Rheinard wins Dutch ETS
Marc Rheinard has claimed his first ETS victory for 12-months, the German taking his third consecutive Apeldoorn win which is where the 3-time former World Champion last stood on the top step of the podium. Dominating the second leg of the A-Main ahead of team-mate Viktor Wilck, who didn’t mount the much anticipated challenge, the win maintains Tamiya’s 100% winning record at the Dutch track, which has now hosted the race 4-times. Behind the Tamiya 1-2, Team Yokomo’s Ronald Volker completed the Top 3 with the defending champion and Wilck now set to battle it out for what could be a crucial second place in terms of the championship standings with two rounds still remaining.
With Rheinard handed an easy win in Leg 1 after Wilck spun out off the start line, a clean start second time of asking by the Swede set the stage for a good battle between the duo. Evenly matched on pace in qualifying and having a distinct performance this weekend over their rivals, Wilck would unfortunately be no match for the Top Qualifier who setting a new fastest lap of the event on just his second lap pulled clear to win a very uneventful race by 1.8 seconds from Wilck who in turn finished 2.1-seconds in front of Volker. In fact the Top 5 drivers started as they finished, Yokomo’s Eric Dankel the best placed mover in the race finishing 6th having started in 8th.
Commenting on the race, Wilck said he just didn’t have the pace to match his team-mate. Lacking the same level of steering and corner speed he said Rheinard had the better set-up, the German who will sit out leg 3 running a different top deck and front arm set-up on his TRF417. Not willing to risk switching his car over to the same set-up as Rheinard for the third leg he said with his car as it is now he should be able to hold off Volker for the A3 win and second overall, the Tamiya team not having had a 1-2 since this time last year when they filled all three podium places.
Volker said changes to his LRP powered BD7 made his understeer issues even worse and his concern was not battling with Wilck but keeping HB’s Andy Moore at bay. In the end he managed that but he said a lap or two more and the Brit would probably have taken third from him. With a podium position pretty secure following his 2nd & 3rd place finishes in the opening two legs, the only driver to finish every race this season on the podium said its time to ‘Go big or go home’ for the final A-Main and he will switch cars. Keen to secure second which would hurt Wilck’s championship aspirations, he will run his practice chassis in the hope he find the steering he is looking for.
In the Xray Pro Stock the overall winner of Round 4 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series was also decided with defending champion Zdenko Kunak taking a tone to tone win to claim his first ETS win since taking over the reign of the series biggest class, 133 drivers competing in the class that features a controlled Speed Passion speedo and handout motor. After the second leg race director Scotty Ernst had all the cars thoroughly inspected with ratios checked, motor stripped and even the speedo disassembled to check for any tampering with the circuit boards. We are glad to report that all cars passed the scrutiny muting rumors that cheating was going on in this hugely successful class. Behind Kunak, who was clearly delighted to take his first win of the 2012/13 season and first major win with Yokomo, Martin Hofer again finished second despite a strong challenge from last year’s race winner Vasco Christiaanse.
Ride Modified A-Main Leg 2 Result
1.(1) Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – 20/5:06.456
2.(2) Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya – 20/5:08.204
3.(3) Ronald Volker (DE) – Yokomo – 20/5:10.378
4.(4) Andy Moore (GB) – HB – 20/5:10.730
5.(5) Yannic Prumper (DE) – Yokomo – 20/5:11.619
6.(8) Eric Dankel (DE) – Yokomo – 20/5:12.670
7.(6) Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho – 19/5:00.089
8.(10)Loic Jasmin (FR) – Yokomo – 19/5:03.536
9.(7) Marc Fischer (DE) – Serpent – 19/5:06.680
10.(9)Thomas Pumpler (DE) – Tamiya – 0/0:00.000
Xray Pro Stock A-Main Leg 2 Result
1.(1) Zdenko Kunak (SK) – Yokomo – 18/5:17.826
2.(2) Martin Hofer (DE) – Schumacher – 17/5:02.314
3.(3) Vasco Christiaanse (NL) – Kyosho – 17/5:02.946
4.(4) Dominic Vogl (AT) – Awesomatix – 17/5:02.958
5.(5) Alexander Stocker (DE) – Xray – 17/5:05.128
6.(7) Valetin Hettrich (DE) – Xray – 17/5:06.906
7.(10)Tobias Vogel (DE) – Xray – 17/5:07.459
8.(8) John Bruins (NZ) – Kyosho – 17/5:09.297
9.(9) Oliver Bultynck (BE) – VBC – 8/2:29.229
10.(6)Philip Tschupp (CH) – Top Racing – 7/2:11.756
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Sunday, May 19, 2013 - add a comment
Easy A1 win for Rheinard
Tamiya’s Marc Rheinard took an easy win in the opening A-Main at the fourth round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in the Netherlands, getting the race pretty much handed to him when team-mate Viktor Wilck spun out from his No.2 starting position on the sound of the start tone. Setting the fastest lap of the race, in the end the German who has won the last the previous two ETS encounters at the Apeldoorn track eventually took a comfortable win by over two seconds from Ronald Volker with Serpent’s Marc Fischer completing the Top 3.
As Wilck’s car shot off to the right and dropped to the tail of the field, it was Volker’s No.3 starting Yokomo that lead the early challenge on Top Qualifier Rheinard. For the first three laps it looked like Volker had found the pace he was missing in qualifying but quickly it became evident that the defending champions understeer problems still remained as he dropped back from his great rival. Rheinard, who was expecting a strong challenge from Wilck, the Swede putting his spin down to a dirty track, said he was a little surprised at Volker’s early pace but said once the tyres came in he was able to cruise to pull clear for an ‘easy win’.
Volker, who based on team-mate Prumper’s performance in Q3, switched to a front gear diff on his BD7 for the first final and said it was a big improvement but it was not enough to close the gap to the Tamiyas. Happy to be able to run with Rheinard for the first few laps he said his car is still developing understeer which gets worse as the race progresses and while very happy to get a second for the Leg he said they have no choice but to make further set-up changes for Leg 2.
The defending back to back champion Volker’s second place finish was made easier after his team-mate Yannic Prumper crashed into HB’s Andy Moore while the pair were battling over third. ‘Peeled’ was how Moore summed up the lap 11 incident which Prumper afterwards took full responsibility for going over to the Brit to apologise. Moore said his TCXX was ‘there or there abouts’ in terms of pace with Volker, a statement confirmed by the two setting an identical fastest lap time of 15.211 in the race, and he was just driving around until Prumper ruined the race for both of them. In the end Moore who finished 8th while Prumper’s battered looking BD7 finished 5th. The big benefactor of the incident would be Fischer who went from fifth to third finishing a lonely third 2.5-seconds behind Volker and 4.7-seconds ahead of Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp.
In the Xray Pro Stock class Team Yokomo’s Zdenko Kunak also took a convincing win ahead of the battling Schumacher of Martin Hofer and Awesomatix’s Dominic Vogl. The defending champion who has yet to win this season took the opening leg by over 4-seconds helped by Hofer and Vogl getting together on lap 11. In the Speed Passion Formula class Top Qualifier Roman Pichler took a tone to tone victory ahead of Alexander Stocker and Sandro Kuriger who came through from starting 8th on the grid.
Ride Modified A-Main Leg 1 Result
1.(1) Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – 20/5:06.265
2.(3) Ronald Volker (DE) – Yokomo – 20/5:08.536
3.(7) Marc Fischer (DE) – Serpent – 20/5:11.089
4.(6) Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho – 20/5/15.801
5.(5) Yannic Prumper (DE) – Yokomo – 19/5:01.790
6.(9) Thomas Pumpler (DE) – Tamiya – 19/5:02.405
7.(2) Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya – 19/5:02.608
8.(4) Andy Moore (GB) – HB – 19/5:12.711
9.(8) Eric Dankel (DE) – Yokomo – 19/5:21.142
10.(10)Loic Jasmin (FR) – Yokomo – 7/1:49.998
Xray Pro Stock A-Main Leg 1 Result
1.(1) Zdenko Kunak (SK) – Yokomo – 18/5:15.168
2.(2) Martin Hofer (DE) – Schumacher – 17/5:02.345
3.(4) Dominic Vogl (AT) – Awesomatix – 17/5:03.396
4.(6) Philip Tschupp (CH) – Top Racing – 17/5:05.324
5.(10)Tobias Vogel (DE) – Xray – 17/5:05.624
6.(3) Vasco Christiaanse (NL) – Kyosho – 17/5:06.582
7.(8) John Bruins (NZ) – Kyosho – 17/5:11.348
8.(9) Oliver Bultynck (BE) – VBC – 17/5:12.243
9.(7) Valetin Hettrich (DE) – Xray – 17/5:14.384
10.(5)Alexander Stocker (DE) – Xray – 3/0:59.927
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Sunday, May 19, 2013 - add a comment
Wilck tops final qualifier for all Tamiya front row
Equipped with a fresh set of tyres ETS Round 3 winner Viktor Wilck topped the third & final qualifier at Apeldoorn in the Netherlands to secure an all Tamiya front row for tomorrow’s finals, the Swede set to line up 2nd beside his team-mate Marc Rheinard who wrapped the overall TQ honours in Q2. Also benefiting from a fresh set of the championship controlled Ride tyres, each driver allowed two sets for qualifying, French driver Loic Jasmin set the second fastest time to secure the last spot on the grid for the Main event.
Setting a time just 3/10ths shy of Rheinard’s fastest TQ run, set in Q2, Wilck said the run was simply down to him having new tyres but added it was very close between him & his team-mate and he was looking forward to a good race with him tomorrow. Running the same Raceberry chassis as Rheinard on his TRF417, the Swede said his car is working well and other than fitting a fresh set of tyres he doesn’t plan on changing anything for the final.
The fastest driver on used tyres in Q3, Rheinard set the third fastest time 3.7-seconds off Wilck but said after the run that his car was ‘actually good’ on the old tyres. Commenting on the final, last year’s event winner who is chasing a third ETS win at the Dutch track, said he expects to be pushed hard by his team-mate who is still riding high after his win at Round 3 in Gran Canaria. Asked about defending champion Ronald Volker, who will start 3rd on the grid, Rheinard feels his fellow German will have to contend with drivers starting behind him who are faster and that should play to his and Wilck’s advantage.
Volker, who was only 8th fastest in Q3, said they tried a number of things but running on used tyres it was hard to compare the full effects of the changes. Admitting to struggling today, he said he was happy to come away with third on the grid which means he still has a chance in the final. Admitting that they still had to find something in the set-up, the European Champion said changes made by his team-mate Yannic Prumper for Q3 improved his car a lot and so for tomorrow they will run something very similar. Prumper, who set the fourth fastest time on used tyres, said fitting a front geardiff to his BD7 made a ‘big difference’ and only 6/10th of his previous time set on new tyres he is very confident about tomorrow when he will start 5th on the grid.
Pulling up late in the third qualifier after a mistake meant he would not improve his grid position, HB’s Andy Moore will start fourth, his best grid position this season. The 2006 World Champion said while the Tamiya team have a clear advantage this weekend, he feels he is very close on pace with Volker and is looking forward to a good race for a place on the podium.
Fifth fastest in the final qualifier, Christopher Krapp was disappointed by his pace saying he expected more from running on fresh tyres but added it was a relief after missing Q1 to make the A-Main. Set to line up 6th on the grid behind Prumper, with whom he had a coming together in Gran Canaria, the factory Kyosho driver said his aim is to just go out and have three good races. With his TF6 sliding around a lot at the start of the run he plans to make a number of set-up changes but added with the weather set to be a lot warmer tomorrow than it has been so far this weekend he needs to account for how that will also effect the track conditions.
Setting the 7th fastest time in Q3, to secure that position on the grid, Marc Fischer’s Serpent means five manufacturers will be represented in final but not Xray. It was a day to forget for the Slovak manufacturer whose best qualifier was Tim Wahl who ended up 12th overall. Team leader Alexander Hagberg could only manage 23rd in Q3, meaning he will line up 4th on the grid for the B-Final, with the Swede saying afterwards it was the ‘fastest (he) could go’ adding that the team is ‘struggling for pace this weekend’. Joining Hagberg in the B-final will be Elliott Harper and the all new Team Durango touring car. 13th fastest in Q1, retiring from Q2 and 19th in the final qualifier, the event was also going to be a tough challenge for a new car especially after the weather meant the driver got just two practice runs before going into qualifying. There was cruel luck for TOP Racing’s Steven Weiss in the last heat as he suffered a spur gear failure while on a Top 3 run which would have put the former European Championship Top Qualifier into the A final.
In the Xray Pro Stock class, defending champion Zdenko Kunak claimed his first overall TQ honours in 8 races. The Yokomo team driver said at the start of the weekend his BD7 was ‘Super Shit’ but every run they were able to get it better and better and now he is really happy with how the car is working. Asked about the final the Slovak ace said with Pro Stock the final is always going to be very close especially on such a large track. Starting behind Kunak will be Schumacher’s Martin Hofer, the driver whom he took over the title last year, with last year’s winner Vasco Christiaanse putting his Kyosho on the second row of the grid where he will be joined by the Awesomatix of Dominic Vogl. Making a very welcome return to the ETS after a long absence, 2 time Champion Alexander Stocker will start 5th on the grid and will be one to watch tomorrow. Unfortunately for current championship leader Marek Cerny Q3 saw another DNF for the Xray driver and despite TQ’ing yesterday’s opening qualifier the Czech driver’s run of wins is over and he will not play a part in tomorrow’s main event.
In the Speed Passion Formula class Top Racing’s Roman Pichler completed a clean sweep topping all three qualifiers to secure pole position ahead of Dutchman Michael Lepelaar and class debutant Stocker.
Interested by the class yesterday which he saw for the first time yesterday the German got hold of a Yokomo kit which was build up last night and he was given an entry bringing the field to 37 cars. Having missed the first qualifier, he duly set 4th fastest times in Q2 & 3 to qualify just in front of defending champion Herbert Weber who starts 4th.
Ride Modified Q3 times
1. Viktor Wilck – Tamiya – 20/5:05.569
2. Loic Jasmin – Yokomo – 20/5:08.347
3. Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 20/5:09.242
4. Yannic Prumper – Yokomo – 20/5:10.525
5. Christopher Krapp – Kyosho – 20/5:10.853
6. Thomas Pumpler – Tamiya – 20/5:11.000
7. Marc Fischer – Serpent – 20/5:11.242
8. Ronald Volker – Yokomo – 20/5:12.243
9. David Ehrbar – Serpent – 20/5:12.408
10.Oliver Bultynck – VBC – 20/5:13.296
Ride Modified A-Main Grid
1. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – 310 pts
2. Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya – 308
3. Ronald Volker (DE) – Yokomo – 305
4. Andy Moore (GB) – HB – 303
5. Yannic Prumper (DE) – Yokomo – 302
6. Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho – 300
7. Marc Fischer (DE) – Serpent – 297
8. Eric Dankel (DE) – Yokomo – 296
9. Thomas Pumpler (DE) – Tamiya – 294
10.Loic Jasmin (FR) – Yokomo – 292
Xray Pro Stock A-Main Grid
1. Zdenko Kunak (SK) – Yokomo – 310 pts
2. Martin Hofer (DE) – Schumacher – 306
3. Vasco Christiaanse (NL) – Kyosho – 304
4. Dominic Vogl (AT) – Awesomatix – 303
5. Alexander Stocker (DE) – Xray – 300
6. Philip Tschupp (CH) – Top Racing – 300
7. Valetin Hettrich (DE) – Xray – 298
8. John Bruins (NZ) – Kyosho – 297
9. Oliver Bultynck (BE) – VBC – 296
10.Tobias Vogel (DE) – Xray – 294
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Saturday, May 18, 2013 - add a comment
Rheinard is Dutch ETS Top Qualifier
Marc Rheinard has secured overall TQ honours at the fourth round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in the Netherlands after he backed up yesterday’s Q1 performance with a new fastest time in Q2, outpacing defending champion Ronald Volker by 3.8-seconds. Andy Moore completed the Top 3 for the opening round of action on Day 2 of the Apeldoorn event which due to overnight rain only got underway at lunchtime as race organisers waited until racing could resume on a fully dry track.
Rheinard’s first TQ in the series since he claimed his only pole position start & win of last season here 12 months ago, the German ace has never appeared so happy with his Muchmore powered TRF417. Describing the car, which is using a Raceberry chassis plate, as really easy to drive the former World Champion added he didn’t actually drive a great second qualifier. Missing his braking point at the end of the straight a number of times, he said he was still able to get the car to easily turn in and despite how forgiving it is to drive it can produce good lap times. Setting the fastest lap of both qualifiers, Rheinard has used his two sets of allocated controlled Ride tyres and said the final qualifier will be a test as to how his car runs on used tyres. Team-mate Viktor Wilck, who set the second fastest time in Q1, ran on used tyres and could only manage the 14th fastest time saying the difference between new and used is ‘pretty significant’. One of the few drivers with a new set of tyres for Q3, the Swede, who won Round 3 of the championship, is hopeful he can capitalise and TQ the last qualifier to give Tamiya a 1-2 on the grid.
Volker said while the track conditions were similar if not better than in Q1 despite the overnight rain, his car was slower. Changing the set-up on his BD7 along with how he prepped his tyres, the German said they went the wrong direction on both accounts. Adding that ‘luckily’ he still got second for the round he said that if he can secure a top three starting position on the grid he should be OK for the final. Team-mate Yanic Prumper set the fourth fastest time saying his car was much better than yesterday but ‘still too slow’. Running a Kimi Raikkonen/Lotus F1 paint scheme this weekend, a change of bodyshell made the biggest different to improved performance in Q2 after he was only 7th in Q1. With the body also painted on the outside to get a matt finish on the black sections of the colour scheme they found last night that the body less the wing weighed the same as a standard painted body with a wing and so the change to a white shell was made for today. Fifth fastest in Q1, a mistake meant Eric Dankel would only record 9th in the second qualifier but switching to a shorter wheelbase for today the German said his BD7 felt as if it was tweaked.
HB’s Moore said he over drove the last few laps and that cost him second for the round. Still pleased to claim third, the former World Champion said having used both his new sets of tyres he will have to rethink a few things for Q3 in terms of set-up to try and get the most from running on used tyres.
Having had tyre gluing dramas in Q1 resulting in him failing to start, Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp had a heart stopping moment as his transponder would not register but thankfully time keeping manually registered the German’s laps with him claiming the fifth fastest time. The German said it was a ‘solid run’ and he hopes with another good run in Q3 it will be enough to make the A-Main. Starting last of the 10 cars in the top heat, Krapp said after seeing how tight and fast Rheinard’s car can corner its clear he needs more steering and so he will shorten the camber rods for the last qualifier.
Completing the Top 6, Team Xray’s Alexander Hagberg said his set-up for Q2 was a ‘big step forward from yesterday’. The Swede was happy with the performance of his T4 for the beginning of the run but said it then started to overheat the front tyres. Despite this he added that they are headed in the right direction and he hopes further set-up improvements for Q3 will allow him to book a spot in tomorrow’s main event.
Behind Hagberg, TOP Racing’s Steven Weiss put in a great run to claim the 7th fastest time. Having run both practice runs on used tyres left over from Round 3 in Gran Canaria and then forgetting the spacers on his body posts for Q1 which left the bodyshell scrapping on the grid, the German said this was his first proper run on the Apeldoorn track. Delighted with the result he said he plans to leave his Photon EX exactly the same for Q3 and just hopes he can put in a repeat performance. Behind Weiss, reigning Pro Stock Champion Zdenko Kunák, who is running in the same heat, completed the Top 8.
Sixth fastest in Q1, Team Serpent’s Marc Fischer was running a similar pace to Prumper until his S411 suffered a bearing failure on the spur gear carrier. A podium finisher at Round 2 in the Czech Republic, the German said he knew something was wrong early on in the run with the car eventually coming to a stop just before the loop as he was about to complete his 18th lap of a potential 20.
Also retiring from Q2 was Team Durango’s Elliott Harper. Making the international debut for the company’s first touring car creation this weekend, the British driver lasted only half a lap with his car shutting down just as he came onto the straight. Afterwards he said the car didn’t feel right on the warm-up lap but he is not sure what actually caused the shutdown and as a precaution he will change both his motor and speedo for Q3 although the fault has cost him any chance of putting the prototype DETC410 in the main event.
In the Xray Pro Stock Class, Team Yokomo’s Kunák topped Q2 ahead of the Kyosho of last year’s race winner Vasco Christiaanse. For Q1 pace setter, and championship standings leader, Marek Cerny the run last less than two minutes as he retired with a broken drift shaft on his Xray. Austrian Awesomatix driver Dominic Vogl completed the Top 3 in Q2. In the Speed Passion Formula class, Roman Pichler made it two from two as he improved on his Q1 time with defending champion Herbert Weber second fastest.
Ride Modified Q2 times
1. Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 20/5:05.268
2. Ronald Volker – Yokomo – 20/5:09.060
3. Andy Moore – HB – 20/5:09.140
4. Yannic Prumper – Yokomo – 20/5:12.803
5. Christopher Krapp – Kyosho – 20/5:09.839
6. Alexander Hagberg – Xray – 20/5:12.328
7. Steven Weiss – Top Racing – 20/5:12.616
8. Zdenko Kunák – Yokomo – 20/5:12.909
9. Eric Dankel – Yokomo – 20/5:13.539
10.Thomas Pumpler – Tamiya – 20/5:13.577
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Saturday, May 18, 2013 - add a comment
