Rheinard & Krapp complete podium at season opener
Marc Rheinard and Christopher Krapp complete the podium at the opening round of the 2011/12 Yokomo Euro Touring series after they finished 1-2 in the third A-Main at Mülheim-Kärlich watched on by overall winner Ronald Volker who after winning the first two legs of the final was able to sit out the final race of a very successful event.
With three drivers, Rheinard, Viktor Wilck and Alexander Hagberg, in contention for the overall runners up spot there was still plenty to play for in the third A-Main. With Volker’s car absent on the grid it was Rheinard’s Tamiya that had a clear track ahead of him but on two occassions the World Champion came under pressure for the win he would ultimately take. TRF team-mate Wilck closed the gap as the race entered in to the second half but the Swede was to roll on lap 16 loosing 4-seconds dropping him to fourth and fifth in the overall classification. Looking like he now had a comfortable victory in the bag Rheinard was also to roll his TRF417X just four laps from home allowing Krapp’s Kyosho to close to within a second. Holding off the 19-year-old Rheinard secured the win and second overall while the result ensured Krapp secured his first ever ETS podium finish.
Having said after taking fourth in the opening leg that he felt a podium was possible today, Krapp was delighted with finishing third overall. Really happy with his Orion powered TF6 he said he has made a lot of progress with his carpet set-up and the car was ‘super easy’ to drive. With round 2 of the series also on carpet he is looking forward to Italy in January when he hopes he can put in a similar performance and add to his strong championship point tally.
Having accidentally hit the back of Andy Moore’s Hot Bodies early in the race through the Xray chicane and loosing out to Krapp as he waited to allow the British driver back through, Hagberg was disappointed at missing out on the podium. Finishing equal on points with Krapp but having to settle for fourth overall, Xray’s top contender said it was a shame to miss out on the podium but he is hopeful he can make it at the next round as he said his new T3 2012 felt really good.
While the winner of the first round of the new season in Modified was decided after the second A-Main in the Xray Pro-Stock class the battle went down to the third leg but there was to be a very popular first ETS win for the talented Slovak driver Zdenko Kunák. Starting out the successful weekend by securing his first ever ETS TQ honour on Saturday the 18-year-old, who also made the Modified A-Main, won the opening leg but pulled up early in the second after a mistake put him out of contention. Pressured throughout the final race by former winner Oliver Franke and reigning champion Martin Hofer he held on to take the win and the first international win for Xray’s new T3 2012. A long time competitor in the ETS, today’s win put him in serious contention for the overall title of the series biggest class in which 166 drivers took part this weekend.
Attracting a record 292 entries the fifth season of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series has got off to a hugely successful start and judging by the large contigent of Italian drivers who made the trip to Muelheim-Kaerlich this weekend the ETS’ first ever visit to Italy in January is sure to produce another great weekend for the world’s biggest electric touring car championship.
Ride Modified Leg 3 Result
1. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya/Speed Passion – 24L 5:05.031
2. Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho/Orion – 24L 5:06.423
3. Alexander Hagberg – Xray/LRP – 24L 5:08.250
4. Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya/Thunder Power – 24L 5:08.949
5. Andy Moore (GB) – Hot Bodies/HPI Flux – 24L 5:09.311
6. Yannic Prümper (DE) – Yokomo/Thunder Power – 24L 5:11.677
7. Zdenko Kunák (SK) – Xray/LRP – 24L 5:13.001
8. Freddy Südhoff (DE) – Hot Bodies/LRP – 23L 5:01.220
9. Dominik Fleischmann (DE) – Hot Bodies/LRP – 23L 5:01.455
10.Ronald Völker (DE) – Yokomo/LRP – DNS
Ride Modified Overall Result
1. Ronald Völker (DE) – Yokomo/LRP – 2
2. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya/Speed Passion – 3
3. Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho/Orion – 6
4. Alexander Hagberg – Xray/LRP – 6
5. Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya/Thunder Power – 7
6. Yannic Prümper (DE) – Yokomo/Thunder Power – 11
7. Dominik Fleischmann (DE) – Hot Bodies/LRP – 12
8. Andy Moore (GB) – Hot Bodies/HPI Flux – 13
9. Zdenko Kunák (SK) – Xray/LRP – 13
10.Freddy Südhoff (DE) – Hot Bodies/LRP – 18
Xray Pro Stock Leg 3 Result
1. Zdenko Kunák (SK) – Xray – 23L 5:06.137
2. Oliver Franke (DE) – Hot Bodies – 23L 5:07.188
3. Martin Hofer (DE) – Schumacher – 23L 5:11.754
4. Daniel Wohlgemuth (DE) – Tamiya – 23L 5:13.892
5. Steffen Leinburger (DE) – Xray – 23L 5:14.171
6. Ivan Laptev (RU) – Awesomatix – 22L 5:00.844
7. Tony Streit (DE) – Xray – 22L 5:01.589
8. Philipp Hagnauer (CH) – Yokomo – 22L 5:03.770
9. Carsten Madsen (DK) – Awesomatix – 22L 5:08.646
10.Michael Spiering (DE) – TOP – 22L 5:10.722
Xray Pro Stock Overall Result
1. Zdenko Kunák (SK) – Xray – 2
2. Oliver Franke (DE) – Hot Bodies – 3
3. Martin Hofer (DE) – Schumacher – 5
4. Tony Streit (DE) – Xray – 8
5. Daniel Wohlgemuth (DE) – Tamiya – 9
6. Ivan Laptev (RU) – Awesomatix – 10
7. Steffen Leinburger (DE) – Xray – 11
8. Philipp Hagnauer (CH) – Yokomo – 12
9. Carsten Madsen (DK) – Awesomatix – 14
10.Michael Spiering (DE) – TOP – 18
View complete race results here.
View the event image gallery here.
