch driver was Swede Roland Strom with his RB powered Kyosho. ‘It was better this morning. The car was fast. In the evening the car was a bit slippy. I didn’t think the traction was going to change that much as usually for me my set-ups are not that sensitive to track conditions but on this track its a really big difference. I was really struggling in the 2nd and 3rd run mainly because I had a problem with the brakes. In the last run I made the car too soft and it was really rolling around a lot but I am much happier today’.

Next fastest was local Mugen driver Daniel Vega followed by Darren Johnson and Oscar Cabezas both on 17.159. With a number of top drivers still not running transponders it is hard to get a true indication of things but Adrien Bertin and Michael Salven, both of whom can be expected to be at the sharp end of the field, appeared pleased with the performance of their cars today.

Another not running a transponder but who should feature strongly come the heats is Italy’s Francesco Tironi. The Sirio backed Kyosho driver said, ‘My car today is good in the morning when the track is cold. It’s very fast and I’m happy. In the afternoon I tried another set-up on the car and it was not very good. I think the best time for qualifying will be the last heat on Friday night and on Saturday morning’.

Leading UK entry Mark Gilliland had similar views on the day, ‘Conditions were good in the morning when it was cold and we were able to get into the low 17s. It’s a bit of struggle to get the times when the track warms up as you lose a bit a grip in the steering. The final heat on Saturday morning will probably be the fastest run.’

Current Champion Dario Balestri did not appear to have a good day with his Team Magic, ‘I am not very happy. I try many different parts and it get no better. Tomorrow is another day.’

Drivers will have one final 10-minute practice run in the morning with two 5-minute timed runs scheduled for the afternoon. Red RC will keep you updated throughout the day.

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Groskamp sets pace on Day 3

Team Xray driver Jilles Groskamp is fastest after the third round of today’s free practice for the 2007 1:10 200mm European Championship in Madrid. The Dutch driver posted a lap time of 17.108 with his Sirio powered NT1, bettering Oscar Cabezas’ previous fastest time of 17.189. Local star Cabezas did improve slightly on his time but the Serpent driver now sits 5th fastest on the unofficial time sheets.

The biggest improvement on the time sheets is Swede Roland Strom. After a difficult day yesterday in which he complained about both his car and engines, the Kyosho/RB driver seems to have got the combination working well today and is wearing a much happier face today as a result.

Next up, while bearing in mind Balestri, Salven, Tironi, Bertin and a few other leading drivers have not yet run with transponders, is Englishman Darren Johnson who has been on the pace from the start with his Team Magic. Johnson, a podium finisher at last year’s Euros, posted a best time of 17.150 and is closely followed by local Mugen racer Daniel Vega on 17.154.

Rounding out the Top 6 is another Mugen racer, Rick Vrielijnck, who is focused on finding a good set-up for the runs in the middle of the day when the track is at its hottest. Others starting to get on the pace are Spaniard Diega Palacios, Finland’s Teemu Saarinen and UK driver Mark Gilliland. A late arrival to the event is top Portuguese driver Ricardo Nogueira who had his first taste of the track today and despite missing the opening two days could be one to watch.

Drivers still have one round of free practice today and we will bring you full coverage later in the day.

Cabezas heads Groskamp on Day 2

Local star Oscar Cabezas posted the fastest time today at the Madrid track during Day 2 of practice for the 2007 1:10 200mm Euros. Although there was no official timing, the 20-year-old Serpent driver recorded a fastest lap time of 17.189 in the first of today’s four 10-minute sessions. His closest rival on the hot track, which reached almost 50 degree at on stage, was leading Xray team driver Jilles Groskamp who despite not getting a proper run when the track was at it best managed a time of 17.265, a time the Dutch driver set in the final run of the day.

Racing at his home track Cabeza, a member of Serpent’s Driver Development program for young drivers, was obviously very happy with his day, ‘I’m very happy. In the first practice I run very fast with 17.2. The second I run in new engine. In third I ran another new engine. In the last run I could do the same 17.4 second all time, all time, all time and some 17.2. The car is very good so I’m very happy.’

His nearest rival Groskamp was also pleased with his day despite a problematic start to the day, ‘It started off very bad cause in the first round of practice I actually broke my servo so I only did 3 or 4 laps and it was over. At that time the practice was very cold so it was a good practice to see how the car is working in the cool conditions. I changed servos. Second round was ok I tried tyres, all different kinds of hardnesses, so we were more in the pits then on the track. The third one I changed from a differential to a one way and suddenly I had a feeling for the car. It turned better and yeh it already feels better and I could get better lap times. In the last round I tried some other tyres and they work very very well. Now I know what to do. Now I know about the engine how it works, clutch works, tyres I know which one to use. Tomorrow I can work on set-up for a final, to start off with bigger tyre and see how much tyre wear and see the difference.’

Making it three makes of car in the unofficial top three lap times from today was Rick Vrielijnck with his Ninja powered Mugen. ‘Today was getting better. We changed the car a little bit for this morning for the first session, then it was quite good. For the second session we changed some things but it was not as expected. The third we improve quite a lot with the car, very stable, easy to drive. In the last one the car was 90% of what it should be but till it’s quite easy to drive. I’m quite happy about that, the engine is very very fast.’

Reigning Champion Dario Balestri appeared in better form today saying today was, ‘Good. The car is good for the second day. Tomorrow we test other set-up but I am happy so far’. His team mate was also happy with the performance of the G4, ‘Today was as expected. The track was really quick in the morning well quicker than yesterday. We managed to do OK in the last run, almost as quick as the first one so thats pretty good. The car is quite balanced and reasonable easy to drive, I can be aggressive with it. Its finding a tyre to suit the track conditions at the time really.’

With Cabezas fastest Michael Salven from Serpent was happy with the performance of the 720, ‘I think we have a good car. A few. Oscar was really fast at the end. I was pretty fast in the middle of the day but somehow, yesterday I had the same, at the end of the day I am not getting faster but the others are, so I have to figure out why that is. All in all I’m pretty happy, the cars are good. It’s Tuesday, we have two more days to practice but yeh I’m really happy.’

Also setting good lap times today was another local Carlos Peracho who is running a JP powered NT1. ‘ My day was OK. At the beginning we had a little bit to much understeer but now we have solved the problem and the car is working quite good. We have also changed little things in the clutch and it also working well. I am really happy with the car.’

Fellow NT1 driver Robert Pietsch enjoyed a positive day, the German 1:8 Champion pleased with changes he made throughout practice, ‘Today was very good. In the first heat I could do a very good lap time but the car was a little bit difficult to drive. Then I changed the springs in the car and it was not so good as in the first practice. In the afternoon I changed some things and in the last run it was very very good. I can do 17.4 and sometimes 17.5 laps. I think now I need a little bit more steering because I have a new different rear tyre in the car, I have more grip but its a little loose in the front.’

One leading driver not have a good day was Roland Strom. The Kyosho driver struggled today with both car set-up and engines but the Swede is confident he will cure the problems for tomorrow and he should be in the running when official timing begins.

Day 3 of the event is another practice day with 4 rounds of practice to run through. Red RC will keep you posted of progress throughout the day.

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Cabezas fastest (unofficial)

Local star and reigning Spanish 1:8th scale National Champion Oscar Cabezas is unofficially the fastest driver after three rounds of free practice on Day 2 of the EFRA 1:10 200mm European Championships. With a number of the leading drivers not running transponders it is hard to get a true indication of the current form however Serpent Driver Development team member was expected to be quick on a track he knows well.

The young Spaniard set a best lap time of 17.189 in the cooler morning run and is followed currently by Mugen driver Rick Vrielijnck on a 17.313 with French driver Nicolas Bougnoteau next up on 17. 319. Fourth fastest is another local racer Javier Alonso Tojo with Team Magic’s Darren Johnson rounding out the top 5.

With track temperature now running at almost 50 degrees Celsius, the track has started to slow as cars start to slide around more in the very hot conditions.

2007 Euro B 1:10 200mm Champion Alessio Mazzeo is here and the young Italian says he like the design of the track but would like more grip, a sentiment reflected by fellow country man Francesco Tironi who is one of the leading Kyosho hopefuls for the championships.

The sports fastest female driver Sabrina Lechner described her opening practice runs as ‘OK’ but the talented German says she is confident of making improvements to her Mugen MTX4.

Top Finn Teemu Leino is pleased with the performance of his NT1 as is his team mate, German 1:8th scale Champion, Robert Pietsch.

One interesting entry to arrive today is Dutch driver Julius Kolff. Kolff was a development driver for Serpent on the 720 and did a number of days testing here during the creation of the car which he went on to win the Dutch GP with last year. Missing the first of today’s session’s he was happy with his first run and was looking forward to his second which unfortunately ended early when his 720 collected a stranded car and he was forced to retire.

Drivers have one final session today with a number of the leading drivers working on two set-ups for the event, one of the cool morning runs and one for the hot afternoon runs.

We will bring you a full update together with drivers views on today, later this evening.

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Pace quickens as grip increases in Madrid

Day 2 of the EFRA 1:10 200mm Euros is underway and after the first round of four free practice sessions that drivers will get today the pace is quickening as the grip levels increase at the ARCA track.

With no official timing today and many drivers running without transponders, a true indication of who is doing what is hard to gauge, but the fastest lap time from round one was just 1/10th of a second shy of the Madrid track record.

All drivers are reporting that the tracks condition is improving but already Adrien Bertin is hinting at grip roll problems. Current Champion Dario Balestri who obviously likes to do his talking on the track commented, ‘track better’. Team Magic team-mate Darren Johnson was a little more chatty and said he really pushed the car hard this morning and was pleased with how it went.

Leading Mugen driver Rick Vrielijnck was also happier with the track say it was more consistent however the Dutch driver suffered broken rear suspension during his run after being tipped into the side wall of the track. Fellow country man and arch rival Gilles Groskamp only managed 2 laps this morning with his NT1 due to a steering servo failure. The Team Xray driver was trying out a smaller servo which he normally uses in his electric Touring car.

Serpent continue to be happy with the performance of their 720 with Michael Salven pleased with his first run of the day. Mark Green was also happy with his car but was switching engines ahead of the second session in a search of more power.

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Drivers settle in on opening day

Beautiful sunny conditions greeted competitors at the opening day of the 2007 EFRA European 1:10 200mm Championships in Madrid today with each drivers getting three 10-minute practice sessions to familiarise themselves with the ARCA track and to acclimatise to the rather hot Spanish weather.

Round 1 of free practice turned into a systems check for all competitors due to a total lack of grip. While the grip levels improved for Round 2 it was not until the final run of the day that drivers really got up to serious race speeds and started to get a true feel for how their cars were working.

Current Champion and Team Magic driver Dario Balestri is hoping for a better day tomorrow, ‘This is my first time to race on this track and it was difficult because there was not much grip. I did not make any car changes today but tomorrow the track will be better. I think grip roll might become a problem when grip levels build up.’

Serpent team leader and multiple European Champion Michael Salven was happy with his day, ‘Good start and we have a good base set-up to work from. The car is a little lose and we need to find more steering but we have many options to try. I’m happy with our first day.’ Salven’s comments were echoed by team-mate Mark Green, ‘Great opening day. I ran Michael’s set up in the last run and it’s a great starting point for everyone. Tomorrow we can start to fine tune it.’

Top Mugen driver Rick Vrielijnck was happy too with his day, ‘I’m quite happy with my car and my engine is running good. I need to find more steering but in general it was a good day for me.’

With one of the biggest top name teams in the event, European Championship debutants Xray have an army of NT1’s in Madrid. Factory driver Gilles Groskamp has switched to Sirio engines for the Championships and the Dutch driver was very happy with his new powerplant. Despite a crash in his final run in which he broke his front right suspension he was pleased with day 1 of the championships.

‘Satisfying’ was how Team Orion driver Adrien Bertin described his day. ‘I worked a lot on engines today. It’s a very technical track but we have a good package.’

Tomorrow racers will get an 4 rounds of controlled practice and with the tracks grip levels improving teams and drivers will be able to get down to some serious testing. Red RC will bring you extensive coverage tomorrow as the pace starts to build up.