Gruber catches World by surprise with opening TQ run
Toni Gruber caught the world by surprise this morning after the Capricorn driver TQ’d the opening round of qualifying at the 1:10 Nitro World Championship in Bangkok, Thailand. Having struggled in yesterday’s seeding, ending up only 18th and in the second fastest heat, a very deflated Gruber surprised even himself with his 7-minute effort in the first of the six scheduled rounds of qualifier. Having been so far off the pace in seeding, Gruber’s performance would also catch out Jilles Groskamp. Topping the fastest heat from Infinity team-mate Francesco Tironi, Groskamp admitted afterwards he thought he had TQ’s the round and it wasn’t until he looked up the times afterwards he realised Gruber’s impressive turn around in form. As the Top Seed for qualifying reigning World Champion Tadahiko Sahashi was running the Top 3 but his car came to a stop after running out of fuel. 1:8 World Champion Dario Balestri also had a rough start to Day 1 of qualifying traction rolling and then suffering a flame out. Topping the final seeding round yesterday, Teemu Leino also had a flame out.
