Saturday, March 19, 2011
Volker is Top Qualifier in Poland Categories - Racing, Report - comments closed
Ronald Volker has maintained his 100% perfect qualifying record in this season’s Euro Touring Series by wrapping up overall TQ honours in Poland with another time sheet topping run in Q3. The Yokomo driver set a new fastest five minute time of 23 laps in 5:04.275 followed by Juho Levanen and Andy Moore who enjoyed their best runs of the day so far.
Volker said a change of tyre additive along with a few small set-up adjustments improved his Yokomo and he was a lot more confidence with the car. The German said it was a close run thing with Hagberg, until his mistake, and he expects the Swede to provide a strong challenge in tomorrow’s finals. With pole position secure, Volker plans to used the final qualifying to test a few things on his BD5WX including a stiffer front anti-roll bar.
Once again Hagberg was on a TQ pace but the 21-year-old admitted himself he was trying too hard and that was the reason for his mistake near the end of the run which cost him 2 seconds. The Xray driver, who secured his first ETS podium at Round 2 in the Czech Republic said his mistake may have proved even more costly than a shot at TQ honours with five drivers now in with a chance of the number 2 spot on the grid.
Levanen put his strong performance down to finding the right balance between understeer and traction roll. The winner of the first ever ETS race, he said heavier oil in the rear diff of his TC6 and saucing the tyres differently had made the car a lot easier to drive.
Moore said his time was down mainly to putting in a clean run. The former World Champion managed to improve slightly his Hot Bodies TCX but is still finding it difficult to drive with chassis roll being the main problem. For the final qualifier he is undecided as to whether to use the run to scrub in his second set of race tyres for tomorrow or risk trying a completely different set-up.
Setting the fourth fastest time Elliot Harper said a change to heavier oil in the rear shocks of his Tamiya TRF417 did not work with the car losing corner speed. Instead of going back to a lighter oil he will increase the front shock oil weight along with making small chassis adjustments which he thinks should give him a better allround package. Yannic Prumper completed the Top 6 followed closely by the Xray of Magnus Vassmar and new Awesomatix team driver Martin Lissau.
In Pro Stock Lissau’s team-mate Ivan Laptev claimed his second TQ run of the day over championship leader Martin Hofer. Laptev, who is struggling in Modified with a very nervous car, said his Pro Stock A700 chassis is very easy to drive and just gets better every run. Zdenko Kunak, who finished on the podium in Poland last year, set the third fastest time followed by Kyosho driver Vasco Christiaanse.
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Q2 Update Categories - Racing, Report - comments closed
Ronald Volker has repeated his Q1 performance by topping the second round of Modified qualifying at Legionowo, Poland. Outpacing Alexander Hagberg by 4/10ths of a second, the Yokomo driver applied more additive to his tyres which did improve overall traction but he is still not happy with the balance particularly in the sweepers. Despite the car not being entirely to his liking the German ace posted the first 12-second lap of the weekend with a 12.999.
Hagberg was happier to be closer to the front this time round but still made a few mistake albeit much smaller ones than in Q1. The fast Swede said he wants to be at the front and has the car to do it but just needs to put in the clean run. As in Q1 Yannic Prumper set the third fastest time with Elliot Harper’s Tamiya 37/100ths shy of his time in fourth.
Driving a Tamiya TRF417 Rene Klockner is enjoying a really strong showing in Poland. Setting an impressive fifth fastest time, and third in Pro Stock, the 16-year-old has been focusing on his driving here this weekend and its paying off. Happy with the performance of both his cars he is aiming for another good Modified performance in Q3 which should secure him his first A-Main appearance. Completing the Top 6, one place ahead of Andy Moore, was young Slovak Xray driver Zdenko Kunak.
In the Xray Pro Stock class Ivan Laptev was fastest with his Awesomatix A700. The Russian said a change of additive gave the shaft driven car more corner speed. Setting the third fastest time in the opening qualifying Laptev now has two good runs on the board and plans to try new prototype parts in the remaining two qualifyiers including longer suspension arms. Fastest in Q1, Martin Hofer said the wait before the restart of the second heat due a problem with the carpet effected his tyre prep but he is confident his Schumacher will return to the top next time out.
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Volker surprises himself with opening TQ run Categories - Racing, Report - comments closed
Series leader Ronald Volker has topped the opening qualifier at the fourth round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Poland. Although he has dominated the first half of the 2010/11 ETS season the German was surprised to have TQ’d and said afterwards it was a lucky TQ as his rivals all made mistakes. The factory Yokomo driver said he had no idea why but hs LRP powered BD5WX did not have as much traction on fresh rubber as it did in yesterday final practice. Setting only the fifth fastest lap time, Volker plans to try a set-up nearer to that used by team-mate Yannic Prumper who set the fastest lap of the first round of heats. Prumper was on a TQ pace for much of the run but a mistake on his penultimate lap dropped him back to third.
Setting the second fastest time, Elliot Harper was very happy with his opening heat saying afterwards it was nice to be competitive again. Making one error during the run, the sole Tamiya Racing Factory entry in Legionowo was happy with the performance of his Speed Passion powered TRF417. Easy to drive, he plans to leave the set-up the same for now and go for a safe run in Q2 after which he plans to try some changes.
Having set the pace yesterday Alexander Hagberg spoiled his run with a mistake on his third lap which cost him over a second. Another mistake at the end of the run cost the factory Xray driver a further second in time. The Swede said his his T3′11 has the pace to TQ but he just needs to get his driving right for Q2 and put in a clean run.
Hot Bodies’ Andy Moore set the fifth fastest time but the former World Champion said he made a school boy error with his race tyres yesterday. Using the final practice to scrub in one of his allocated race tyres he took them off the car without marking them and then this morning had to guess which corner to put them back on. Struggling to get his Moore Speed powered TCX to go straight for the first three minutes of the run he said he guessed wrongly but with the car starting to feel a lot better in the final minute of the qualifier he is confident he can be closer to the pace in Q2.
Completing the top 6 was Team Associated’s Juho Levanen. The Finn was really happy in the warm-up with his car but when the heat got underway his TC6 wanted to traction roll forcing him to drive a cautious round. Ending up over 4.5 seconds off Volker’s TQ time he hopes a droop change will cure the problem for the second qualifier.
In Pro Stock Schumacher’s Martin Hofer TQ’d over practice pace setter Oliver Franke and Russian ace Ivan Laptev. Hofer said his Mi4cx was easy to drive and if he can tidy up his driving a little more a 22 lap run is very possible. Franke switched to CS additive this morning on his Hot Bodies but said that was the wrong choice and will return to LRP for Q2 which gave the TCX more corner speed.
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Friday, March 18, 2011
Video – Day 1 Round up Categories - Racing, Report - comments closed
The opening day of the Polish ETS encounter was very much an Alexander Hagberg affair with the Swedish ace ending the day at the top of the time sheets. The factory Xray driver improved with every outing and setting the fastest lap of the day in the fifth & final practice and will now carry No.1 on his LRP powered T3′11 in the top heat for the four rounds of qualifying that make up tomorrow’s schedule at Arena Legionowo. Making little or no set-up changes, he said it has worked well all day and while his rivals reduced the gap by the end of practice he is very confident with the car.
Setting the second fastest time in the final qualifier and running a lap time that was just 6/1000ths slower than Hagberg’s, Team Yokomo’s Ronald Volker said as he had expected his BD5WX worked better on fresh tyres. The first time this season that the German ace has not been top of the pile at the end of the day at an ETS event, Volker admitted that he is still not 100% happy with his set-up.
Elliot Harper’s pre-event test day looks to be paying off so far with the Tamiya Racing Factory driver ending the day 3rd fastest. Running a new set of tyres on his TRF417 in P5, the English teenager said it brought on understeer and while his average over three consecutive laps was fastest in the run the car was not as nice to drive and that was reflected in his fastest lap being slower than that set in P4.
A pretty big blunder by Juho Levanen turned out to be a good thing for the Team Associated driver. The Finn set his fastest three lap average despite running the same unchanged battery pack in his TC6. The battery dumped with 30 seconds to go but just after he produced his best three laps. The former European Champion said he will now run a lower power setting on his LRP speedo for qualifying as the car felt better just before his battery went flat.
A change of rear shock position did not improve Yannic Prumper’s Yokomo and he failed to better his P4 time. A former winning of the ETS in Poland, he said his BD5WX is too easy to drive but he still ends the day 5th fastest just ahead of Andy Moore. Moore’s Hot Bodies TCX was better after another spring change but the former World Champion said he still has too much chassis roll.
The line-up for top heat of the Xenon Modified class is completed by Magnus Vassmar, Martin Lissau, Martin Hudy and Mario Sowka.
In the Xray Pro Stock class Oliver Franke is top seed for qualifying ahead of Martin Hofer. Although Hofer outpaced Franke in the final practice both drivers failed to improve on their earlier times and so Franke will carry No.1 tomorrow. Setting the third fastest time was German Tamiya driver Rene Klockner. The 16-year-old said his car was good but he focused today on his driving and that has paid dividend.
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Hagberg remains pace setter Categories - Racing, Report - comments closed
Alexander Hagberg continues to set the pace on Day 1 of the fourth round of the Euro Touring Series with the Xray driver topping the penultimate practice run by 8/100ths over Tamiya’s Elliot Harper. The Swede had little to say after the round but having obviously found a set-up for the Legionowo track quite quickly he plans to run an unchanged car in the final run of the day.
Harper was clearly happy with his pace and said it was very encouraging to be so close to the top the time sheets. The British teenager traction rolled his TRF417 off the track during the 5-minute run and said he needed to be careful on that one corner but everywhere else the car was good.
Yannic Prumper was third fastest with his Yokomo the German teenager saying a switch to LRP additive had improved the car slightly. Team Associated’s Juho Levanen made it four different manufacturers in the Top 4 after a change to heavier shock oil made his TC6 easy to driver and resulted in more steering.
Sweden’s Magnus Vassmar put in a very strong performance to set the fifth fastest time ahead of Ronald Volker. Volker said his Yokomo was better than earlier but the improvement was not as big as that made by his rivals. The German will run stiffer dampening in the final practice and will, like most of the top runners with the exception of Hagberg, run a fresh set of tyres.
Martin Lissau set the seventh fastest time followed by Andy Moore, who didnt get the desired effect from a change of springs, with Xray’s Martin Hudy and new German Team Associated signing Dennis Fadtke making up the Top 10.
In Pro Stock Oliver Franke put his Hot Bodies at the top of the time sheets ahead of the Schumacher of series leader Martin Hofer. Slovak driver Zdenko Kunak again set the third fastest time with his Xray followed by Rene Klockner, Awesomatix team leader Ivan Laptev and two time former ETS Top Qualifier Vasco Christiaanse driving a Kyosho.
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Hagberg sets early practice pace in Poland Categories - Racing, Report - comments closed
The Yokomo Euro Touring Series has arrived in Poland for round 4 of the 2010/11 Series and setting the early pace in the impressive new Arena Legionwo building is Team Xray’s Alexander Hagberg. With three rounds of free practice complete, the 21-year-old Swede heads championship leader Ronald Volker by an impressive margin of over 1/10th of a second while the next three drivers are separated by just 2/1000ths.
Hagberg was upbeat about his LRP powered T3′11 and is confident that as the traction on the fresh carpet comes up his car will work even better. Happy with his base set-up he plans to make a small roll centre change for P4 which together with final practice run of the day will determine the heat seeding for tomorrow’s four qualifiers.
The man who has dominated the opening three rounds of the ETS, Volker said he has not yet got his Yokomo to his liking. Changes made ahead of the third practice improved his BD5WX but the German is having to back off slightly as the car wants to traction roll. With the same set-up on the car he plans to just glue up the tyre walls for P4 which he feels should help him get on the pace with Hagberg.
TITC winner Moore was just one thousandth of a second off Volker with fellow countryman Elliot Harper a further 1000th behind him. The Hot Bodies driver said he was surprise by his own pace as his TCX did not feel very good to drive. Finding the car very loose he said he was ‘hanging on to it to get a good lap’. Putting it down to his set-up being too soft he will stiffen up the car for his next run. In contrast to Moore, Team Associated’s Juho Levanen said his TC6 felt good and he was surprised by his lack of pace on the time sheets.
The only member of the Tamiya Racing Factory squad here in Poland due to the Cactus Classic off road race in the US where Marc Rheinard and Viktor Wilck are competing, Elliot Harper was pleased with his morning. Having endured a tough ETS encounter in Austria where he and Wilck both ended up in the B-Main, the British teenager says he has a good base setting for the track. Having done a days testing back home in preparation for this weekend he said his TRF417 has good corner speed and he just needs to make some small changes to improve the balance.
Setting the sixth fastest time behind Yokomo’s Yannic Prumper was Martin Lissau. The Danish driver made his ETS debut in the Czech Republic and finished on the Pro Stock podium with a Tamiya but here in Legionwo he is running an Awesomatix, the Russian designed car hitting the headlines at last the ETS race when Ivan Laptev made the A-Main in both Pro Stock & Modified. Former 1:5 World Champion Lissau has already enjoyed success with the A700 having won first time out with it two weeks ago at a Danish National. On a deal to race in the remainder of the ETS, he said the car is working well but hopes the fitting of new prototype parts for P4, which he only received today from the car’s designer, will see further improvements.
In Pro Stock Martin Hofer set the pace from Oliver Franke. Hofer, who claimed his first ETS win last time out, said luckily his Schumacher was easy to drive as he got no sleep last night. Unable to get out of University til 7 last night the German had to drive to the race and drove through the night covering 1148km to arrive at the track just in time this morning for practice. Franke said while his Hot Bodies felt good he thinks there is still more to come from improving the set-up. Xray driver Zdenko Kunak set the third fastest time.
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Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Round 4 participants to collect Hudy 3.0mm Allen wrench Categories - Announcement, Racing - comments closed
With the fourth round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series taking place this weekend in Poland, event sponsor Hudy have been in touch to remind entrants that they can once again collect their free Limited edition tool, which this week will be a 3.0mm Allen wrench. Given to Pro Stock and Hobby drivers competing in Europe’s largest racing series, the Slovakian company has already handed out their 1.5mm, 2.0mm and 2.5mm wrenches at the previous 3 rounds. Part of their 25 Years Anniversary limited edition series the tools feature super-lightweight CNC-machined Swiss 7075 T6 aluminium handles that reduce weight by 30% as well as a diamond-pattern surface for unsurpassed grip. The new generation of Hudy tips is hand-made from special world-renowned, top-secret, self-developed Hudy Spring Steel, individually precision-ground, sized and shaped for perfect fit with fasteners and the unique hardening processes make the tips ultra-durable. Each tool includes a press-fit protective black cap in the handle end; optional color-coded plastic caps (violet, red, blue) are available to customize the tools to your preferences. A laser-engraved ETS logo is the finishing touch.
Source: Hudy [hudy.net]
