Red RC » Oisin O’Briain

April 23, 2016

Hächler & Groskamp join A-Main grid at ENS

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Silvio Hächler and Jilles Groskamp join the A-Main grid for the opening round of the Euro Nitro Series in Italy. Finishing 1-2 in a rain effected B-Main they complete the 12-car line who will battle it out for the 1:8 victory at L.Collari RC Raceway. Starting from 7th on the grid and not looking like a race contender early on, a light rain shower would turn around the ARC drivers fortunes, the Swiss driver helped by a call from his pit crew to pit for wets with just four & a half minutes to go in the 20-minute encounter. Starting from pole, Bruno Coelho would pull out an early lead but 12-minutes in the Xray driver would go off spectacularly on the main straight while battling with Alberto Picco – the screw in his steering servo horn having fallen out. Groskamp would then take up the lead but with 6-minutes to go a drizzling of rain left cars struggling to get around. Hächler and Marco Vanni made the call to pit for wets and for a moment both looked to be moving up however Vanni would crash, handing the final spot on the grid to Groskamp.

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April 22, 2016

Salemi suprises with TQ run in Q2

Mirko Salemi put in a somewhat surprise TQ run in the second round of qualifying at the Euro Nitro Series in Italy. Having sent out a warning to his rivals in Q1 when from the second fastest heat he posted a P4 time, the BP Racing driver would outpace reigning champion Dario Balestri by half a second on his second attempt. Behind them Carmine Raiola would make it an all Italian Top 3 with his Infinity just outpacing the Mugen of Germany’s Robert Pietsch. In 1:10, Serpent’s Alessio Mazzeo made up for a mistake in Q1, to TQ ahead of team-mate Mark Green with Mugen’s Erik Dankel third.

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April 22, 2016

Balestri & Coelho take opening ENS qualifier

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Dario Balestri and Bruno Coelho have claimed the first round of qualifying at the Euro Nitro Series season opener in Italy. The reigning 1:8 Champion, Balestri topped the times from Robert Pietsch while in 1:10 Coelho was fastest over the 4-minutes from the touring car class’ reigning champion Jilles Groskamp. Having started out the day with their drivers topping the times in both classes, Serpent wouldn’t be able to maintain their position, driver errors the prblem for Merlin Depta in 1:8 and both Alessio Mazzeo & Dominic Greiner in the 1:10 encounter. Mark Green would at least see Serpent in the Top 3 of 1:10 while in 1:8, World Champion Simon Kurzbuch was third fastest.

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April 22, 2016

Depta tops 1:8 practice at ENS Bologna

Merlin Depta topped 1:8 practice at the Euro Nitro Series season opener in Italy this morning, the Serpent driver fastest from reigning champion Dario Balestri over 3-consecutive laps. With the majority of drivers posting their fastest time in the first of the two controlled practices, an improvement in CP2 would see WRC’s Andrea Pirani complete the top 3 ahead of World Champion Simon Kurzbuch. With the event marking the official debut of class newcomers Infinity it was Francesco Tironi who was fastest of the star studded team, posting the 6th fastest time ahead of team-mates Jesse Davis and Carmine Raiola. Racing at L.Collari RC Raceway, track owner and No.1 Infinity recruit Lamberto Collari would manage only the 22nd fastest time.

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April 22, 2016

Serpent opens ENS#3 with strong 1:10 practice

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Serpent have opened the 2016 Euro Nitro Series season with a strong show of force as their drivers locked out the Top 3 in controlled practice in Bologna, Italy, this morning. With drivers getting two rounds of controlled practice which will determine the heat seeding, it was last year’s season finale winner Alessio Mazzeo who set the pace around the high speed L.Collari RC Raceway. Behind the Italian it was Mark Green, just 0.049 of a second off over 3-laps, with Serpent’s 2015 title contender Dominic Greiner on a further 0.075 adrift. Best of the rest would be Erik Dankel, the 2014 ENS Champion making a good start to his Mugen debut with only 0.029 his deficit to Greiner.

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April 21, 2016

New ENS season brings new competition

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The wait for the highly anticipated start to the third season of the Euro Nitro Series is over as the world’s best onroad drivers travel to Bologna, Italy, this weekend for the first of four stops on the 2016 calendar. New to the championship last season when it also hosted the opening round, the L.Collari RC Raceway circuit owned by RC legend Lamberto Collari has attracted over 150 entries with the biggest news of the new season being the arrival of the new Infinity team. Making their ENS debut with a small presence at the 2015 season finale in Fiorano, 1:8’s newest manufacturer has over the winter recruited an impressive driver line-up in it’s quest to win the prestigious ENS title.

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April 11, 2016

Coelho takes ETS points lead with 2nd in Austria

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Bruno Coelho leaves Round 3 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series as the new points leader, 2nd overall in Austria giving him a 1-point advantage over reigning champion Ronald Volker and Marc Rheinard as the championship moves onto asphalt. With Volker wrapping up his first win of the season in A2 at the final carpet race to become the third different winner of Season #9, the third A-Main was all about deciding the podium order behind the Yokomo driver. Leading away the field, Coelho would ultimately take a straight forward win over Rheinard an initially challenge fading over the race. Finishing A3 second ahead of Alexander Hagberg, Rheinard who came into the weekend as joint leader of the championship with Coelho would complete the overall podium.

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April 10, 2016

Volker takes first win of his ETS title defence

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Ronald Volker finally got the defence of his Yokomo Euro Touring Series title on track with the first win of the season at Round 3 in Austria. After fending off an intense challenge from ETS Germany winner Bruno Coelho in A1, the Yokomo driver took a relatively easy A2 win finishing more than a second clear of his Xray rival. A race that would see the Top 5 finish as they started, ETS Czech winner Marc Rheinard finished the leg third a further 1.3 seconds back followed by Alexander Hagberg and Viljami Kutvonen. Wrapping up his first win in almost a year, which he incidentally was also claimed in Austria, Volker becomes the third different winner of the season as the championship now prepares to move outdoors onto asphalt for the second half of the season.

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