Thank to our friends at RC Racing TV today we can follow the final Qualifying for the 10th IC Track Euros, followed by the ever exciting Superpole!
Check the video below with the recording of the live streaming!
With rain having altered the plan for qualifying to commence on Thursday, the timetable was revised after a Team Managers meeting. This meant that Friday would consist of one round of free practice to clean up the track after more rain overnight, then five rounds of qualifying.
Dominic Greiner used his local knowledge of the MCC Turkheim circuit to wrap up qualifying early, taking all three rounds of qualifying held before lunch to give him an unassailable score with the driver’s best three scores from five rounds to count. Dominic took the rounds from a different driver each time, with Robert Pietsch taking second in round one, Dario Balestri in round two and defending champion Teemu Leino in round three. Each of these drivers looked capable of running a single lap as fast as Dominic, but it was his relentless consistency that was allowing him to eke out a gap of around 2.5 seconds each time.
Dominic continued his morning form into the afternoon, sealing the last two rounds too, leaving the Superpole line up as Dario Balestri, Robert Pietsch, Alessio Mazzeo and Patrick Nahr. These four drivers would do battle to see who would join Greiner in qualifying directly into Saturday’s main final.
As fifth place qualifier, Nahr would be the first to set a time. His best lap of the six was a 13.248 which Mazzeo would attempt to beat. Alessio appeared to have leaned his engine slightly in an attempt to gain a little more power for the Superpole session, but looked to have gone too far and the resulting lack of pickup from his fuel starved engine ensured he would not beat the time already set by Nahr. Robert Pietsch was next to go and despite his misgivings about the suitability of his car for the tighter turns of the Turkheim track, he managed to set a 13.207 during his six lap run eliminating Nahr from the contest.
Superpole specialist Dario Balestri was last to run and looked to be well set to try and beat The time set by Pietsch, but after a small mistake on lap one his engine flamed out and he coasted into the pits on lap two. With the Superpole rules dictating no outside assistance for any of the drivers his mechanic was unable to restart the car, ensuring Robert Pietsch secured the second of the two available starting spots for the 45 minute main final alongside Greiner, with Balestri, Mazzeo and Nahr all having to compete in the 20 minute semi finals to try to join them.