Volker ‘Top Qualifier’ at Czech ETS
Widely recognized as the World’s best touring car driver on carpet, defending ETS Champion Ronald Volker is Top Qualifier for the second round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Hrotovice in the Czech Republic. The Yokomo ace secured pole position for the A-main with his third TQ run of the day in the fourth & final round of qualifying setting the fastest 5-minute run of the weekend ahead of Team Xray’s Adrian Berntsen who finally got to show his talents albeit too late for the Norwegian to secure a place in the main event.
Volker’s ninth time to TQ a round of the ETS, the dominator of the opening round of the 2012/13 season will start the Mains ahead of Freddy Sudhoff who going in the the final qualifier was the only driver who could potential deny the defending champion from carrying the No.1 race number on his BD7. Unfortunately for Sudhoff a radio problem in the warm-up meant the factory Awesomatix driver was unable to start Q4. Although the demise of ‘Fast Freddy’ secured pole position, Volker used the heat to lay down his intentions for the finals as he posted a new outright fastest lap of the weekend with an impressive 11.975, Viljami Kutvonen the only other driver able to break into the 11 second lap doing so in Q3.
In a grid that is made up of eight German drivers, Team Serpent’s Marc Fischer will start third equaling his previous best starting position which he achieved in Apeldoorn last year. Finishing a disappointing 7th on that occasion Fischer said he hopes things will go better this time round but said his qualifying performance is a great promotion for Serpent’s new 411 ERYX chassis. Really happy with how the car is working he said he hopes he can at least come away from the weekend with a podium finish. Asked if he could take the challenge to Volker & Sudhoff he said that on pace it is very close but passing on this track would be difficult adding that his best chance is that Sudhoff can pressure Volker in to an error.
Fischer will face plenty of pressure himself from behind with Volker’s team-mates Dominic Fleischmann and Yannic Prumper starting directly behind him. The best place non German will be Kutvonen whose Awesomatix will start seventh ahead of the only Tamiya on the grid which will be driven by Marc Rheinard. Kutvonen has shown great speed this weekend with his A700 and the 20-year-old will be one to watch in the finals.
Highest placed Xray on the grid will be Marco Kaufmann who starts eighth in front of team-mate Alexander Hagberg, the Swede having another difficult weekend. Completing the grid to make Yokomo the most popular car on the grid is Eric Dankel. The German had some serious luck on his side in the final qualifier as having just crossed the finish line in a time that secured him 10th on the grid the wires fell of the motor in his DB7!!
In the Xray Pro Stock class new Xray signing Marek Cerny took his second ever overall ETS TQ. The 18-year-old Czech driver whose previous TQ was with Yokomo in Gran Canaria, a race he went on to win, said his T4 has been really good all day something he said was down to the valuable input he has been getting from the car’s designer Martin Hudy. Having won from pole before Cerny said he was not nervous about the finals as he is confident he has the car to get the job done. Viljami Kutvonen will start behind him and while he admits the Awesomatix is quick the Finn is prone to making mistakes and so his approach will be to try and drive a clean error free race. Pro Stock Champion Zdenko Kunak, who missed the season opener, will start third with his Xray.
The Speed Passion Formula class saw Jan Asmer completed a clean sweep as he set the pace in all four qualifiers to put his Tamiya F104 on pole position. The German who is a Serpent team driver and will switch to the company’s pending Formula chassis later in the season, TQ’d & won the season opener and based on his pace this weekend looks set for a repeat performance. Dai Sakaguchi, who is running a HPI chassis, starts second with class debutant Marc Rheinard lining up third ahead of defending champion Herbert Weber.
Ride Modified Q4 times
1. Ronald Volker – Yokomo – 25/5:04.217
2. Adrian Berntsen – Xray – 25/5:05.897
3. Dominik Fleischmann – Yokomo – 25/5:06.557
4. Yannic Prumper – Yokomo – 25/5:06.778
5. Viljami Kutvonen – Awesomatix – 25/5:06.844
6. Marc Fischer – Serpent – 25/5:07.992
7. Marco Kaufmann – Xray – 25/5:08.503
8. Alexander Hagberg – Xray – 25/5:09.214
9. Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 25/5:09.719
10.Martin Hudy – Xray – 25/5:09.857
Ride Modified A-Main Grid
1. Ronald Volker (DE) – Yokomo – 310
2. Freddy Sudhoff (DE) – Awesomatix – 308
3. Marc Fischer (DE) – Serpent – 304
4. Dominik Fleischmann (DE) – Yokomo – 303
5. Yannic Prumper (DE) – Yokomo – 303
6. Viljami Kutvonen (FI) – Awesomatix – 302
7. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – 298
8. Marco Kaufmann (DE) – Xray – 295
9. Alexander Hagberg (SE) – Xray – 293
10.Eric Dankel (DE) – Yokomo – 291
Xray Pro Stock Q4 times
1. Marek Cerny – Xray – 23/5:02.000
2. Zdenko Kunak – Xray – 23/5:03.265
3. Viljami Kutvonen – Awesomatix – 23/5:03.622
4. Steffen Leinburger – HB – 23/5:03.655
5. Philipp Neudinger – Awesomatix – 23/5:04.005
6. Martin Lissau – Xray – 23/5:04.011
7. Oliver Franke – HB – 23/5:04.783
8. Morten Iversen – Awesomatix – 23/5:06.299
9. Max Machler – Awesomatix – 23/5:06.561
10.Tobias Vogel – Xray – 23/5:06.590
Xray Pro Stock A-Main Grid
1. Marek Cerny (CZ) – Xray – 310
2. Viljami Kutvonen (FI) – Awesomatix – 307
3. Zdenko Kunak (SK) – Xray – 306
4. Martin Lissau (DK) – Xray – 304
5. Dominic Vogl (AT) – Awesomatix – 302
6. Steffen Leinburger (DE) – HB – 300
7. Philipp Neudinger (AT) – 300
8. Oliver Franke (DE) – HB – 299
9. Morten Iversen (DK) – Awesomatix – 297
10.Jan Asmer (DE) – Serpent – 297
View complete event results here.
View our event image gallery here.
