Volker resumes position in second practice
Ronald Volker has resumed his role of being the ‘man to beat’ by setting a new fastest lap time of 15.876 in the second practice session for the Austrian leg of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series. ETS debutant Keven Hebert set the pace in the opening practice but with over 200 cars running on the indoor asphalt track conditions where much faster for FP2 and Volker got the most out of them to break under the 16 second lap times. The current leader of the 2010/11 Xenon Modified standings, Volker said while his BD5 feels like it could do with more steering it is not pushing as much as his rivals, in particular the Tamiya of his big rival Marc Rheinard.
Juho Levanen set the second fastest lap time being the only other driver to run below 16 seconds with a 15.996. The Finn, who is desperate to score his first podium finish with the TC6 having finished fourth in the opening two races, said the car is working really well and he wants to just focus on his driving. Levanen is running a gear diff in the rear and spool in the front and team-mate Hebert plans to adapt that combination for FP3. Running gear diffs front and rear on his car it worked well in FP1 for the Canadian but with traction up in FP2 it left him struggling with understeer and so he will switch to the spool for the next outing.
Third fastest was Andy Moore. Having changed additive for the run, the British ace said it was not as good as the morning practice with his Hot Bodies TCX only coming good at the end of the run when he did his best lap of 16.182. Michal Bok took his Yokomo to the fourth fastest time with a 16.278 second lap with David Erbhar the fastest Xray in fifth.
In Pro-Stock Martin Hofer gave his shock signing with Schumacher a big boost by setting the fastest lap time by a considerable margin over last season’s Dutch ETS winner Oliver Franke. Hofer, who only recieved his Mi4CX on Wednesday, is loving the track conditions saying he prefers asphalt over carpet anyday. Very happy with the base set-up on his new car, the German said he just plans a few minor adjustments for the third practice. Franke, who is also racing in the Xenon Modified class for the first time this weekend, was happy with his Hot Bodies having switched to LRP additive. Also driving a Hot Bodies, young German Felix Wiessmann set the third fastest lap time. Fourth fastest was well known Russian driver Ivan Laptev at the controls of the Russian designed Awesomatix A700. A regular front runner in the Pro Stock class driving a Tamiya, he is now the official lead driver for Awesomatix and is running pre-production versions of the unique chassis in both Pro-Stock and Modified this weekend. Laptev said he is very pleased with how the car is working with it being very easy to drive.
Full results can be found here.
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