Volker closes in on pole position
Ronald Volker has made it three out of three in qualifying for the first round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series taking another TQ run to close in on securing pole position for tomorrow’s finals. The Team Yokomo driver felt track conditions had changed with traction levels increasing which made his LRP powered BD5 more difficult to drive. The German says they plan a number of changes to the set-up, which has so far remained unchanged, and try to put the overall TQ honours beyond the reach of his rivals in the penultimate qualifier.
Setting the second fastest time and looking like a more serious threat to Volker, Marc Rheinard said he now felt things were starting to get better. Switching to a fresh TRF416 chassis for Q3, the ETS Champion said it worked pretty well. Fitted with a ball diff the more upbeat German will try a gear diff for the next outing. Tamiya/Speedpassion team-mate Viktor Wilck also produced a more competitive heat finishing only 2/100ths adrift to set the third fastest time despite a roll. The Top Qualifier and winner here last year, the Swede said his car seemed better after a diff rebuild and new belts and he plans to run it as it is for Q4.
Driving a Hot Bodies Dominik Fleischmann continued his strong performance here in Kastellaun running the fourth fastest time followed by the third member of the Tamiya Racing Factory team Elliot Harper. Harper, who was on the podium at both the World and European Championships earlier in the year, felt it was a lucky run as other drivers were fastest than him but hit problems. With his car a handful to drive he is going to switch to the same set-up as Wilck for the penultimate round of heats.
Fastest Xray was Martin Hudy, the Slovak racer posting his best round with the 6th fastest time. Hudy was frustrated by traffic which cost him time but was pleased with the progress he had made with his new T3 ’11. Harder oil and lowering of the shock position had transformed the car from being very edgy to very smooth. Freddy Sudhoff managed 7th but was on for stronger run until a big off cost him over 4 seconds. Teemu Leino recorded his first Top 10 run with 8th ahead Juho Levanen and Daniel Sober.
Let down by his driving in Q2 Eric Dankel bounced back to top the third round of qualifying for the Xray Pro-Stock class. The German who opened the event by setting the pace in the first of the five rounds of heats said his Xray started off good but became very loose in the final 2 minutes. Despite this he set a new fastest time but to try cure the problem he will now try a heavier oil in the rear shocks. Martin Hofer had the opposite problem. Too much additive on the front tyres gave him too much front bite on his Yokomo BD5 for the early part of the race but by the end it was good again allowing him to set the fastest lap and recover to record the second quickest time. Young Rene Klockner enjoyed another strong round, setting the third fastest time as the only other driver to complete 30 laps over the 5-minutes. ETS race winners Oliver Franke and Meik Niemann finished 4th and 5th respectively.
Xenon Modified Top 10 – Q3
1. Ronald Völker (DE) – Yokomo/LRP – 31/5:07.472
2. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya/SP – 31/5:08.757
3. Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya/SP – 31/5:08.778
4. Dominik Fleischmann (DE) – HB/LRP – 30/5:01.453
5. Elliot Harper (GB) – Tamiya/SP – 30/5:03.917
6. Martin Hudy (SK) – Xray/LRP – 30/5:04.046
7. Frederik Sudhoff (DE) – HB/LRP – 30/5:04.409
8. Teemu Leino (FI) – Xray/Orion – 5:05.128
9. Juho Levanen (FI) – Associated/Reedy – 30/5:05.593
10.Daniel Sieber (DE) – Yokomo/LRP – 30/5:05.786
Xray Pro-Stock Top 10 – Q3
1. Dankel Eric (DE) – Xray – 29/5:05.633
2. Hofer Martin (DE) – Yokomo – 29/5:06.449
3. Klöckner René (DE) – Tamiya – 28/5:10.055
4. Franke Oliver (DE) – Hot Bodies – 28/5:00.002
5. Miek Niemann (DE) – Hot Bodies – 28/5:02.185
6. Madsen Carsten (DK) – Tamiya – 28/5:02.593
7. Ivan Laptev (RU) – Tamiya – 28/5:02.765
8. Tim Wahl (DE) – Xray -28/5:03.402
9. Streit Tony (DE) – Xray – 28/5:03.520
10.Daniel Wohlgemuth (DE) – Xray – 28/5:05.238
Full event results are available on MyRCM.
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