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July 26, 2009

Euros joy for Wischnewski, heartbreak for Balestri

There was a dramatic outcome to the 2009 EFRA 1:10 200mm European Championships here in Gubbio, Italy this evening, with heartbreak for race dominator Dario Balestri and total joy for new Champion Dirk Wischnewski. Starting from pole Balestri’s Novarossi powered Team Magic was untouchable allowing the defending back to back Champion to lap the entire field, but in the final 10 minutes of the race the Italian suffered gearbox problems ending his quest for a hat trick of titles.

Read the full report on our event site here.

July 26, 2009

Euros Final grid complete – Big names missing

The Semi Finals have been run and the 6 drivers who will join the four direct qualifiers has been decided. In the Semi B Manuel Huber took a relative easy win over Dirk Wischnewski but the Semi A was a far more dramatic affair. Serpent’s Michael Salven lead for over half of the 20 minutes encounter but with 7 minutes to go and with a healthy lead his engine cut. This handed Mugen’s Guiseppe D’angelo the lead but he too flamed out with less than 3 minutes to go. Having benefited from the demise of Mark Green’s out of control Serpent 733 to move in to second, Martin Hudy came through to take the win from Gerhard Kandelhart. The other two qualifiers based on the next two fastest race times from both Semi Finals were Alexander Hagberg and Giorgio De Felici who come from the Semi B.

View our full event coverage here.

July 25, 2009

Balestri secures Pole position in Italy

Dario Balestri will start tomorrow’s EFRA 1:10 200mm European Championships from pole position after the fourth and final round of qualifying failed to see any improvements from the front runners, Serpent’s Jilles Groskamp being the biggest improver going from 42nd after round 3 to a Semi Final place with 13th. Fastest for the round, which was overall slower due to the higher track temperatures, was Jerome Renaux who lines up a very impressive second on the grid.

View our full event coverage here.

July 25, 2009

Bokor Cup 2009 – Friday report

Follow the long winding road about 1 hour outside of Budapest and it will lead you to a very small village at the base of the mountains named Bokor. Home only to a small cheese factory and about 120 residents, it is the smallest dot on the map, but it is the home to a wonderful race track. Overlooking this small town is the beautiful track of Bokor. The pride of organizer and track owner Laszlo Szebelledi, the track is located on family land that he and his crew have transitioned to a beautiful facility. Laszlo has spared no expense to organize an amazing event that takes care of a racers every wish which includes free bottled water and ice tea to all the racers and mechanics along with the opportunity to take a ride in an actually Dakar Rally vehicle. Laszlo had arranged for the Dakar Hungry team to bring their Opel Vehicle here for the event and everyone has the opportunity to go for a ride in the Bokor countryside for a thrilling rally ride.

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July 25, 2009

Balestri ups pace in Gubbio

He said yesterday evening before leaving the track he would go faster and that exactly what the defending champion Dario Balestri has done here this morning bettering his overnight TQ time by 3 seconds. The factory Team Magic/Novarossi driver said his car was good in the cooler conditions but traffic in the pitlane during his fuel stop cost him some time. Aiming to claim a hat trick of European titles on home soil, the Italian thinks it will be very difficult to improve in the final qualifier as the temperature starts to rise here in Gubbio.

View our full event coverage here.

July 24, 2009

Champion ends 1st day of qualifying on provisional pole

Dario Balestri is the overnight TQ holder here in Gubbio, Italy, thanks to his time from the first of today’s two qualifiers. The reigning champion said that cooler conditions made for higher traction in the second heat and during his warm up laps he had to adjust the front camber on his Team Magic to avoid traction rolling. The change reduced the amount of steering and as a result he was unable to better his earlier time although he did come close with a time less than 4/10ths off. Very happy to be returning to his hotel this evening as the provisional pole sitter, the factory Novarossi driver paid tribute to his mechanic Danilo Pucci who’s very fast refuelling helped him to achieve the time in what is very close competition. With one second separating the current Top 3, Balestri is confident he can better his time tomorrow.

View our full event coverage here.

July 24, 2009

Balestri off to a good start in EC Qualifying

Dario Balestri has got his quest for a hat trick of European titles off to a good start by TQ’ing the opening round of qualifying for the 2009 EFRA 1:10 200mm Euros. The defending Champion recorded a run of 26 laps in 07:12.928 to beat the Serpent 733 of Jilles Groskamp by 7/10th of a second but the Dutch ace, along with Robert Pietsch and Adrien Bertin, was later disqualified for his bodyshell being under the minimum permitted height. Balestri said his Team Magic G4RS 09 felt good but in the later part of his run the clutch loosened causing his car to be very slow out of the corners.

View our full event coverage here.

July 24, 2009

Groskamp tops timed practice in Italy

Drivers have just completed timed practice here in Gubbio and it is Serpent’s Jilles Groskamp (26/07:10.527) who set the pace over 7 minutes finishing 2.5 seconds ahead of impressive Euros debutant Alexander Hagberg (26/07:13.009). Groskamp, who also posted the fastest lap of the one and only timed practice with 16.044, said he was happy with his pace but felt the traction was much lower today most likely as a result of people walking on the track at last night opening ceremony. The Dutch ace ran 37/40 Xceed tyres on his Max powered 733 but plans to run a harder rear in the qualifiers.

View our full event coverage here.