Czech star Hamak sets early pace in Poland
Practice for Round 4 of the Xenon Racing backed Euro Touring Series is underway here in Warsaw, Poland and all the talk in the pits is about the sheer size of the track. After securing the biggest hall in the capital city, the host club OSM promised to create the biggest indoor track the sport has seen and race director Scotty Ernst thinks that that has easily been achieved. The track which is 41 metres long and 28 metres in dept is getting mixed reviews from the drivers with some loving the high speeds while others say it lacks corners but the general consensus is that it will produce some very close racing in Sunday’s finals. Brand new carpet for the event have meant low levels of grip for the opening three rounds of practice but with the huge entry a black line is developing fast.
So far it is the star of the Czech round Zdenek Hamak who is setting the pace based on the super pole timing which will be used later to reseed the drivers for qualifying. Over three laps the Czech Xray driver managed an average of 16.966 with championship leader Marc Rheinard the nearest to him with a 17.074 average. Hamak said that the wide open layout of the track is taking a bit of getting used to and while he has good pace over three laps the car is hard to drive and not very consistent. The T3 currently has too much steering which is not good for this track but he is confident that he can easily dial that out for the fourth practice.
World Champion Rheinard, who is chasing his third consecutive ETS win here this weekend, described the track as not very technical but nice. The German said his Tamiya is OK but it is hard to get a true indication of where he is at due to to low traction. His Tamiya/Speedpassion team-mate Viktor Wilck, who has so far recorded the outright fastest lap time with a 16.685, also likes the track in particular the first corner at the end of the front straight where the cars are on maximum brake. The Swede is currently fourth in the super pole ranking just behind Czech ace Michal Bok.
One of the stars of the Pro Stock A-Main at the last round in the Czech Republic Ivan Laptev is running well so far in Modified with the fifth fastest pace. Russia’s top international touring car driver, Laptev struggled in the opening two runs but changes for the third made his Tamiya fell really good until the diff broke. Unfortunately in Stock he is struggling, currently lying only 9th fastest as he struggles with straight line speed. Sacha Lnenicka, an A finalist on his ETS debut in Budapest currently holds the sixth fastest time in Modified.
Birthday boy Martin Hudy, who was presented with a Formula 1 shaped cake after the second practice to mark his 26th year, sits seventh. The factory Xray driver said his T3 was working OK but it was hard to actually get a good feeling for what the car is doing cause the track is so open. Making a welcomed return to the Euro Touring Series, new Team Yokomo signing Steven Weiss is currently 11th but the former European Championship Top Qualifier said he is waiting for the grip to come up and we should see him move closer to the pace in the remaining two rounds of practice.
In Pro Stock up and coming Slovak driver Zdenko Kunak had a good third practice to put his Xray T3 top of the time sheets ahead the three main protagonists of the European Pro stock scene, Alexander Stocker, Tommy Bergfeldt and Daniel Wohlgemuth. Championship leader Stocker, together with his team-mate and Czech ETS winner Wohlegmuth, said they would like to see more corners in the track. For super fast Swede Bergfeldt, who arrived here on Wednesday and enjoyed a day of sightseeing yesterday around Warsaw, he is still trying to find the right lines for the huge track.
Unfortunately defending Pro Stock champion Balint Raijki has been forced to miss the event after laser eye treatment during the week has left him in too much pain to make the trip. Returning to racing after a couple of months absence former winner Meik Niemann is currently 39th fastest but once the German shakes off the cobwebs we should she him feature higher. One interesting competitor here this weekend in the Hobby Class is Durango designer Gerd Strenge.
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