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Viktor Wilck made it a Tamiya 1-2 at the fourth round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series finishing second overall behind team-mate Marc Rheinard after taking the win in the closing race of the Dutch event.  Heading away the 9 car field, Top Qualifier Rheinard sitting out the 3rd A-Main having wrapped up the win in A2, the Swede took a tone to tone victory ahead of the Yokomo team-mates Yannic Prumper and Ronald Volker after HB’s Andy Moore spun out of a comfortable second 3-laps from the finish.

Despite setting the fastest lap of the race, Wilck said his TRF417 ‘did not feel super good’.  Once Volker rolled out of second just as they came around to complete lap 5, he said he was able to cruise, focusing on keeping a constant gap between him and Moore before the British ace had an unusual incident on the pit straight.  Dropping back to finish sixth, Moore had no explanation for why his TCXX spun saying he didn’t do anything different that lap and was just running his regular line when the car decided to spin out onto the grass.

Switching to his spare BD7 which featured a number of different parts and a totally different set-up, Volker said it was a big improvement on his previous car with the key point being that he had more steering.  Unfortunately getting too close to the curbs, the defending champion & current standings leader would roll, landing rubber side down, but his challenge for the leg win and 2nd overall was over.  Happy with third overall, maintaining his record as the only driver in the premiere Ride Modified class to finish all four rounds to date on the podium, the German said the change of car had highlighted a number of things and he is confident that they can use that knowlegde to good effect for the remaining two asphalt rounds of the championship. Despite being back to back ETS champion, Volker has never won an outdoor round of the ETS.

In the Xray Pro Stock class, former Apeldoorn event winner John Bruins won the third A-Main from new VBC signing Oliver Bultynck with Martin Hofer third.  Hofer and last year’s winner Vasco Christiaanse had been fighting for the win until the pair had a coming together on the main straight on lap three. Despite this Hofer’s second place finishes in Leg 1 & 2 behind overall winner Zdenko Kunak meant the Schumacher driver would finish runner-up with Kyosho’s Christiaanse just hanging on to claim the final step on the podium on tie break with Awesomatix driver Dominic Vogl.

In the Speed Passion Formula class Roman Pichler, like Rheinard and Kunak, took his first win of the 2012/13 season.  Starting from pole position the Swiss driver won all three legs with Dutch duo Michael Lepelaar and Alexander Roeleveld joining him on the podium.

Ride Modified A-Main Overall Result
1. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – 2 pts
2. Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya – 3
3. Ronald Volker (DE) – Yokomo – 5
4. Yannic Prumper (DE) – Yokomo – 7
5. Marc Fischer (DE) – Serpent – 7
6. Andy Moore (GB) – HB – 10
7. Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho – 11
8. Eric Dankel (DE) – Yokomo – 12
9. Loic Jasmin (FR) – Yokomo – 13
10.Thomas Pumpler (DE) – Tamiya – 16

Ride Modified A-Main Leg 3 Result
1.(2) Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya – 20/5:09.134
2.(5) Yannic Prumper (DE) – Yokomo – 20/5:10.646
3.(3) Ronald Volker (DE) – Yokomo – 20/5:10.845
4.(7) Marc Fischer (DE) – Serpent – 20/5:11.402
5.(10)Loic Jasmin (FR) – Yokomo – 20/5:12.722
6.(4) Andy Moore (GB) – HB – 20/5:14.275
7.(6) Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho – 19/5:01.437
8.(8) Eric Dankel (DE) – Yokomo – 19/5:01.531
9.(9) Thomas Pumpler (DE) – Tamiya – 19/5:04.237
10.(1)Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – DNS

Xray Pro Stock A-Main Overall Result
1. Zdenko Kunak (SK) – Yokomo – 2 pts
2. Martin Hofer (DE) – Schumacher – 4
3. Vasco Christiaanse (NL) – Kyosho – 7
4. Dominic Vogl (AT) – Awesomatix – 7
5. John Bruins (NZ) – Kyosho – 8
6. Philip Tschupp (CH) – Top Racing – 9
7. Oliver Bultynck (BE) – VBC – 10
8. Tobias Vogel (DE) – Xray – 11
9. Alexander Stocker (DE) – Xray – 14
10.Valetin Hettrich (DE) – Xray – 14

Xray Pro Stock A-Main Leg 3 Result
1.(8) John Bruins (NZ) – Kyosho – 17/5:02.636
2.(9) Oliver Bultynck (BE) – VBC – 17/5:05.316
3.(2) Martin Hofer (DE) – Schumacher – 17/5:07.708
4.(3) Vasco Christiaanse (NL) – Kyosho – 17/5:07.841
5.(6) Philip Tschupp (CH) – Top Racing – 17/2:11.383
6.(10)Tobias Vogel (DE) – Xray – 17/5:11.407
7.(4) Dominic Vogl (AT) – Awesomatix – 17/5:11.811
8.(7) Valetin Hettrich (DE) – Xray – 17/5:13.117
9.(5) Alexander Stocker (DE) – Xray – 17/5:13.927
10.(1)Zdenko Kunak (SK) – Yokomo – DNS

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Chassis Name – Yokomo BD7
Motor – Speed Passion (handout)
ESC – Speed Passion (handout)
Batteries - LRP
Tires – Ride (handout)
Radio/Servos – KO/Savox
Remarks – Reigning Pro Stock Champion Zdenko Kunak is running his new sponsor Yokomo’s standard BD7 chassis here in Apeldoorn and showed great pace to win from the pole position, wrapping up the overall victory with one leg left to run. Kunak was using the spool on the front of his car in Pro Stock while his modified class BD7 was better with the front gear diff. Compared to the previous round in Gran Canaria the only minor change was to the lower FR RR and RR FR toe blocks which are now the single piece versions instead of the two piece blocks, a change which is stronger in the event of an impact but which also has an effect on the cars’ flex making it stiffer.

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Chassis Name – Schumacher Mi5
Motor – Speed Passion (handout)
ESC – Speed Passion (handout)
Batteries - GM Racing
Tires – Ride (handout)
Radio/Servos – Sanwa/GM Racing
Remarks – Martin Hofer is running the all new Mi5 here in the Netherlands having running the car in its pre release form at the previous round in Gran Canaria. While the car is ready for release to the public in the near future the former Pro Stock Champion, along with Chris Grainger, are working on finalizing the tuning parts to be included in the kit currently focusing on the carbon steering knuckle arms which on the German’s car is positioned to make the turnbuckle longer which seems to helping the car here in Apeldoorn.

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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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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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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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