Sobue tops seeding at ETS Austria
Tamiya’s Akio Sobue is the top seed for qualifying at Round 4 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Mattsee, Austria, after the Japanese driver topped the final round of practice from defending champion Ronald Volker. The Japanese driver’s first appearance in Season #8 and the only Tamiya in the Top 10, he posted the fastest 3-consecutive laps of CP2 by 0.271 of a second from that of Volker with Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski completing the Top 3. For free practice and CP1 pace setter Bruno Coelho a switch to new tyres, used proving faster on the low traction conditions, left him unable to improve his time as he dropped to sixth.
Changing his shocks, ackermann and raising the front camber links on his TRF419, Sobue was very happy with the improvement. Giving the car more traction the 20-year-old said he would be keeping it the same for tonight’s opening qualifier. His first time to the fahr(T)raum track, the World Championship finalist said he is very at home on the layout as it is very similar to his home track of RC Paradise in Nagoya.
‘Satisfied with second’ was Volker’s reaction to his run. Only 14th fastest in the first controlled practice, the Yokomo driver said as expected the second run was better but feels the seeding is not a true reflection of the actual pace of everyone adding he expects the Top 10 to be very close over 5-minutes as it is hard for anyone to get anymore speed due to the low traction which he said is acting as somewhat of an equaliser.
After fitting a rear brace to the back of his Mi5, Orlowski was very happy with the improved mid corner rotation. With CP2 being his seventh run on the same set of the championship’s hand out Ride tyres, the Polish driver’s biggest concern for the opening qualifier is that the tyres he will run have only done one practice run. In terms of the car set-up he will leave it unchanged.
Going back to an earlier set-up and onto used tyres, having struggled in CP1 on new tyres, Alexander Hagberg would post the 4th fastest time. The Swede said his T4 was ‘not so bad’ but added it was ‘not perfect but very close’. Looking for more overall traction he will make some small tweaks to his set-up for Q1. Team-mate Coelho said on new tyres his T4 had ‘a lot of push’ and he will go with a different used set of tyres for his first qualifier.
Marc Fischer would set the 5th fastest time. Changing both the roll centres and the droop on his Serpent S411, he said the droop change ‘was not so good’. With the car lifting a front wheel in the chicane he will revert back to the droop he ran in CP1. Team-mate Viktor Wilck set the 8th fastest time.
Posting the 7th fastest time, Yannic Prumper joked ‘ I got quicker but so did everyone else’. Runner-up here last year, the Round 3 winner said his Yokomo was so so over 3-laps but feels over a full 5-minutes it should be ‘not so bad’.
Completing the Top 10 behind the Xray of Marco Kaufmann and ahead of the Tamiya of Marc Rheinard, Moore was the only other driver along with Coelho in the Top 15 to not improve their CP1 time. Second fastest in the first run, the British driver changed springs and they ‘didn’t work’. He will go back to the previous springs for Q1 and is confident his PRO 5 should be good again.
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