Double Dutch time sheets in Free Practice
It was two Dutch drivers who shared honours for outright pace in practice today for the opening round of the Much More sponsored European Touring Series. Both Jilles Groskamp and Bart Wubben set a best lap time of 10.80 seconds in the final session of the day. Defending ETS Champion Groskamp is well used to being at the head of the time sheets but Wubben, who is debuting his privately entered Xray, is delighted with his pace. Wubben admitted to making a few too many mistakes today but overall feels the car is really fast. Suffering from traction roll, a problem faced by many drivers in the final practice run, Wubben will reduce his steering for tomorrow’s first qualifier to try cure the problem but goes back to his hotel a very happy man.
Groskamp, who over 5 minutes is fastest, was pleased with his day and will leave his Speed Passion powered Tamiya as it is for the first two qualifiers tomorrow. With the best two of the five scheduled heats to count he will be hoping to secure two clean runs which will then allow him to run some set-up ideas he would like to try that may improve his TRF416 car further.
bbk Timing Systems, the official timing partner for the ETS, have been monitoring drivers best three consecutive lap times here today which gives a good indication of who is running consistently fast laps. This shows European Champion Marc Rheinard as the quickest ahead of fellow countryman Freddy Sudhoff. Sudhoff, another former Serpent driver making his Xray debut here in Kastellaun, is delighted with his new SMI drive describing the car as ‘super easy to drive’. Groskamp is showing as the third fastest just .03 slowing than team-mate Rheinard over three laps. Joel Myrberg who was very fast in the earlier runs is showing fourth but in the last run found his TC5 is tweaked and is now busy rebuilding his car. Wubben and Steven Weiss, who qualified P2 here last year, complete the ‘Super Pole’ style ranking.
In Pro Stock, again using BBK’s 3 lap timing as a good indicator as to who is setting the pace, Christoph Thiele is the man to watch. Top Qualifier at the DHI Cup, Thiele is one of Europe’s top Pro Stock drivers and armed with his Xray he will be a tough challenger to ETS Champion Alexander Stocker and his Hot Bodies.
So practice is over and now its straight into Heat 1 tomorrow morning for the 163 competitors with the first cars due on track at 08:00. Red RC will bring you extensive coverage of the days action as it unfolds.
