Hoppe wins ENS Round 2 in Austria

Shepherd Micro Racing’s Lars Hoppe took the win at the second round of the Euro Nitro Series, the German winning the final in Aigen, Austria, ahead of reigning Champion Toni Gruber.  In qualifying it was the Mugen Seiki of 2024 Championship leader Simon Kurzbuck who took the TQ.  Winner of the season opener in Ettlingen, Germany, the former World Champion topped 3 of the 4 qualifiers with Hoppe the only other driver to top a round with the fastest time in Q2 to secure P2 on the grid.  In the 45-minute final, Kurzbuch looked to have the race under control leading from Hoppe and the Capricorn of third place qualifier Gruber however the Swiss driver’s engine would stop approaching the 20-minute mark.   Taking over the lead, Kurzbuch losing over 4-minutes in the pits, Hoppe would see off the challenge of Gruber eventually winning by 3/4 of a lap from the Gruber with the Infinity of Teemu Leino completing the podium a further 8-seconds back.  Kurzbuch would finish P8.  In 1:10 it was the Infinity of Jilles Groskamp who took the win from the TQ spot ahead of the Capricorn of reigning Champion & Round 1 winner Melvin Diekmann.  Infinity’s Milan Holthuis completed the podium.

Image: Lars Hoppe [Facebook]