Saturday, July 9, 2011
Völker snatches Q2 from Rheinard Categories - Racing, Report - comments closed
Ronald Völker has TQ’d the second round of qualifying for the Euro Touring Series finale snatching the fastest time on the last lap of the 5-minute run from Marc Rheinard. Having failed to complete even a lap in yesterday’s opening qualifier due to a drive shaft failure, the champion elect started Q2 from 10th and didn’t appear to be in contention on the timing screen until the very last lap on which he set his fastest lap of the run. The only other driver to record 18 laps, Rheinard set the outright fastest lap, setting a time of 17.286 on his third lap a full 1/10 faster than Völker’s best.
Surprising himself yesterday when he topped the opening round of qualifying Jilles Groskamp set the third fastest time. The former ETS Champion said traction was much higher this morning and his TRF417 set-up may not have been best suited for the conditions but otherwise described his run as ‘decent’. The TRF driver will change to his base set-up for Q3 which he said should make the car better suited to the more grippy track. He also plans to try a different additive which other members of the TRF squad have already tried and found better.
Setting the fourth fastest time Hot Bodies’ Atsushi Hara ran a new front diff on his TCX but felt it was too hard. Filling it with cleaning putty he said the car had understeer for the early part of the run but as the putty softened it started to improve. Happier with his driving today, having made a costly mistake while on a TQ run in Q1, the former World Champion will run a mixture of putty and oil in the diff for Q3. Team-mate Andy Moore, second fastest in the opening qualifier, could only manage 14th this time round saying he just drove exceptionally bad.
Failing to finish the opening qualifier Tamiya’s Viktor Wilck was fifth fastest just ahead of Yannic Prumper. Prumper said his driving was below par at the beginning of the run but his Yokomo felt good if maybe a little down on power. Planning on changing the power program on his speedo he said his main aim for the next outing is to put in a mistake free run.
Elsewhere Corally team driver Marc Fisher put in a strong run to take 7th for the Dutch company ahead of France’s Loic Jasmin. German Yokomo driver Patrick Pasch enjoyed a good showing with 10th just behind World Championship podium finisher Elliot Harper. Once again Eric Dankel was the fastest Xray in 16th just ahead of Poland race winner Juho Levanen who is struggling for traction on his Associated TC6.
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Friday, July 8, 2011
Groskamp pulls TQ run out of nowhere Categories - Racing, Report - comments closed
‘I pulled that one out of nowhere’ was how former ETS Champion Jilles Groskamp summed up his surprise TQ run in the opening round of qualifying at the final round of the ETS at Andernach. The Dutch racer topped Q1 from the Hot Bodies of Andy Moore and TRF team-mate Marc Rheinard while practice pace setter Ronald Volker ended up in the barrier on the opening lap.
Having lacked pace in practice, on a track that he said has never been successful for him, Groskamp was very amused by his TQ run but said his Orion powered Tamiya was much improved after fitting a fresh diff in which he increased the oil from 700 to 1000w. Producing a more stable car, the Apeldoorn Top Qualifier said running a set of used controlled tyres also made for a better overall package.
Moore was happy with second for the opening round but said he pushed too hard over the final laps as he tried to get the better of Rheinard but this resulted in two average laps that he felt lost him the top spot. Also finding used tyres to suit his car better the 2006 World & European Champion said it was more stable but he still needs to find something to give him a little more steering.
Losing Volker on the opening lap when a front drive shaft broke under braking at the end of the straight, Team Yokomo’s Yannick Prumper produced the third fastest time just 1/10 shy of Moore. Changing to Yokomo’s new longer chassis which the team are trying out here this weekend, the World finalist said it made the car better in every aspect and only for a mistake which cost him almost a second felt it was good enough for a TQ run.
The Top Qualifier and winner of the event last year, Marc Rheinard was on target to take the round but got it wrong on the last lap losing over 2 seconds dropping him to fourth. The outgoing champion said he didn’t drive a good heat and was pushing too hard at the end trying to make up for some poor laps.
Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp took his TF6 to the fifth fastest time followed by the Awesomatix of former team-mate Steen Graversen. Setting the seventh fastest time young German René Klöckner put in a great opening round of qualifying mixing it among the World class field.
Setting the fastest lap of the round Atsushi Hara said his TCX was finally good maybe too good as his driving let him down on lap 5 while he was setting the TQ pace. Having struggled in practice he put the same set-up as he runs a lot at his local track in Thailand on the car for Q1 and it transformed it to being very precise which he said lead to a mistake when he rode up on a curb and then crashed into a track barrier loosing him over 3.5 seconds. Ending up eigtht, the winner of the first ever ETS race at Andernach said tomorrow his event will really get started as he now feels he has the confidence to win here again.
As in practice Eric Dankel was once again the quickest of the Xray drivers with the ninth fastest time ahead of team-mate Alexander Hagberg. Juho Levanen, winner in Poland, was 11th fastest with his Associated TC6.
In Pro Stock the opening qualifier went to Awesomatix team driver Ivan Laptev. The Top Qualifier at Round 4 of the series in Poland, he said having found his car difficult in practice a switch to running anti roll bars on the A700 gave him a very consistent car. Despite running a poor opening lap he was able to take the round by a comfortable one and a half seconds over the Xray T3s of Tony Streit and last year’s winner Michael Kiesewetter. Getting to run their second qualifier, which brought Day 1 of Round 6 of the 2010/11 Yokomo Euro Touring Series to a close, Laptev improved on his time outpacing Steffen Leinburger by over 2 seconds.
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Volker tops practice at ETS finale Categories - Racing, Report - comments closed
Team Yokomo’s Ronald Volker is the top seed for qualifying at the sixth & final round of the 2010/11 ETS after outpacing Tamiya’s Viktor Wilck and Marc Rheinard in the second controlled practice. Once again the German tried two different cars this time to back to back test a front geardiff against a spool, the former proving the better option. Describing the ever changing track conditions as not being as good as CP1, Volker said he was surprised by his faster time for the three consecutive laps and now plans to run that set-up for this evening’s opening round of qualifying.
Using CP2 to run in his second set of race tyres, Wilck was happy to be able to run closer to the pace of Volker this time round also managing to move ahead of his TRF team-mate Rheinard. The Swede found the track to suit his TRF417 better and chose to scrub in the tyres as it should make for a more stable car over the opening laps of the first qualifier.
The first two laps of the run are still a problem for Hot Bodies’ two former World Champions Andy Moore and Atsushi Hara but having found a front drive shaft to be binding in the diff of his Hot Bodies TCX after CP1 Moore was able to improve to the fourth fastest time. Hara also improved his time but dropped to sixth. Running a softer set-up the Japanese star said the car produced faster lap times but did not have the correct feeling and he will revert back to his earlier set-up.
Top Danish racer Steen Graversen, who is running the still relatively new Russian designed Awesomatix, ran the fifth fastest time in CP2. Describing the traction as a complete lottery due to the wind being able to completely change conditions, Graversen is happy with the handling of the A700 for when the track is good. Finding it hard to judge what the traction is going to be like when you arrive into a corner he admitted he is not sure what set-up changes he would change if he had too.
Although he improved his time in CP2 Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp ends practice seventh fastest ahead of Tamiya’s Jille Groskamp and Team Yokomo’s Lucas Urbain. The fastest Xray driver Eric Dankel, the winner of the opening to round of this year’s series in Pro Stock, completes the Top 10 for Modified practice.
In Pro Stock Ivan Laptev set the pace with his Awesomatix outpacing Jens Kroger, Martin Hofer and Cyril N’diaye, the Top 3 in CP1, who all failed to better their times in the final practice.
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Volker sets early practice pace around challenging Andernach track Categories - Racing, Report - comments closed
2010/11 Yokomo Euro Touring Series champion elect Ronald Volker has got the season finale off to a strong start at Andernach topping the first controlled practice ahead of outgoing champion Marc Rheinard. Having grown to over double the size of the 125 entries that attended the inaugural ETS race at Andernach four years ago, the record world class entry are finding this the most challenging event yet at the German track as, unlike the previous three visits, this weekend’s racing is being run in an anti-clockwise direction.
Having endured his worst result of the season when he finished 6th at Apeldoorn in the Netherlands last month, Volker said the new track layout is a lot more challenging with the middle section very hard to get right. Trying two different Yokomo BD5 WX chassis’ that ran very slight set-up changes between them in CP1, the German said he was happy with the first car but feels the second maybe be better but could not prove that as high winds during the second half of his run blew sand from the nearby volleyball courts on to the track causing a big drop in lap times.
Rheinard, for whom this is his home event, welcomed the change to the track layout but said today’s wind means low traction, resulting in his Tamiya TRF417 feeling loose. TRF team-mate Viktor Wilck, who was third fastest, said his car had a good balance but admitted that getting the track right was really difficult.
Making his third visit to the ETS at Andernach former Touring Car and 1:8 Offroad World Champion Atsushi Hara was fourth fastest. The Hot Bodies star said his TCX is not far off being un-driveable over the first three laps but thereafter feels pretty good. Team-mate Andy Moore, who was 12th fastest, echoed the same problem with his TCX with the pair believing they have more work to do with their preparation of the controlled tyres.
Top Qualifier in the Netherlands when he made his first ETS appearance of the season, two time ETS Champion Jilles Groskamp took his Tamiya to the fifth fastest time saying the ‘bunch’ of chassis changes he made after free practice was the right direction to take. Describing the Andernach track as ‘completely’ different to Apeldoorn where a diff failure cost him the overall win, Groskamp said Andernach has never been a successful track for him but he prefers the anti-clockwise direction.
Factory Kyosho driver Christopher Krapp was happy to take his TF6 to the sixth fastest time having struggled a little in free practice. The German said he has a lot of experience of the track but only in the normal clockwise direction. Describing it as good to drive the World finalist said its a lot more difficult. Running a front gear diff in the car for the first time he said it made it much better through the big sweeper despite the low traction. Looking for more rear traction he will try a different tyre prep for CP2.
Fastest of the large factory Xray team present for the season finale is US star Paul Lemieux. The straight talking American, who has brought along Jim Skinner of his electronics supplier Thunder Power along for support, said he doesn’t think he is going to shock the world this weekend but was encouraged by his driving in CP1 saying it was the first battery that he got to terms with the ‘very difficult’ layout. A finalist on his previous two ETS outings at Andernach Lemieux’s focus now is to figure out the right tyre prep.
In the Xray Pro Stock class Kyosho driver Jens Kröger was fastest ahead of Martin Hofer’s Schumacher with French ace Cyril N’diaye, better known for racing in the Xenon modified class, third. Having enjoyed a great ETS debut for Team Yokomo in Apeldoorn where he finished fourth in Mod, N’diaye has taken on the challenge of both classes this weekend.
Originally planning to run two rounds of qualifying this evening a power failure, caused by a switch failure in the local electricity suppliers junction box outside of the track, resulted in a delay of over an hour and a half. Due to the loss of time Race Director Scotty Ernst has made the decision to run two run the two rounds of qualifying for the Hobby and Pro Stock classes but will move Q2 for Modified to tomorrow morning.
View complete event results here.
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Socket Driver 7.0mm completes Hudy ETS tool set Categories - Announcement, Racing - comments closed
With the final round of the 2010/11 Yokomo Euro Touring Series taking place this weekend at Andernach in Germany, series sponsor Hudy will issue the final tool in the special edition 6 piece ETS set, the 7.0mm Socket Driver. 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, 2.5mm and 3.0mm wrenches and a 3.0mm Arm reamer at the previous 5 rounds. The 25 Years Anniversary limited edition of the HUDY Exclusive Tool Line features super-lightweight CNC-machined Swiss 7075 T6 aluminum 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]
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Season finale attracts World Class entry Categories - Announcement, Racing - comments closed
Andernach in Germany plays host to the finale of the 2010/11 Yokomo Euro Tourng Series this weekend (8-10th July) with a world class entry of almost 300 drivers from around the globe set to descend on the home town of reigning World & ETS Modified Champion Marc Rheinard. 13 of the Top 14 finishers from last year’s World Championships will compete in the sixth & final round of the series’ fourth season with a massive 27 nations being represented.
The 21st running of an ETS event, the championship regulars will be joined by former World Champion Atsushi Hara and American ace Paul Lemieux, setting the stage for a thrilling three days of competition. A previous winner at Andernach, Hara makes his first ETS appearance since finishing second to Rheinard at the season finale 12-months ago while Lemieux makes his third ever appearance, the last having been over two years ago when Poland made its debut on the series calendar.
In terms of the championship two new champions will be crowned at the weekend with Ronald Volker and Martin Hofer both looking to end their successful campaigns on a high.
