Balestri takes opening qualifier at 200mm Worlds

Dario Balestri has TQ’d the opening round of qualifying at the 1:10 200mm World Championships in Miami, Florida.  Only 10th in seeding, just making it into the top heat, the reigning 1:8 World Champion topped the first of the six qualifier by 4/10ths of a second from Infinity team-mate Naoto Matsukura.  With the 8th running of the nitro touring car Worlds now featuring 7-minute qualifier, an impressive run from Simon Kurzbuch saw him take P3 after he ran the full distance without stopping for fuel. For Dominic Greiner he opened his title defence with a P5 run which later became P4 when Shoki Takahata was disqualified.  The Japanese driver fell foul of the body ruling that no two openings can be closer than 5mm and in his case he had only a 4mm gap between the rear window and roof hole for the glowplug.  Jesse Davis would set the fifth fastest time with Tadahiko Sahashi completing the Top 6.  Having topped seeding on his 200mm Worlds debut, Lamberto Collari could only manage the 12th fastest time in Q1 reporting afterwards that he had a glowplug issue that meant he couldn’t get a good tune on his engine.

‘I started the heat like a lottery because I changed a lot on the car’, was Balestri’s reaction to his TQ.  Top Qualifier at the previous Worlds in Gubbio, he continued, ‘I checked what my team-mates used (in seeding) because they were fast and tried to get a combination that would work for me.  I’m happy but I was not sure it was going to be good. Honestly I’m surprised’.  Asked if the car was now to his liking, the Italian replied, ‘Honestly it is still loose but it is like this for everybody so you just need to drive it the best you can.’

‘Not too bad’, was how Matsukura summed up Q1.  He added, ‘I think before (the heat) the track has less traction but actually when I drove it the traction was quite good.  Like I said yesterday I wanted to do a safety drive and have no mistakes.  On time I went wide and let Pietsch inside and then we touched and my car rolled. Without this it would have been a TQ run but still I’m happy with second.  He concluded, ‘I will leave my car the same for the next one’.

With former World Champion and now Novarossi representative Daniele Ielasi super impressed by his driver’s ability to go the 7-minutes without refuelling, Kurzbuch took it more in his stride saying, ‘this was our strategy from the beginning’.  He said he calculated both with and without fuel stops and going with the latter had paid off.  The former 1:8 World Champion, who made his Worlds Final debut here at the Homestead RC Raceway in 2011, said, ‘I had to drive really smooth to save fuel and it was a pity we were only 1-second off at the end.  I’m sorry for the other guys (in his heat) behind me that I didn’t open but I was leading and our target time was a fastest lap of 18.2.  I had some really slow laps and I will try to take them out in the next one’.  He concluded, ‘we are still in the game’.

Greiner said his opening run ‘was ok’ but continued ‘my car was super hard to drive’.  The Serpent driver added, ‘I had 3-mistakes. A spin one-time. I hit the wall one time and lost time in the pits when I touched another car.  This all cost me about 3-seconds so we are there on pace just the car is super hard to drive. I will try something different Q2’.

Davis was happy to make the Top 6 after a difficult time in practice.  Running in the second fastest heat, the Australian said, ‘the track changed a lot after the rain and we lost our set-up completely so we had to start fresh.  There was no rain last night so the track was same as in IPD and we went back to the set-up we used then and also put in a better engine.  The Infinity driver continued, ‘I think it will be better for Q2 because I had a mistake with a back marker in that one’.  On his car he said, ‘I will try the same and try to do another safe drive before I try another set-up’.

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Collari is top seed at 1:10 200mm Worlds

Lamberto Collari is the top seed for qualifying at the 1:10 200mm World Championships in Miami, Florida.  Making his Worlds debut in the nitro touring car class the legend of 1:8 Onroad secured the top seeding after both he and Infinity team-mate Naoto Matsukura, another class rookie, set identical times in the today’s fourth & final round of controlled practice. With Collari’s CP2 topping time quicker than that of Matsukura’s fastest time from CP1, it was the Italian who got the tie break over the Japanese driver.  Behind, Tadahiko Sahashi made it an Infinity 1-2-3 in seeding with another Top 3 run in CP4 while Robert Pietch also matched his best run of the day, a 4th, in the cooler evening conditions of the final round to be seeded 4th. Former champion Meen Vejrak ended the day 5th overall in front of reigning champion Dominic Greiner who after CP4 seemed a lot happier than he was earlier in the day.

‘Incredible. This never happened before I don’t think’, was Collari’s reaction to both himself and Naoto registering a time of 47.407 for their fastest 3-consecutive laps.  Appearing surprised himself with his seeding performance, the 9-time 1:8 World Champion said, ‘normally I am not fast on 3-laps but here I am and I am comfortable with this pace’.  Asked about tomorrow’s start to qualifying, he replied, ‘the car is very good for qualifying and I will leave it the same for the first one.  It is comfortable and easy to drive’.

Matsukura described the outcome of controlled practice as ‘not too bad’.  In the Top 2 in all four rounds, the former Electric Touring Car World Champion added, ‘I am ready for qualifying’.  Describing the track as ‘different’ and having ‘different traction’ in CP4 due to the much cooler conditions, he said his car still felt the same to drive adding it was consistent over the changing track conditions.  Using the day’s concluding 7-minute controlled practice to try both pushing hard and driving safely, he said, ‘both worked well’ but that tomorrow he would drive ‘more relaxed and safe to make no mistakes’.

‘I’m very happy with the result today’, was how Sahashi summed up his Top 3 in seeding.  The 2013 1:8 World Champion said that while he planned further set-up changes ahead of Q1 for better stability in the rear, his car was good over 3-laps as well as for 7-minutes – the duration of the qualifiers at this year’s World Championship with them having been 5-minutes 2-years ago in Gubbio.

Describing his performance today as ‘solid’, Pietsch added, ‘I can do one lap like Naoto and Lamberto, I just can’t do more of them together’. The Mugen designer and driver continued, ‘my main problem is the chicane section in the middle of the track.  Before I could go over the curbs, now one lap is ok but the next one they make the car get unstable.  I spoke to the guys who sprayed the track this morning and they told me that the sugar water on the curbing paint has much more traction than on the asphalt.  It’s like offroad style where the bumps change in the track’.

Vejrak was pleased that he was going into qualifying in a much more competitive position than in Gubbio saying ‘I’m happy to be in the Top heat’.  The Maxima team driver said he could make more steering from his Capricorn in the final round but with the traction higher it was hard to drive with this set-up, adding ‘anyway it was good to test this’.

‘In cold conditions it is better.  Now it felt very comfortable and easy to drive.  Maybe it was too stable but it is better’, was Greiner’s reaction after CP4 despite only producing the 9th fastest time behind reigning 1:8 World Champion Dario Balestri.  The Serpent driver added, ‘the other guys are rotating more and because of this many are not going to be so consistent over 7-minutes.  I will leave the car as is for the first qualifier for sure.  It felt very good for me now.  I was driving the car not it driving me.  I will change the engine because I have a better one’.  He concluded, ‘TQ will be difficult but maybe Top 5 for Super Pole will be possible’.

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Takahata sets CP3 pace at Homestead

Shoki Takahata has put his Mugen at the top of the time sheets in the 3rd round of controlled practice at the 1:10 200mm World Championships in Homestead, Florida.  The Japanese driver posted the 2nd fastest time of the day over 3-consecutive laps to top the round from fellow countryman Naoto Matsukura by 7/100th of a second.  Behind, Simon Kurzbuch made a big improvement to set the third quickest time ahead of Teemu Leino who also made a big step forward in terms of pace.  With his CP2 time still standing as the fastest of the day with one round of controlled practice remaining, Lamberto Collari would end the third round 17th fastest with a body change causing his Infinity to become unstable in the rear.  It would also be a difficult round for reigning World Champion Dominic Greiner who was only marginally quicker in P15.

Commenting on his CP3 performance, having had a previous best of P10 in the previous round, Takahata said his car was getting better with them having made big changes each round to try and improve the car.  The 24-year-old added he still needs to make the car more stable and while still deciding what changes to make he said they plan now to just focus on smaller set-up adjustment compared to before.  Running in the second fastest heat group, asked what he thought of the track he replied it was difficult to make good times on as to achieve this he had to drive more aggressive which in turn made it difficult to be consistent.

With a change of set-up for CP3, Matsukura said the set-up felt ok but discussing his car with team-mate Jesse Davis said, ‘Jesse says I still need to make (the car) more stable’.  Also changing engine for the round, he said it had good top speed but they needed to adjust the clutch for the final round when he will run the engine again.  The Infinity driver added the track itself was also getting more challenging saying, ‘when I pass a driver on the inside I am off the line and in the loose. It is so difficult’.

A driver who achieved his first and Shepherd’s first A-Main Worlds appearance at Homestead RC Raceway at the 1:8 Worlds back in 2011, Kurzbuch said, ‘this track has has good memories for me and the team’. Praising his team’s efforts for the 1:10 Worlds, the 1:8 ace said, ‘we have a good team here working on set-up and it looks like we now found a good set-up for the conditions.  It is pity my father could not be here but he is watching and offering advice from home’.  The 2015 1:8 World Champion said while the car is now stable he still needs to work a little bit on his driving.  He said, ‘the chicane before the loop and the hairpin after are where I can improve most’.

Ninth fastest in the opening two rounds, Leino was happy to have found a bit more pace as practice comes to a close.  Asking the Finn where the improvement came from he replied, ‘we were so far off we needed to make many improvements to the car so its hard to say which one worked’.  The European Champion added, ‘my problem is rear grip like everyone else. Out of the corner I cant get traction. It’s like buggy driving’.

Leading the Xray charge, Leo Arnold posted the 5th fastest time ahead of Robert Pietsch.  The French driver said his car has been working pretty well from the first free practice but that time it was a bit better after he went for a softer suspension set-up.  Describing his car as super consistent and not so bad in terms of speed ‘on 7-minutes it is super good’.  ‘Easy to drive’, he plans to leave it as is for the start of qualification tomorrow.

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