Euro Touring Series

July 28, 2019

Volker & Hagberg complete podium at ETS Season Finale

Ronald Volker and Alexander Hagberg have completed the podium at the Season Finale of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Slovakia. With newly crowned Champion Bruno Coelho securing his fourth win from the six races in A2, the final race of the 12th season of the ETS was to decide who joined the Xray driver on the podium at the Hudy Arena. Effectively starting on pole as Top Qualifier Coelho sat out A3, Hagberg led away the field from Ronald Volker, the latter having finish the opening two encounters in P2. On the first run down the main straight Volker would pull off a spectacular high speed pass on Hagberg and once in front the Yokomo driver never looked threatened for the win. At the end the German would finish 1.5-seconds clear of Hagberg who in turn was over 2-seconds ahead of Christopher Krapp. Winner of the Season opener, the result secured Volker his third P2 race result with Hagberg third and Krapp fourth.

Speaking after the race, this season’s Vice Champion Volker said, ‘I was really desperate to save my P2 and the pass was great. I had nothing planned. I just pulled the trigger and it work out. Then I tried to pull away so as not to give the opportunity to come back at me’. The former Champion continued, ‘Overall the season was better than the previous one. We had a chance to fight for the overall title. It always comes down to the fine details and that is what we need to improve. Thanks to Hayato and Jurgen for all the support, and all the rest of the team’.

Posting the fastest lap of A3, Hagberg said, ‘I changed my car (for A3) and it wasn’t as good at the start. I couldn’t do anything to challenge Ronald’. Only his second podium of the season, his other being at the Season opener, the former ETS race winner continued, ‘I wanted to win (A3) but still a podium finish is a nice way to end the season’.

With all the class winners except Pro Stock being decided in A2, it was their A3 that would provide the main action. Starting from the TQ, Simon Lauter led away resisting pressure from No.2 starting Dominic Vogl. The Awesomatix due pulled clear of the field with Vogl looking menacing as he shadowed Lauter. With three laps to go they came into the front chicane before the loop and with Vogl braking later they made contact but immediately the Austrian handed the lead back to Lauter. Vogl wasn’t finished yet however and on the final lap got the inside on the leader through the sweeper exiting the straight with the two touching on the exit of the sweeper but it was a racing pass and Vogl could hold on for the win, which being 2-seconds quicker than Lauter’s A2 win, giving him the overall win. The meaning of the win clear from Vogl’s roar of celebration on the drivers stand. Having clinched the overall title in Apeldoorn, Lauter would finish his campaign with second with A1 winner Olivier Bultynck completing the podium.

In Formula, David Erbhar won A3 to join newly crowned Champion Jan Ratheisky on a podium which was completed by Matej Dobnikar. Søren Boy Holst won A3 of 40+ Masters to finish runner-up to Alexander Stocker while in Stock 17.5 Cham Dassanayake and A3 winner Marwin Riedelbauch joined inaugural champion Daniel Pöhlmann on the podium.

View complete event results here.

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July 28, 2019

Chassis Focus – Christopher Krapp

Chassis – Yokomo BD9
Motor – Racing Performer M4 4.5
ESC – Racing Performer RPX 2
Batteries – Racing Performer 6000
Tires – Volante (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/Power HD
Bodyshell – Protoform Type S

Remarks – Just missing out on the podium here at the Hudy Arena, Christopher was running a new prototype RTC rear suspension on his otherwise kit standard BD9. The German said the idea of the RTC is that give them more toe gain. One optional and the car is the carbon battery mount and Christopher has swapped out the standard kits screws for titanium ones.

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July 28, 2019

Coelho wraps up ETS title with 3rd consecutive win

Having clinched the overall title by securing the TQ in qualifying on Friday, today Bruno Coelho has wrapped up Season #12 of the Euro Touring Series with the third consecutive win of his successful campaign. Taking A1 with ease, the Xray driver would just hold on to take A2 ahead of Ronald Volker, his main title rival reducing the gap over the closing laps to 3/10ths of a second. Again a mistake from the no.2 starting Alexander Hagberg allowed Volker through to second place and now the duo will fight it out in A3 to decide who finishes runner-up at the Hudy Arena.

Commenting on A2, Coelho said, ‘I had a very good start and had about 1-second over Alex. Then I think I overheated the tyres and lost all the gap I had built up. I lost traction. I had no steering and no forward traction. One more lap and it would have been difficult to keep Volker behind me’. Reflecting on the 2018/2019 ETS Season, the now four time Champion who was only 6th at the season opener in Vienna said, ‘It was not a god start to the Season. In Madrid (the first asphalt race of the season) we had a bad result but it was to be a good point because we started to develop a completely new platform and we have quickly shown the potential of our 2020 kit. Our old platform has been around for 6-years and we had a lot of knowledge with this car. This is a brand new car so still have more to learn about it so I am sure it has a lot more potential’. He concluded, ‘It was a tough Championship but we turned a negative into a position and I am super happy for that’.

‘I tried everything I could and there wasn’t much missing at the end. I still struggled in the opening laps for traction’, was Volker’s reaction to A2. The Yokomo driver continued, ‘This time I was able to show the best pace at the end but there was not much room anyway to make a pass. Congrats to Bruno for another win’. With second places from the opening two mains, the former World Champion said, ‘for the last one I will try save my 2nd place. I wouldn’t be happy if I was to drop to third on the podium so I will try to get ahead of Alex’.

Putting his A1 mistakes down to him ‘not driving well today, that’s all’, Hagberg said, ‘the car is very good at the start and I was pulling away from Ronald until I had a mistake at the sweeper. I couldn’t recover from that’. Looking to A3, the Swede said, ‘I hope I can win the next one and finish 2nd overall’. Behind Hagberg, Christopher Krapp would finish 4th followed by of fellow French Awesomatix duo Lucas Urbain and Loic Jasmin.

In the battle for the last title to be decided, Formula, Jan Ratheisky made it back to back Championship success when he back up his A1 win from yesterday with another win over his title rival & former champion David Ehrbar. Ehrbar, who had to get by Jitse Miedema after the Infinity driver got him on the opening lap, was on a mission at the controls of his Serpent over the closing laps setting the only 20-second lap of the final but he ran out of time having got the gap down to 6/10ths. In the Pro Stock, already crowned Champion & Top Qualifier Simon Lauter held on for the win just ahead of Dominic Vogl and Jan Ratheisky which means Round 6 will be decided in A3. In 40+ Masters, Alexander Stocker wrapped up yet another win in his successful title campaign with the A2 win over Toni Mateo. In Stock 17.5, the inaugural Champion of the class Daniel Pöhlmann also concluded his season with a ETS Slovakia win after backing up his A1 win with another easy win in A2.

View complete event results here.

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July 28, 2019

Chassis Focus – Jitse Miedema

Chassis – Infinity IF11
Motor – Scorpion Power System (handout)
ESC – Scorpion Power System (handout)
Batteries – GensAce 5500
Tires – Volante (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/SRT
Bodyshell – Protoform F26

Remarks – Having test a new rear wing mount on his way to a podium finish at ETS Netherlands last month, Jitse has yet another new design of wing mount on his IF11 here in Slovakia. Designed by Jitse with input & approval from Infinity and the prototype produced by a friend, Jitse says the latest design makes car maintenance easier and overall the mount is more durable.

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July 28, 2019

Coelho unchallenged in A1

Bruno Coelho took an unchallenged tone to tone win in a re-run of the opening A-Main at the Yokomo Euro Touring Series Season Finale in Slovakia this morning. Originally scheduled for yesterday but stopped half way through when it started to rain and the rest of the day was cancelled, drivers faced an earlier than usual 08:30 but starting from the TQ it didn’t cause the newly crowned Champion any issues as he took the win over Ronald Volker by over 1-second. For a time it looked like Coelho’s Xray team-mate Alexander Hagberg might make a race of A1 but the Swede came undone with the first of two mistakes at the same point on the track. First allowing Volker through to second, the second error allowed Christopher Krapp through to complete the Top 3 with an incident on the last lap dropping Hagberg to 9th.

Looking to cap off his 4 consecutive title with a fourth win of the Season, reacting to A1 Coelho said, ‘It was an OK final. I had mistake on the 4th lap, it wasn’t really a mistake but a bad feeling and I lost the rear. Maybe it was a wet spot or something but I was able to get the pace back again and pull away from Alex before he had a mistake’. Asked about the tyres, all drivers having to hand in their remaining 2 new sets to ensure they ran the same tyres as in the aborted A1 run yesterday, the World Champion said, ‘running used tyres was the fair thing to do because everyone will be on new tyres for the next two’. Only the fifth final to run on the reverse direction Hudy Arena track this morning after yesterday’s rain, the Portuguese ace concluded, ‘I think the track will be better for the next one’.

Summing up the opening A-Main, Volker said, ‘I didn’t have much rear grip in the opening laps and lost contact with the two ahead of me. Then once I closed in on Alex he rolled and I just tried hard to caught Bruno but we had the same speed and the last 3-minutes the gap stayed the same’. Looking to A2, the Yokomo driver said, ‘We still need to judge the track condition. There should be more traction and it should also be warmer’.

‘A lucky run’ was how Krapp described his race. Starting from 5th on the grid, he continued, ‘I got by Lucas (Urbain) at some point and then Hagberg crashed unfortunately so I took 3rd. For two laps I had some pressure from Elliot (Harper) but in the end I was safe. The traction improved in the run but the line was fine and I got my line wrong which allowed Elliot to close on me’. He concluded, ‘the car felt a little better so I hope I can try and squeeze a podium maybe’. At the finish the Yokomo driver had 1-second in hand over Harper with Loic Jasmin completing the Top 5.

View complete event results here.

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July 27, 2019

Weather interrupts finals at ETS Slovakia

After baking in the heat for the first two days of the event, today rain showers interrupted the running of the finals at the ETS Season Finale in Slovakia. Having run all four rounds of qualifying in anticipation of rain arriving, the rain arrived overnight delaying the start and then when things did get underway subsequent showers meant further delays in getting through the timetable. While getting the first round of A-Mains completed for most, during A1 of the Volante Modified the rain arrived caused it to be stopped with over 2-minutes to go after which the skies would open. Despite efforts to dry the track, overcast conditions meant it was going to take too long to dry to be able to resume racing for the day and and at around 17:30 the call was made that racing would resume tomorrow.

In the first of the Pro Stock A-Mains a brilliant pass on the final lap that earned him a ‘class dismissed’ from Scotty Ernst saw Olivier Bultynck take the win. The Awesomatix driver made the pass on Dominic Vogl after the pair come off the sweeper at the end of straight and while Vogl would try to take it back he would go off the track but able to regain his composure to keep second just ahead of Simon Lauter. Top Qualifier for the race, Lauter undone his qualifying efforts with an error on the second lap that he somehow managed to land rubber side down to only drop to third. In the other two Touring Car A-Mains that ran, it was an relatively easy 40+ Masters win for new Champion Alexander Stocker despite Toni Mateo keeping him honest during the race. In Stock 17.5, Top Qualifier Daniel Pöhlmann converted for the win finishing after seeing off a late challenge from Cham Dassanayake with Tobias Baumbach completing the Top 3.

In Formula, the title still undecided, Jan Ratheisky controlled the race from the TQ from start to finish with title rival David Erbhar unable to do anything about the German eventually finishing 1.4-seconds back. Able to get by Jitse Miedema, Matej Dobnikar completed the Top 3.

View complete event results here.

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July 27, 2019

Chassis Focus – Simon Lauter

Chassis – Tamiya TRF 103
Motor – Scorpion Power System (handout)
ESC – Scorpion Power System (handout)
Batteries – LRP 5800
Tires – Volante (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/SRT
Bodyshell – Protoform F26

Remarks – Running his trusty Tamiya TRF103 for the event Simon is using RC Carbon Store’s conversion kit. Using the kit gives different front and rear geometry including a wing to chassis mount. Simon says the wing to chassis mount is the most important element of the kit. With two wheelbase options, long and standard, he has chosen the long version which for him makes the car easier to drive with the same lap times.

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July 26, 2019

Hagberg TQs final quali to secure P2 at ETS Slovakia

Alexander Hagberg has TQ’d the final round of qualifying at the ETS Season Finale in Slovakia, the result giving the Swede second spot on the grid behind Xray team-mate and newly crowned Champion Bruno Coelho. Having wrapped up the overall TQ with a trio of TQ runs, Coelho would lead away Ronald Volker in Q4 but all the attention was on Hagberg and Lucas Urbain as they had new tyres for the final round. Initially it was Urbain’s Awesomatix that set the pace, the Frenchman opening with a blistering fast 16.941 lap but quickly that pace faded with Thimo Weissbauer moving to the top of the timing screen. Soon however Hagberg took charge and he stayed there to post the fastest time of the day ahead of Coelho, the cooler night conditions allowing him to be the only driver to make 18 laps of the reverse layout Hudy Arena track. Again so close to Coelho, their pace on new or used tyres pretty much equal, Volker would conclude qualifying with a P3 which is where the Yokomo driver will start tomorrow’s finals. Crossing the loop fourth fastest, Urbain will start in that position with Christopher Krapp completing the top half of the grid.

With all but the Pro Stock and Stock 17.5 TQ decided in Q3, Alexander Stocker the 40+ Masters TQ, Jan Ratheisky the Formula TQ (both drivers taking all four rounds), it was already crowned Champion Simon Lauter who becomes the Pro Stock Top Qualifier. The Awesomatix driver backed up his Q1 topping performance with another TQ in the final round ahead of Q2 winner Dominic Vogl and Q3 pace setter Max Machler. This is the same order in which they will start tomorrow’s rescheduled A-Main. With rain forecast for the afternoon, the current timetable will see two rounds of Mains run tomorrow with an opportunity of dry conditions to run the 3rd round on Sunday morning before the rain returns again. In Stock 17.5, it was to be a tie as Daniel Pöhlmann TQ’d Q3 & 4 with the the last one the quickest of the day giving him the overall TQ over Q1 & 2 winner Dominik Ruf.

View complete event results here.

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