Rheinard TQs third qualifier
The fight for the honour of being the Top Qualifier for the final race of the 2010/11 ETS is set to go down to the wire in Andernach this evening after Marc Rheinard became the third different driver to top the times sheets at the German event. The Tamiya driver and outgoing champion ran very closely with Q2 pace setter Ronald Volker until the Yokomo ace had trouble passing Steen Graversen losing 8/10th on his penultimate lap.
Rheinard said while conditions were not as good as Q2 this morning, due to the wind coming up and carrying sand onto the track, his Speed Passion powered TRF417 actually felt OK. Commenting on the wind/sand issue, the German who lives just 5 minutes from the track said it makes the car set-up very challenge as the track can change completely in just a matter of minutes. The Top Qualifier here last year the World Champion will leave his set-up as is and hope conditions are similar to Q3 in the final round.
Volker said while his incident was not good for him it does mean a more exciting climax to qualifying. Receiving an apology from Steen Graversen, who was fifth fastest for the round, Volker said his LRP powered BD5 WX pushed a little due to the higher temperature at the time of the heat but a switch from running a spool this morning to a geardiff had made the car more easy to drive.
Starting the heat one place ahead of Volker, who started last, Viktor Wilck said he had some problems with traffic. Having to go off line to let Volker passed he said he picked up a lot of dust on his tyres which took a few laps to clean off. Otherwise the Swede said his Thunder Power equipped Tamiya felt pretty OK.
Having made a mistake in Q2 which left him 15th for the round, Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp kept it clean this time to set the 4th fastest time. The German said his Orion powered TF6 was better suited to this morning’s track conditions but he was still happy with the package. With the wind picking up at the track, making for even more sandy conditions, Krapp plans to run softer sway bars in the final qualifier.
Sixth fastest behind the Awesomatix of Graversen, Andy Moore said his Hot Bodies was almost undriveable at the start of the run improving slightly as the run progressed. Looking for a cause to the ill handling the British ace found he had a broken front diff. Team-mate Atsushi Hara said his TCX felt better after changing the mixture in his front diff but the Japanese legend made a number of stupid mistakes, one which cost him four seconds, and he ended up only 10th fastest.
Posting the eighth fastest time behind Yannic Prumper, Team Xray’s Eric Dankel said he is having a problem with overheating his tyres. Starting off with a good feeling in the car the latter half of the run is different as the tyres go off. Currently 10th in the qualification ranking the German plans to fit anti dive to his T3’11 for the final round in the hope that the less aggressive set-up will be easier on the tyres and allow him to keep his place in the A-Main.
Having TQ’d the opening round and backed it up with 3rd in Q2, Jilles Groskamp made some big changes to his Tamiya for the penultimate qualifier but after having to let Rheinard through and getting up on two wheels the Dutchman pulled up half way through the run.
In Pro Stock Xray T3’11 driver Tony Streit set the pace from the similar car of Michael Spiering denying Awesomatix’s Ivan Laptev the chance to wrap up early his second Top Qualifier honour of the season. The pace setter in Q1 & 2, Laptev had to settle for third while champion elect Martin Hofer had a difficult run managing only 12th.
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