Matsukura from Balestri in opening Qualifier

Naoto Matsukura has taken the opening round of qualifying at the 1:8 Onroad World Championships at Steel City RC Speedway.  After high winds forced the cancellation of the start of qualifying yesterday, the first of the now reduced to 4-minutes qualifiers saw an Infinity duel for top spot.  Shadowing his Infinity team-mate & top seed Dario Balestri throughout the run, Balestri having about half a second advantage, Matsukura was handed the TQ run when the reigning Champion started to run out of fuel on the final lap.  Running the second fastest heat, Jesse Davis would make it an Infinity Top 3 followed by fellow Australian Jeff Hamon who also ran in Group 11 of 12.  While crossing the line third fastest in the top heat, Simon Kurzbuch had to contend with a P5 for the first of his 6 qualifying attempts with Mugen’s JJ Wang completing the Top 6.

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