Berntsen wins ETS Gran Canaria
Xray’s Adrian Berntsen claimed the biggest win of his career today at the third round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series when he became only the 10th race winner in the world famous electric touring car championship. Winning the opening A-main at the Gran Canaria event, which he backed up with a second in A2, the Norwegian drove a calculated final leg to finish second behind defending champion Ronald Volker and more importantly ahead of Xray team-mate Alexander Hagberg to take the overall win at the ETS’ 36th race. Having TQ’d the event, Volker would finish second overall on tie break with Hagberg to claim his 10th consecutive podium finish. Like at Round 2 where Hagberg took the win it was once again an all Xray affair with team driver Jan Ratheisky taking the win in both Pro Stock and Formula on the holiday island.
Delighted to take the momentous win, that brought his father Trygve close to tears of emotion, Berntsen said in the last A-Main his focus was ‘only to stay infront of Alex’. Again clearly quicker that Volker, he ‘didn’t want to take any risks’, the pair having come together in A2, and he was ‘just happy to sit behind Ronald’ to the finish. Having shown great pace at many previous ETS encounters but been unable to pull it all together, the win is an important breakthrough for Berntsen. Describing today as a great way to start the outdoor season, as the second half of the ETS season takes place on asphalt tracks, the 20-year-old said he is already look forward to Round 4 in Austria.
Volker said considering how ‘A1 & 2 went’ 2nd wasn’t a bad result but added he was ‘still a little disappointed he could not get the job done’. Taking the bonus point for the TQ he said the result was not bad for the championship as he chases a fourth consecutive title in the Ride Modified class. Commenting on A3, Volker said ‘Adrian was a little faster’ as he still didn’t have the feeling he had yesterday when he topped 4 of the 5 qualifiers but just sticking to his lines he knew he could keep Berntsen at bay as he didn’t need to make a ‘magic pass’. A race that two years ago saw Volker forced to withdraw from the Mains due to speedo issues, on achieving his best finish in the island today he said he wanted to in particular thank LRP for making a ‘big step forward’ and he is looking forward to the remaining asphalt rounds. Also being competitive on asphalt this weekend taking his 13th ETS TQ, a surface on which he & his team have traditionally been weak, he said he also wanted to thank Yokomo for improvements they have made recently.
The only driver who could deny Berntsen his first win, Hagberg said he defended his 3rd place starting position from Naoto Matsukura and that was all he and his car could do in A3. Happy to get 3rd overall describing it as a ‘good result for me’, he said he was more happy for his Xray team that they had two cars competitively on the podium. Having taken both his ETS race wins on carpet, he said the result was a confidence boost for the rest of the outdoor races on the ETS calendar.
Outside of the podium 2012 winner Christopher Krapp took his Kyosho to fourth ahead of Matsukura, his 3rd in A1 giving him the tie break with the Japanese ace. The Top 6 was completed by the HB’s of Andy Moore, the former World Champion unable to repeat his A1 second place finish. Having enjoyed victory here last year with Viktor Wilck, it was a weekend to forget for the Tamiya team with Marc Rheinard finishing 8th overall and Wilck 10th. With a 6-week break before the championship resumes with a new event to the calendar in Austria hopefully the series’ most winning manufacturer will find something that brings them back to competitive form.
In the Xray Pro Stock class, Ratheisky found a way passed Top Qualifier & A2 winner Marek Cerny in the third A-Main with three laps to go to claim his second win of Season #7. A 1-2 for Team Xray, defending champion Cerny getting second overall, the podium was completed by local hero Toni Mateo. Driving a Yokomo, Toni is one of the large Mateo family who have made the ETS’ visit to Gran Canaria possible for the last three years. Having become the first ever driver to win two class on the same weekend in the ETS at the season opener, Ratheisky pulled off the feat once again today as he took his 4th consecutive Formula win. The podium in Formula was completed by the VBC of Top Qualifier Olivier Bultynck and Speed Passion of Thomas Pumpler.
Hosted by Club La Nave, the organisers of the event have asked us to thank the sponsors & people without whom the event on the island of just over 800,000 population would not be possible – Ayuntamiento de telde, Cabildo de Gran Canaria, Audiovisuales Canarias.com, Movistar.es, ETS Family, Tonisport, all the racers, and all the members of the Club.
Ride Modified Overall Result
1. Adrian Berntsen – Xray – 3 pts
2. Ronald Volker – Yokomo – 4
3. Alexander Hagberg – Xray – 4
4. Christopher Krapp – Kyosho – 8
5. Naoto Matukura – Yokomo – 8
6. Andy Moore – HB – 9
7. Marc Fischer – Serpent – 12
8. Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 13
9. Magnus Vässmar – Xray – 14
10.Viktor Wilck – Tamiya – 15
Ride Modified A-Main Leg 3 Result
1.(1) Ronald Volker – Yokomo – 16/5:15.404
2.(2) Adrian Berntsen – Xray – 16/5:15.781
3.(3) Alexander Hagberg – Xray – 16/5:16.659
4.(4) Naoto Matukura – Yokomo – 16/5:17.426
5.(6) Christopher Krapp – Kyosho – 15/5:00.081
6.(10)Marc Fischer – Serpent – 15/5:00.349
7.(9) Viktor Wilck – Tamiya – 15/5:01.012
8.(8) Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 15/5:01.593
9.(5) Andy Moore – HB – 15/5:01.777
10.(7)Magnus Vässmar – Xray – 15/5:02.243
Xray Pro Stock Overall Result
1. Jan Ratheisky – Xray – 2 pts
2. Marek Cerny – Xray – 3
3. Toni Mateo – Yokomo – 8
4. Lars Hoppe – ARC – 8
5. Eugenio Antimo Valiente – VBC – 8
6. Henrik Heitsch – ARC – 11
7. Michael Kiesewetter – VBC – 11
8. David Nemcek – Xray – 14
9. Beni Stutz – Tamiya – 15
10.Pawel Staszewski – Tamiya – 18
Xray Pro Stock A-Main Leg 3 Result
1.(3) Jan Ratheisky – Xray – 15/5:14.394
2.(1) Marek Cerny – Xray – 15/5:17.109
3.(5) Toni Mateo – Yokomo – 15/5:17.801
4.(6) Eugenio Antimo Valiente – VBC – 15/5:18.475
5.(8) Michael Kiesewetter – VBC – 15/5:20.693
6.(2) Lars Hoppe – ARC – 15/5:23.092
7.(10)Beni Stutz – Tamiya – 15/5:23.740
8.(4) Henrik Heitsch – ARC – 14/5:01.444
9.(7) David Nemcek – Xray – 14/5:02.728
10.(9)Pawel Staszewski – Tamiya – 14/5:03.379
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