The popular Euro Nitro Series started off its season at the L.Collari Raceway in Bologna, Italy. This high speed track proved challenging for all competitors as the engine/clutch package seemed more important than ever. It was great to see 140 competitors join this big event! Many of the top European racers attended. Our XRAY team came in full force with high expectations in both categories!
After arriving at the track early on in the week we started to tune in our new NT1'15 cars and gain as much on track experience as possible before the race commenced. The first days of testing weren't particularly useful as the track conditions changed dramatically later on as more drivers arrived.
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In qualifying in the 1/10 class, I struggled to find a good feeling of my car and I was also suffering from clutch problems, which I resolved, but too late. Finally I managed to qualify 8th, which gave me a direct spot in the A-final. Bruno Coelho qualified 2nd, being fast as always, and our NT1 designer Martin Hudy qualified 10th to secure himself the last direct spot for the 45 minute final encounter.
Unfortunately for our new team mate Tom Krägefki, his hopes of bumping up from the B-final came to an end as he broke his car while in the lead in that final, after hitting a car which made a mistake just in front of him. It was great to see Tom in good shape and hopefully he can make the main final at some of the upcoming events!
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In the main final, Bruno Coelho took a fantastic debut win for the new NT1'15. I was much improved for the main final, and actually held the lead just before our scheduled tire change at 25 minutes. Unfortunately during that tire change, my mechanics had problems with one nut getting stuck, and my engine would also flame out, causing me to loose valuable. Time. I lost even more time as I was hit by a backmarker with 10 minutes to go, causing my car to go upside down and chunk a tire in the process.
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I had to securely bring my car to the finish but that incident definitely cost me a 2nd place finish. In the end I was fairly happy with 3rd considering all the struggles I had earlier on in the race. Obviously I would have wanted a win or at least a 1-2 finish for XRAY, but that's how racing is sometimes. I know that I am always a better "final" than qualfying racer and that showed once again. Many thanks to my pit crew Bertram and Tom for their efforts!
Martin Hudy finished in a strong 5th position overall, but he was unlucky too with a crash early on as his car became tweaked.
All-in-all a great result for the new NT1 car! I am looking forward to the upcoming nitro races with the team!
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Final results:
1. Bruno Coelho â“ XRAY NT1
2. Jilles Groskamp 3. Alexander Hagberg â“ XRAY NT1
4. Gerhard Kandelhart 5. Martin Hudy â“ XRAY NT1
6. Alessio Mazzeo
7. Joe Kerry
8. Leo Arnold
9. Thilo Todtmann
10. Teemu Leino
