Volker is Top Qualifier in Kastellaun
Ronald Volker has secured the overall TQ honours for the opening round of the 2010/11 Yokomo Euro Touring Series as he continued his domination of proceedings in the penultimate qualifier. The European Champion recorded the fastest 5-minute run of the event putting pole position for tomorrow’s finals beyond reach of his rivals. The German switched from a gear diff to a ball diff in the back of his Yokomo BD5 which improved stability through the sweeper but create understeer out of the hairpin but overall the car felt safer to drive. A great start to the event for Yokomo who have made a big commitment to the ETS becoming this season’s title sponsor, Volker feels pole position is a big advantage on this track as overtaking is difficult. With the pressure now off, Volker plans to use the fifth & final heat to test a different set-up ahead of the finals.
Setting the fastest lap Sweden’s Viktor Wilck claimed second for the round, the Tamiya driver having set the early pace for the top heat. Making it three different cars at the top of the time sheets Freddy Sudhoff got a clear run in to claim third. A podium finisher here two years ago the German ran a self designed and produced chassis plate on his TCX. A narrower chassis than the standard kit version, it made for a softer car which he said felt perfect for the track conditions. Currently tied on points with Wilck, Sudhoff said he really wants to beat last year’s winner in the final qualifier which would allow him to line up third on the grid.
ETS Champion Marc Rheinard, who passed Sudhoff on track only to put his Tamiya on two wheels loosing both time and track position, finished fourth. Just missing out on his first 31 lap run by 8/10th Juho Levanen was next up just ahead of a much improved Yannic Prumper. An ETS race winner the young German said raising the bodyshell on his Speedpassion powered Yokomo had made the car much easy to drive and combined with better driving he was able to record his best run, but he has his work cut out for him to try and make the A-Main as he currently sits 13th in the qualification ranking.
Eric Dankel notched up another TQ run in the Xray Pro-Stock class with the fastest time of the event. Running the controlled speedo & 13.5T motor from Speedpassion, the Xray driver once again headed the Yokomo of Martin Hofer meaning the pair will battle it out in the final qualifier to see who gets pole for the finals. Oliver Franke claimed another Top 3 time with his Hot Bodies ahead of Russia’s Ivan Laptev who finish 3rd overall in last season’s ETS standings. Czech race winner Daniel Wohlgemuth enjoyed his best time, which was good enough for fifth and sees him tied on points for 10th position on the grid with another race winner Meik Niemann. In the Speedpassion Hobby class Lucas Fischer claimed his first TQ run but having been fastest in the first three rounds Oliver Günther already had the pole secured.
Xenon Modified Top 10 – Q4
1. Ronald Völker (DE) – Yokomo/LRP – 31/5:05.832
2. Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya/SP – 31/5:07.422
3. Frederik Sudhoff (DE) – HB/LRP – 31/5:08.326
4. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya/SP – 31/5:09.836
5. Juho Levanen (FI) – Associated/Reedy – 30/5:00.891
6. Yannic Prumper (DE) – Yokomo/SP – 30/5:01.375
7. Teemu Leino (FI) – Xray/Orion – 5:02.226
8. Elliot Harper (GB) – Tamiya/SP – 30/5:02.544
9. Steen Graversen (DK) – Tamiya/SP – 30/5:02.982
10.Martin Hudy (SK) – Xray/LRP – 30/5:03.379
Xray Pro-Stock Top 10 – Q4
1. Eric Dankel (DE) – Xray – 29/5:03.543
2. Martin Hofer (DE) – Yokomo – 29/5:07.481
3. Oliver Franke (DE) – Hot Bodies – 29/5:07.950
4. Ivan Laptev (RU) – Tamiya – 29/5:08.556
5. Daniel Wohlgemuth (DE) – Xray – 29/5:09.318
6. Carsten Madsen (DK) – Tamiya – 29/5:10.118
7. Tony Streit (DE) – Xray – 29/5:10.408
8. Alexander Stocker (DE) – Hot Bodies – 28/5:00.211
9. René Klöckner (DE) – Tamiya – 28/5:00.226
10.Miek Niemann (DE) – Hot Bodies – 28/5:01.217
Full event results are available on MyRCM.
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