Volker fends off Fischer for ‘very special’ ETS win
Yokomo’s Ronald Volker held off an intense challenge from Serpent’s Marc Fischer in the 3rd & deciding A-Main at the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in the Czech Republic this afternoon to claim his ninth ETS win, one which the defending Champion afterwards described as being ‘very special’. Having made mistakes in the opening 2 legs of the A-main which allowed Awesomatix’ Freddy Sudhoff to win the first and Fischer the second, all the pressure was on the German ace in the third leg as not only did he have to win but he also had to make sure did so at a fast enough pace. In the end he did just that bettering Fischer’s Leg 2 winning time by 3 seconds to take the win on tie break with his fellow German. Struggling with his set-up in the final race of the day finishing fourth Sudhoff completed the podium at Hrotovice.
Volker summed up the pressure applied by a very confident Fischer by saying he was ‘exhausted’ after the 5-minute encounter, something that was very clear to see on the faces of both drivers at the end of the race. Having struggled with his BD7 being twitchy through the long right hand sweepers, he said the win had more meaning than another other race as despite not having the best car this weekend they still managed to secure the TQ and take the win. Admitting that the pressure he felt before the 3rd leg was immense he said a pep talk from his race engineer Yukijiro Umino helped a lot and he wanted to publicly thank him and the rest of the Yokomo team for that support. With Fischer getting the jump on Sudhoff to pass the Awesomatix driver at the start for second, Volker said this lessened the pressure slightly as Sudhoff’s race time was 4-seconds faster than that of Fischer.
Fischer said he couldn’t have applied any more pressure on Volker and for that he complimented his rival on a ‘great job’. Coming to the event with Serpent’s new 411 ERYX, the German said their target was a Top 5 finish so to claim his first ever ETS podium finish was better than they could have expected. Finishing third last weekend at the DHI Cup and now second at what is widely recognized as the most competitive touring car series in the world, Fischer said they have shown that the new car is very competitive on carpet.
Sudhoff said a change of tyre prep for Leg 3 was the wrong way to go as it made his A700 EX too aggressive but overall he was delighted to make the podium which he said among the World class field was a great result for him and the team. Praising how well the Awesomatix team gelled together this weekend, saying they found a lot of new things in terms of set-up, they are really looking forward to building on today’s result. Running a harder damper in leg 3, team-mate Viljami Kutvonen said his car was the best it had been all weekend allowing him to finish third to tie on points with Sudhoff in the overall result. Losing out on the tie break he said he is really looking forward to getting on to asphalt now at the third round of the ETS which takes place in Gran Canaria. Winning the final leg of the Xray Pro Stock final to claim second overall the Finn said that result was OK but winning would have been better.
The Pro Stock podium was completed by the Xray of Denmark’s Martin Lissau who after a coming together with defending champion Zdenko Kunak, who ended up 8th as a result, beat the Slovak to 3rd overall on tie break. In the Speed Passion Formula class Tamiya’s Marc Rheinard, who endured a difficult weekend in Touring Car, claimed the win in Leg 3 to join overall winner Jan Asmer, who wrapped things up in Leg 2, on the podium. Dai Sakaguchi completed the overall Top 3.
Ride Modified A-Main Overall Result
1. Ronald Volker (DE) – Yokomo – 3 pts
2. Marc Fischer (DE) – Serpent – 3
3. Freddy Sudhoff (DE) – Awesomatix – 5
4. Viljami Kutvonen (FI) – Awesomatix – 5
5. Yannic Prumper (DE) – Yokomo – 9
6. Dominik Fleischmann (DE) – Yokomo – 13
7. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – 13
8. Eric Dankel (DE) – Yokomo – 14
9. Marco Kaufmann (DE) – Xray – 14
10.Alexander Hagberg (SE) – Xray – 17
Ride Modified A-Main Leg 3 Result
1.(1) Ronald Volker (DE) – Yokomo – 25/5:05.466
2.(3) Marc Fischer (DE) – Serpent – 25/5:05.744
3.(6) Viljami Kutvonen (FI) – Awesomatix – 25/5:06.093
4.(2) Freddy Sudhoff (DE) – Awesomatix – 25/5:10.885
5.(5) Yannic Prumper (DE) – Yokomo – 25/5:12.342
6.(7) Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – 24/5:01.260
7.(9) Alexander Hagberg (SE) – Xray – 24/5:01.863
8.(8) Marco Kaufmann (DE) – Xray – 24/5:03.262
9.(10)Eric Dankel (DE) – Yokomo – 24/5:07.309
10.(4)Dominik Fleischmann (DE) – Yokomo – 24/5:07.940
Xray Pro Stock Overall 3 Result
1. Marek Cerny (CZ) – Xray – 2 pts
2. Viljami Kutvonen (FI) – Awesomatix – 3
3. Martin Lissau (DK) – Xray – 6
4. Zdenko Kunak (SK) – Xray – 6
5. Dominic Vogl (AT) – Awesomatix – 8
6. Steffen Leinburger (DE) – HB – 8
7. Oliver Franke (DE) – HB – 10
8. Jan Asmer (DE) – Serpent – 13
9. Morten Iversen (DK) – Awesomatix – 14
10.Philipp Neudinger (AT) – 18
Xray Pro Stock A-Main Leg 3 Result
1.(2) Viljami Kutvonen (FI) – Awesomatix – 23/5:02.675
2.(4) Martin Lissau (DK) – Xray – 23/5:07.547
3.(5) Dominic Vogl (AT) – Awesomatix – 23/5:09.768
4.(6) Steffen Leinburger (DE) – HB – 23/5:11.938
5.(8) Oliver Franke (DE) – HB – 23/5:12.617
6.(10)Jan Asmer (DE) – Serpent – 23/5:14.344
7.(9) Morten Iversen (DK) – Awesomatix – 23/5:15.412
8.(3) Zdenko Kunak (SK) – Xray – 22/5:04.003
9.(7) Philipp Neudinger (AT) – 22/5:04.899
10.(1)Marek Cerny (CZ) – Xray – DNS
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