Posting from Messina, Sicily:
Kevin Jelich is 69th, and Josh is 76th overall after the first day of qualifying. Right now it is morning, so the second round is just getting underway. Both drivers are pretty happy with their cars, but could still use a little bit of corner speed. We know the engine is not an issue, because Rody Roem is helping Josh out, and Lamberto Collari came through for Kevin's engine and pipe.
Kevin is going to be trying out some softer tires for the first time today. We hope that will allow the car to get a little bit more all-around bite. Basically the track is very abrasive, with a bit of natural traction. There is no additive on the track at all. Many drivers are running 32's and 35's, some even running 35's on the right side and 32's on the left because of the high-speed left turns. Unfortunately Kevin's been stuck with Jaco 38's the whole time until now. It's not hard to drive, just not fast enough through the tighter parts of the track. The good thing is the surface and weather are very consistent...no "rocket rounds."
The best part is that Kevin and Josh haven't broken anything yet, except a bumper that got bent down when hitting the tricky 90 at the end of the straight! We're replacing belts often, just in case. But that is pretty normal for any car here. Since they are running quite different setups and their performance is similar, that keeps things interesting.
Me (I'm just here for fun, although radio problems have kept that from happening), Kevin, and Josh are the only ones driving the XR/8. There are 67 Mugens, 31 Serpents, 30 Kyoshos, 3 XR/8's, 3 MZ-1's (Picco Speed), and 1 Slide according to a pie graph next to the heat sheets. Giant-killers we aren't! At least not yet anyway.
One of the cool things here is that there is something other than the ubiquitous Lolas being used. Kyosho has a Dome LMP body that is very similar in profile the Protoform Lola, except that it's a two seater with the drivers offset like today's Le Mans cars. I always found it funny that people paint fake headlight things on their Can-Am bodies (the real ones never raced at night, at least when the Lola dominated in 1981)...ah well, I digress.
For all you RTR people reading this: you'd have a heart attack if you saw what people are throwing in the trash-can: one run tires! Here, a 72mm rear tire is basically garbage. Oh well.
Thanks,
-Cameron