Coelho takes 2nd qualifier in Riccione
Bruno Coelho opened Day 2 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Italy with a convincing Q2 TQ run. Second in yesterday’s opening qualifier, the Xray driver was the only driver to run 19-laps of the Riccione track this morning topping the times from Yokomo’s Yannic Prumper and HB’s Freddy Sudhoff. Having dominated yesterday’s action with only Coehlo in touch with his pace, defending champion Ronald Volker would be one of a number of drivers to end their runs in the grass.
Setting the TQ pace from the first lap Coelho described his run as ‘super good’. Making an ackermann change to his LRP powered T4 for the first of the days three qualifiers, the 21-year-old said this made for a better feeling despite the car running used tyres. Starting behind Volker but going passed the grass bound BD7 on lap 3, the exciting to watch Portuguese driver said he was able to run a good clean 5-minutes eliminating the small mistake he had yesterday that ended his challenge for the TQ to Q1. Happy with his car and planning to leave it unchanged for Q3 the only decision he has to make is when to run his second set of tyres.
Commenting on his off, Volker said the car felt slightly off balance and while never an issue previously when he ‘barely touched the curb it put it out of shape’. Aware Coelho was close behind and not wanting to obstruct him he moved off the racing line which he said turned out to be the grass. While marshals took sometime to get to his BD7 he said once he hit the morning’s damp grass he had already made the decision to end his run and although on used tyres save them. Others making trips onto the grass included Xray’s Alexnder Hagberg, Tamiya’s Naoto Matsukura and Yokomo’s Meen Vejrak. Like Volker, Hagberg pulled up after he went onto the grass on his opening lap. Matsukura would try to continue but after a second mistake called time on the run him saying afterwards a set-up change was ‘no good’ and he will will revert back to his Q1 set-up for the 3rd qualifier. Having had a DNF in Q1, Vejrak’s off in Q2 turned out to be due to a faulty servo which he now suspects was also his issue yesterday and not a bad set of tyres as previously thought.
Prumper said his BD7 was better than yesterday after he reduced the cars toe-in back to 2 degrees although on used tyres the rear end was a little too loose. Pleased with his early pace, his best lap being a 16.489 compared to Coehlo’s 14.452, the German said after two small slides he just tried to keep the rest of the run clean knowing he had a big advantage over Sudhoff’s third position pace.
Finishing over 2-seconds off Prumper, Sudhoff declared it ‘another good run’. With the benefit of being on his second set of tyres, the new factory HB recruit said a spring change made by team manager Hiroyuki Kasuya had improved the PRO5 from yesterday. The German said the car is ‘maybe too consistent now’ but with an A-Main start now seeming safe they can try bigger changes for the remaining two qualifiers. Messing up his opening lap, while it didn’t effect his overall position, he said its something he needs to work on.
‘Better than Q1’, that was how Jilles Groskamp summed his run. Running a different set-up to Q1, the 2012 World Champion said while better it still wasn’t what he wants but a really clean run he was happy with 4th. The Dutch driver said for most of the track the car is ‘pretty good’ but the bump and the right right middle section as still a problem. He said the bump is a power problem as having the right throttle feeling for that part of the track is critical. For the right right section he will try a droop change as well as adding weight to his Orion powered PRO5.
Fifth fastest, Tamiya’s Marc Rheinard said he is just driving around around without mistakes and ‘profiting from others ending up on the grass’. While he described his Muchmore powered TRF419 as ‘pretty easy to drive’ he said it has less and less steering towards the end of the run making it difficult to maintain position, him having been ahead of former team-mate Groskamp for much of the run.
Having just missed out on a Top 10 run in Q1 due to two mistakes, a safe clean qualifier saw multiple French National Champion Loic Jasmin record the 6th fastest time. The Yokomo driver admitted he got ‘Super lucky a lot of guys stopped’ but added he was happy to take it especially as it was on used tyres. No different to the majority of his competitors he said he would like to find more steering and so will make changes for Q3.
Setting the 7th fastest time Xray’s Dionys Stadler was pleased with the result as he suffered a power problem during the run. Seeded in the top heat, the 18-year-old was on a Top 4 pace but ‘lost punch’. Unsure of the cause of the reduced power the German will fit a different motor and battery to his T4 for Q3.
Christopher Krapp took his new Tamiya to the 8th fastest time with a run he described as ‘ok’. The former lead Kyosho touring car driver, went for a softer spring for Q2 but for the first 2-minutes this left his Orion powered TRF419 not so good. Improving for the second half he will go to a harder spring in the hope he can make the performance more equal over the full 5-minutes. The German added with the times very close ahead of him he would also focus on trying to improve his driving as there was time to be gained there too.
Having pulled up after just one lap in Q1, Viktor Wilck with the benefit of practically new tyres would claim a 9th for the round. The Serpent driver said while his S411 is good from the middle to the end of the run in the beginning it is ‘really shit’. A problem that has plagued himself and team-mate Marc Fisher since the start of the event, the Swede will try a different diff and shock set-up for the penultimate qualifier.
Completing the Top 10 Marco Kaufmann said he only wished he had been half a second faster as it would have put him in the Top 5. Suffering a mistake on Lap 2 in Q1, the Xray driver said Q2 was a ‘better run’ and now that he has a chance of making the A-Main the plan is to leave the car as is and just push harder.
In the Xray Pro-Stock class the second round of qualifying would see defending champion Marek Cerny TQ with a convincing run. Setting the fastest lap, the Xray driver would outpace the Awesomatix of Max Machler by one & a half seconds with the Schumacher of Denmark’s Nicolai Lindegaard completing the Top 3. For surprise Q1 pace setter Johannes Sperr Q2 would see the Team C driver set the 8th fastest time just behind the Yokomo of former champion Martin Hofer. In Formula Serpent’s David Ehrbar was the only driver to repeat his Q1 form as the Serpent driver again enjoyed a second TQ run. This time round the German topped the times from the CRC of international 1:8 nitro racer Michele Romagnoli and the Tamiya of Italian Marco Donadelli.
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