Euro Touring Series

July 30, 2017

Coelho cruises to A1 win at ETS Germany

Bruno Coelho cruised to an easy win in the opening A-Main of the ETS Season Finale in Germany this morning, the Top Qualifier having a winning margin of almost three seconds over Naoto Matsukura. Top Qualifier at the uniquely challenging Minidrom Ettlingen track, Coelho immediately took control of A1 making a blistering start ahead of Xray team-mate Tim Wahl. Starting his first ever outdoor ETS A-Main from second on the grid, Wahl was looking good in 2nd early on but had a slight moment on the curbing was enough to let Matsukura and the rest of the pack to close, the Infinity driver executing an impressive move on the German on the entry to the sweeper to take second. Matsukura’s Infinity team-mate Marc Rheinard would shortly make a similar pass on Wahl, these being the only two passes of the race, the rest of the field finishing in the order they started.

‘It was a very good final. I was very confident with the car after my 1/2 lap warm-up’, said Coelho after the race. Chasing his fifth win of the season, the back to back Champion said, ‘Tim had not so good a start which gave me space so I could just drive my own race and lead it to the end’. Describing track conditions as ‘completely different to yesterday’, he said, ‘it was more stable in the rear and much easier to drive and I hope it stays like this for the rest of the day’.

‘I’m happy with second’ was how Matsukura summed up his opening final. Starting third on the grid he said, ‘I took Tim on the straight which was a perfect pass but it was too late because Bruno was too far away’. Also describing track conditions as being ‘different’ today, the ETS Slovakia podium finisher said, ‘my car was super easy but after 2-minutes it had understeer so we make a little change in the set-up for the next one to get more steering’. A driver who seems to have re-found his touring car form since joining class newcomers Infinity, the 2014 World Champion said, ‘I try to get one place better the next one’.

Giving his views on A1, Rheinard said, ‘What can I say we lost the race in qualifying again’. The 4-time World Champion continued, ‘Bruno is a little faster but I think we are closer than it looks. If I was starting second I could at least challenge Bruno a little bit’. He added, ‘It is a difficult track to pass but I made a nice move on Tim on the straight which gave me third’. With Montech’s Racer body looking to have the advantage at this track Rheinard concluded, ‘I was the best LTC finisher’.

‘I’m happy with this’ was Wahl’s reaction to finishing 4th. With 4-World Champions on the grid, he continued, ‘If anyone said before the start I would finish 4th I would agree with this’. In terms of his car, he said, ‘It was not perfect for these conditions. The track is more stable today and my car is best when its loose but it is windy and getting hotter so I expect it to change’.

In the Pro Stock class, Olivier Bultynck couldn’t do more for his title aspirations as the Awesomatix driver lead from start to finish with championship rival Alexandre Duchet finishing 2nd. Contact between Tom Krägefski and Max Mächler would benefit Tobias Vogel who would complete the Top 3. In Formula, Serpent’s Tim Benson drove the perfect race, the Top Qualifier winning from Matej Dobnikar who closed in the final laps. In the title battle, reigning champion Jan Ratheisky got the better of Bultynck to finish 3rd, the duo having start 8th and 6th respectively.

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July 29, 2017

Coelho Top Qualifier as Wahl makes it Xray 1-2 for ETS Finale

Bruno Coelho is Top Qualifier for the final round of the 10th season of the Euro Touring Series but the surprise of the final qualifier came in the form of Tim Wahl who TQ’d the fourth qualifier to make it an Xray 1-2 in Germany. Coelho’s fifth TQ of the season, the already confirmed champion looks poised to round out his successful campaign with another victory that would give him the record for the most wins in a single season. With team-mate Wahl lining up second, the quest of touring car newcomers Infinity to end its debut season with a win looks even tougher with Naoto Matsukura leading that challenge from 3rd on the grid ahead of team-mate Marc Rheinard. The only driver to deny Coelho a win this season, Ronald Volker’s chances of a second win look slim as he lines up 5th ahead of Robert Pietsch, the former 1:8 Onroad World Champion getting Mugen’s entry into electric racing off to an impressive start with 6th on the grid.

Beaten to the Q4 TQ by 2/10ths of a second by Wahl, Coelho said, ‘we tried some new stuff and it was no better so we go back for the finals’. Securing pole for tomorrow’s finals with TQ runs in Q1 & 2, he continued, ‘Tim made a very good run now and I made many mistakes because I was losing the rear. I think I lost around 2-seconds in total’. Asked about the finals, all his rivals conceding that overtaking on this track is almost impossible due both to its high speed layout and unique surface, Coelho said, ‘For sure it is a difficult track to overtake, it was the same problem in nitro’ – a reference to the ENS encounter at the track earlier in the month. Targeting his 10th ETS career win, he concluded, ‘Tim will force at the beginning but I will try and make no mistakes and see what happens’.

Asked about his TQ run Wahl replied, ‘All I wanted to do is make the A-Main’. The 22-year-old for whom this is his first outdoor ETS A-Main start, continued, ‘It feels like I wasted so much time but finally I did it’. On his impressive Q4 performance which backed up his P2 a round earlier, the German who was running in the second fastest heat said, ‘It was another safe run and for the last 5 0r 6 laps I just tried to save it to the end’. On his expectations for the final, Andreas Myrberg delighted at the AME supported driver making the main event, Wahl said, ‘I’m just looking forward to it. If I finish 10th I finished 10th, no stress’.

Matching his best ETS qualifying result, which he achieved last time out, Matsukura was the only driver with a chance of denying Coelho the overall TQ. The 2014 World Champion said, ‘the last round I don’t know why but my car was maximum loose. I changed the set-up only very slightly and my tyres were from the 2nd qualifier in which I only did one lap’. After an off he would pull in just after the half way mark. Looking to double up on his maiden podium finish at Round 5 at the Hudy Arena, for the final he said, ‘Bruno & Tim are faster but anyway this track you can’t pass, its too difficult so you have to what for a mistake’. He went on to say, ‘tomorrow is the same weather so I think after 2-minutes everyone will get loose, I hope, and maybe then there will be some passing. Anyway I am happy to start the same place as the last race’.

‘Disappointing’ was Rheinard’s reaction to qualifying fourth for the third race in a row, the German adding, ‘again being fourth it doesn’t look great because we are closer than it looks’. Getting a P3 from the final qualifier, he said, ‘it was difficult at the end, one time I went onto the grass’. While describing the finals as ‘a new game’, he continued, ‘its a boring layout and almost impossible to pass. Bruno is going to check out but then we’ll see for 2nd, 3rd and 4th’.

Lining up 5th as he did last month at the Hudy Arena, Volker would pull up in the final qualifier. The Yokomo driver who is without his mechanic Yukijiro Umino this weekend said, ‘I didn’t have new tyres but they had just 5-laps but the car was off balance. I had decent pace for used tyres but then suddenly the car did a 180 spin and after that I just pulled over’. He continued, ‘I’m happy to see Loic (Jasmin) come back into the A-Main but I’m sad for Christopher (Krapp) to end up P11’. On his changes for tomorrow the 5-time ETS Champion said, ‘starting mid pack we will do some changes to the car in order to try move up but what we know from the warm-up is you cannot pass on this track’. He said the high speed layout was the key reason for this but it unique track conditions also make it difficult to race because its already difficult to just keep the car on the track.

‘To be honest I’m surprised’ was Pietsch’s reaction to making the A-Main on what is only his second ever outdoor electric race. The designer of Mugen’s first foray into electric touring car, he continued, ‘I couldn’t think of a better start for the car. If we had got this result with a professional electric driver it would have been less of an achievement than me doing it’. Such is the 2011 1:8 Onroad World Champion’s lack of experience of touring car racing he said, ‘I guess we get new tyres for the finals?’ on which confirming he was right he said ‘that’s good’.

In the title battles in both Pro Stock and Formula, it was Olivier Bultynck who put himself in the best position for the touring car title as he claimed the overall TQ by topping the final qualifier. In the Scorpion Power Formula class his quest for the title isn’t going as well with his Shepherd set to start 6th but that’s right ahead of his rivals David Ehrbar and Jan Ratheisky. Up front Serpent’s Tim Benson is Top Qualifier ahead of Toni Rheinard who took the final qualifier. Behind Bultynck in the Xray Pro Stock class, Tom Krägefski starts second ahead of Xray team-mate and title contender Alexandre Duchet. The other title contender Christian Donath starts 5th as BQ for Jan Ratheisky ends the current champion’s chances of retaining his title.

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July 29, 2017

Matsukura TQs third qualifier in Ettlingen

Naoto Matsukura has TQ’d the third round of qualifying at ETS Germany. The Infinity driver made the most of increasingly difficult conditions at Minidrom Ettlingen to prevent Bruno Coelho from wrapping up the overall TQ but as the slowest qualifier so far it will be a tall order for the Japanese driver to deny the already confirmed ETS champion his fifth TQ of the season. For a time Coelho didn’t have a result for the third qualifier, his transponder having stopped counting after lap 11 of 20 but he was later manually issued with the finishing time as recorded by his mechanic Francesco Martini. Completing the Top 3 would be Tim Wahl, the Xray driver coming good on the form he showed at the Warm-up race last month to pip Ronald Volker by just 0.003 of a second.

Having hit the curbing coming onto the straight and launched his car into the protective fencing around the marshalling post in Q2, Matsukura said, ‘I almost did it again on the first lap, I was lucky’. The former World Champion continued, ‘My car is pretty good in the hot conditions. I just understeers but its not loose so its got good potential’. Having claimed his first ETS podium finish at the previous round in Slovakia, the Japanese driver while pleased with his car was realistic about his chances of beating Coelho for the TQ. With Coelho having a fastest time of 21/5:07.457 from last night’s opening qualifier and his Q3 topping time a 20/5:03.209, he said, ‘I cannot beat Bruno’s time, its too hot’ but with a P4 from Q1 his goal is to try an secure second on the grid behind the Portuguese driver.

Commenting on his timing issues, Coelho said, ‘I didn’t know my transponder stopped counting but knew something was strange because I was pulling away from Marc but didn’t hear may name in the running order’. Opting to do the third qualifier on used tyres he said, ‘for being on used tyres I think the car was perfect but I was driving too close to the curbing and picking up dust on the tyres which was losing me a little time’. Asked if he felt his overall TQ was safe he replied ‘the track is very slow but it not 100% sure and anything is possible but for the last one we should be more than before because have new tyres’.

Reacting to his P3 time, Wahl said, ‘I was hoping for this weather’. The German, who finished second at the ETS Warm-up race continued, ‘at the Warm-up my car was working really well when the conditions were the same as now, so I kept my car the same. It is pretty safe but like it is for everyone the conditions are still difficult’. Sitting 8th in the qualification ranking after 3 rounds, counting a P11 from Q1, the former A-Main finalist will try to make the best use of still having a new set of tyres left for the final qualifier.

Summing up his P4 time, Volker said, ‘we adapted the set-up for Q3 because the weather dramatically changed. I saw in the heat before many people had problems with getting loose so I just tried to keep it on the grey’. Having to open for Matsukura, he said, ‘I lost 3rd having to let Naoto through’. Expecting the track to be similar for the next, the World Champion will try to make his Yokomo ‘a little more safe’ and in terms of tyres will run the set from Q2 which ran only 5-laps. Behind Volker, Marc Rheinard would get 5th after the Infinity driver opted, like Coelho, to run used tyres.

Mister consistent, Chritopher Krapp made it a trio of P6 runs. The Yokomo driver said, ‘what should I say, it was pretty boring actually. I felt I could stay with Bruno and Marc but then the car started overheating (the tyre) and I was drifting’. Claiming his first ETS A-Main start since joining Yokomo for the 2017 season, the German said Ettlingen is presenting the most difficult conditions he has ever encountered and he has never found it so hard to drive a modified car around for 5-mins describing it as ‘super hard here’.

In the Scorpion Power Formula class Tim Benson backed up his Q2 TQ with another, the Serpent driver fastest this time from the Xray of Matej Dobnikar. Tonisport boss Toni Rheinard would complete the Top 3 driving a VBC as once again the title contenders struggled. Points leader David Ehrbar was best of the trio with the 20th fastest time. In the Xray Pro Stock class, Tobias Vogel finally came good on his No.1 seeding to TQ the penultimate round ahead of Q2 pace setter Olivier Bultynck and Alexandre Duchet.

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July 29, 2017

Coelho takes close Q2 from Pietsch & Rheinard

Bruno Coelho has made it two out of two in qualifying at the season finale of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Germany but unlike last night’s opening qualifier the Xray driver didn’t have it all his own way. Initially it was Marc Rheinard who laid down the TQ pace with Loic Jasmin taking the challenge to him. With Ronald Volker suffering a spin and pulling off to save tyres, his car having ‘too much steering’, Jasmin would put Yokomo at the top of the timing screens briefly before Rheinard took it back as Coelho joined the mix. In the end Coelho would take it on the timing screens from Rheinard but an impressive run from Pietsch in the heat before would put the Mugen driver second fastest, the separation just 0.086 of a second with Rheinard just 2/10ths off. Viljami Kutvonen would be the only other driver to run 21-laps in the hotter conditions to give him a P4.

‘Unlike what they said yesterday our car works well in all conditions’, was Coelho reaction after TQ, his comment a reference to Rheinard saying after Q1 the ETS Champion didn’t have as good a car for hot conditions. He continued, ‘these conditions are very hard for the tyres. I heard the drivers from the heat before saying it was super difficult so I did not start too aggressive and just got a feel for the conditions and adjusted my driving so as not to over heat the tyres. It worked very good and now I have two first places’.

Receiving high fives from everyone for his impressive performance nitro racer Pietsch said, ‘I was super scared about the weather. The car was good in the cold but when the sun came out it was horrible but I made changed the set-up for this morning and it was exactly what was needed for the heat’. With the ETS marking the international race debut for the Mugen’s first EP Touring car creation, the former 1:8 Onroad World Champion said, ‘I’m super happy with the result. I knew the car was working well because we did a lot of testing but didn’t expect myself to be so competitive’. Only his second electric outdoor race the MTC-1’s designer said, ‘My goal was the Top 20 but now I think more is possible if I stay can calm and stay on the track’.

Rheinard said, ‘I lost it on the last 2 or 3 laps’. He continued, ‘Between 1 and 2 minutes in I had a bad power slide to the left because I overheat the tyres to much so then I tried to be careful in the left turns but at the end the car was loose so I was happy to finish’. He added, ‘Yesterday Bruno had 3-seconds but today it was close and I think it will get even closer in the next one, even with him having a body advantage for this track’.

‘At least I now have a result’ was how Kutvonen summed up his P4. The Awesomatix driver added he had been on for an equally good result in Q1 until a tyre broke on his second last lap. Running in the second fastest heat, the Finn said, ‘after controlled practice we changed some small details in the set-up and this helped improve the car. I haven’t changed it between qualifiers and in the heat it is ok’. Reporting like many drivers his car sliding to the left, he feels this is something in the car rather than the heat and will check over his A800X for Q3. Apart from that he said he hopes he can get a clean run in, having made contact with VBC Racing’s Yannic Prumper in Q2, ‘I thought he was letting me throw but closed on me and we touched’. While it cost Kutvonen almost a second in time, for Prumper it ended his run as he got stuck out on the grass.

Commenting on his P5 run Jasmin said, ‘I was expecting less traction. In the beginning it was OK but then the tyres overheated a bit and the nerves came but I think I led for 1-lap’. The Frenchman continued, ‘after that I tried to relax and finish the run because I knew it would be good if I could keep safe to the end’. On his Yokomo BD8 he said, ‘I didn’t change the diff from Q1 but I think now it is hotter it would have been better to change and I will do it for the next one’.

‘Sixth again, I threw away 5th on the last lap’, was Christopher Krapp’s reaction to another P6 run. The Yokomo driver continued, ‘I knew if I could keep it on the track it would be fine because I knew from the Warm-up Race that conditions were going to be tricky with the heat’. A former ETS race winner he said, ‘the car got loose at the end and I nearly lost it so I will try to improve it for the next one. I will make a change to the rear to make it more consistent over the run’. Behind Krapp, fellow ETS race winner Alexander Hagberg would get a P7 having had a DNF in Q1.

In Pro Stock, championship contender Olivier Bultynck’s Q1 strategy to pull up and save tyres paid dividends as he TQ’d ahead of top seed Tobias Vogel and title challenger Alexandre Duchet. In Formula, Serpent’s Tim Benson took Q2 ahead of Infinity’s Jitse Miedema and the Xray of Matej Dobnikar. For the title contenders it was a troublesome qualifier with Championship leader David Ehrbar, 2nd placed Jan Ratheisky and 3rd placed Olivier Bultynck all having DNFs.

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July 28, 2017

Coelho takes Q1 comfortably over Rheinard

Bruno Coelho has taken the opening round of qualifying at the season finale of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Germany. The Xray driver took advantage of the cooling evening conditions to set the pace by more 3-seconds from Marc Rheinard. Having topped the seeding practice, Ronald Volker completed the Top 3 having to give way to the faster Coelho who started the first of the 4 scheduled qualifiers behind him. Having scraped into the top heat Naoto Matsukura would finish a surprise 4th fastest with Freddy Sudhoff and Christopher Krapp completing the Top 6.

Commenting on his TQ run, Coelho said, ‘In the end we didn’t change anything from controlled practice and I just tried to control my first laps so as not to overheat the tyres. It felt really good and then I could begin to push a bit. Volker’s pace was not very fast so maybe he had a problem, but once I passed him I then just tried to manage to the end without any mistake’. The Portuguese driver added, ‘I am still missing steering but that the same problem for everyone as its a characteristic of the track but the Montech Racer body is helping a lot especially in the big corner’. Asked about tomorrow’s three rounds of qualifying, when temperatures will be much higher, he replied, ‘For sure it will be different’, and having experienced hot conditions at the Euro Nitro Series encounter at the track earlier in the month added, ‘the track takes in a lot of heat depending on the sunshine so it can get very hot so we will have to look at how we can change the car for this’.

‘I think it was not bad’ was Rheinard’s reaction. The Infinity driver continued, ‘I knew Bruno in cold would be fastest especially with that new body because it has a lot of downforce so to get second I am happy with this’. He added, ‘Its good that we got two cars in the Top 4 too’. Predicting tomorrow will be ‘completely different’ he said ‘I think in the hot Bruno will not be as fast, he hasn’t looked as good when it is warm so Q2 & 3 we should be closer’.

Volker was ‘a bit disappointed’ with P3. The only driver to beat Coelho for a win this season, he said, ‘it was completely different track conditions to earlier but I still expected better than P3’. Asked what the issue was he replied, ‘my car understeered too much, the track improved a lot (in terms of grip) and I could have run a harder diff’. Feeling he lost out on a potential P2 having to open for Coelho, the Yokomo driver concluded, ‘everything will be different the next two days (due to hotter weather) so that gives me a new chance’.

Matsukura described his P4 as ‘lucky’. Having claimed his first ever ETS podium last time out, the former World Champion said while removing the ARS from his Infinity IF14 made the car ‘pretty good’ it was ‘not quick but was easy to drive’. Having struggled in hot conditions, he said, ‘I checked the weather for tomorrow and it is to be maximum hot so I think I need to change my car and also my driving style’. With the track’s unique asphalt and banked corners working the tyre a lot more than normal, he predicts everyone is going to overheat tyres tomorrow and it will be down to who best manages their driving over the 5-minutes’.

‘Actually pretty good’ was Sudhoff’s response when asked how he felt Q1 had gone. The Awesomatix driver added he had ‘two big moments and almost lost the car’ and these cost him two places, himself, Matsukura and Volker only separated by 2/10ths of a second. He continued, ‘I’m happy as the pace is there so I just need to focus on myself. It will be hotter tomorrow and this is when the car is even better’.

Former ETS race winner Krapp felt he had better pace than P6. The Yokomo driver said, ‘to be honest I’m not too happy because it could have been better’. He continued, ‘On the 2nd lap I had a mistake and let Naoto by but then when I got back up to speed I couldn’t get back by him and he was a little slower than me. 6th is an OK start and I know the pace is there’. Asked how he felt his car would work in hotter conditions, he said, ‘I’m looking forward to tomorrow. The track changes every run so I have left the car the same all day and I attended the Warm-up race so know it’s good when it’s hot’.

In the Xray Pro Stock class Tom Krägefski took Q1 ahead of championship leader Christian Donath with Max Mächler completing the Top 3. In terms of the title contenders, the Pro Stock champion still to be decided, Jan Ratheisky got a P4 while the other challenger Olivier Bultynck played the strategy game and pulled off to save tyres. In the Scorpion Power Formula class former Pro Stock Champion Alexander Stocker took the TQ in the opening round from reigning champion & title contender Ratheisky with Tim Benson 3rd. Championship leader David Ehrbar would get a P5 ahead of the third of the title contenders Bultynck in sixth.

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July 28, 2017

Volker top seed at ETS Germany

Ronald Volker is the top seed for qualifying at ETS Germany. Having set the fastest 3-consecutive laps in the first of the two rounds of controlled practice, the Yokomo driver’s time would stand as Volker failed to improve on a slightly hotter track in CP2. Topping the final practice from Volker would be Bruno Coelho, the Xray driver breaking into the 42-seconds for his 3-laps following his tyre issues in CP1. Making a massive improvement on his opening time, Infinity’s Jilles Groskamp would post the third fastest time by just 1/1000th of a second in front of Freddy Südhoff, the Awesomatix driver also taking a chunk out of his CP1 time. With Volker the only driver seeded in the top 7 not having run their faster time in CP2, that ranking would be completed by Marc Rheinard, Naoki Akiyama and Loic Jasmin.

Reacting to CP2, Volker said, ‘the sun came out so it was warmer and my car was a little difficult out of the start but it was still a decent run’. He continued, ‘I will leave (the car) unchanged for Q1 because it will cool down again but I will have to make some adjustments for Q2 tomorrow’ – a much hotter day being forecast at Minidrom Ettlingen. The World Champion added, ‘I noticed Bruno and Freddy are good on 5-minute pace, particularly Freddy. I think he has the best car for all conditions’.

‘Much better now’, was how Coelho summed up the final practice after a tyre came unglued in the first controlled practice. Suffering a mistake in the middle of the run when he ran wide onto the dust causing him to go off onto the grass, he said, ‘the track was hotter and already after one lap the tyres were overheating so it was very important to drive smoother in these conditions not to overheat the tyres’. Looking to Q1 which will run on a cool track, the back to back ETS champion said, ‘we need to increase traction but have to be careful to not overdo it and overheat the tyres’.

A very pleased looking Groskamp said, ‘I change a lot my set-up. I tried a lot of stuff in the earlier practices and put it all together for the final one’. The two time champion added, ‘the first three laps in particular improved which I couldn’t put together before’. Describing the set-up now on his IF14 as ‘pretty similar to Marc’s’ he said he will leave it unchanged for Q1. Having sat third fastest after CP1, Groskamp’s team-mate Akio Sobue would try to follow the direction of his team-mate’s set-up for CP2 and run no ARS but the Japanese driver said this left him with ‘super understeer’. Dropping to P8 in the seeding, he will revert back to his ARS car for Q1.

Südhoff summed up his strong pace by saying, ‘From the very first run the car has been good, its good in all conditions, hot or windy, and especially for 5-minutes’. The German continued, ‘The hot lap is missing a little but it is 5-minutes that is most important’. A driver on the positive side of the fence in terms of the track, he said,’I really like the track, it is different to all other tracks but the traction is really good and consistent’. Asked about Q1 he plans to leave his A800X ‘as is’ and ‘try to make no mistakes’.

‘So so, not bad’ was Rheinard’s thoughts on his CP2 run, the Infinity driver adding, ‘3 laps doesn’t matter it’s more over the full run thats important’. The German continued, ‘my problem right now is the right rear has more toe in the left one and that’s causing me to lose at lot at the end of the straight’. With this problem traced to a difference in the rear hubs, he will fit a new pair for Q1.

Winner of the ETS Warm-up race run by the Ettlingen club in June, Akiyama put his improvement down to making no mistakes. Running in Heat 22 of 23 and running the same set up on his BD8 as team-mate Volker, he would make a mistake on his opening lap in CP1 preventing him from getting the best from the tyres. Admitting his Warm-up Race attendance is an advantage on the ‘difficult track’, the 17-year-old got a clean opening 3-laps on his second attempt to put himself in the top heat for qualifying. Currently 11th in the overall season standings he is targeting his third A-Main appearance of the season as he tries to round out his first full ETS campaign in the Top 10.

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July 28, 2017

Volker fastest in first controlled practice at ETS Finale

Ronald Volker is the early benchmark at the Yokomo Euro Touring Series Season Finale in Germany. Having topped free practice at Minidrom Ettlingen, the Yokomo driver remained top of the timesheets in the first of the two rounds of controlled seeding practice as he continued to get the most from his car on the track’s unique asphalt and banked corners. Closest to Volker, as he had been in Free Practice, would be Bruno Coelho albeit it by half a second – the Xray driver having a tyre issue and only completing half of CP1 before pulling off. Infinity’s Akio Sobue made it three different manufacturers in the Top 3 followed closely by team-mate Rheinard with Yannic Prumper and Meen Vejrak rounding out the Top 6.

‘The event is going pretty good’, was Volker’s reaction to topping the times. The World Champion added, ‘this track is very special and needs a different set-up and it definitely was a help testing here a few times before the race. That testing has made it easier for me because unfortunately I don’t have Umino at my side this weekend’. With Yokomo designer Yukijiro Umino and Volker one of the best known partnership in touring car racing, unfortunately Umino was unable to travel to the Season #10 finale due to his children taking ill but Volker had good news from Umino that they have now been released from hospital. Looking to CP2 and the opening qualifier which takes place this evening, Volker said, ‘Q1 will be nice and cold but tomorrow and Sunday’s weather will change to warmer so this will change things and I just hope I am prepared for that’.

While having a tyre come unglued in CP1 causing his car to struggle in left turns, overall Coelho is happy with where he is at in terms of car set-up. Having already successfully defended his ETS title, he said, ‘I had a problem with the tyre after the second lap. I tried to do some more laps but it was undriveable so I stopped, but from the free practice I know the car is working really well’. Having raced at Minidrom Ettlingen earlier in the month when he TQ’d 1:10 at the Euro Nitro Series and finished 2nd in 1:8, he said the track is equally a completely different challenge for electric as it is for nitro compared to any other track in the world. He said the traction levels are ‘more than normal and the banked corners make it challenging to find the perfect set-up’.

Fresh from being crowned Japanese National Champion last weekend before flying out to Europe, Sobue said, ‘At the beginning my car is not so bad but after 3-minutes the time drops’. With the car becoming ‘loose’, he said he struggles with ‘no traction on power’. With this race weekend his first time to run on the track, he said ‘I don’t like the track, you need a special set-up because of the traction’. Having run a hard diff in CP1 he said he might change this for CP2.

‘We made a little bit of step forward by taking out the ARS but I still have no steering and have to lift early to make a turn’, was how Rheinard summed up the first seeding run. He continued, ‘I messed up my first lap which cost me a few tenths on my 3-laps but overall I don’t think I’m that far off. Ronald is a little faster than everyone because he did a couple of tests before but I’m still not familiar with the track yet, not the layout but the surface’.

Summing up his P5 pace, Prumper said, ‘the day started out not so good as yesterday but the last one (CP1) was good after we went back to the set-up I came to the race with. It wasn’t good yesterday but somehow it works now’. Another driver not a fan of the track the VBC Racing team driver said, ‘the layout is OK but I think the surface is already damaged from the nitro cars’. With his car developing understeer over the run he plans to try a harder geardiff in CP2 to try and make the car ‘more solid over the 5-minutes’.

Reacting to setting the 6th fastest time over 3-consecutive laps, Vejrak said, ‘It’s getting better & better every run’. The Yokomo driver continued, ‘the track is special, we have nothing like this Bangkok. It doesn’t look difficult but when you drive it while it’s fun it’s pretty difficult. You need to learn a lot especially how to manage the tyres so they don’t overheat’. Behind Vejrak, team-mate Nicholas Lee was 7th fastest with Christopher Krapp 9th, sandwiched between the two Awesomatix of Freddy Südhoff and Viljami Kutvonen.

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July 28, 2017

Track Focus – Minidrom Ettlingen

Track Name – Minidrom Ettlingen
Club – Mini Car Club Ettlingen
Country – Germany
Location – Ettlingen (SW of the country)
Direction – Anti-clockwise
Surface – Asphalt
No. of ETS Races hosted – 0
Other major races hosted – ENS (2015, 2016, 2017), 2015 1:8 Onroad European C/ship, 2011 Onroad European C/ship, 1:10 2001 1:5 World Championships

The ETS wraps up it’s tenth season with a new venue as drivers descend on the Minidrom Ettlingen track situated in the south west of Germany. A track familiar to nitro racers, it a fixture on the Euro Nitro Series calendar for the past three years, the track is a lot less known to electric racers. Incidentally Ettlingen is the 10th different outdoor track the championship has visited since its creation – this being the 57th ETS race to be put on by Uwe Rheinard and Scotty Ernst. The track is run by the predominantly nitro Mini Car Club Ettlingen who built the track 27-years ago on land owned by the local city which has a population of almost 40,000. The first major change to the track layout over that time was done in 2014 when during a resurfacing of the track it was extended to 265-metres with the addition of a new 25-metre section. It is the asphalt used during that work that has become one of the track’s main features. A very fine/smooth surface, it creates a one of kind unique feeling between the car and track. The other key feature of the track is the banked corners, the end of straight sweeper one of the key points to a good lap time./i

With mixed views from drivers on the track layout/feel, Ronald Volker is a fan saying, ‘I like it but I know others don’t’ – Marc Rheinard one of those who doesn’t. The Yokomo driver described the track as ‘quite special for electric’ adding, ‘I don’t know if that is because of the asphalt or the banked corners but it’s definitely different to what we normally race on’. A driver who has been to the track four times in preparation for this weekend, the World Champion said, ‘if the weather gets hot it’s going to get very challenging’, something drivers experienced on the finals day at the ETS Warm-up race hosted by the local club in June. While Day 1 is proving a cool day, the weather forecast is showing much warmer conditions tomorrow. Asked about the biggest challenge of a lap, 13.9 seconds the fastest Modified lap times so far, he said, ‘the beginning of the straight through to the loop (positioned in the centre of the track directly out of a tight corner). You have to get the banking right and then from the sweeper to the chicane its easy to get it wrong and catch air or go off’.

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