Saturday, March 3, 2012
Another TQ run from Hagberg Categories - Racing, Report - comments closed
Alexander Hagberg put in another TQ run at the third round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Gran Canaria, the Swede topping the penultimate qualifier ahead of Ronald Volker and fellow countryman Viktor Wilck. The top three all benefited from fresher tyres with both Hagberg and Volker running brand new tyres while Vilck’s tyres had only three laps on them after he pulled up early in the previous qualifier following a roll.
Hagberg, who can now only be denied from securing Xray’s first overall TQ honours in the ETS’ premiere class by Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp, said his ORCA powered T3 2012 felt a little loose in the beginning but after a few laps started to work really well allowing him to better his TQ time from Q2 by almost 2 seconds.
Failing to finish his Q2 & 3 runs, Volker said he wasn’t able to match Hagberg as he couldn’t drive his BD5 WX as aggressively as he would normally like to but added the result should ensure he starts in a Top 3 position on the grid in tomorrow’s race.
Krapp along with Andy Moore are the only leading drivers left to run their second set of allocated tyres meaning the duo on paper are the only contenders for a TQ run in the fifth and final qualifier. With Krapp’s Q1 time still the fastest 5-minute run of the day, Hagberg will be hoping former World Champion Moore can pull off a TQ run as if Krapp tops the times he will get it on a tie break to take Kyosho’s second ever ETS TQ.
Fastest in Q3, Marc Rheinard didn’t finish his run after his Tamiya once again pulled off a somersault down the main straight.
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Video – Qualifying Round 3 Categories - Racing, Report - comments closed
The gamble to use the second of their two allocated sets of tyres in the third round of qualifying for the ETS in Gran Canaria paid dividends for two of the three Tamiya Racing Factory drivers as Marc Rheinard topped the time sheets ahead of team-mate Elliot Harper with Hot Bodies’ Andy Moore best of the drivers still running on their first set of Ride tyres.
Managing to post only the 8th & 5th fastest times in his opening two heats, World Champion Rheinard said using fresh tyres was the only chance he had at a TQ run this weekend and even with the fresh rubber his car did not feel good to drive. Harper found his TRF417 felt worse on new tyres for the first half of the run but by the middle of the run really came good and in the end the performance balanced out for a good overall result which the 18-year-old hopes should now ensure he lines-up on the grid for tomorrow’s A-Main. Viktor Wilck failed to capitalise on his fresh tyres after he caught a bump coming onto the main straight which sent his Tamiya TRF417 into a roll on lap 3 after which the Swede pulled up to save his tyres for Q4.
Moore, who was second fastest in Q2, said he made a couple of mistakes but even without them he would not have had the pace to match either Rheinard or Harper. The third of the six scheduled qualifiers was to be a good round for British drivers with Stefan Chodzynski taking his HPI Flux Pro powered Hot Bodies TCX to an impressive sixth fastest time while Schumacher’s Chris Grainger made it four Brits in the Top 10 taking his Mi4CX to the 8th fastest time.
For the pace setters from the opening two qualifiers, Team Xray’s Alexander Hagberg and Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp were content with fourth and fifth respectively for the third run as they still both have a fresh set of tyres to use. For Champion Ronald Volker his day continued to go downhill. The Yokomo driver was on a Top 3 pace on old tyres when his BD5-WX looked to have shutdown on the main straight before taking off again at full speed ending up under the race control platform. The German thinks the incident was caused by a radio glitch.
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Hagberg takes Q2 Categories - Racing, Report - comments closed
Team Xray’s Alexander Hagberg posted his first ever TQ run of the ETS when he steered his T3 2012 to the fastest time in the second qualifier at the Euro Touring Series third round in Gran Canaria. The Swede, who was fourth fastest in Q1 following a mistake, took Q2 from a much improved Andy Moore with the pace setter from this morning’s opening round Christopher Krapp completing the Top 3.
Running a clean second qualifier, Hagberg said the rise in track temperature over the morning’s first run had benefited his car and that compared with the cars of the other teams his had better pace on the second run of the controlled Ride tyres. Happy to continue with the set-up he started out the day with, the Snowbirds champion believes the biggest call for the remaining three rounds of qualifying will be when to take the gamble on running the second of the two sets of tyres each driver has been allocated.
Planning to switch to a lighter oil for Q2 Moore opted instead to fit a more flexible top deck to his TCXX along with changing to a lighter oil in the rear diff. The British ace said the changes did improve the car and he was happy to go second fastest but he still needs to find something more but added the Q2 changes have given him something solid to build on.
Fastest in Q1, Kyosho’s Krapp described his second heat as a solid run but said he was lacking overall traction and he plans to try a different tyre prep for his next outing. Behind the German the Tamiya team completed the Top 6 with Viktor Wilck again the top TRF417 despite saying his set-up changes after Q1 was in the wrong direction. Both Wilck and Marc Rheinard, who set the fourth & fifth fastest times respectively, said their cars struggled on used tyres and they are both expected to run the second set of tyres in Q3 in a gamble to get at least one strong round for the team. Completely changing the set-up on his Orion powered example for Q2, Elliot Harper said it was a little better but the run wasn’t perfect with a spin costing him around a second.
Championship leader Ronald Volker pulled up his Yokomo to save tyres after a roll ended any chance of a Top 3 finish. Chasing his third straight win in the series here this weekend the German struggled with under steer and said his roll was the result of pushing too hard to try make up time. Another driver to pull up after a mistake again to save his tyres was Awesomatix driver Steen Graversen.
In the Xray Pro Stock class former Hobby Class champion Michal Orlowski from Poland TQ’d the second qualifier ahead of current champion Martin Hofer and local Gran Canaria driver Alvaro Fernandez.
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Krapp TQs first qualifier in Gran Canaria Categories - Racing, Report - comments closed
Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp has TQ’d the opening round of qualifying at the third round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Gran Canaria bringing Champion Ronald Volker’s domination of qualifying this season to an end. Driving his TF6-SP, the young German driver took the first of the five rounds of qualifying at the outdoor asphalt track by just over half a second from Volker with Viktor Wilck setting the third fastest time.
Currently third in the ETS point standings, Krapp was delighted to take his second ever TQ run in the ETS saying this time round it was done on proper pace rather than his rivals hitting problems. Confident his Orion powered Kyosho would perform better on asphalt than on carpet, he said he did not expect it be as good as it was for Q1. Once he noticed he was able to match Wilck’s pace, who started ahead of him, he said he pushed hard and the end result was ‘a really good run’. For Q2 the Worlds Finalist said he wont be making any changes to his set-up as the car is working really well and it just needs the driver to deliver the results.
Volker said he was simply outpaced by Krapp as it was a clean run and he was driving as hard as he could. Complimenting his fellow German on his performance, adding he deserved the TQ run, the Yokomo ace said he wasn’t too disappointed by his own performance as this was the first time everyone was running at the same time on new sets of the Ride controlled tyre and that was a true indication of everyone’s pace. With conditions at the track much colder today Volker said he will talk to his engineer Umino about trying a slightly different tyre prep for Q2.
Tamiya Racing Factory’s Wilck said his TRF417 was good at the beginning with a good level of traction but in the second half of the 5-minute run it started sliding about. Planning to try a different tyre prep, the Swede will also make some small front roll centre changes.
Steen Graversen was very happy with his Awesomatix in the opening qualifier as he took the A700 to the fourth fastest time. Now one of the few remaining veteran’s of electric touring car racing and one of the oldest leading drivers, when asked if he had an issues with his car in Q1 the Dane replied that the car was fine and the only problem is that ‘the driver is getting older and older’.
Flipping his Xray T3 2012 after the first run down the long straight, Alexander Hagberg said the car was really good but he couldn’t recover from the early mistake. Taking fifth for the round the Snowbirds Champion said the car is good for at least a Top 3 time and he will be running it as it is in Q2.
Completing the Top 6, former World Champion Andy Moore said his car felt completely different to yesterday. The Hot Bodies driver was happy with the balance of his Hot Bodies pre production TCXX but said it just didn’t have enough overall traction. The current British Champion will switch to a lighter shock oil for Q2.
Elsewhere World Champion Marc Rheinard could only manage the 8th fastest time behind Tamiya team-mate Elliot Harper, while Yokomo drivers Olivier Bultynck and Eric Dankel completed the Top 10. setting the 11th fastest time Team Associated’s Juho Levanen said after his run that if he had been driving around the track on his own he would have reported that his TC6.1 felt pretty good but with in the top heat he said he could visually see he has work to do. Team-mate Keven Hebert, who ended up 15th, reported a lack of rear traction and will try a completely different set-up for Q2.
In the Xray Pro Stock class Czech driver Marek Cerný produced his first ever TQ run with his Yokomo topping Q1 ahead of the Awesomatix of two time race winner Ivan Laptev and German Xray driver Tony Streit.
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Friday, March 2, 2012
Volker momentum continues at Rd3 Categories - Racing - comments closed
Team Yokomo’s Ronald Volker continues his impeccable title defense, kicking off Round 3 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series at the top of the time sheets in controlled practice. His third consecutive event to control the opening day’s proceeding, the German ace topped the official practice ranking from Awesomatix’s Steen Graversen and Team Xray’s Alexander Hagberg.
Clocked by a radar gun doing the fastest top speed down the long straight of the Gran Canaria track, his BD5 WX reaching 104kph, Volker played down his practice pace believing that as not everyone ran fresh sets of the controlled Ride tyre today he will not get a true indication to his pace until tomorrow morning’s opening qualifier. Switching from a Protoform Speed 6 to a LTC-R bodyshell for the final two timed practice runs it improved his steering in the tight corners albeit at the expense of making the car more aggressive and difficult to drive. Still not comfortable with the feeling of the car on a surface which he failed to enjoy success last season on his way to the ETS title, he plans to make use of open practice at the track this evening.
Behind a very contented Graversen, Hagberg said his T3 2012 was working really well and the only problem was he was ‘driving it like shit’. The Swede is confident if he can drive a clean 5-minutes then a podium finish is on the cards this weekend.
Completing an impressive backflip on the main straight in CP6 after his Tamiya caught air under the bodyshell, Marc Rheinard ended practice a frustrated fourth. Following his aerobatics, the World Champion said he was hesitating getting on full power but this issue aside he was still struggling for grip and struggling to come up with a solution. The German plans to try his spare car in the open practice to see if he has a hidden problem with his race car.
Classified 6th at the end of practice, team-mate Viktor Wilck was happy with changes made to the roll centres on his TRF417x. The Swede, who also geared up his Thunder Power motor, is confident he has found the right direction to go with his set-up and plans to try out some further small changes in the open practice. The third of the TRF drivers Elliot Harper, who ended the day 9th, tried a different set-up for the final practice but said his car didn’t feel so good and so he will revert back to his earlier setting for Qualifying.
Splitting Rheinard and Wilck at the end of practice Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp said he was more focused on doing his own thing today rather than chasing the times of others. Putting on a new set of tyres in CP5 he said his TF6-SP was really good helped by the sun breaking through clouds that had overshadowed the track for much of the day. Confident about his chances for tomorrow, the Worlds Finalist is hopeful for clear blue skies in the morning as the hotter the track the better the cars seems to work.
In the Xray Pro Stock class Toni Mateo got his home event off to the best possible start as his Tamiya topped the practice ranking from current champion Martin Hofer. Hofer, who had a disastrous event in Italy after an university exam meant he missed practice, said he is confident he can get his title defence back on track this weekend with his Schumacher working really well on a track he said ‘he likes a lot’.
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ETS arrives in Gran Canaria Categories - Racing, Report - comments closed
Better known as a holiday destination rather than a place to host an international RC race, this week the island of Gran Canaria has seen an influx of people carrying suspicious hand luggage through Las Palmas airport as the top touring cars drivers from around the world arrived for Round 3 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series. A new addition to this season’s ETS schedule, the event gives drivers a very welcome break from indoor carpet racing thanks to the Mediterranean climate of the Spanish island.
With most drivers having come out to Gran Canaria a few days earlier than normal to combine some R&R into the trip, the track has seen plenty of activity throughout the week but today the event officially got underway with controlled practice, with defending champion Ronald Volker setting the pace after 4 of 6 runs. Taking his second win of the season in Italy the German ace said there that he expected the switch to asphalt to present his Yokomo team with a tougher challenge and even though he is fastest at the moment he believes the times, based on three consecutive laps, are not a true indication of the form here. Having suffered a well highlighted high speed crash on Wednesday which totally destroyed his BDX5 chassis, Volker believes he has benefited today from running a fresher sets of tyres than his rivals as he is still fine tuning his set-up. While his biggest rival Marc Rheinard is struggling with the low traction levels he said this isn’t a real problem for him.
Rheinard said he was pretty pleased with his Tamiya yesterday but today the World Champion has suffered two tyre failures and is struggling with the lack of traction. The German is only 10th fastest behind both his team-mates Elliot Harper and Viktor Wilck who recorded the 5th and 7th fastest time respectively. Keeping the mood in the TRF camp somewhat positive is Harper. The 18-year-old damaged two chassis’ yesterday but said today has been going pretty well so far and he is enjoying racing outdoors again.
Posting the second fastest time Hot Bodies’ Andy Moore is pleased with his pre-release TCXX chassis which he said feels pretty balanced. Focusing more on tyre prep than chassis set-up he has been trying different additive each run to try and get a more consistent car. Fast and easy to drive in the latter half of the 5-minute run he said if he can get the car to work like this from the start he should be in for a good weekend.
Driving for Awesomatix Steen Graverson was happy with his morning as he posted the third fastest time. The Danish driver said it took a bit of getting used to racing on asphalt in what is still the middle of the indoor carpet season but he is pretty happy with his pace. With two major bumps on the track, bumpy tracks being known to affect the unique suspension of the A700, Graversen said it has not been as a big an issue as at previous events and he is feeling confident about his chances here this weekend with the shaft driven car.
Still on a high from winning the Snowbirds in the US, his first big international victory, Alexander Hagberg used his ORCA powered T3 2012 to set the fourth fatest time. The Swede said this is the first time they have raced the new chassis on asphalt and having tested here for most of the week he said its an improvement on last year’s car. Xray have a smaller presense than usual this weekend with Martin Hudy and chief designer Juraj Hudy both missing the event due to their ever increasing work load.
Enjoying a very strong start to the season with a podium finish at the opening round in Germany, Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp is fifth fastest with his new TF6-SP. Featuring a more flexible chassis and top deck, the Orion powered car ran very well in the first two runs of the day but the German found it loose in P3 & 4. Believing the change in weather may have contributed to the lack of traction he plans to try different gear diff options in the final two practice runs. Having started out as an overcast morning the clouds have finally started to clear giving racers their first glance of the sun today.
The man responsible for bringing the Euro Touring Series to Gran Canaria, series regular Toni Mateo, who lives on the island, has had a good morning setting the fastest time time in the Xray Pro Stock and the 8th fastest time in the Ride Modified class.
Doubling up their factory effort this weekend Team Associated pairing Juho Levanen and Keven Hebert set the 9th and 12th fastest times. Levanen described his run as pretty good considering the lack of experience they have with the TC6.1 on asphalt. Last weekend the pair competed at the TITC where traction was extremely high and now they have the complete opposite of conditions pretty much cancelling out what they learned in Thailand. While his 3-lap time is only 9th fastest, the Finn believes he has one of the more consistent cars over 5-minutes and so he feels confident for tomorrow’s qualifiers. Canadian Hebert said his performance so far have been ‘average’ and that is down to both his car set-up and his own driving. A much bigger track than he is used to racing on he said he needs to find a little more steering and also needs to relax his driving admitting he driving a bit too hard.
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Friday, February 24, 2012
Keven Hebert returns to ETS Categories - Racing, Report - comments closed
Factory Team Associated driver Keven Hebert is set to make a return to the Yokomo Euro Touring Series when he travels to the Spanish holiday island of Gran Canaria next weekend (March 2-4) to contest round three of the world famous electric touring car championship. Having made his ETS debut in Austria last year where he made the A-Main finishing 9th overall, the Canadian who is a leading figure in the US racing scene will once again join forces with factory Associated team-mate Juho Levanen.
Levanen, who went on to win in Poland last season following Hebert’s debut a round earlier, is looking forward to having Hebert join him and hopes together they can turn around what has been a disappointing start to the 6 round series for the Finn. Finishing fourth overall in last season’s standings, Levanen currently finds himself down in 14th position having failed to make the A-Main at the opening two rounds which were both won by defending champion Ronald Volker.
A new addition to this year’s calendar, Cran Canaria will be the first outdoor race of the 2011/12 season with the leading drivers hoping the move from carpet to asphalt will give them a chance to bring a halt to Volker and Team Yokomo’s early domination of season No.5 of the Euro Touring Series.
