Czech surprise as Hamak tops practice
Practice for the third round of the Xenon Racing backed Euro Touring Series has come to a close and the field of world class drivers here in the Czech Republic are all asking the question ‘who is he?’. They are referring to local driver Zdenek Hamak who put in a blistering pace with his LRP powered Xray T3 to top the super pole practice round and set an outright fastest lap. Recording an 18.519 lap, Hamak is over 1/10th of a second fastest than World and European finalist Elliot Harper who is fastest of the factory drivers. While the big names are stunned by the pace of the 3-time Czech National Champion there is no one more surprised with the times than Hamak himself. Delighted with the attention he is getting as a result of his super fast times he was quick to point out its only practice and racing will be a very different affair. Overall it was a good final practice for the Xray team with factory driver Martin Hudy ending up fifth fastest over three consecutive laps followed by up and coming talent Zdenko Kunak.
Harper described his final practice run as pretty good but said it wasn’t perfect. Making his debut for the World Champion TRF squad, the British teenager has been making a strong impression, outpacing both his more experienced team-mates. Finding his Speedpassion powered 416X rolling around a little too much he will run a heavier oil for the first qualifier which takes place this evening. Marc Rheinard was next up in the ranking but the World Champion said his car is handling like it’s tweaked. Straight on the set-up board the car does not feel right and now the German is preparing the car he ran earlier in the morning for the first round of qualifying.
Juho Levanen set the fourth fastest time with his much improved TC5. Running a set of his race marked Xenon tyres for a third time the Finn feels they are getting better with each run and plans to use the same set again for Q1. Elsewhere ETS standings leader Viktor Wilck ended up only ninth after a middle pulley broke early on in the run. Behind him Hot Bodies’ Andy Moore completed the Top 10 followed by fellow countrymen Olly Jefferies and Chris Grainger. In the Daniele Ielasi camp there seems to be a disagreement as to why he could only manage 41st in the super pole run. The Italian said his driving style is loosing him a lot of time as he is getting on the power too early causing the back end to step out. His mechanic Toni Rheinard believes the problem is not with the driver but with the car set-up however they both agree that they have a lot of time to find.
In Pro Stock there was no real surprise at the top of the time sheets as Alexander Stocker topped Super Pole. Averaging a 19.358, the German would have placed 12 in the Modified ranking with his impressive pace. After struggling with his Hot Bodies in early practice, the winner of the opening two rounds of the 2009/2010 season completely changed his set-up which allowed him to drive a more tidy race line. Behind the master of the 13.5 class it was great to see 15-year-old Rene Klockner set the second fastest time. The Tamiya driver who is running the new Speed Passion GT 2.1 Pro Stock speedo was very happy with his run. Ivan Laptev was third fastest. The Russian driver said his Tamiya was very good in the infield but was lacking top end speed compared to his rivals. For tomorrow morning’s first Pro Stock qualifier Laptev plans to switch from his LRP SPX Stock Spec speedo to the same Speed Passion unit which Klockner has used to good effect. Defending ETS Champion Balint Raijki completed the Top 4. A change to softer shock oil and new bodyshell improved his Cyclone TC from earlier although the front of the body was rubbing during the run.
The opening round of qualifying for Modified is now underway and will bring Day 1 of the ETS’s first visit to the Czech Republic to a close.
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