Saturday, October 29, 2011
Volker is Top Qualifier for ETS season opener Categories - Racing, Report - comments closed
Team Yokomo’s Ronald Volker is Top Qualifier for the opening round of the 2011/12 Yokomo Euro Touring Series. Having TQ’d the opening two qualifiers in Germany, the reigning champion laid claim to his sixth ETS pole position when he topped Q3 with a new fastest time. The German once again outpaced the Tamiya of Marc Rheinard with Xray’s Alexander Hagberg enjoying his best round to set the third fastest time.
Having changed the set-up of his front shocks for the penultimate qualifier in order to improve corner speed, Volker said his BD5 WXi was better but nearer to the edge and on lap 19 of 23 he found that edge losing over a second when he suffered a roll. The loss of time resulted in the German missing out on the first 24 lap of the weekend. Delighted to be starting his title defense from pole position tomorrow he said he will use the last round of qualifying this evening to try a different set-up which he described as ‘risky’.
Currently the only Yokomo driver in the final, Volker’s team-mates need to pull something out of the bag in Q4. Switching to the same set-up as his team-mate Naoto Matsukura was a lot happier with his car and set an almost identical lap time to that of Volkers fastest lap of the event but a couple of mistakes meant the IIC Champion was only 15th for the round. Yannic Prümper also tried Volker’s set-up but it didn’t suit the German teenager’s driving style as the car was not aggressive enough and he was only 9th.
Runner-up to Volker in all three qualifier’s Rheinard said he still does not have a good feeling with his Tamiya TRF417x. Having changed springs for Q3 he said it made little difference. Not sure what direction to take the driver with the most ETS wins to his credit said he will try different shiming of the ackermann for Q4 that was suggested to him by Matsukura as he has run out of ideas of his own to try.
Behind the top 3, Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp and Hot Bodies’ Dominik Fleischmann both put in their best runs setting the fourth and fifth fastest times respectively while Andy Moore completed the Top 6.
In Pro Stock Hot Bodies driver Oliver Franke again set the pace taking the round from the Awesomatix pairing of Ivan Laptev and Denmark’s Carsten Madsen. Champion Martin Hofer saw his run ruined when he caught a corner dot on his the second lap resulting in him getting stuck against the track barrier and losing over 4 seconds. Currently only 6th in the overall qualification ranking the German really needs a good final qualifier if he is to have any chance of starting off his title defence with a win tomorrow. Fifth for the round Zdenko Kunák’s opening TQ run is still the fastest five minute time so it is still all to play for in the final qualifier with both drivers still seeking their first ever ETS TQ honour.
View complete race results here.
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Q2 Update Categories - Racing, Report - comments closed
Day 2 of the opening race of the 2011/12 Yokomo European Touring Series has got underway with the second round of qualifying with Ronald Volker continuing to set the pace as he improved on his Q1 time from last night to once again head the Tamiya Racing Factory team-mates Marc Rheinard and Viktor Wilck.
Knocking 1.5 seconds off his opening qualifying run, Volker said other than one moment when his LRP powered BD5 WXi got up on the two wheels it was another clean run. Feeling he was lacking a little corner speed compared with yesterday the reigning Champion plans to make some small set-up changes for Q3. With two TQ runs in the bag the German ace was more concerned for his team-mates who struggled badly with traction roll this morning. Running different set-ups to Volker both Naoto Matsukura and Yannic Prümper will try his set-up for their next run.
Crashing on his penultimate lap, Rheinard said even without losing the 1.5 seconds he was struggling to match Volker’s pace. Putting the speed of his rival down to the expertise of the Yokomo drivers engineer Umino Yukijiro, Rheinard said his own car feels easy to drive giving you the confidence to push hard but then suddenly gets edgy and very inconsistent. Admitting he is not really sure what to change to cure the problem the World Champion will switch from Tamiya springs to a set of his own MR33 brand springs for Q3. Wilck, who switched from running a geardiff in Q1 to a spool, said the change made little difference and his Thunder Power equipped TRF417x still had no steering and it was only a clean run that allowed him to take third for the round some 5 seconds adrift of Volker.
Annoyed with his driving in the opening qualifying Team Xray’s Alexander Hagberg was much happier with his fourth fastest time in Q2. Loosing some time after a coming together with team-mate Zdenko Kunák, the Swede said he drove a lot more consistent and although this felt slow the times were ‘OK’. Looking for a more aggressive car he will try a different set-up for his next run. Fastest Xray in the opening qualifier in which he was fifth, Kunák could only manage 17th for the round.
Although fifth for the round, a big improvement on yesterday’s performance, former World Champion Andy Moore said he was still way off the pace on a track which he said is not particularly difficult. Having changed his shock set-up for the run the factory Hot Bodies driver said it was better but he still needs to find more steering. Running HPI Flux Pro electrics in his TCX he will try a different additive for Q3. HB team-mate Freddy Sudhoff, who is happier with his car having switched to the same set-up as Dominic Fleischmann set the seventh fastest time just behind the Kyosho of Christopher Krapp.
In the Xray Pro-Stock class, in which their are 166 competitors, former race winner Oliver Franke TQ’d the second qualifier by just 11/100ths from Zdenko Kunák who took Q1. Franke said he made his Hot Bodies more flexible for his second run and while it didn’t make it faster it made it easier to drive. The German said he is not sure whether to change his set-up for Q3 to try make the car faster or continue with the safe set-up he has now.
Champion of the Xray Pro Stock class Schumacher driver Martin Hofer, who was only 8th fastest in the opening heat, changed the bump steer on his car which he said solved his problem at one particular corner where he was struggling with traction roll. The German said he is still lacking pace but having made the car easier to drive his confidence is much better today. Last season’s Dutch ETS race winner John Bruins took fourth for the round.
View complete race results here.
View the event image gallery here.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Perfect start to campaign for Volker Categories - Racing, Report - comments closed
Team Yokomo’s Ronald Volker has got his 2011/12 Yokomo Euro Touring Series campaign off to the best start possible by backing up his pace in practice with a TQ run in the opening round of qualifying in Germany tonight. The defending champion took the first of the four scheduled qualifiers by 2/10th of a second from Tamiya’s Marc Rheinard with Viktor Wilck third.
Volker, who won the opening three rounds of last season’s ETS en-route to the title, said he made a slightly over cautious start to his Q1 run losing him some time early on to Rheinard. Once settled into his rhythm the German said he was very comfortable with his LRP powered BD5 WXi and started to pushed harder and once aware of his 3/10th advantage over Rheinard said he focused on keeping the remainder of the run clean.
Rheinard, who pulled off an impressive save when his car got up on two wheels, said his TRF417x was easier to drive following a switch to a heavier shock oil after final practice. Despite setting the fastest lap the World Champion said he needs to find more steering. TRF team-mate Wilck ran a gear diff in the front of his car which he said made for better handling in the second half of the run but he too was also suffering with the front end pushing, the Swede plans to switch back to a spool for Q2 tomorrow morning.
‘Much better than last season on carpet’ was how Team Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp responded to his run to the fourth fastest time. The German said he has never been good at the 3-consecutive-lap timing used in practice but felt going into qualifying that his Shin edition TF6 had the potential for a good time over 5-minutes. Having changed diff oil and shock springs for the first qualifying run he said the car had a little understeer but he thinks a change of bodyshell should cure this and he is feeling good about the three remaining rounds of qualifying tomorrow.
For 18-year-old Zdenko Kunák it was a very successful first day in German as he TQ’d the first round of Pro Stock qualifying and set an impressive fifth fastest time in the competitive Ride Modified field. The top Xray driver in Modified he said a small mistake cost him a potential top three time but he was very happy with fifth and he hopes he can continue his form tomorrow in both classes. Xray team-mate Alexander Hagberg, who was second fastest in practice, was upset with himself for making what he called two stupid mistakes. Very happy with his T3 2012 he said he pushed too hard resulting in the two rolls that dropped him to 8th fastest behind the two Hot Bodies of Dominik Fleischmann and Freddy Südhoff.
For reiging Pro Stock Champion Martin Hofer the day was not as successful as that of Volker. The Schumacher driver, who was complimentary of Kunák’s driving today, is struggling with traction roll on just one particular corner of the track and ended Q1 only 8th fastest. Behind Kunák, Oliver Franke set the second fastest time with Awesomatix team driver Ivan Laptev third.
View complete race results here.
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Volker tops timed practice Categories - Racing, Report - comments closed
Ronald Volker has topped practice for the opening round of the 2011/12 Yokomo Euro Touring Series, the reigning champion improving on his earlier pace set in the second timed practice to be seeded no.1 for qualifying. The Yokomo driver improved his average for three consecutive laps by 1/10 of a second to end practice in Muelheim-Kaerlich over 2/10th faster than Xray’s Alexander Hagberg with Tamiya’s Marc Rheinard dropping a spot to third.
Not featuring at the sharp end of the time sheets after first timed practice Japanese ace Naoto Matsukura found a chunk of time to set the fourth fastest time ahead of his Yokomo team-mate Yannic Prümper who also improved. Suffering from oversteer in TP1 the back to back 1:12 World Champion changed his suspension set-up and oil for the final practice. While much better, the 18-year-old said his BD5 WXi went to having a little understeer and he was now working on a set-up that would give him steering somewhere inbetween.
Factory Kyosho driver Christopher Krapp completed the top 6 ahead of TRF driver Viktor Wilck. Although shown at the top of the timesheets due to short lap after he missed a section of track when he rolled his TRF417x in TP1, on manual correction of the lap he ends practice classified 7th ahead of France’s Loic Jasmin.
In the Xray Pro Stock class, Slovakian Zdenko Kunák set the pace for Xray when he was the only driver to record a 13 second lap average. Fastest in the first timed practice Oliver Franke improved on his time but ended up second just ahead of champion Martin Hofer and winner of the last season’s finale Ivan Laptev.
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Champion Volker heads practice at ETS season opener Categories - Racing, Report - comments closed
Defending champion Ronald Volker has set the pace in the opening timed practice at the season opener of the 2011/12 Yokomo Euro Touring Series, the Yokomo ace fastest over three laps from his great rival and last season’s runner-up Marc Rheinard with Xray’s Alexander Hagberg third fastest.
The start of the fifth season of the ETS, the 6-round series has moved away from Kastellaun, it traditional opening event, to an all new and bigger venue in Muelheim-Kaerlich near Koblenz where almost three hundred racers from around the globe have descended for the weekend. Featuring a track designed by Spanish racer Toni Mateo, who will host the third round of the series in Gran Canary in March, the track looks like a permament track thanks to the use of black carpet. Featuring the main straight directly in front of the rostrum, the layout is coming in for a lot of praise from drivers.
As defending champions Yokomo have come to the opening race here in Germany with a huge presence including two interesting new signings. Joining Volker, Yannic Prumper, who came on strong in the second half of last season to finish third overall, and 1:12 World Champion Naoto Matsukura, who took his first big international touring car win earlier this month at the IIC in Las Vegas are Eric Dankel and Adrian Bersten. Both former Xray drivers Dankel’s move comes following a difference of opinion with his former team and his disillusionment with the tyre additive issues that have dogged onroad nitro racing this year. One of nitro racing’s leading international drivers, the German said his focus is now on electric racing where he says the ETS has created a very fair and competitive environment in which to race. Fitting in the opening two rounds of last season’s ETS around his World Championship nitro commitments Dankel went on to dominate in Pro stock but is back this year for a full campaign of Modified. Having had just one previous outing with his LRP powered BD5 WXi, he is looking forward this weekend as it will be his first chance to work with the factory team who have Umino Yukijiro on hand for technical support. In the first timed practice Dankel set the 11th fastest time. Former European junior champion Bernsten has got his new deal with Yokomo off to a good start setting the 6th fastest time in early practice.
In the middle of an intense few weeks of racing which started out with a race in Australia, followed by the IIC in Vegas then China last week and sees him head of to Hong Kong following this weekend, Volker said he is very confident about his ETS title defence. Happy with the feel of his car in practice which he heads by over a 1/10th of a second from Rheinard, the German gave the track layout a thumbs up. Asked about his set-up he said together with Umino they were just fine tuning the balance to get maximium steering without traction roll but he is very comfortable with the set-up they have already reached.
Having enjoyed a strong finish to last season’s ETS when he won both asphalt rounds, World Champion Marc Rheinard said he was surprised at his pace as his Speed Passion powered Tamiya TRF417X felt a lot worse than was reflected in the times. Struggling with the car, which features a chassis plate that uses a differently constructed carbon fibre, he said he is lacking corner speed and suffering from understeer. The German will try running a softer shock oil for the final round of practice ahead of this evening’s opening round of qualifying. A regular visitor to the MotoGP paddock as a guest of the Ducati team, Rheinard ran a special bodyshell in practice to remember fallen rider Marco Simoncelli. A total of four of the bodyshells have been painted up to reflect the helmet colours of the highly talent Italian rider with three of the large Italian contigent here running the others. Throughout the busy pit area here at the Philipp-Heift Halle there are many tributes to the #58 rider. Posting the fifth fastest time Rheinard’s TRF team-mate Viktor Wilck reported his Thunder Power equipped TRF417x, in which he is running prototype double jointed Tamiya front drive shafts, has the same issues and will also try a softer shock oil.
Heading the factory Xray team, Hagberg said his T3 2012 was a little difficult to drive but was fast. Describing the track as ‘very technical’ the Swede said he does not plan to make any set-up changes but will instead focus on tyre additive in an attempt to make the car a little easier to drive. This weekend marks the first event with new partner Ride being the controlled tires. Used by competitors at the final two asphalt events last season a softer tyre is being used here with drivers reporting very good durability and consistency.
A driver to spring up a number of surprises last season Hot Bodies’ Dominik Fleischmann set the sixth fastest time. Describing his LRP powered TCX as ‘pretty much dialled’ the German said he was pretty satisfied with the start to his weekend as University commitments have meant he has had little time to prepare for the event. Factory Hot Bodies driver Andy Moore, who enjoyed victory in China last weekend which was attended by most of the top drivers in action here, set the 10th fastest time. The newly crowned British Champion said the mixture of high and low speed corners is making it hard for him to get a good balance. Happy with his TCX on the tight corners he said the open corners are a struggle.
One of only three drivers to enjoy victory in the top class of the ETS last season Team Associated’s Juho Levanen was 12th fastest. The Finn said he was able to run a couple of good laps but he just hasn’t been able to run three consecutively. Having started to try something new in terms of set-up he said it wasn’t the right direction to take and reverting back to his carpet set-up from last season for the first timed practice he said the car was much better.
In the Xray Pro Stock class, Hot Bodies driver Oliver Franke headed the first timed practice ahead of the Schumacher of defending champion Martin Hofer.
View the event image gallery here.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Xray support for 2011/2012 ETS Categories - Announcement, Racing - comments closed
After a successful season in 2010/2011 Xray is proud to announce that the 2011/2012 Euro Touring Series will be again supported and sponsored by Xray. Both the ETS organisers and the Xray company have agreed to create a mutual cooperation that will see the Slovakian company as a primary sponsor of the world’s biggest r/c touring car championship. This is a great news for all Xray drivers as the Xray factory team will be available at all six rounds of the ETS to provide full support and service. Xray guarantees that their service team will also be available at every race with a complete range of all spare parts and will provide technical and set-up help to all Xray drivers. Just look for the familiar Xray tent.
To cap it all off, all Xray drivers at every race will receive a FREE promo package that includes Xray T-shirt, pit towel and stickers.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Yokomo extends Euro Touring Series sponsorship Categories - Announcement, Racing - comments closed
With the 2011/12 Euro Touring Series set to get underway later this week in Germany the organisers of the world’s biggest r/c touring car championship are delighted to announce that Yokomo has extended their title sponsorship of the ETS for a second season. Coming onboard as title sponsor of the six round series in 2010, the Japanese company enjoyed a perfect first season as an ETS partner with their star driver Ronald Volker dominating the opening races en-route to beating the world class field of factory drivers to the overall championship title. In recognition of Yokomo’s extended support of the ETS the series will continue to be officially known as the ‘Yokomo Euro Touring Series’.
Along with the news of the extension of their relationship with Yokomo, ETS founders Uwe Rheinard and Scotty Ernst also made the announcement of an all new partnership with Japanese company Ride who will be the official controlled tyre supplier for 2011/12. Probably best known for their sponsorship of former World Touring Car Champion and ETS race winner Atsushi Hara, the deal with Ride came about following very positive feedback from competitors who got to run their tires at last season’s finale in Andernach. Two other companies the ETS organisers are pleased to welcome onboard are new associated sponsors Team Orion and Thunder Power.
Kicking off its fifth season this weekend with an all new event in Muelheim-Kaerlich, Germany, the popularity of the ‘Yokomo Euro Touring Series’ looks set to continue to grow with the 22nd running of an ETS race having received a record 301 prepaid entries. Last season a total of 641 drivers registering championship points over the three classes that form the race program of the three day events.
Having started out in 2007 with just four dates, the Euro Touring Series has established itself now as a six round championship that combines both indoor and outdoor events. Starting at a new location near Koblenz in Germany, the series features a very different 2011/12 calendar featuring five new venues with Italy and the holiday Island of Gran Canaria two exciting additions.
