Sunny start to Day 2 of Bumod GP

After rain dampened the opening day of the Bumod Grand Prix, competitors woke up this morning to glorious sunshine for the second official practice day here in Bursa, Turkey. With two 30 minute sessions under their belts the drivers can now get down to some productive testing.  In 1:10, Dutch international electric touring car star Jilles Groskamp is setting the early pace with his prototype Serpent 7XX running as he predicted last night some 19 second laps.  The 2008 Worlds Top Qualifier, who said traction is still quite low, has started to play around with different set-ups with the car responding positively to the changes.

During one of his runs Groskamp had a good battle with the Xray of Surikarn C., a man he is more used to mixing it with in electric Touring Cars. Surikarn has spent the morning trying different tyre compounds and is now focusing on getting more steering on his NT1.  Fellow Xray driver Dirk Wischnewski found a softer tyre more to his liking this morning but he hasn’t changed his set-up yet preferring to wait for the traction to come up before making any adjustments. High temperatures appear to be Austrian Gerhard Kandelhardt’s biggest concern which he said could make it difficult to make 5 minutes. The format here this weekend will see qualifying run IFMAR style meaning 10 minute heats. Having run his Max practice engine in the two 30 minute sessions this morning ‘Kandi’ will now switch to his ORCAN Novarossi.

DJ Apolaro, who is racing outside of the US for the very first time, is competing in both 1:10 and 1:8 but has found both his cars are geared too short. The Serpent America team driver is used to super high traction back home and is spinning up tyres out of the corners here.  Unfortunately Apolaro’s shipment of tyres for the race have been seized by local customs and despite many phone calls will not be released until Monday!! For Michael Salven the morning went off without any major drama and he is pleased with his 966.  The German plans to focus on engines for the next session with run time set to be a big factor come qualifying tomorrow.

Robert Pietsch is finding it not so easy to tune his factory Novarossi engines this morning due to the high oil content of the fuel provided by the race organisers. The German National Champion plans to try a second engine and will also switch to a softer rear anti roll bar on his Mugen.  Pietsch said the high speed layout of the track makes it critical to get a good set-up because if the back is sliding you can loss a lot of time as the car scrubs off speed.

Factory Shepherd driver Patrick Shaefer said his Velox is feeling quite good but he was running too short a gearing. The German is a little concerned about tyre wear which he said is pretty high and he hopes he has enough sets of Ennetis to see him through the rest of the event.  Fast female Sabrina Lechner is pleased with her Serpent 966 but is going to adjust the shims on the head of her Max which is running inconsistent.

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Rain returns and calls end to Day 1

The flood lights have been turned on at Bumod but unfortunately the pits are empty after the rain returned to Bursa bringing to an end the opening day of Turkey’s inaugural international nitro event.  With the track wet the drivers have called it a day and made their way to what has to be the most plush r/c restaurant in the world, for dinner compliments of the race organisers. Drivers did however manage to get some partially dry running on the track, with two corners falling to develop a dry line.

The big interest here is the new prototype Serpent 7XX with two cars present for Jilles Groskamp and DJ Apolaro. Groskamp has been testing the car at the MACH in the Netherlands but Apolaro only saw the car for the first time when it arrived last night with designer Michael Salven.  The American ace was full of praise for the design of the new car saying it was very open and felt like more like working on his 1:8 car. Asked about the handling he said that it was difficult to judge with today’s conditions but the car has lots more steering than the 720.  Groskamp said the track will be totally different tomorrow, if the weather forecast proves correct, and that the track will be more than a second faster than today.  Salven described himself as being quite happy with the first public outing of his latest creation.  The two time 200mm European Champion said finding set-up is not so easy due to their lack of knowledge with the 7XX.  The team are also trying a number of prototype diffs in the car but changing oils is proving a messy affair as no seals have being produced yet and they are having to use silicone sealant. Commenting on his own 966 which he is racing here this weekend, Salven said the car is good and feels when the track fully dries it will be faster than Lostallo.

Surikarn C., who is better known for his electric touring car exploits at which he was the 2002 World Champion, was happier with his Xray after getting some further mileage. The Thai driver is finding the track huge saying it is double the size of what he is used to back home. Surikarn ran both an OS and a Max engine today finding the Japanese unit to have the edge but his Max is still very fresh and needs more running to open it up. Dirk Wischnewski said his Novarossi powered Xray was working OK but the conditions made it hard to really feel how the car is handling. The 2008 European B Champion has Bertram Kessler, the man behind SMI Motorsport, pitting for him this weekend and tried the company’s new Audi A5 bodyshell.  The damp track made it hard to judge the difference between it and his Protoform DNA so he will do a back to back test again tomorrow.  Austrian driver Gerhard Kandlehardt, who is also driving an Xray, but with Max Power, said his combination was running well but feels the track is a little big for 1:10.

Focusing on running in two new engines today, factory Mugen and Novarossi driver Robert Pietsch shares the same view of Salven about the track. The German 1:8 National Champion thinks once dry Bumod will be much faster than Lostallo which in August hosts the 2009 IFMAR 1:8 Onroad World Championship. So one day down and three more to go at the the inaugural Bumod Grand Prix and the drivers are retiring to their hotel with fingers crossed that the sunshine, which makes Turkey a popular holiday spot, will greet them in the morning.

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Rain delays start of Bumod GP

Open practice for this weekend’s Bumod GP in Bursa, Turkey is scheduled to get underway today, however wet weather in a part of the World that isn’t really used to it, has stopped all action so far today. Some drivers got laps in last night under flood lights, but today has seen very little cars venture on to the track, with light rain falling almost as soon as the track gets dry enough to run on. This has given drivers present the time to get their cars ready and bodies cut out. The weather is expected to improve later on today and the racers will likely take to the track this evening.

Our hosts for this event have offered a warm welcome to all drivers and the amazing facilities here could stand as an example for tracks around the world, with a large driver stand, well laid out pits, a permanent covered grandstand and a completely newly resurfaced track, not to mention the great restaurant on the opposite side of the track to the pits.

Present at this race are a number of top international racers, with some still having to arrive later today. Serpent are here with 2 of their new 7XX cars driven by Jilles Groskamp and DJ Apolaro, and having had a close look at the new chassis I can tell you it looks awesome, we will see later on in the weekend if it performs as well. While no one is allowed photograph the new car, we have been allowed a sneak shot of the cars radio tray to give everyone an example of the consideration and thought put into this car. Also expect more pictures next week.

Orcan, the brand of SMI Motorsport in Germany are showing off their new prototype Audi A5 shell, which in its 3rd iteration, offers good steering in both fast and slow corners and also looks great. The shell is to be released in about a months time and is expected to be EFRA homologated for the 2010 season.

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