September 16, 2022

Duchet & Lauter to duel out Spec TQ

Alexandre Duchet and Simon Lauter will duel it out to see who becomes the first ever ISTC Spec World Championship Top Qualifier in the sixth & final round of quali in Gubbio, Italy.  The duo have taken all five rounds of qualifying so far with Duchet having the advantage of 3 TQ runs compared to Lauter’s two, but the latter has the fastest time.  However with one qualifier remaining it is all to play for Lauter if he can TQ on the improving track.  The rain that stopped proceedings yesterday faded over night but left a damp track this morning that would cause big delays in the resumption of action. Earlier attempts to get quali back underway looked like the Drifting World Championship Title was up for grabs.

Despite the ‘different conditions’ to yesterday, Duchet said his Xray was ‘easy to drive’ allowing him to claim TQ run number 3 but he knows it is all still to play for, given Lauter’s faster TQ run.  Having ‘a good battle with Simon’, the Frenchman said the last one is going to ‘result in a big decision’ but expecting better track conditions for the second run of the day, he is well up for the battle.

‘It’s a close battle’, was how Lauter summed up the action so far.  The Awesomatix driver added, ‘We are trying everything we can and we’re closer than expected at the start of qualifying given we did less practice than the others’.  On what is effectively a fresh track after the monsoon levels of rain yesterday evening, the German said Q5 ‘was not super good’ as the track conditions ‘didn’t suit our car’ but ‘we should be better for the next one’.  Holding the fastest TQ time, set in Q2, Lauter said he is assured of at least starting second but intends to give his all in Q6 to secure pole.

View our event image gallery here.

September 15, 2022

Mother Nature finally shows up, Coelho one hand on TQ

It was what everyone was expecting to wake up to on the Day 2 of the EP Touring Car World Championships and thankfully didn’t, but when the bad weather did decide to show up in showed up in spectacular style with lightening for added dramatical effect.  With it looking very like Q4 was going to make the history books, drops would start falling as the top heat took to the track.  Unfortunately as we got to within a minute of getting the round done, the drops got bigger and cars started sliding around with the call coming from race officials to stop racing – the heat was cancelled.  As soon as it stopped, so too did the light rain. However, in the distance it was visible that this was only a little warning of a lot worse to come and for drivers pitting at the edge of the large covered pit area to move their stuff if they didn’t want it to get wet.  While discussions went on about heat re-runs and new timetables, when Mother Nature turned up it was quickly clear Day 2 that was done, the rain bouncing off the track.  While there still is the opportunity to run 3 more rounds of qualifying, it is looking very like job done for Bruno Coelho in terms of becoming Top Qualifier, with more mixed weather being forecast for tomorrow.

‘It is a pity the weather is like this and we couldn’t finish the round’, said Coelho, who like in the opening three rounds was the name at the top of the timing screens when the heat was stopped.  Before the top heat went out on track Alexander Hagberg was setting the pace, the Swede having 2 seconds and a 3rd from the opening 3 qualifiers despite being seeded in the second fastest heat.  Holding P2 for the round, Ronald Volker was left very frustrated by the cancellation of the round, the Mugen driver saying, ‘I just have no luck’. While expecting to start the finals from the TQ, Coelho said he is ‘pretty happy’ with his performance up to now but was quick to add, ‘wet finals can change everything’.

View our event image gallery here.

September 15, 2022

Groskamp splits Xray’s in Q3, but Coelho still in control

After his battery issues in Q2, Jilles Groskamp has bounced back to become the first driver to split the Xray’s at the top of the times. The Infinity driver set the 2nd fastest time in the third round of qualifying with a 4/10th advantage over Alexander Hagberg but upfront it was Bruno Coelho who remained in clear control of proceedings. The only driver to run 19-laps as wind made for loose conditions, Coelho’s rivals have just one last chance to deny the reigning World Champion from defending his title from the TQ, few expecting any other outcome here in Gubbio.

‘I’m best of the rest as Bruno is too far ahead’, said a very pleased Groskamp as he returned to his pit table in the Infinity camp. The 2012 World Champion continued, ‘compared to the others we are doing really well and it is really nice to be in the mix’. Ask about his fix for his Q1 power issues, he replied, ‘we went to a bigger battery after the problem this morning to be safe. I had more power and it was consistent to the end’. He added, ‘I was a little worried the heavier battery would change the balance (of the car) but it was still really good.’

‘A solid run’ was how Coelho summed up his third TQ run. The Portuguese driver continued, ‘you could feel the wind a lot, some corners you had lots of steering and other you had less because of it’. He concluded, ‘the car is working well and we will try to keep it like that’.

Hagberg felt the start of his run was ‘not so good’ and that is something he will work on for Q4. Happy with his Xray through the 2-minute mark to 4-minutes, he said the lack of tyre warmers is making it difficult to get temperature into the tyres so he will make a set-up change to try get the tyres in come in quicker. The Swede added that the wind meant grip was lower than the first run of the day as dust was carried onto the track.

Posting a P4 for the round, Christopher Krapp said, ‘sadly changes didn’t go well. They didn’t suit used tyres.’ The Yokomo driver added, ‘they (Xray) seem to have the advantage in the amount of grip they have so we are trying to find more grip’. Describing the wind as a ‘huge problem at the end of the straight’ and making it ‘a gamble’ to make the corner, on his Q3 time he said, ‘we are still close and overall the result is OK as he are now safe for a Top 5 start, especially with the weather coming’. For Q4, he will change small stuff on the car.

Leading the home charge at these World Championship, Alessio Menicucci posted another strong P5 run. The Xray driver said the wind really effected the car at the end of the straight but overall contributed to a loose track as made the track surface dirty. Despite fighting the wind, he was happy with his driving describing the qualifier as a ‘very good run’.

Sixth fastest, his best run so far, Awesomatix’s Marc Rheinard said, ‘Sixth is a big improvement but only because everyone else crashed’. The 3-time World Champion said, ‘I am just drifting around the track. I don’t know how they (his rivals) have the grip. It’s not that I have no side-bite but I also have no forward traction. It’s like I am driving on plastic tyres’.

View our event image gallery here.