Semi line-up complete in Gubbio

The 7th running of the Nitro Touring Car World Championship is down to the final 22 with most significant driver to bump up from the 1/4 finals being 2014 runner up Yuya Sashashi.  The Serpent driver bumps up on to the back of the Semi B final grid after finishing third 3-seconds behind Capricorn driver & pole sitter Kyle Branson who in turn was 3-seconds back on the 1/4 B Final winning Team Infinity of Carmine Raiola.  Unfortunately for 2014 Finalists JJ Wang his attempt at the third bump up felt short as he finished 4th, half a lap back on Sashashi.  In the 1/4 A Final Toni Gruber would book his place in the Semis going one better than in 2014 as he took the win ahead of 2010 Worlds runner up Takehiro Terauchi.  There was dramatic finish to the second of the encounters as 1/8 final winner David Loppini ran out of fuel on the last lap while holding third, gifting Dirk Wischnewski the final spot in the Semis.

Bringing newcomers Team Infinity’s tally of cars in the Semi Final to five, Carmine Raiola said he ‘went easy to get the car in to the Semi’.  Pleased with the performance of the prototype car, the 2013 1:8 World Finalist said the Semi final was going to be won making the right decision on tyre strategy.  Asked what he planned the Italian wasn’t giving anything away but added, ‘ask me afterwards and I will tell you if I got it right or wrong’.

Leading the first of the 1/4 Finals from start to finish Gruber said hewas pleased at progressing to the Semi finals for the first time but said the latter part of the race was difficult due to the track’s high tyre wear.  Describing his Novarossi powered Serpent 748 as ‘in the beginning very good’, the German said by the end of the 20-minutes he had ‘no control’, his front right down to the rim adding ‘it was very close at the end and my only plan was to defend’.  In addition to the lack of control he said the small tyres had a huge effect on his top speed.  Registering 105 kph on the track radar, by the end of the race his top speed down the straight was down to 85 kph.  Looking to the longer Semi final he said ‘I think 4 is the only option’ referring to how many tyres he would change during the 30-minute race.

Shaking his head, ‘lucky’ was Wischnewski’s response to making the Semis after Loppini’s misfortune.  The Shepherd driver and current championship leader of the Euro Nitro Series, it was at the Miniautodromo Internazionale M.Rosati track that he won his 2009 European Championship title.  Having had to get to that final through the Semi Finals after qualifying P5, the Top 4 making it direct to the Main, the German said his Velox V10 had very good speed but suffered an engine flame every stop and ‘lost a lot of time’.  Planning to ‘change something on the pit stops’, he said he is a little concerned over his car after he crashed it heavily finishing the race and he said he ‘hope(s) it is OK’.  On his Semi final, him starting the same race that will be led away by team-mate Simon Kurzbuch, he said, ‘now anything can happen’.  On tyres he said ‘we have to change’ adding ‘I have to decide 2 or 4 but you can only push hard if you go for all four’.

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New World Champion to be crowned, Hagberg crashed out

Nitro Touring Car will get a new World Champion this evening as defending champion Alexander Hagberg’s race came to a end on the 1/8 Finals this morning in Gubbio.  Struggling from the start of the event, never featuring strongly on the time sheets, the Xray driver would qualify 34th putting him second on the grid for the Semi B final.  With pole sitter Alessio Agostinelli flaming out on the restart, a timing issuing forcing the race to be stopped after the original 09:00 start, Hagberg took the lead of the race and looked in control.  However 12 laps in to the 20-minute final, the Swede’s race was to come to an end as Joe Kerry excited the pitlane and made contact with Hagberg.  With the contact resulting in a chunked rear tyre Hagberg would have to pit to change the tyre bringing an end to his chances of progressing.  Having struggled like Hagberg in qualifying and bumped up to the 1/8 final after winning yesterday evening’s 1/16 final ahead of Paolo Morganti, JJ Wang would again take the win ahead of his fellow US driver to progress to the 1/4 final.  Australia’s Jeff Hamon would secure what should have been the final bump up spot after holding off the recovering Agostinelli, who after setting the fastest lap of the race, was less than 2-seconds back but after the race Morganti was disqualified for a bodyshell infringement.

‘I’m really disappointed by this kind of reckless driver’, was Hagberg’s reaction to the incident.  He continued, ‘I was leading easy and then Joe Kerry rejoined from the pitlane and crashed me while I was on the racing line.  This chunked my tyre and I had to come in to change it’.

Commenting on his race, 2014 Finalist Wang said, ‘its been a rough week but something has pulled through for the finals’.  Fifth in Bangkok, the Mugen driver said ‘its getting better but a little too late’.  On his car he said, ‘we built a completely new car after qualifying and while it’s not the fastest car it is good for finals’.  While he didn’t suffer the same faith as Hagberg, the Shanghai based driver was also less than complimentary about the driving standards saying, ‘there are some crazy drivers out there’.

In the second of the 1/8 Finals another World Champion’s campaign would come to an end with Daniele Ielasi only able to finish 6th.  Running WRC’s first touring car creation at the race, the 2008 Champion always faced a tough challenge compounded by the fact he has no team-mates with which to share set-up information.  The race would be won by Italian driver David Loppini, leading from start to finish, ahead of the similar Xray of Alessio Menicucci with Dutch Serpent driver Daan Jacobs complete magical Top 3 to bump up.

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Kurzbuch takes final qualifier in Gubbio

Simon Kurzbuch has taken the final round of qualifying at the 1:10 Nitro Touring Car World Championships in Gubbio.  With the overall TQ decided yesterday when Dario Balestri posted his third TQ run in the penultimate round, the Shepherd driver topped the times from Mugen’s Takaaki Shimo with 2012 World Champion Meen Vejrak completing the Top 3.  With Balestri using the sixth qualifier to run in a new rod and diffs in the Capricorn, it was Kurzbuch who laid the TQ pace eventually taking it by just over 2/10ths from Shimo.  The big focus of the final qualifier would be on who would make the new for 2016 Super Pole that will be fought out by the drivers qualifying from 2 through to 5.   In the end other than Kurzbuch the round would only see Q6 count as an improved points haul for former Worlds Top Qualifier Robert Pietsch who got a P6 to secure the final Super Pole placing behind Serpent pairing of Dominic Greiner and Alessio Mazzeo.

‘A perfect run I would say’, was how Kurzbuch summed up his TQ run.  The 1:8 World Champion, added ‘I had a really good feeling and I think we have a good car for Super Pole.  With the driver who sets the fastest lap over an individual 6-lap run getting a direct spot in the 1-hour title deciding Main alongside Balestri, the Swiss ace has the benefit of experiencing Super Pole previously, it having been introduced 2-years ago at the European Championships.  Although he didn’t win the super pole at the 1:10 Euros in Turkey last year he said having experienced the procedure before is sure to be an advantage and he added ‘the lap times are there but maybe 0.001 will decide it’.

Struggling in the final qualifier after making a diff change on his 748, Mazzeo would finish the round with a P51.  Declaring his car ‘was bad’, the Super Pole first timer said once they change the diff back to what they ran yesterday when he took Q3, he said they should have a car to fight for the fastest lap.  Describing himself as ‘the little guy’ in the Super Pole he highlighted, ‘Simon is World Champion, Robert is a World Champion and Dominic has a Worlds TQ so its going to be difficult but I will give it my best shot’.

Top Qualifier in 2014, when only he made it directly to the Main, the rest having to work their way up from the Semis, this is also Greiner’s first time to do Super Pole as he TQ’d at the European Championships.  The German would be P11 in the final qualifier after two mistakes, a change to his Novarossi powered 748 leaving the ‘rear too loose’.  Happy that his fastest lap of the final qualifier was close to his rivals despite his car not being perfect, he said the plan for Super Pole is ‘maximum push for one lap’.  In terms of his car he will move the weight in the car to make it more stable in the rear.

Finishing off qualifying with a P6 that kept him in the Super Pole, Pietsch said his Mugen was ‘OK’ but ‘not the same as two days again’.  Since the rain, the German said they have lost some ground but they hope to improve it further for Super Pole.  A driver who has twice experienced the procedure in the 1:8 European Championships he won in in 2015 while also taking part in it this year in Sweden.

Having been on a potential TQ yesterday only to roll his Capricorn late and suffer an engine cut, Vejrak summed up his P3 with ‘finally’. A significant result for the Thai driver as it puts him into the Semi Finals, he said after losing their way with car set over the first two days of arriving in Italy the are getting the car and engines back slowly to where he expected them to be at.  The Maxima team driver said the final qualifier was tough as, ‘the car was a little different and I was a little nervous’.  Looking to his 30-minute Semi Final, which will run tomorrow, he said they will change the set-up to get a more stable car for the longer race.

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