Rheinard takes Q3 as Xray reign self destructs
Marc Rheinard took a somewhat surprise TQ in the penultimate round of qualifying at the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Germany. Having struggled with sixth in the opening two qualifiers, the Tamiya took a close run TQ over his arch rival Ronald Volker but only after the Xray reign self destructed when Bruno Coelho rolled while poised to secure the overall TQ and then Alexander Hagberg crashed as a result of a rear belt failure. In the end Rheinard would snatch the TQ by 0.182 of second, with Akio Sobue completing the Top 3.
‘Hard work’ was how Rheinard summed up his TQ round, the German missing out on a 23-lap run by just over 4/10ths. Making changes to his Muchmore powered TRF419, the championship leader said the car ‘was better but still can flip easy’. ‘For sure an improvement’ he added the ‘chicane was the biggest problem’. Admitting that ‘if Xray didn’t break they would still be top’, last year’s event Top Qualifier and race winner said he was driving on the edge every lap because compared to Hrotovice, where he won the season opener, the grip is much higher. Looking to make the car easier to drive he will mke further sert-up changes for the final qualifier.
Giving his reaction to Q3, Volker said ‘It was a solid second but there was more to get’. The 5-time reigning Champion continued ‘as the Xrays crashed I would like to have got ahead of Marc. I was pushing super hard while behind him but then slightly tapped the boards and that cost me the few tenths I needed’. Having got his car ‘easier to drive through some corners’ he said they still need to find a bit more pace and if not he is ‘probably only start fourth’. For the final qualifier he said he hopes they can ‘get rid of some understeer without making the car edgy’.
Having dominated proceeding since the 2-minute practice last night after the carpet change, Coelho took full responsibility for his mistake on lap 13 of 22 that left him with a P16. ‘I touched the curb coming onto the straight and that was the TQ done for me’. Dropping to last in the top heat, he would then go on to post the fastest lap of the race with his first pole position on carpet looking like only a formality with Rheinard needing to TQ the final heat with a 23 lap in under 5:12.421. Dominating this event two years ago, Hagberg was clearly frustrated at losing out on a TQ run keen to highlight his crash on the straight was caused by ‘something (breaking) on the car’. The car’s designer Martin Hudy would later confirm the rear belt had broken on the Swede’s car.
Sobue said his P3 was a good result but the Japanese National Champion was not very happy with his Tamiya. Making a shock change, the 22-year-old ETS podium finisher said it left him with too much rear traction. Happy with his car in Q2 he will revert back to that shock set-up along with a few tweaks to the current chassis set up. For compatriot Naoto Matsukura an error on the main straight while on a strong run means the World Champion’s ETS carpet debut will not see him lining up on the A-Main grid. Pulling a wheel off his TRF419, his best of the three qualifiers is a 29th in Q1.
Fourth fastest would be Viljami Kutvonen, the Awesomatix driver saying the run was ‘not perfect’ as he suffered a body tuck on the third lap. Having Rheinard behind him then for three & a half minutes, he would hit a curb and had to let the 4-time World Champion go. The Finn said without this he could have been in the mix. Reducing the rear toe-in on his A800, he said it was better but he plans further tweaks for Q4. With the points very close he said his target for the final qualifier is a Top 3 run to give him the best starting position possible.
Elliott Harper would be next up taking his Schumacher Mi5 Evo to the fifth fastest time. 10th in Q1, the British National Champion and Round 1 A-Finalist said ‘I could drive around that time’ adding the run was ‘nothing special, I just kept it on the track’. Having struggled with traction roll in the opening two qualifiers, the World Championship podium finisher said while the car was better he still needs to fine tune the set-up for the last one to make it easier to drive.
With his senior team-mates crashing out it would be Dionys Stadler who was the best Xray for the round with a P6. Changing from a Mazda Speed 6 to an LTC-R bodyshell, the 19-year-old said this gave him more speed in the corners with him adding the car was ‘perfect’. Getting his ETS Season off to a very strong start in Czech where he finished 6th, the German will leave his T4 unchanged for the final qualifier as he aims for another A-Main start. Behind him, team-mates Marco Kaufmann & Olly Jefferies posted the 7th & 8th fastest times respectively with Yokomo’s Yannic Prumper and VBC’s Lucas Urbain completing the Top 10.
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