WORLDS: Leino tops list after first controlled practice

0 Nov. 10, 2014, 7:11 p.m.

11/11/2014

By Aaron Waldron

LiveRC.com

Heading into the final four rounds of practice at the IFMAR World Championships for the 200mm nitro touring car division, all anyone can talk about is the grip - and there’s loads of it. There’s more grip here than any track that anyone has ever seen. Because the racing surface at Huge R/C is covered, there is never any chance for the rain to wash off the tire and oil residue left on the racing line - which means huge grip. Couple that with a bumpy track surface, and you’ve got cars traction rolling and sliding across lanes, sometimes flying off the track. The drivers who’ve been able to tone their cars down enough to be able to drive aggressively without crashing have seen their times drop considerably.

After driving his car for the first time since HB mechanic Miyashita went through it, Finnish driver Teemu Leino fired himself from wrenching on the R10 for the rest of the week. Saying that he was “very happy” with the performance of his Novarossi engine and attributing his quick time to having “huge horsepower,” Teemu plans to leave the car alone for the second round of times practice this evening.

Even though his car was “very good,” Italian Capricorn driver Dario Balestri, who turned the fastest single lap in open practice, tore down his LAB C03 to make sure everything was working well. He plans no changes, however, saying the setup is “perfect.”

Balestri’s Capricorn teammate Kyle Branson had the third fastest seeding time despite a slipping clutch that reduced his car’s acceleration - he’ll be fitting a new XRD engine and clutch for the next round. Pleased overall with the balance of his LAB C03, he will reduce the amount of front camber to lessen the tippy feeling at the end of the main straightaway.

Fastest seeding times (three laps) - Round One