Volker wins A1 at Apeldoorn
Ronald Volker has won the opening A1 at the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Apeldoorn. Starting from second on the grid, the Yokomo driver was handed the lead when Top Qualifier Bruno Coelho suffered a spin as the result of a body tuck. While the Xray driver would later run over the curbing to release the body it tucked again and he eventually crossed the line 7th. With Christopher Krapp also moving up a spot as a result of Coelho’s problems to finish second, the big mover of the race was Naoto Matsukura. Starting 7th he would complete the Top 3 ahead of Yannic Prumper.
‘This was a good one’, was Volker’s reaction to the win. He continued, ‘I tried to stay with him at the start but he made it easy having a body tuck after a few laps’. With both drivers fastest laps showing Coelho having a 2/10ths of a second advantage, Volker said, ‘I am looking for a bit more steering so will make a change for A2 but otherwise I will try to fight for the overall win after that win’.
Describing A1 as a ‘silent race’, Krapp said, ‘Bruno had some problem and I could go by and I had the same pace as Ronald so I just drove around to the end’. The Yokomo driver continued, ‘I felt I lost a bit of steering in the end so I will make changes for that for A2. I hope some more drama happens’.
‘I just drove, I couldn’t overtake but the others made mistakes’, was how Matsukura explained how he moved up 4 positions. The Infinity driver said, ‘the car is good. I change a little from the last qualifier. Yesterday it had maximum drop after 2-minutes but today it is good’. Asked if he felt a podium was on the cards, he replied, ‘it is difficult to overtake on this track so I hope for more mistakes from the other guys’.
Asked about his issues, Coelho said, ‘the body tucked going down the straight. I didn’t hit anything’. Rubbing the rear tyre he said this made the car difficult to drive and while he tried to free it by running over the curbs it did come out but he ended up spinning and it again tucked.
In Formula it was Olivier Bultynck would took the win from 4th on the grid ahead of the Infinity of Jitse Miedema. It was a terrible start for Top Qualifier Simon Lauter and he completed the first lap in 6th but the Tamiya driver would manage to work his way back up to 3rd by the finish. Benefiting from that bad start, Jan Ratheisky lead for the opening few laps but challenged for the lead he ended up in the grass eventually finishing 5th. In Pro Stock, Ratheisky had a much easier race leading tone to tone to win ahead of Max Mächler, the Awesomatix driver keeping his fellow countryman on his toes. In the 40+ Masters class, Top Qualifier Beni Stutz had contact with Christian Drießle early on and ended up on the grass allowing Ozer Yürüm to go to the front from where he cruised to the win ahead of Mario Wittemeier and Frank Baggen.
View complete event results here.
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