Kutvonen takes final qualifier, Coelho is Top Qualifier
In a bit if a surprise, Awesomatix’s Viljami Kutvonen took the final round of qualifying at the season finale of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series but it is newly crowned champion Bruno Coelho who will start the A-Main at the Hudy Arena from pole. With only Hagberg with an outside chance of denying Coelho his X TQ of the season by taking the fourth & final qualifier, Kutvonen caught them all by surprise as he gambled on saving his second set of tyres for the run. Only a 16-lap run due to the extra hot conditions of the midday run, the Finn outpaced Ronald Volker by just 2/10ths of a second with Hagberg only a further 4/10th off despite both being on used tyres. With a P4 in Q1, the result puts Kutvonen 3rd on the grid behind the Xrays of Coelho & Hagberg and ahead of Volker & Jilles Groskamp.
‘Tyre strategy’ was Kutvonen’s response to his TQ run continued, ‘I saved a set of tyres for the last one and it paid off quite well’. With Coelho and Hagberg managing 17-lap TQ runs in the previous rounds, the ETS Italy runner-up said, his ‘pace on new tyres was not as good as expected’, adding it was ‘super loose’. Feeling his car will be better for the first final when conditions will be cooler and all drivers will be on new tyres, when asked if he can challenge the Xrays he replied, ‘its difficult to say, Alexander is crazy fast on both new and used tyres’. Feeling his LRP powered A800 is better now than Q1 when, with all drivers on new tyres, he was a competitive fourth quickest, he said ‘I think I should be ok for the final’.
Losing his Hobbywing powered T4 coming onto the straight on the second lap, Coelho described Q4 as ‘super hot and difficult track conditions’. Running used tyres he continued, ‘with new tyres for the final it should be a lot better’. Winner of the event last year from the pole, the Portuguese driver said his plan for the final is to ‘try to make no mistakes and see what happens’. On his opposition he added, ‘I hope Alex don’t attack too much but for sure he will’.
Commenting on his final qualifier, Hagberg said, ‘I had a problem with a bit of fade again towards the end if the run’. Putting some of the fade down to the track being ‘so hot’, he said for the final ‘the important thing is the team wins’. Asked if he can challenge Coelho for the win, he replied ‘I’ll try to fight for win but we have to be sure we don’t fight & end up letting someone else win’.
While ‘Very, very disappointed to lose out on 2nd by 2/10ths of a second’, Volker was pleased that his Yokomo was ‘finally amazing’ again. Making a ‘very big set-up change in the direction of Meen’s set-up’, he said his LRP powered BD7 was transformed but his start was less than ideal as he spun on the first corner of the first lap. Posting the fastest lap of the final qualifier despite being on used tyres, the former champion said the 2-seconds lost cost him a TQ run and P2 on the grid. Looking to the final he said ‘If my car is as good as it as in Q4 I should be able to put pressure the guys ahead’. A win could see the German demote his long standing rival Marc Rheinard to third in the overall standings. Pulling off half way through the qualifier, Rheinard described the run as ‘a disaster’ adding he had ‘just no grip’ and he lines up P8 behind Awesomatix’s Freddy Sudhoff and VBC Racing’s Yannic Prümper. Completing the top half of the grid Groskamp starts fifth.
In the Pro Stock class it will also be an Xray on pole with Tom Krägefski the Top Qualifier. The German took his first ETS pole on a tie breaker with Swiss driver Noah Asendorf. Both drivers had a TQ run each but it was Krägefski’s Q3 time that was faster. Behind them Marco Siegenthaler starts third ahead of the Team Magic of Q1 pace setter Patrick Gassauer. In the Formula class, champion Jan Ratheisky is the Top Qualifier looking for his 5th clean sweep of the season having missed Luxembourg. Behind the Xray driver, Luxembourg winner David Ehrbar will start 2nd with his Serpent with Roche driver Olivier Bultynck third.
View the complete event results here.
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