Matusukra opens Day 2 of qualifying with first TQ run

Naoto Matsukura has opened the second day of qualifying at the 1:10 20mm World Championships in Miami with a TQ run.  Having opened qualifying with a P2 but having had issues in Q2 and 3 yesterday, the Infinity driver bounced back in the 4th round to top the times from team-mate Andy Moore.  Continuing Infinity’s reign at the top of qualifying, Matsukura’s TQ is the first 24-lap run of the Homestead RC Raceway with his advantage over Moore over 2-second.  Unfortunately having TQ’d the opening two rounds of qualifying and ending the day with a P2, Dario Balestri could not continue his form as he got his car hooked up in a corner board which cost him over 6-seconds.  Third fastest would be Dominic Greiner, the reigning champion posting a new fastest pitstop of the weekend of 4.2-seconds as pitman Klaus Lechner bettered the previous record set in the heat before by Moore’s pitman Trin NungGai. The big improver of the Q4 would be Teemu Leino, the European Champion who had a best of a P10 from yesterday setting the fourth fastest time ahead of Tadahiko Sahashi and Francesco Tironi.

‘That was very good.  It was perfect and I also drove very good with no mistake’, was how Matsukura summed up his TQ run.  The 200mm rookie continued, ‘before refuelling I had the lead so in the fuel stop we made a safe stop after the problem we had yesterday during the pitstop’ – his mechanic having trouble opening the fuel tank lid in Q3.  The 2014 Electric Touring Car Champion said, ‘we changed the set-up and now was the best the car has been so far.  It still has a little but I am super happy to make 24-laps and will keep it the same for the next one’.

Just under a second off his Q3 TQ pace, Moore described his latest effort as ‘another solid run’.  The British driver continued, ‘we tried a different spring based on how the track was yesterday but now there was cloud cover and there was way more traction.  I was fast the first few laps but it didn’t feel good in the second half of the run’.  The former 200mm Worlds Finalist would also have a mistake during the 7-minute qualifier explaining, ‘I thought I was going to spin so I turned into it and went wide which allowed Erik (Dankel) to pass me but he gave me room to back by him but it cost me around 1-second’.  Looking to the penultimate qualifier, Moore said, ‘depending on the sun for the next one we might change back to what I had on the car yesterday’.  He concluded, ‘anyway now I am for sure in Super Pole but I still have a chance at the TQ’.

Greiner explained, ‘I had two little mistakes because the car felt loose and then after the stop I hit traffic and had to pass Lamberto’.  With the traffic, that also included Balestri and Pietsch, it negated any advantage of his super fast pit stop but the German was quick to compliment Matsukura’s driving saying, ‘Naoto had a crazy fast run’.  He added, Andy was also just a little faster but 3rd is not so bad for a not so perfect run’.  Moore’s time was just 13/1000ths faster.  For Q5 Greiner plans to adjust his rear toe in saying, ‘this will give me more traction and overall rear grip.  I just need a little bit’.

‘I had a better feeling with the car.  That was the first time I was driving the car this week.  We finally found some balance’, was Leino’s reaction to his P4.  The 2012 Worlds Top Qualifier, continued, ‘the big problem is the rear tyre.  It is 8 to 10 shore harder than what we should be running so the Warm-up race we did was a waste of time.  It is the same for everyone but only now have we found a car that is drivable’.  He concluded, ‘we will do a little fine tuning with the set-up for the next one but I have a car I can race in the finals’. Behind Leino, Infinity team-mate Sahashi  equalled his best run with another P5 but the Japanese driver’s time was slightly slower today.

Another driver to equal his best performance from yesterday, Tironi joked, ‘I am still awake’.  Putting his P6 in Q3 yesterday evening down to the fact he had woken up, the Italian continued, ‘It was OK.  We didn’t change anything on the car because yesterday I had a good feeling’.  He added, ‘maybe I could have tried to be faster but I wanted to make a safe run to secure a place in the Semi final.  It all works good but I will try something to improve the corner speed a little for the next one’.

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Chassis Focus – Andy Moore

Chassis – Infinity IF15
Engine – MLC Miami
Fuel (handout) – Maxima
Tires (handout) – Matrix
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/Sanwa
Body – Protoform P47

Remarks – Showing very strongly on the opening day of qualifying at the Worlds here in Miami, Andy is running a standard kit IF15 that features a soon to be released reduced flex chassis plate.  Almost identical to the standard one, the rear hole cut out in the chassis is slightly smaller meaning less flex.  In terms of different parts on the car he is using Infinity’s optional shocks towers and rear CVDs.  Andy is also running new springs on his car that will be released as a special Infinity set in addition to their standard spring offering.

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Moore TQs third round at World Championships

Having impressed with a P2 in the second round of qualifying at the 200mm World Championships, Andy Moore went one better in Day 1 of qualifying’s final round to TQ Q3 ahead of reigning champion Dominic Greiner by 15/100ths of a second.  Running the second fastest heat, the Infinity driver took advantage of the cooler track conditions to set the fastest time of the day bettering Dario Balestri’s best time from the opening two qualifiers by 3-seconds and just missing out on completing 28-laps of the Homestead RC Raceway.  Third for the round would go to Balestri, the Italian having an impressive day to hold the overnight provisional TQ with two fastest runs and a P3.  After problems in the opening two qualifiers, Robert Pietsch ended the day with P4 ahead of Tadahiko Sahashi with Francesco Tironi completing the Top 6.

Commenting on his impressive run, Moore said, ‘I knew I needed to make the most of that run because I started first.  Jesse (Davis) was also fast but had problems in the pit and after that I just tried to drive safe’.  With another super fast pit stop, he added, ‘Trin’s pit stop helped a lot but when he told me to push on the last lap I over did it and went 3/10ths slower.  Anyway it has been a good day for sure.  I was aiming for Top 10 runs but ended up with more.  I’m very happy’.

‘Nearly perfect but Andy made a very good run’, was Greiner’s reaction.  The Serpent driver continued, ‘after the mistake at the loop the round before we did not make the burst for the line this time and maybe if I had it could have been the TQ’.  On his car the German ace said, ‘Always in the cooler conditions it is better.  The set-up was not perfect but now I am driving it better and I’m more comfortable with how the car is’.

‘Good points’, was how Balestri summed up his P3 with the 1:8 World Champion adding, ‘and congrats to Andy’.  Heading the qualification points table on 3 points with Moore second on 10, the Top Qualifier of the last 200mm Worlds reported some ‘engine carburettor’ issues in the warm-up for Q3.  With it running a little rich, he said having to make a number of adjustments meant he had ‘not so much time’ to break-in his set of handout Matrix tyres.  He said it wasn’t until around 5-minutes in to the qualifier that his tyres came in but still the Italian was clearly happy with his day.

Pietsch described the first of the two days of qualifying as ‘a nightmare day’.  The Mugen driver, who took his 2011 1:8 World title at the same venue, explained, ‘In the first one I had a mistake myself.  In the second I was leading but after the fuel stop I could get the engine to rev out and get out of the pitlane.  So for the third one we decided to try a different pitstop style, like buggy, and use two people but when we practiced it in the warm-up the body pushed in.  The car is super good but after the body problem I was super nervous I was going to have another problem.   It was a solid fourth I would say but not what I am looking for actually’.  The 201o 200mm Worlds Top Qualifier concluded, ‘the pace for sure is there but right now I only have 1 qualifying result and I need 3 which is not an easy situation’.

Third in seeding, Sahashi said he struggled with maintaining his rhythm over the 7-minutes in the day’s opening two qualifiers and he was happy to better his results in the final run of the day.  The former 1:8 World Champion said the track was very different for Q3 and while he is still working on the rear set-up of his Infinity concluded , ‘there are still three (qualifiers) to go so there is still time to get a good result’.

‘Sometimes I wake up’, joked Tironi as he broke the Top 10 for the first time.  The Italian continued, ‘honestly from this morning I had Top 6 pace, Top 10 for sure, but in the first one I had a flame out and in the next one I had a problem in the pit but the feeling of the car has always been good.’  He added, ‘the car looks and feels good, the engine is good, everything works. I’m happy and tomorrow we will try to make better’.

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Another TQ run from Balestri in Florida

Dario Balestri has produced another TQ run at the 1:10 200mm World Championship in Florida.  Having admitted himself to being surprised at taking the opening round of qualifying this morning, the Infinity driver once again topped the second of the 7-minute qualifiers by 2/10ths, this time round ahead of team-mate Andy Moore.  Having been disqualified from Q1 after setting the fourth fastest time, Shoki Takahata would keep his time this time round to complete the Top 3.  P2 in the first round, an early mistake put Naoto Matsukura out of contention while Top Seed Lamberto Collari continued to have engine issues only this time they meant he did not even take the start.  For reigning champion Dominic Greiner it was to be another 4th for the round with improvements from Toni Gruber and Jilles Groskamp seeing them complete the Top 6.

‘Another good surprise’, was how Balestri described his second TQ run.  The 1:8 World Champion continued, ‘honestly, the grip in the heat before was better.  I think this set of tyres is more hard.  In the warm-up I had to get my mechanic to adjust the camber because I had no steering. Anyway at the end it is another TQ run and we won it in the pit because we had a really fast stop’.

Reacting to his P2 Moore said, ‘Yeh it was alright. It was better than expected to be honest’.  Running in the second fastest heat, the former Electric Touring Car World Champion added, ‘Naoto had a mistake at the beginning and a few others had issues but I kept it on the track. I had a big slide at the end that cost 2/10th and that was the difference in the end’. A former 200mm Worlds finalist, finishing 4th in Thailand in 2012, the British driver continued, ‘realistically I am not vying for the TQ but if I can keep running in the Top 6 I’m happy’. On his car he said, ‘It feels good and my engine is good and Trin did a super fast stop which really helped the result’.

Takahata described his run as ‘a safe run’ adding it was ‘important’ because of having already lost a round following his technical disqualification in Q1.  Fixing the minimum gap between the two body openings, the Mugen driver left his car unchanged and plans run it again as is in the Day’s 3rd & final qualifier.  Losing a little time at the end of the run as he got stuck behind Meen Vejrak, Takahata felt he is driving well within himself.  Asked if he planned to push harder in the next one, his mechanic replied for him saying, ‘no he needs one more safe one’.

‘The car was better but I had a mistake at the end of the straight and lost half a second’, was how Greiner described his second qualifying effort.  Impressively but not intentionally drifting the entire first corner in the mistake, the Serpent driver also lost time in a miscommunication from his pitman at the end.  He said, ‘We thought it was my last lap so I launched the car at the line but for me it was not the finish and I lost 3/10ths’.  Also feeling his engine was a little too rich and his gearbox was changing late, the German concluded, ‘at the end I was 8/10ths off Dario and that’s the time my errors lost. We will make it better the next one’.

2017 European Champion Gruber said, ‘so far so good. One more good run and then I can smile’.  The WRC driver said, ‘In the first round I just made a safe run but could see the car was working well so I pushed a little more and was 2-seconds faster.  For the next one I will try to make more consistent my laps to bring down the total time but all can happen and one mistake could mean you are outside the Top 10. I will leave he car the same’.

‘It slowly starts to improve’ was how Groskamp reaction to his first Top 6 run.  The newly crowned Euro Nitro Series Champion added, ‘the car has been very nice all the time but I was just missing those few 1/10ths to be up there.  It is so competitive this race and I still need to find another 1/10th’.  Making changes to his car each time he has gone out on track, the former Electric Touring Car World Champion said, ‘I tried to copy my team-mates set-up but I had to go back to my own settings but slowly I am getting there and there is still a long way to go in the race’.

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