Euro Touring Series

October 28, 2017

Rheinard ends two year drought with first Infinity TQ at ETS Austria

Marc Rheinard has ended a 2-year TQ drought by claiming his first pole position start of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series since 2015. Last securing pole at the Season #9 opener in the Czech Republic in 2015 he became Top Qualifier for the 13th time today in Vienna when he made it three out of three at the top of the time sheets in the penultimate round of qualifying. Claiming the first championship point of the season, the TQ marks the first for Infinity as the German driver and Japanese manufacturer embark on their first full ETS championship campaign.

‘How long has it been’, was Rheinard’s reaction after locking in pole by taking Q3 ahead of Bruno Coelho. He continued, ‘I didn’t expect to TQ when we came here especially after the first practice run but we worked on it and it got better’. Switching to his second set of tyres for the round, he said, ‘the feeling of the car was not the same as before but the balance was still good’. Denying Coelho the chance of taking the TQ fight to the fourth & final qualifier by half a second, again setting the fastest lap, the former ETS Champion said, ‘we need to see who will start second but I’m comfortable with the car while others are struggling with theirs and like I said before I have a good car for 5-minutes’.

Having set the pace in practice but clearly having lost form since the start of qualifying Coelho said, ‘we are still trying to find the problem with the car’. Crashing on the opening lap of each of the first two qualifiers, the reigning champion would have a clean Q3 but he is still not happy with his car. He said, ‘we were super fast in practice but now the car is losing the rear and we are still trying to find out the problem’. Switching around his tyres for Q3, he said while it made the car ‘a little better’ overall the car is still the same so they haven’t yet problem.

‘Great’ was how Marco Kaufmann described another impressive run to the 3rd fastest time. The German driver continued, ‘I don’t think I was ever so close in the ETS before as this to a TQ run’, him holding the second fastest pace behind Rheinard for much of the qualifier. With a strong grid position locked in with his pair of P3 runs, he said for his final attempt he will ‘give everything in the last one to try for a TQ’, adding ‘I have nothing to lose’. He concluded, ‘I just want to enjoy the weekend now and have a good race’.

Posting the fourth fastest time, Viljami Kutvonen said, ‘I hit the boards 4 times, I don’t know how I survived to finish’. The Awesomatix driver explained his incidents by saying, ‘I think it was just me, I pushed too hard. The car is good without pushing’. For the final qualifier, as he tries to protect his current second place in the qualification ranking, he said, ‘I will just make sure I didn’t break anything on the car and then try to drive it a bit better’.

‘OK’ was Alexander’s Hagberg reply when ask how he felt his latest qualifier went. The Swede continued, ‘we don’t have the set-up to go fast and we are not sure what to do yet’. While his best of the three qualifiers, he concluded, ‘the car is not quick enough to fight for the TQ so we have to find something for the last round’.

‘I’m just happy to be back in the A-Main first off all. I’m happy to be back in the mix’, was how Christopher Krapp summed up his sixth for Q3. The best placed Yokomo driver with both Ronald Volker and Naoki Akiyama having errors with Volker pulling off as he struggled with his car, Krapp said with his car lazy in Q2 a set-up change improved it for the latest run. While pleased with his BD8 he was less complimentary of his own driving saying, ‘I am not 100% happy with my driving. I made a stupid mistake and kissed the boards which cost me 1-second so I will try getting the right lines in the next one’. Behind the German, Yannic Prumper took his privately entered Infinity to P7 ahead of factory driver Akio Sobue with Serpent’s Viktor Wilck 9th in front of Akiyama.

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October 28, 2017

Another TQ run from Rheinard in Q2

Having taken the opening qualifier of the new season of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Austria yesterday, Marc Rheinard has backed it up with another TQ run today in Q2. The Infinity driver would set the pace once again from Awesomatix’s Viljami Kutvonen, this time the Top 11 drivers making 24-laps. Surprising even himself with P5 in Q1, Marco Kaufmann further impressed as he completed the Top 3 for the second qualifier ahead of Ronald Volker and Olly Jefferies and Alexander Hagberg. Having opened the season as many expected by topping the times in practice, reigning champion Bruno Coelho’s luck continues to be out as he again made a mistake in his opening lap as he did yesterday. Starting Q2 last due his mistake filled opening attempt, the Xray driver would get passed on the opening lap by Rheinard following his contact with the board in the middle of the second corner. In the end he would salvage a P8 from the run.

‘A perfect start again’ was Rheinard’s reaction to Q2, the German’s IF14 also setting the fastest lap on his opening lap. Summing up the run he said, ‘I made a big gap between me and Viljami on the first lap which helped a lot’. He continued, ‘When Bruno crashed I went passed him but I didn’t know if he was going to be faster and if I was going to have to left him pass. My car was really good and we had the same speed so I didn’t have to open’. Having only refreshed the shocks from yesterday, he said tyres are his focus for Q3 adding he is not sure whether to run the same set again or go to his second set. With four runs on his first set of the championship’s Volante handout tyre he feels they might be getting too old for another run.

Viljami summed up Q2 by saying ‘it was pretty good’. The Finn said having made small changes to his car it was easier to drive but said he lost out on the TQ in the first minute when his car was not as good. Putting that down to his tyre prep, he will change this for the next qualifier in the hope he can have a quicker car earlier on as his fastest lap didn’t come until lap 10 of 24.

‘I changed nothing but now my driving was better’ said a very pleased Kaufmann. The German continued, ‘the car is still very very good and I don’t think I will touch it for the rest of the weekend. I will just put on additive’. Having a moment when he got his T4 up on 2 wheels, he said there is probably still room for improvement from his driving but added it would be ‘not much’.

Surprised to find himself being beaten by Kaufmann, Volker said, ‘changes we made didn’t improve the car at all’. The World Champion added, ‘the left right balance felt fine but the set-up is still off in terms of pace. I wish my 2-seconds off TQ was because I had a mistake but I didn’t’. Looking to Q3, the Yokomo driver concluded, ‘We need to make a bigger set-up change’.

‘Alright but not perfect’, that was Jefferies view of his Q2 run, the British driver having posted a P7 run yesterday. The Xray driver said the obstacle is ‘just driving style’. Pleased with his car he continued, ‘It is very different to back home to how the grip is here. ‘I’m used to the cars sliding around but here they are glued to the track and this driving style is alien to me but we are getting there and now we are pretty close’. Taking a lot of instruction from his pitman on how he needs to be driving the track he said he starts out well but fall back into his normal style of driving mid way into the run’. For the next one he will try to ‘just drive it different’ for the full 5-minutes.

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October 28, 2017

Ratheisky takes opening Pro Stock qualifiers at ETS Austria

Jan Ratheisky has taken the opening two Pro Stock qualifiers at the opening round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Vienna, Austria. Having topped seeding yesterday, the German kicked off Day 2 of the event with a very convincing TQ run with him finishing over 5-seconds clear of his rivals. Behind, Mustafa Alp was the only other driver to run 23 laps, the Turkish driver again excelling on Austrian soil having famously TQ’d the final round of modified qualifying in Traiskirchen back in 2012. Helge Johannessen would complete the Top 3, the big Norwegian finishing just ahead of reigning champion Alexandre Duchet and Max Mächler. In the second qualifier, Ratheisky would have to work much harder for his TQ. Having rolled his Awesomatix in Q1, Mächler swapped the TQ pace with the Xray driver throughout the 5-minutes but despite setting the fastest lap would eventually finish 9/10th off. Behind, Duchet had a roll, pulling up at the half way mark, while former DHI Cup Pro Stock Champion Tim Benson completed the Top 3 ahead of Simon Lauter and Alp.

In the Scorpion Power System Formula class it was also Ratheisky who was the man to beat. Top seed for qualifying the former champion took Q1 from reigning champion David Erbhar’s Serpent with Shepherd driver Olivier Bultynck completing the Top 3. In the second of the four qualifiers it was Infinity team driver Jitse Miedema who was Ratheisky’s closest challenger, the difference a substantial 7-seconds. René Kölbel completed the Top 3 followed by inaugural Formula champion Herbert Weber.

In the newly introduced Infinity Masters Touring Car class it was Miko Peter who TQ’d the opening qualifier ahead of Christian Drießle. That order was reversed in Q2 with Drießle setting the pace. The Masters class is open to drivers 40-years old or more and it runs the same rules as the Xray Pro Stock class with the cars running the same hand out Muchmore speedo and motor which this season features an RPM limiter.

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October 27, 2017

Rheinard takes opening qualifier of new ETS season

Marc Rheinard has taken the first qualifier of the new season of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series. Sixth fastest in seeding practice but confident he had a good car over 5-minutes, the Infinity driver delivered the only 24-lap time to TQ the first of the four qualifiers in Vienna. Behind, Awesomatix’ Viljami Kutvanen would set the second fastest time, missing out on making 24-laps by half a second, with Ronald Volker completing the Top 3 a second off the Finn’s pace. Having topped seeding, it wasn’t to be a good start for defending champion Bruno Coelho. From the start the Xray driver had the first of a number of moments when he got loose but it was contact with the boards at the end of the main straight that ended his chances of the TQ as his car needed to be marshalled.

‘A very good start’, was how Rheinard summed up his impressive TQ run. The German added, ‘I can’t remember the TQ run I had so it feels good to start off the weekend like this’. Finding himself catching up on the closely bunched group of Naoki Akiyama, team-mate Akio Sobue and Alexander Hagberg, he said he was lucky to get by Akiyama when the Japanese driver got his Yokomo up on two wheels. Getting passed Sobue when he put his IF4 on its roof, Hagberg would give the 4-time World Champion room after which he had a clear track ahead of him. With Coelho laying down the fastest lap of Q1, Rheinard said, ‘I think Bruno had an advantage but his car looks not so easy to drive’. Also referring to his own car as ‘not super easy to drive’, he said using third run tyres had made it slightly better but for now the plan is to just bag up the tyres and leave the car as is. With Q2 for Modified not up till late tomorrow morning he said, ‘I will wait to see how the track is nearer to the time of our qualifier’.

Enjoying his most competitive ETS outing at last year’s season opener, getting this year’s campaign off to a similar start Viljami said, ‘In practice I had some good laps here and there but 5-minutes was not good so I changed the gear diff and everything felt better’. Just making the top heat by setting the 10th fastest time in controlled practice, he continued, ‘I think I was too careful (in Q1) and I also had traffic because I started last so I think there is room to improve in Q2’.

‘I’m ok with P3 for Q1 but we need to step it up because our focus is to get the overall TQ’, was Volker’s reaction to his performance in the opening qualifier. The Yokomo driver said, ‘It was a weird first lap. The car was loose in the right corners plus Bruno had problems so I lost time at the beginning’. He continued, ‘the car also felt pushing to the left so I couldn’t go as fast as I want and so could not hang on to the TQ pace. The car was way better in CP2’.

Setting the fourth fastest time despite running in the second fastest group, Christopher Krapp said, ‘that was really good actually’. The former ETS race winner continued, ‘I knew my 5-minute pace was good but I changed from an active to a standard rear and that made me more confident in the chicane. Before it was nervous and now its more stable’. Finishing 1-second off his team-mate Volker, he was ‘surprised’ at his own time because of having to lap cars during the qualifier which he said had cost him time. Describing last season’s ETS as a ‘disaster for me with so many BQ’s’ he concluded this is a good start to get back in the A-Main. In terms of his BD8, he said overall I am happy with the car but I will just make some little changes to get a little more steering’.

‘Ah the car is awesome’ was Marco Kaufmann’s reaction to setting the 5th fastest time. Finishing as the top Xray driver, the German added, ‘Only Coelho had a faster lap than me and he is a great driver’. Qualifying 8th at the season finale in Ettlingen back in July, he concluded, ‘I had some bad laps because I pushed too hard so the driver just needs the same pace as the car. Its perfect, it doesn’t need to be changed’.

Alexander Hagberg declared his P6 time in Q1 as ‘not a good start’. The Swede said, ‘Bruni spun at the first corner so me and Ronald had to brake and I lost my rhythm for the run and it cost me a lot of time’. Having improved his T4 from controlled practice, he said, ‘hopefully with a clean run I can fight for the top spot tomorrow’. Behind Hagberg, Olly Jefferies was 7th quickest followed by Frederik Südhoff, Yannic Prümper and Jan Ratheisky.

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October 27, 2017

Coelho from Volker in controlled practice at ETS opener

A new season of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series got underway in Vienna, Austria, today with practice ending with a familiar theme to last season as Bruno Coelho topped the times. Having topped free practice, the Xray driver would lay down the fastest 3-consecutive laps in the first of the controlled practice runs with no one able to better the pace in the second and final practice. It would be Ronald Volker who would top CP2, but like Coelho he couldn’t beat his earlier time. Behind, Alexander Hagberg would complete the Top 3, the Xray driver improving his time in CP2 by more than 4/10ths of a second. Also improving in CP2, Naoki Akiyama is seeded P4 for qualifying ahead of Infinity pairing Akio Sobue and Marc Rheinard.

Summing up his practice at Messe Wien, the ETS running as part of Austria’s biggest hobby show, Coelho said, ‘the last one I had a lot of mistakes and traffic but the car is working good. I just need to drive more consistent and with less mistakes’. The reigning champion added, ‘I haven’t changed the car during the practice, I have just worked on adapting to the track’.

‘It is surprising the track didn’t improve more’, was Volker’s reaction as he came in from marshalling with him adding, ‘Normally you expect it to change a lot more’. The Yokomo driver continued that for the final practice ‘I focused a bit more on my driving for a clean run and it worked out well’ – his overall time the fastest of all four practices. He added, ‘The Top 10 is very close to each other so you have to be faultless’. On his car, the World Champion said, ‘the balance is good we just need slightly more steering’.

Reacting to his P3 seeding, Hagberg said, ‘it is getting better and its is pretty good now’. The Swede added, ‘the track changed and the grip came up which is better for our set-up and hopefully it will be even better in qualifying’. Commenting on the track layout the multiple ETS race winner said, ‘it is nice to drive. There are some small bumps in the carpet but this is the only negative point’. Asked about changing his car for Q1 he replied, ‘I will talk to my mechanic about making a small change’ – his mechanic being the T4’s designer Martin Hudy.

Akiyama was pleased with the performance of his Yokomo but less happy with his own driving. Describing the track as ‘a little difficult’, the 18-year-old added, ‘there are many long corners’. Planning to leave his BD8 unchanged for Q1, the World Finalist said, ‘I need to focus more on my driving for qualifying’.

Fellow countryman Sobue was having similar issues to Akiyama. The Japanese National Champion said, ‘the car is good but the driver is making too many mistakes’. Also finding the track ‘a little bit difficult’, he was complimentary of the track saying it was better than any of the carpet tracks he raced on in the ETS last season. While hoping to make his IF14 a little more balanced for his first qualifying attempt he concluded, ‘the big thing is to improve the driver’.

Completing the Top 6, Rheinard summed up his practice as having gone ‘pretty OK’. The German continued, ‘my 3-laps are not super fast but on a full run I’m consistent’. He added, ‘Things looked bad in the first one because Bruno was 1.7 in front but it’s got better’. Using the four practice runs to break in two sets of race tyres, the Infinity driver is confident these will each bring him a further improvement in qualifying when they will be on their optimum 3rd run. In terms of liking the track layout, he said, ‘it is kind of fast so many people have the same speed but it is a good layout’.

Setting the seventh quickest time, Awesomatix’ Freddy Sudhoff said the final practice was the first time he was confident with the car and therefore able to push. The German said, ‘we struggled a little with the layout and set-up but at least we could improve run after run’. Having been able to improve his lap times in CP2, he said now they need to look at finding a little more overall traction for qualifying. Behind Sudhoff the Top 10 was completed by Olly Jefferies, Marco Kaufmann and Awesomatix team-mate Viljami Kutvonen.

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October 27, 2017

Track Focus – Messe Wien

Track Name – Messe Wien
Club – HSH Traiskirchen
Country – Austria
Location – Vienna
Direction – Anti-clockwise
Surface – Carpet
No. of ETS Races hosted – 0

Season #11 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series gets underway at an exciting new location as drivers descend on Austria’s largest model show which is expecting almost 50,000 visitors. Invited to be part of ‘Modellbau 2017’ by the show organisers, while this is the championship’s 7th visit to Austria, it is the first time the country has hosted the season opener. Surrounded by trains, slot cars, rc drifting, military RC battle fields, RC construction sites and everything modelling related, the ETS has taken over around half of one of the Messe Wien’s exhibitions hall with the show already bringing in large crowds, helped today (Friday) by the fact it is a national holiday in Austria. Led by Daniel Raimann and Robert Bachofner with a team from local club HSH Traiskirchen, the track build for the show was a bigger undertaking than normal for an ETS indoor race. As with most exhibition halls there are covered over cable tunnels running throughout the hall to feed electrical supplies to exhibitors stand and so to have the flattest possible surface on which to lay the track carpet a wooden subfloor had to be built prior to the start of the ‘normal’ track build’.

Covering an area 34 metres long by 20 metres wide, the additional bonus of the subfloor is that the boards can be screwed into position making for a better presented track layout. Coming into the weekend chasing a third consecutive ETS title, Bruno Coelho described the layout as ‘fast & technical at the same time but fun’. Adding the track is ‘a little bumpy’ he said while ‘there is not really one place you can make or lose time’ he added that the chicane in front of the drivers stand was very challenging. Coming into it fast, the sweeper before it having already been tweaked during practice from its original layout, he said, ‘the entry is very fast and then you are turning left and right on the brakes’.

Asked his thoughts on the track, Ronald Volker said, ‘the layout is good but it could be a little more tight. Now the lap times are very close however its a nice and flowing layout’. The Yokomo driver shared rival Coelho’s view on the standout section of the track saying, ‘the long fast corner in front of the driver stand into the chicane is the hardest corner’. On the track surface, he said, ‘It is a bit bumpy but for me it is ok’.

One new addition to the ETS this weekend is the introduction of the Infinity Masters Touring Car Class. Open to drivers 40-years old or over, the class runs to the championship’s regular Pro Stock rules with 29 drivers signing up for the class here in Austria.

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July 30, 2017

Final round of A-Mains rained off

The final round of A-Mains at the ETS Season #10 finale has been rained off. A weekend of hot conditions with around half an hour left to go to bring the season to a close, heavy rain arrived at Minidrom Ettlingen drenching the track and ending any chances of running the A3. With the overall wins in Modified and Formula already decided in A2, Bruno Coelho and Tim Benson the winners, it was the Pro Stock class that lost out. With Olivier Bultynck winning A1 and Alexandre Duchet A2, with only two Mains run it was the best result of two to decide the final result with a fastest winning time giving it to Bultynck over the new champion Duchet. Tobias Vogel, third in A1 completed the podium in Germany. In terms of the podium for Modified, a faster P2 in the opening A-Main would give Infinity’s Naoto Matsukura his second consecutive podium while Xray’s Tim Wahl, second in A2, celebrates his first ever ETS podium, the German putting in a great home event. Behind first time ETS winner Benson, in Formula Matej Dobnikar would end the season with his best ever result finishing second while Jitse Miedema, second in A2, completed the podium. Newly crowned champion David Ehrbar rounded out his season with 7th place.

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July 30, 2017

Champion Coelho caps of ETS season with record 5th win

Back to back Euro Touring Series Champion Bruno Coelho has capped off his title winning campaign with a record breaking 5th win of the season at Minidrom Ettlingen in Germany. Top Qualifier for a 5th time in Season #10, the Xray driver wrapped up his 10th ETS career win with another dominant drive in A2, this time heading home team-mate Tim Wahl. Behind the Xrays, contact between the two Infinity’s of Naoto Matsukura and Marc Rheinard would mix things up a little allowing Ronald Volker through to third. In the end Matsukura would take back the position from his former team-mate to complete the top 3 after seeing off a final corner pass attempt by Mugen’s Robert Pietsch.

Reacting to his A2 performance, Coelho said, ‘I started very strong, the car felt perfect over the first 3-laps and I already had a lead of something like 1-second so then I could just manage the advantage’. Celebrating his overall win at a hot Ettlingen with some ice cream, he said, ‘The goal is always to win every time and learn & develop. I was not 110% prepared for this race because when I came here for testing it rained so I’m super happy with today’s result. The 5 wins are the result of all our work over the year. I have to thank Francesco (Martini) for his perfect job all season and also all my sponsors as we all work in this direction’. With Montech’s new Racer bodyshell making a big impact this weekend, he continued, ‘I am happy with Montech’s new body. Six cars used it in the final which is very positive step’.

‘I don’t think I was at any time before as nervous as this time’ said Wahl after A2. Doing an impressive job to qualify second for his first ETS outdoor A-Main appearance, the German who wasn’t comfortable with the conditions in A1 said this time, ‘everything was perfect’, it having got hotter since the morning’s opening encounter. Looking strong now for his first podium finish he said, ‘for sure the aim is the podium but Marc and Naoto know Bruno will not race (A3) so they will be looking for a (leg) win too’. The 22-year-old concluded, ‘I will try my best and see what happens’.

Matsukura declared himself ‘lucky’ to get third in A2. Surviving getting tapped from behind by Rheinard and then eventually getting by Volker when the Yokomo driver had a half spin while under pressure from his fellow former World Champion. Describe the hit from Rheinard as a ‘race accident’, the Japanese driver said, ‘my car was pretty good after that but then I had a mistake on the straight, I was super lucky to get away with it’. It was this moment that let Pietsch close him up, the separation at the line just 2/100ths of a second. Looking to better his 3rd place at the previous round at the Hudy Arena, Matsukura said the plan for A3 was to ‘pressure him (Wahl) at the start and hope I can get a good pass with no contact’.

‘Nice races’, was Pietsch’s reaction after A2. The nitro World Champion has been making a big impression on Mugen’s ETS debut with his new MTC-1 touring car and is showing he is not afraid to mix it with electric’s best racers. Asked about getting up to 4th position from his P6 starting position, he replied, ‘I don’t know how it happened. I just wanted to keep it clean and it was working out’. With the racing on track a lot closer than normally experienced in nitro, and this only his second EP outdoor race he is enjoying the experience saying, ‘I have the feeling everyone is careful and won’t make stupid moves so its nice to race like that and I think its good for the spectators too to watch’. On his attempted pass on Matsukura he said, ‘he went a little outside at the hairpin so I saw a gap but I didn’t accelerate enough’. For the closing race of the season he will make a speedo setting change, feeling he was down a little in top speed compared to the others. Behind Pietsch, Rheinard would finish 5th followed by Volker.

While little happened at the front of the Volante Modified encounter, A2 of Xray Pro Stock would see French ETS season rookie Alexandre Duchet take the title and make fans among onlookers as he pulled off an impressive pass on title rival Olivier Bultynck. Having won A1, Top Qualifier Bultynck looked like he was on target to take the overall win but on the last lap Duchet got down the inside of the Awesomatix driver in the infield to make it a dream debut season as he retains the title for Xray. In the Scorpion Power Formula class, Tim Benson wrapped up his first overall ETS victory taking his Serpent to the A2 win albeit by a smaller margin second time round from Infinity’s Jitse Miedema who was closing fast on the German over the closing laps. Bultynck completed the Top 3 while Jan Ratheisky retired meaning it is David Ehrbar who is the overall champion making it a great day for Team Serpent.

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