Matsukura first to TQ for a second time at 1:8 Worlds

After an opening day of qualifying at the 1:8 Onroad World Championships yesterday that produced four different TQ drivers, this morning Naoto Matuskura became the first driver to go fastest for a second time. Having TQ’d Q1 in cool morning conditions, the Infinity driver repeated the result on what is again a cold morning at Steel City RC Speedway.  Pursuing top seed and team-mate Dario Balestri, a slight mistake from the Italian in the final minute of 4-minute run was enough for Matsukura to move to the top where he would stay to the end.  Finishing 9/10ths ahead of Balestri who held on for another P2, the Q5 result means the honour of Top Qualifier at the 22nd running of Championship is looking like a two horse race between the defending Champion Balestri and the reigning 1:10 Champion Matsukura, although former champions Simon Kurzbuch and Dominic Greiner still have a chance.  For the round, Greiner set the third fastest time followed by JJ Wang, Jesse Davis and Kurzbuch.

Summing up his TQ run, which was just 2/100ths off the quickest TQ time set by Balestri in Q4, Matsukura said, ‘my car was pretty good but we changed engine for today and it was very good.  I almost traction rolled but I wont change anything on the car as it will be more hot so the traction should be lower’.  He continued, ‘Dario had a little bit of a mistake so I can get the TQ.  Without (the mistake) I think I would be 0.5 off so I think we need to work on the bottom end of the engine tuning’.

Commenting on his run, Balestri said, ‘I just made a small mistake and it was finished’.  Securing the overall TQ on the way to his World title in France two years ago, he continued, ‘Naoto always start behind me so there is a lot of pressure but it is OK.  We have one more to go’.

Greiner described his performance in the penultimate qualifier as ‘so so’.  The Serpent driver explained, ‘the engine got lean and more lean in the run so at the end I had no power.  It was the same yesterday so I think we will change the engine for the last one.  The car was pretty good and I think the track will be better so we change nothing just the engine’.

A driver impressing a lot of people with his pace and consistency throughout qualifying, Wang said, ‘I guess it was another solid run.  It was not quite enough to fight with the guys at the front and I had a bobble at the end which cost me a few tenths’.  Looking to the final qualifier, the Mugen driver said, ‘I will do some calculations and see what I need to do in the last one but I’m going for making the Super Pole’.

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World Champion Balestri finally gets TQ run in Q4

Defending 1:8 Onroad World Champion Dario Balestri finally produced a TQ run setting the fastest run in the final qualifier of the day at Steel City RC Speedway.  Having topped seeding, the Infinity driver became the fourth different driver to top qualifying today seeing off Q2 pace setter Simon Kurzbuch by just 5/100ths of a second.  Continuing his improving results, JJ Wang claimed the third quickest time to finish just ahead of a much improved performance from his Mugen team-mate Shoki Takahata.  Also finishing out today’s action with his best run, two more qualifiers to run tomorrow following yesterday’s wind cancellation, Francesco Tironi set the 5th fastest time ahead of Infinity team-mate Jeffrey Rietveld.  After posting a TQ run in Q3, Dominic Greiner’s follow up attempt was full of driver errors leaving the Serpent driver 10th fastest.  Having opened qualifying with a TQ run, Naoto Matsukura had a disappointing finish to the day as a crash in Q4 put him out.

‘Finally a nice run’, said a pleased looking Balestri.  Having had engine issues in the previous three qualifiers but still managing the second fastest time on each occasion, the Italian explained, ‘the conditions of the track change a lot today.  We had worked to get our car and engine ready for the super high traction but after the wind and day off yesterday the grip was down.  The set-up is so critical that this was enough to cause the tyres to slip a little bit more and make the engine work harder and this is what was causing our problems.  For the last one the grip was higher, still nothing like the days before, but everything was better for the conditions and we could get the TQ.  Also the car was super easy to drive and did not want to flip so the higher the grip the better for us’.

Reacting to his battle with Balestri, Kurzbuch said, ‘It was super tight.  I should be happy with the result because we are now really close to them but when you lose out on the fastest run by half a tenth its a disappointment’.  The Swiss driver took the blame for losing out on what is expected to be the all important fastest time of qualifying saying, ‘It was down to errors on my side.  I had one small contact with the barrier in the first part of the Omega and that put me off the line for the second part of the Omega.  I lost 2 or 3 tenths’.  Asked about his car, the Shepherd driver said, ‘the car was really good.  I had a lot of steering and power.  I flipped in the warm-up which warned me about which corner to be careful’.  Looking to the final two rounds of qualifying in the morning, the former Champion said, ‘Super Pole should already be fixed but we will try of course for the TQ’.

Summing up his fourth attempt Wang said, ‘the result was not bad but I had to come in a few times in the warm to tune the engine and this cost me precious time for bedding in the tyres’.  The American added, ‘my car was getting better and better towards the end of the run.  Anyway, overall it was a pretty good day’.  Asked if he planned to try anything in the remaining two qualifiers, he said, ‘I’m going to try and go faster and push for Super Pole’.

Having had a previous best of the 14th fastest time, both in Q1 & 3, Takahata put his improved performance to switching to his preferred set-up from practice.  The factory Mugen driver opted to go with a set-up that gave him an easy & safe car for the longer qualifiers but unable to mix it at the front.  Finding this set-up was causing his car to stop on turning into the corner, he reverted to his best practice set-up which immediately gave him a car that flowed better on track and with three rounds to count the Japanese driver plans to leave the car as is and try to drop his two currently counting P14 results.

Featuring in the Top 8 in each of his qualifiers, Tironi said, ‘All day the car is good and I have a good feeling on the track.  I didn’t change the car just little adjustments to the front spring’.  He explained, ‘Always the first run I take care to finish.  The second was also good.  The third round was faster but I had a mistake on the first lap.  This time I finish with a 5th.  I am easy in the Semi Final so now I will try to make Super Pole.  I know it is not easy but I try’.

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Greiner hits the top at World Championships

We might have had to wait an extra day for the qualifying action to start at the 1:8 World Championship but the first three rounds have certainly delivered variety with Dominic Greiner the latest driver to put in a TQ run.  Having not even featured in Q1 with the 22nd fastest time, in Q2 the Serpent driver made a huge leap forward with a P2 thanks to the set-up of team-mate Jeff Hamon and now the former 1:10 World Champion has become the third different driver to TQ.  While he topped the fastest group, top seed Dario Balestri again had to settle for second with team-mate Jesse Davis completing the Top 3.  JJ Wang improved on a strong showing in the morning to set the fourth fastest time, his best so far, followed by Hamon and Dutch driver Rick Vrielijnck. Having TQ’d the previous qualifier, Simon Kurzbuch return to form was short lived as he would suffer a stripped belt after just two laps.  Impressing in seeding putting himself in the fastest heat, young Italian Jonathan Gandin looked set for a Top 3 run as he swapped times with Balestri until he ran out of fuel on his final lap.

‘It’s getting better but I’m still not super happy with the set-up’, was Greiner’s reaction to his TQ run.  Having switched to Hamon’s set-up for Q2 and continued with it for Q3, the German continued, ‘I still have to learn how the car is, it’s just my driving.  We will check the camber in the tyres but I am scared to touch it (the set-up). 1mm somewhere and it could be worse.  It could also be better but I think now it is best to focus on my driving to suit the car I have’.

A somewhat bemused Balestri said, ‘now it was lean.  I don’t know what is happening today, the engines stopped working’.  Missing out on potential TQ runs due to his engine being too rich in the opening two qualifier, the Infinity driver now plans to use a different engine for the days final qualifying run.

Notching up three good point hauls over the first half of qualifying, on his third for Round 3 Davis said, ‘I had luck in that one.  Again we were a little off in the set-up, the car was safe and easy but a few top guys were not so fast and I was lucky to get third.  The engine was rich too, so down on power’.  Making Super Pole at the previous World Championship in France, the Australian said, ‘we will make changes again to try make the car more aggressive so it’s a little faster on the lap times, without flipping of course’.

The host Nations top contender at this year’s Worlds, a content Wang said, ‘It going pretty good.  I’m pretty consistent today.  The track is changing each run but my car is working good.  We are making minor tweaks here and there for that’.  The Mugen driver, who has an 8th, 6th and 4th, continued, ‘we have three good ones in so I think I’m going to push it on a little more in the next one’.

Summing up his latest effort, Hamon said, ‘the car is working excellent but the traffic is horrid.  One dude got called twice but still didn’t move’.  Leaving his car unchanged from the previous round when he was also 5th fastest, the Australian plans to make some changes for the last run of today saying, ‘Now that I have three results in I can try a few things out’.

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