Batlle quickest in first timed practice

As proceedings at the 1:8 Offroad European Championships got official it was Robert Batlle who would set the pace in first timed practice in Italy.  The Mugen driver topped the first of the two rounds that will be used to seed the heats for qualifying, with a three consecutive lap time of 1:54.128.  Behind the 2011 Champion it was newly crowned European B Champion Riccardo Berton who was second fastest with a time of 1:55.068 with 3-time champion Renaud Savoya third quickest.  For defending champion David Ronnefalk, who set the fastest lap time in free practice yesterday, it was not a good first round as he failed to get in three clean laps and was classified 62nd.

‘Super good’ was how Batlle described his run, the only issue over the 10-minutes being an error of his own doing when he over jumped a section.  ‘Super happy’ with his MBX-7R having found the ‘right set-up’, the Mugen driver said all he needed to do now was ‘something with the tyres’ which he added are ‘still not 100%’.  Describing the track as being ‘a little better than yesterday’, the former World Champion set the fastest lap of the round as one of only two drivers to run a 37-second lap time commenting that his ‘speed is good enough’ and he just needs to get a better feeling from his tyre choice.

Although the third of his consecutive three laps was ‘not very clean’, Berton was pleased to end up second fastest.  The Kyosho driver said a switch to medium compound Grid Iron to Blockade for the counting round, he said the change gave him better overall traction.  Asked about the track the 16-year-old said while it didn’t have a lot of jumps he liked it, adding that he feels there is more time to come from him by better driving the centre section of the track.  Planning to try a soft compound Grid Iron in the second timed practice he is confident he is already in good shape for qualifying.

Savoya’s reaction to his time, the HB driver running early in the round, was ‘Good, I’m happy’.  Having set a 37.8 second lap in the morning’s final free practice, the French ace said he found the track a little more difficult today.  Switching to a different rear hub on his Orion powered D815 for the timed practice this resulted in the car rolling more and be ‘not that easy to drive’.  With the car handling as it was he was ‘surprised’ by his Top 3 time but he still plans to switch back to the original hubs he ran.  Running on JConcepts Reflex tyre he will change to the bigger pinned Remix which also has a ‘zig zag side pattern’ which should give better side bite.  Winning his last Euros title in 2010 he is also considering running a lexan wing in TP2.

Savoya’s HB/HPI Racing team-mate Teemu Leino would post the 4th fastest time after discovering his radio was set 20% off full steering lock.  Correcting it for the first timed round, the Finn said his Novarossi powered D815 was ‘really good’.  With the increased steering he now needs to make the rear end more stable which would allow him to push harder.  Set to make a rear toe change he added ‘its difficult to find the best way as part of the track is super slick with others having super high traction’.

A somewhat surprise runner-up at last year’s European Championships held in Germany, Martin Wollanka said just getting to know the track more had helped him to the fifth fastest time.  Having missed the Warm-up Race, the factory Xray driver said yesterday was his first time around the Ongaroring adding he still has a bit more to learn as he is still ‘sometimes landing strange’.  Making a shock set-up change after free practice he said his FX powered XB8’15 is driving well helped also by an ‘aero change’ having switched to a lexan rear wing.  Running Pro-Line’s Lockdown X2 tyre, he plans to try a rear geometry change for TP2.

Completing the Top 6 was Alessandro Stocco. The 21-year-old said other than one mistake his run was pretty clean and he feels his TLR ‘is good for qualifying and not just three laps’. Switching from Pro-Line’s X4 Ion to X3 Suburb tyre, he said his 8ight 3.0 was more consistent and while he had to compromise by losing some outright speed it was still good.

Running Associated’s new RC8 B3 ‘pretty much as you can buy it’, Neil Cragg said his run to the 7th fastest time was ‘surprisingly good to be honest’. The British driver said in free practice they were trying too many different tyres which left them ‘all over the shop’.  Opting for Pro-Line’s Blockade tyre in X1 compound for TP1, which he described as a ‘solid tyre’, the former Electric Offroad World Champion also went up in diff oils which was ‘a step in the right direction’.  For his next outing he plans to make a rear droop adjustment.  Behind Cragg, TLR’s Ricardo Monteiro, Mugen’s Bryan Baldo and Xray’s Miguel Matias completed the Top 10.

Chasing a third consecutive title at the 35th running of the Euros, Ronnefalk said he ruined his first three laps with a mistake of his own and then on his second attempt had issues with traffic before running out of time.  Running heavier shock oil today in his HB D815, he said the buggy was better.  Still looking to make the car a little easier to drive, he said it has a lot of side bite making him afraid to go too hard into the corners.  Having started the day running on AKA’s new as yet unnamed pattern and compound in the final free practice, he switched to the Enduro for the TP1 saying he it suited today’s track conditions better.

Warm-up race winner Elliott Boots would post the 12th fastest time, the Kyosho driver feeling his still has a bit in hand in terms of set-up. He said while his three laps were clean he admitted he is ‘not the fastest out there’. Having changed little on his Reds Racing powered MP9, the British driver has been waiting for the track to come to him saying after TP1 that it is ‘getting there’.  ‘Playing the long game’, he said it hard to know what others are doing with tyres adding he is ‘not yet playing’ the additive game.

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