Batlle quickest in first timed practice

As proceedings at the 1:8 Offroad European Championships got official it was Robert Batlle who would set the pace in first timed practice in Italy.  The Mugen driver topped the first of the two rounds that will be used to seed the heats for qualifying, with a three consecutive lap time of 1:54.128.  Behind the 2011 Champion it was newly crowned European B Champion Riccardo Berton who was second fastest with a time of 1:55.068 with 3-time champion Renaud Savoya third quickest.  For defending champion David Ronnefalk, who set the fastest lap time in free practice yesterday, it was not a good first round as he failed to get in three clean laps and was classified 62nd.

‘Super good’ was how Batlle described his run, the only issue over the 10-minutes being an error of his own doing when he over jumped a section.  ‘Super happy’ with his MBX-7R having found the ‘right set-up’, the Mugen driver said all he needed to do now was ‘something with the tyres’ which he added are ‘still not 100%’.  Describing the track as being ‘a little better than yesterday’, the former World Champion set the fastest lap of the round as one of only two drivers to run a 37-second lap time commenting that his ‘speed is good enough’ and he just needs to get a better feeling from his tyre choice.

Although the third of his consecutive three laps was ‘not very clean’, Berton was pleased to end up second fastest.  The Kyosho driver said a switch to medium compound Grid Iron to Blockade for the counting round, he said the change gave him better overall traction.  Asked about the track the 16-year-old said while it didn’t have a lot of jumps he liked it, adding that he feels there is more time to come from him by better driving the centre section of the track.  Planning to try a soft compound Grid Iron in the second timed practice he is confident he is already in good shape for qualifying.

Savoya’s reaction to his time, the HB driver running early in the round, was ‘Good, I’m happy’.  Having set a 37.8 second lap in the morning’s final free practice, the French ace said he found the track a little more difficult today.  Switching to a different rear hub on his Orion powered D815 for the timed practice this resulted in the car rolling more and be ‘not that easy to drive’.  With the car handling as it was he was ‘surprised’ by his Top 3 time but he still plans to switch back to the original hubs he ran.  Running on JConcepts Reflex tyre he will change to the bigger pinned Remix which also has a ‘zig zag side pattern’ which should give better side bite.  Winning his last Euros title in 2010 he is also considering running a lexan wing in TP2.

Savoya’s HB/HPI Racing team-mate Teemu Leino would post the 4th fastest time after discovering his radio was set 20% off full steering lock.  Correcting it for the first timed round, the Finn said his Novarossi powered D815 was ‘really good’.  With the increased steering he now needs to make the rear end more stable which would allow him to push harder.  Set to make a rear toe change he added ‘its difficult to find the best way as part of the track is super slick with others having super high traction’.

A somewhat surprise runner-up at last year’s European Championships held in Germany, Martin Wollanka said just getting to know the track more had helped him to the fifth fastest time.  Having missed the Warm-up Race, the factory Xray driver said yesterday was his first time around the Ongaroring adding he still has a bit more to learn as he is still ‘sometimes landing strange’.  Making a shock set-up change after free practice he said his FX powered XB8’15 is driving well helped also by an ‘aero change’ having switched to a lexan rear wing.  Running Pro-Line’s Lockdown X2 tyre, he plans to try a rear geometry change for TP2.

Completing the Top 6 was Alessandro Stocco. The 21-year-old said other than one mistake his run was pretty clean and he feels his TLR ‘is good for qualifying and not just three laps’. Switching from Pro-Line’s X4 Ion to X3 Suburb tyre, he said his 8ight 3.0 was more consistent and while he had to compromise by losing some outright speed it was still good.

Running Associated’s new RC8 B3 ‘pretty much as you can buy it’, Neil Cragg said his run to the 7th fastest time was ‘surprisingly good to be honest’. The British driver said in free practice they were trying too many different tyres which left them ‘all over the shop’.  Opting for Pro-Line’s Blockade tyre in X1 compound for TP1, which he described as a ‘solid tyre’, the former Electric Offroad World Champion also went up in diff oils which was ‘a step in the right direction’.  For his next outing he plans to make a rear droop adjustment.  Behind Cragg, TLR’s Ricardo Monteiro, Mugen’s Bryan Baldo and Xray’s Miguel Matias completed the Top 10.

Chasing a third consecutive title at the 35th running of the Euros, Ronnefalk said he ruined his first three laps with a mistake of his own and then on his second attempt had issues with traffic before running out of time.  Running heavier shock oil today in his HB D815, he said the buggy was better.  Still looking to make the car a little easier to drive, he said it has a lot of side bite making him afraid to go too hard into the corners.  Having started the day running on AKA’s new as yet unnamed pattern and compound in the final free practice, he switched to the Enduro for the TP1 saying he it suited today’s track conditions better.

Warm-up race winner Elliott Boots would post the 12th fastest time, the Kyosho driver feeling his still has a bit in hand in terms of set-up. He said while his three laps were clean he admitted he is ‘not the fastest out there’. Having changed little on his Reds Racing powered MP9, the British driver has been waiting for the track to come to him saying after TP1 that it is ‘getting there’.  ‘Playing the long game’, he said it hard to know what others are doing with tyres adding he is ‘not yet playing’ the additive game.

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Ronnefalk tops opening day at Euros

David Ronnefalk has opened his title defence in the best possible way as he topped the times on the very hot & humid opening day of the 1:8 Offroad European Championships in Sacile, Italy.  Chasing a third consecutive European title, the 2015 HB/HPI Racing signing recorded a fastest lap time of 38.138 around the Ongaroring track in the days fourth and final round of practice.  A day that saw the track improve over the day but still a bit off the traction levels experienced at the Warm-up Race back in May, it was 2012 World Champion Robert Batlle who would end up second fastest just 0.021 slower.  Behind them Italian National Champion Alex Zanchettin would complete the Top 3 just ahead of the last European Champion before Ronnefalk Darren Bloomfield.  With most drivers using Day 1 of the 35th running of the championships to bed themselves in and wait for the track to come in, Warm-up Race winner Elliott Boots would post the seventh fastest time sandwiched between former champions Yannick Aigoin and Renaud Savoya.

Clearly not enjoying the humid conditions, Ronnefalk said while happy to end the day with the best lap he needs to ‘find more consistency’.  Deciding to make some last minute changes before his final practice run, he said he also missed the start and having to run from the pits to the driver stand he didn’t drive the 8-minute run very well.  Towards the end of the time he said he could see the results of the changes made and he said if he can walk up to the drivers stand tomorrow it should be a cleaner run.  While his D815 is ‘pretty close’ and the ‘speed is there’ he said he needs to work on the cars consistency.  Running AKA’s Enduro tyres in the final round which ‘felt good’, in the previous round he tried a new as yet unnamed pattern and compound of tyre which he said was something they were previously missing from the range.  Describing the car as ‘very easy to drive and still (having) steering’ and he plans to revert to this new tyre tomorrow.

Batlle was pleased with the start to his event saying while its a long event he was pleased with his Mugen’s set-up and pace.  Adding, it was ‘better to start that way than with problems’, the Spaniard said with less grip than at the warm-up race and his MBX-7R sliding a lot more, in particular on the right section of the track, he still needs to find the right balance between the left and the right sides of the track.  Describing the track as ‘super European’ and with ‘not too many jumps’ he said while fast it was also technical and overall he was happy with the car for the opening day.  Commenting on the humidity he said the biggest concern is the effect it has on keeping a consistent tune on the engine joking that for the driver he just needs to drink a lot and everything will be ok.

TLR’s Zanchettin described his day as going ‘good enough’.  The 20-year-old Worlds Finalist said his focus for the day was pretty much all about tyres.  As the track ‘started out different to the warm-up’, other than switching to a heavy oil set-up throughout in his Reds Racing powered 8ight 3.0 due to the heat, he left the car unchanged and waited for the track to improve.  Ending up on Pro-Line’s Holeshot X2 he said the car was well balanced but sometimes it behaved strange and he is putting that down to the track still improving.  For tomorrow he said he needs more consistency from the car and should the track get more traction he would also switch to X1 compound tyres.

‘Hot’ joked Bloomfield when asked to sum up his day, him emphasising just how hot it was by using the world’s most widely known French word.  The Agama lead driver said he was ‘getting there’ adding his A215 was just a couple of tweaks away from being right.  Looking to work on the diff oils and under drive for tomorrow, he said the car is spinning up the front wheels.  The 2012 Champion was pleased to be able to come to the actual event after doing the warm-up race and be faced with the exact same track layout.  With a couple of spots having a polished surface the British driver said the front end really notices it but the car is working well on the rest of the track where the grip is good.

Winning his 2013 European B Championship title here at the Ongaroring, Marco Baruffolo would set the fifth fastest time.  The 17-year-old said his Picco powered TLR was ‘good but there is room for improvement in the driver’.  Running a ‘standard set-up’, he just waited for the track to improve over the day trying both AKA Grid Iron and Impacts adding both were good leaving him undecided on which to commit to.

Completing the Top 6 with a 38.440 lap time, veteran 1:8 offroad racer and newly crowned French National Champion Yannick Aigoin declared himself ‘happy for now’.  The Xray driver, who complimented the organisers on the preparation of the track which he added was ‘so much better than the warm-up’, made a ‘few small changes’ but expects the track to still change a lot and he needs to check how much they will water it for tomorrow.  There was much talk in the pits about tomorrow’s weather forecast with up to 20mm of rain expected in the afternoon when the two seeding practice rounds are scheduled to run.

The fastest Kyosho driver in seventh Boots described his lap time as alright but was far happier with his consistency over the 8-minutes.  Describing his MP9 as ‘pretty consistent’, having waited for the track to come to him rather than change the set-up which he said is very similar to how he ran it when he won the warm-up back in May.  The former World Championship Top Qualifier said he was ‘biding (his) time’ adding there is ‘no point in being fastest now’.  Running Pro-Line’s Blockade tyre in X2 compound he said that was what he ran at the Warm-up and he expects that to be his tyre of choice again this week. In the final practice he would run out of fuel as he tried to gauge the run time from his Reds Racing engine.

Another new HB/HPI Racing recruit for the 2015 season, three time European Champion Savoya feels he is starting to get to terms with the D815.  Describing the buggy as having been too aggressive compared to his previous cars and not suiting his driving style, the ‘Shark’ said he has been able to create a set-up that works for him and together with the track layout here in Sacile the package is really coming together and ‘the speed is there’.  His first European Championship’s with new tyre sponsor JConcepts, Jason Ruona travelling over from the US to support their new signing, he said while the first run was ‘muddy’ for the other three rounds he was able to test various pin sizes.  Ending up on the Reflex tyre he back to back tested two compounds and will pick which compound to run tomorrow based on how much watering the track gets tonight.

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