Wilck heads Hara after P3
Viktor Wilck is setting the pace in practice for the sixth and final round of the Xenon Racing back Euro Touring Series here in Andernach. The Swede is fastest over three consecutive laps and also over the full five minutes around the Andernach track which is running a slightly different layout to that used last year. Behind the factory Tamiya driver is the Hot Bodies pairing of Atsushi Hara and Andy Moore.
A late arrival at the track this morning, Wilck missed the opening round of practice. Running the exact same car and set-up as the Worlds he said it is working well and having only run two packs at this event while others tested yesterday he is very happy with his early pace. The winner of the opening round of this season’s ETS at Kastellaun, Wilck plans to run the gear diff in his TRF416 for the remainder of the event saying, ‘it doesn’t need maintenance and this is good for me’.
Hara feels he heated his tyres too much prior to his latest run but other than that is pleased with how his ball diff equipped TCX is working. Moore, whose example is fitted with a gear diff, said a new set of tyres gave him lots of steering which made the rear end get loose a number of times but he plans to widen the track width to make it more stable for the final practice. Asked about the gear diff he said he doesn’t feel like the car is any faster with it fitted but it is very consistent.
Simon Nicholson set the fourth quickest time along with recording the fastest single lap. Running a totally different set-up to that which he used during the Worlds he is more comfortable with the prototype Corally now but said its hard to drive it fast consistently. The Aussie has got his head around the camber links settings and this has increased the cars corner speed. On the old car the camber links were mounted on the rear shock tower but now mounted on the bulk head he can now make more accurate adjustments.
Fifth fastest after three rounds of practice Marc Rheinard doesn’t like the feel of his Tamiya. Having run a gear diff he said the car is pushing and feels loose on power. For the final practice he plans to run his second car which is fitted with a standard ball diff.
Completing the Top 6 for the moment Ronald Volker has also been testing the gear diff. Running old tyres, the Yokomo ace said his BD5 feels good and he is hopeful that it will be as good on new tyres. The European Indoor Champion is not 100% sure about running the gear diff as he finds it more difficult to drive but the German plans to try it a couple more times before making a final judgment on it.
Austrian Thomas Pumpler was seventh fastest followed by Zdenek Hamak, Christopher Krapp and David Ehrbar. Elsewhere Pro Stock ace Alexander Stocker is 15th fastest of the 64 Modified runners with a number of more established drivers like Yannic Prumper, Michal Bok and Martin Hofer behind him in the current ranking.
Drivers have one more practice before the day comes to a close with one round of qualifying for the Modified and Hobby classes, the huge Pro Stock entry having to wait till the morning for their first of four qualifiers.
View the event image gallery here.
