Mattia Pesenti wins Swiss season opener

Last weekend the Modell Rennsport Club St. Gallen hosted the 1st round of the Swiss Nationals in the track of Sitterdorf and Mattia Pesenti sent us this report. The weather forecast wasn’t good so I prepared all the stuff for the rain (air filters, engine, tyres, etc.). We arrived at the track on Friday morning and it was cloudy and cold but no rain so we could test the car. My father and I worked a lot on the setup with the help of Traugott Schär. The track had really low grip on Friday and we had to find the right setup in order to have enough grip and steering. At the end of the day the car was good and quite easy to drive but the track wasn’t so good.

Saturday was another very cloudy and cold day and the car was really good. In the first 3 run I could manage to be in the top 5. In the last run the track was better and the car was really good but after the start my engine stopped so I finished the qualifying rounds in 5th position.

Expert 1/8 qualifying
1. Hächler Silvio (Mugen – Novarossi – Jtech Tyres)
2. Müller Marco (Shepherd – Max – UFRA)
3. Kurzbuch Simon (Shepherd – Max – Contact)
4. Martinelli Luca (Mugen – Max – UFRA)
5. Pesenti Mattia (Xray RX8 2012 – Novarossi – Galaxy Tyres)

Amateur 1/8 qualifying
1. Hajdekr Ales
2. Rizzo Marco
3. Paul Stefan
4. Huonder Iso
5. Kurzbuch Pascal

In the 1/10th class was Traugott Schär and Sandro Kuriger fighting for the TQ. Traugott was really fast but at the end Kuriger did the TQ.

1/10 qualifying
1. Kuriger Sandro (Shepherd)
2. Schär Traugott (Xray NT1)
3. Lehnerr Christian (Xray NT1)
4. Lechner Klaus (Serpent)
5. Scheidegger Silvio

Unfortunately Sunday the rain arrived and so in the moring my father and I prepared the car for the rain conditions. Air filter, engine, electronic and we blocked the 2nd gear to better manage the car in acceleration. During the semifinal I mounted an old set of Kiss Rain Tires and they weren’t so good, because I had not so much grip and steering but I finished 5th so I was qualified for the final.

For the final I mounted a new set of Kiss Rain Tires and the car was really good. I started from the 9th position but after 3 laps I was already in the top 5. Christophe Pethoud and Thomas Henzi were setting the pace in front of me and Silvio Hächler. Pethoud had a problem and he slipped in 4th position and also Henzi had some engine problems so I could be on the lead at 10 mins to the end.

My tires weren’t so good at the end so Pethoud and Hächler were pushing really hard. Pethoud was just behind me at 2 mins to the end but he had an engine stop. But it wasn’t finished because Hächler was pushing hard. In the last 2 laps at the track you could hear just my father and Hächler’s father… PUSH SILVIO!!!! MATTIA CALM…NO MISTAKES!! And I could win the race with less than 1second gap! WHAT A RACE!!!

Expert 1/8 final results
1. Pesenti Mattia (Xray RX8 2012 – Novarossi – Galaxy Tires)
2. Hächler Silvio (Mugen MRX5 – Novarossi – Jtech Tires)
3. Henzi Thomas (Mugen MRX5 – Max – UFRA)
4. Pethoud Christophe (Motonica P81RS – OS – Motonica Tires)
5. Nydegger Jürg (Shepherd Velox V8 – Max – Contract)

Amateur 1/8 final results
1. Tanner Marco (Shepherd Velox V8 – Novarossi – UFRA)
2. Kurzbuch Pascal (Shepherd Velox V8 – Max – Contact)
3. Pasquin Claudio (Mugen MRX5 – Picco – ATS)
4. Stapf Alex (Mugen MRX5 – Max – UFRA)
5. Huonder Iso (Serpent – Max – VMR)

In the 1/10 class Traugott Schär with his NT1 dominated the final, leading it from the beginning till the end.

1/10 final results
1. Schär Traugott (Xray NT1 – Picco – Galaxy Tires)
2. Lehnerr Christian (Xray NT1 – Picco – Galaxy Tires)
3. Lechner Klaus (Serpent – OS – HotRace)
4. Cimen Ugur
5. Mucnjak Dominik

Thanks to Mattia Pesenti for the report.