Krapp secures first podium at Apeldoorn with A3 win
Christopher Krapp has secured his first podium of the current ETS season after taking the win in the concluding final of a hot weekend of racing at the beautiful Apeldoorn track in the Netherlands. Having challenged Top Qualifier Bruno Coelho for a time in A2 but unable to find a way by the reigning Champion, allowing him to celebrate his third win of the season early, Krapp came good in A3. Getting by second place starter Freddy Sudhoff early on as the Awesomatix driver struggled with a lack of traction, Krapp would pulled clear before coming under the attention of a very racy looking Alexander Hagberg in the closing stages. Setting down almost identical lap times, 1/1000th separating them, Krapp kept control of the race crossing the line 3/10th in front of Hagberg with Ronald Volker only 2/10 off him. The win with the P2 from the previous final would see the German equal his best ETS result with Yokomo with Sudhoff completing the podium. Having come into the weekend as the Championship leader, unfortunately 5th overall behind Hagberg means Volker relinquishes that lead to Coelho with one round to go.
‘I’m really happy now finally’, was Krapp’s reaction after A3. A former ETS race winner with Kyosho, he continued, ‘I had huge pressure from Hagberg. I don’t know what he did but he was quick that one. Anyway, 2nd is good and good for the team also. I have to thank the whole team for trying to get the car better. 2nd was the best I could do today and I hope we can keep the performance now’.
With his car visibly struggling in A3, Sudhoff said, ‘It was like ice-skating. I could already feel on the warm-up lap that I had no rear traction. I have no idea why’. Having started out the weekend as the benchmark, the German added, ‘On the first lap the rear end was loose in the sweeper and it got worse every lap. Then I had a 360 and my race was done’. With 3rd place overall not enough to keep him in the title chase he said, ‘I hope now I can fight with Ronald for second (in the Championship). We found a few set-up things here that will work at the Hudy Arena too. I hope I can be as quick there as I was in quali here. I really like the track layout there’.
With only Formula and 40+ Masters going to A3 to decide the winner, it was former Champion David Ehrbar ended up on the top step of the Formula podium. An exciting race would see Infinity’s Jitse Miedema take a popular A3 win after he forced an early pass on Top Qualifier Simon Lauter. In the hunt for the overall win having taken A1, Lauter would drop down the field while A2 winner Ehrbar, after challenging for the lead, held off Jan Ratheisky for third to give him the overall win by a point. With the same results Lauter would get the second on tie break from Miedema. In 40+ Masters a repeat win in A3 secured A2 winner Andreas Weyhoven the overall. Finishing third behind reigning champion Thomas Oehler, Toni Mateo claimed second wit the podium completed by Beni Stutz. With Olivier Bultynck wrapping up an early overall win in A2, Frederik Mikkelsen took A3 ahead of Dominic Vogl and this is the order they would complete the podium. Daniel Pöhlmann won A3 of 17.5 Stock to join overall winner Marwin Riedelbauch on the podium with the Top 3 line-up completed by Tobias Baumbach.
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