Balestri delivers in showdown to become WC Top Qualifier

In a showdown between the reigning World Champion and the one driver probably most deserving of the sport’s great title, it was the latter, Dario Balestri, who delivered in a thrilling qualifying showdown at the 1:8 Onroad World Championships in France. Having made his mark on the first day of qualifying with two TQs and a P2 run, the Infinity driver came under pressure today from defending Champion Simon Kurzbuch as the Shepherd driver took the opening two qualifiers of the second day.  Setting up a winner-takes-all situation between the two great rivals, the rescheduled rain interrupted fifth round of qualifying would go down to the wire, Balestri and Kurzbuch throwing everything at it with Balestri coming out the victor.  In the end a late mistake from Kurzbuch would leave him with a P3, a great 27-lap run from reigning 1:10 World Champion Dominic Greiner netting him a P2 but just not enough to make the Super Pole as he secured 6th in the final ranking. With Kurzbuch now aiming to secure his direct place in the final through tomorrow’s Super Pole his opposition will come from Naoto Matsukura, Bruno Coelho and Jesse Davis.

‘As they say in life nothing is easy but when you go up against Simon and his Dad it is even more hard’, was how Balestri summed up his TQ achievement.  He continued, ‘You need more than 100% going up against them and in this I made 110%, the car and engine were amazing. I am super happy’.  Completing the set of World Championship TQs having taking the top spot in 1:10 in Italy last year, the 2017 Infinity signing said, ‘I want to thank all the team and the boss, I made the promise to give all of myself for this race. I thank Nikiado san for the car, Massimo for the engine and my mechanic. For Antonio it is a big responsibility to fight with the best pitman in the world’.  Asked about Saturday’s 1-hour final, Balestri feels tyre strategy will be the same for all drivers, the track having little wear but he thinks tyre stop could influence the race. ’The rims are very hard to put on so the race could be decided in the pitlane. So we must look at this but for now I just want to get some rest.’

Summing up the final qualifier Kurzbuch said, ‘It was a real fight to the end. My car and engine were perfect, I had a clean track and I could show what we can do. I was 4/10ths behind Dario so I had to risk all but had a small mistake’.  Not dwelling on his defeat, the Swiss driver continued, “I am really confident for Super Pole tomorrow. We will take on the challenge we are given and try our best as always.  Making the Super Pole at the 1:10 World last year, his only Super Pole experience, he concluded I am not afraid of it, I am really confident we can do it’.

With this is 1:8 World Championship debut, Matsukura said, ‘It is not so bad for first Worlds’.  He continued, ‘I am happy to be in the Super Pole and I will try to make it directly to the final’.  Only 15th fastest in the final qualifier, the multiple EP onroad World Champion said, ‘in the last one my car was pretty good but the engine was so so. It had no punch’. A tweak to the Super Pole, originally scheduled for today but moved to midday tomorrow follow today’s rain, will see drivers now get 5-minutes of track time together to ensure equal track conditions and a further 2-minute individual warm-up followed by their 6-timed laps, the fastest single lap time to count.

Ending up fourth overall Coelho said, ‘we will see tomorrow. I am confident in the car but everything can happen’.  The Xray driver has one previous experience of Super Pole at the 1:10 European Championships in Turkey an event he went on to win. It was not a strong finish to qualifying today for the Xray driver after a strong Day 1 when he registered a P2 and P3. In Q6, which was the penultimate qualifier for the top drivers due to the weather rescheduling, the Portuguese driver had engine issues failing to make the start.  With a different engine fitted for the final round he said the 3-minute warm-up time wasn’t enough to get the engine set and it was ‘too rich all the qualifier’.

‘For sure I’m happy as our aim was to make Super Pole’, was how Jesse Davis summed up claiming 5th in the final classification and the final Super Pole position.  The Australian continued, ‘It is only one of six (laps) to count so anything can happen. I’ll go full for it’.  Asked about his final qualifier which lasted just under 2-laps, the Infinity driver said, ‘I hit the Picco banner, it was a stupid mistake.  The car felt good but I didn’t get to run. Hopefully tomorrow I won’t be hitting the Picco banner’.

The only driver along with Balestri and Kurzbuch to make 27 laps of RC Circuit Jean Nougier, Greiner said, ‘I think we found the problem in the set-up. Our car was much easier and much faster now. Also for long runs the car is very stable’.  The German continued, ‘We were only 1-point from Super Pole but my goal coming here was the 1/4 but I am in the Semi so I’m happy’.  Asked about the improved set-up, the German said, ‘we changed 3 small things but I think we had been running too much caster. In Q6 the car was horrible to drive so we changed the set-up and I think what we found is really good for long races’.  Behind Greiner, Jilles Groskamp would secure 7th ahead of Shoki Takahata and Francesco Tironi with Lars Hoppe completing the Top 10.

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Game on as Kurzbuch posts 2nd TQ run

It is game on at the 1:8 Onroad World Championships in France as Simon Kurzbuch delivered a second TQ meaning the overall TQ will be decided in the final rescheduled 5th qualifier.  During the fifth round of qualifying a short but torrential rain shower halted proceedings leaving drivers to wait for the track to dry. With IFMAR rules permitting a round of qualifying to resume after rain once the track returns to the same condition, the call was made to run Q6 first and afterwards finish out Q5.  With reigning champion Kurzbuch clearly fired up it would be his lighting fast pit stop that would force the battle between himself and Dario Balestri to be decided in the final qualifier of the 21st running of the World Championships.

With drivers having little time to prepare their cars for what is officially Q5, with 3 from 6 to count, Kurzbuch reaction on crossing the line summed up the Swiss desire to start his title defence from pole position. In full battle mode the Shepherd driver summed up his Q6 TQ, the first to see 27-laps, with ‘I’m back’.  He added, ‘Now I had my run, it was clean and we put in the fastest pitstop of the event.  This is how we plan to do it again in the next one’.

Balestri also wasn’t in talkative mood after losing out to Kurzbuch.  The Italian said, ‘I have nothing. His pitstop was 19.8’. Also with two TQ’s, both of which he registered on yesterday’s opening day of qualifying, it is only him and Kurzbuch left in contention to be the Top Qualifier, the Infinity driver having looked at one stage as if he would take that honour early when he topped Q4 only for Serpent Yuya Sahashi to post a surprise fastest time from the fourth fastest heat.

Completing the Top 3 for the round but failing to go 27-laps would be Naoto Matsukura.  The Top seed said his car was a little nervous and described the run as ‘a safety drive’ because he needed the points.  Planning to revert to a set-up from earlier in the event for his final qualifying attempt, the Infinity driver said he will again go for a safe run to improve his points and final ranking.  Behind Matsukura, former World Champion Robert Pietsch had his best run setting the fourth fastest time ahead of Jesse Davis, Shoki Takahata and Silvio Hachler. With engine trouble preventing Bruno Coelho from starting the qualifier, there was also bad luck for reigning European 1/10th Champion Toni Gruber as he looked set for a Top 3 run until his WRC flamed out with 30-seconds to go.

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