Rheinard TQs third qualifier at ETS
Marc Rheinard topped yet another close qualifying encounter at the second round of the ETS in Germany when the Tamiya driver claimed his first TQ run ahead of Yannic Prumper and former team-mate Viktor Wilck. The third different driver to top qualifying in as many rounds, the result sets the stage for a three way battle between Rheinard, Prumper and defending champion Ronald Volker in the fourth & final qualifier at the Muelheim-Kaerlich event.
The Top Qualifier at the Season #8 opener in the Czech Republic but ending up only 4th in the final result, Rheinard said ‘again pretty close only this time I kept onto my few 1/10ths at the end’. Having lost out to Volker in Q2 by 3/10ths of a second, this time round 3/10ths would be his advantage over Q1 pace setter Prumper. Having increased the voltage to which he charges his battery for the run, the 4-time world Champion said the power was better but he feels it could be further improved. With MuchMore’s Mr. Jang on nto support his lead driver, for the final qualifier they will move the position of the fan to further away from motor so as to improve cooling to reduce any potential power drop off due to exccessive heat.
Echoing Rheinard, Prumper described the round as ‘pretty close’ but was clearly frustrated by being delayed by traffic over the final two laps which lost him the 3/10ths he needed. Having struggled in the early part of Q2, last year’s second place finisher at this event said his BD7 was much better now after a change of tyre prep. This fact highlighted by him recording the fastest lap of Q3 on his second lap.
Posting his first Top 3 qualifyinig run, Serpent’s new recruit Wilck was pleased to ‘finally put in a clean run’. Losing a couple of tenths when he caught fellow Swede Alexander Hagberg in the chicane, the Xray driver having a terrible run after suffering a body tuck following contact with the boards, he said while his driving was better his car pushed a little. Adding more front droop to his S411, he said the change made the car push too much on power and he will change back for the final round. He will also again continue to increase the oil weight in the rear diff.
Posting the fourth fastest time, Volker said his run ht problems on the first lap after he caught a piece of tape on the track. Struggling with understeer, he said his team-mate Prumper was getting closer every lap forcing him to open up to let him passed. Unfortunately as he moved aside he tapped the boards further adding to the total time lost. Having changed his tyre from Q2, he said they need to work on the car set-up for the final qualifier which will hopefully put him in a position to battle with Prumper and Rheinard for the overall TQ.
Enjoying Top 10 runs in the opening two qualifiers, Yokomo’s Loic Jasmin posted the fifth fastest time. The French National Champion said he had a lot more overall traction after he made the switch from alu to a carbon chassis on his BD7. Describing the car as ‘easy to drive’ he added ‘but like everyone I need more steering’ and so he will adjust either the ackermann or bump steer for his qualifier.
Again completing the Top 6, Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp said ‘I can’t get it done over the 5-minutes’. Putting 15K oil in the diff for the run, he said this gave him more steering and all he needed to do was drive it around for the 5-minutes but again catching Wilck he made a mistake that cost him over 1-second. Already locked into the final, the German will use Q4 to test thinner sway bars on his TF6.
Another driver making his internationl debut with a new team this weekend, Elliot Harper would set the 7th fastest time just ahead of Marc Fischer. Opening qualifying with an impressive Top 6 run last night, the Schumacher driver changed his car for the first outing of the day but instead of giving the car more steering the change saw him lose steering although he still managed a Top 10 time. Reverting to his Q1 set-up for Q3 he said it was better but he is still looking for more initial steering and already locked in to the A-Main he will take a gamble with tyre prep for the closing qualifier to try to get a better car for the final.
In Pro Stock, the biggest of the three classes which make up the ETS with 209 entries this weekend, defending champion Marek Cerny claimed his second TQ run of the event. Having TQ’d Q1, the factory Xray driver took the third qualifier from team-mate & previous round pace setter Mike Gosvig. A very convincing winner of the season opener in the Czech Republic, ARC’s Lars Hoppe ran the third fastest time. Changing from a plastic to an alu steering linkage on his T4, something he would normally only use on asphalt, Cerny said the change gave him better steering. Posting the fastest lap he acknowledged the speed of Gosvig who but for a roll on his second lap would have been a lot closer than the 1.3-seconds at the end of the 5-minutes. Despite his early error Gosvig would work his way back to the top of the timing screens but further small mistakes towards the end cost him the chance to repeat his opening qualifier of the day when he TQ’d ahead of Cerny. The only driver who can deny Cerny the overall TQ, the Dane said his car is enough to get the job done in the final qualifier and he just needs to cut out the mistakes.
In Formula Jan Ratheisky wrapped up the overall TQ as he made it three from three times for the third time despite not liking how his X1 felt after he went full hard with the car’s monoshock. The defending champion and winner of the season opener, said with the pressure off him for the final qualifier he will use the run to test the opposite setting on his monoshock after which he hopes to be able to gauge the best set-up for the first A-Main which takes places tonight. In terms of the finals he said class debutant Bruno Coelho, who set a new fastest lap in Q3, is very fast but set to have to first get by Francesco Martini, who starts second on the grid, he hopes this will give him enough time to build up a gap.
View the complete event results here.
View our event image gallery here.
