Euro Touring Series

July 23, 2016

Coelho wins static A1

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Bruno Coelho took an easy win of a completely static A1 final at the Yokomo Euro Touring Series season finale at the Hudy Arena, with not one pass being executed over the 5-minutes as the 10 cars finished exactly as they qualified. Top Qualifier Coelho made an early break over Xray team-mate Alexander Hagberg allowing the newly crowned champion to cruise to a 1.3 second victory. 1.9-seconds back from Hagberg, Awesomatix’s Viljami Kutvonen completed the Top 3 with the Finn having no problems fending off the Yokomo of Ronald Volker. The only attempted pass of the race came from Yannic Prumper as the VBC driver tried to find a way passed Team Infinity’s Jilles Groskamp but the German couldn’t get it done.

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With many drivers joking as they left the drivers’ stand that the ETS should introduce DRS to help with overtaking, Coelho agreed it was ‘boring for all drivers’ as there was ‘no overtaking and no body even made mistakes’. On his own race, his fastest lap 2/10th faster than anyone else, he said, ‘my car was perfect on new tyres which allowed me to push a the beginning to pull away. Once I had a lead I could control the race, it was a little bit too easy (of a race)’. Looking to A2, which takes place in the morning, the new Season #9 Champion said, ‘everything was perfect and I hope it will be the same for tomorrow’. Another dominant performance in A2 would secure him a third win of the season and cap off a perfect campaign.

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Hagberg described his ORCA powered T4 as being ‘a little loose at the start’ and losing time as result at the beginning he said he, ‘couldn’t make it back up later on’. While he couldn’t catch Coelho, the Swede said there was ‘no threat from behind’ so it wasn’t any pressure as a result. Asked about improving his car at the start for A2, the reigning Nitro Touring Car World Champion, replied, ‘we will try to find something overnight and put on a better show tomorrow.’

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‘It was OK, on the negative side the Xrays were faster but on the positive all the others were slower’, was how Viljami summed up his final. While he would stay with Hagberg for the first few laps he said there was ‘no real pressure from Ronald behind’ so it was an easy race. Feeling the diff in his LRP powered A800 was too soft for the temperatures he said depending on conditions at time of the A2 start he might go harder with the diff.

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While the first Volante Modified encounter was dull, the preceding Pro Stock race was entertaining with Top Qualifier Tom Krägefski having to see off two different challengers. First to mount a challenge was P2 starter Noah Asendorf. While the the pair duelled it out, from fifth on the grid, champion Jan Ratheisky found his way third and started to close. A mistake by Asendorf as the race reached half distance dropped the Swiss driver out of contention for the win with Ratheisky there to take over the challenge. With Ratheisky all over the bumper of his T4, Krägefski stood up to the pressure to hold on for the win by 0.114 of a second with Asendorf getting third. In Formula, it was an easy win for Ratheisky as the Top Qualifier & back to back champion won by a massive 6-seconds from Matej Dobnikar. Dobnikar benefited when the battle for second saw Jitse Miedema getting in to the rear of Serpent’s David Ehrbar. With Miedema waiting on Ehrbar to take back position Dobnikar slipped through with 3-laps to go for second followed by Miedema.

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View the complete event results here.

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July 23, 2016

Kutvonen takes final qualifier, Coelho is Top Qualifier

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In a bit if a surprise, Awesomatix’s Viljami Kutvonen took the final round of qualifying at the season finale of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series but it is newly crowned champion Bruno Coelho who will start the A-Main at the Hudy Arena from pole. With only Hagberg with an outside chance of denying Coelho his X TQ of the season by taking the fourth & final qualifier, Kutvonen caught them all by surprise as he gambled on saving his second set of tyres for the run. Only a 16-lap run due to the extra hot conditions of the midday run, the Finn outpaced Ronald Volker by just 2/10ths of a second with Hagberg only a further 4/10th off despite both being on used tyres. With a P4 in Q1, the result puts Kutvonen 3rd on the grid behind the Xrays of Coelho & Hagberg and ahead of Volker & Jilles Groskamp.

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‘Tyre strategy’ was Kutvonen’s response to his TQ run continued, ‘I saved a set of tyres for the last one and it paid off quite well’. With Coelho and Hagberg managing 17-lap TQ runs in the previous rounds, the ETS Italy runner-up said, his ‘pace on new tyres was not as good as expected’, adding it was ‘super loose’. Feeling his car will be better for the first final when conditions will be cooler and all drivers will be on new tyres, when asked if he can challenge the Xrays he replied, ‘its difficult to say, Alexander is crazy fast on both new and used tyres’. Feeling his LRP powered A800 is better now than Q1 when, with all drivers on new tyres, he was a competitive fourth quickest, he said ‘I think I should be ok for the final’.

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Losing his Hobbywing powered T4 coming onto the straight on the second lap, Coelho described Q4 as ‘super hot and difficult track conditions’. Running used tyres he continued, ‘with new tyres for the final it should be a lot better’. Winner of the event last year from the pole, the Portuguese driver said his plan for the final is to ‘try to make no mistakes and see what happens’. On his opposition he added, ‘I hope Alex don’t attack too much but for sure he will’.

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Commenting on his final qualifier, Hagberg said, ‘I had a problem with a bit of fade again towards the end if the run’. Putting some of the fade down to the track being ‘so hot’, he said for the final ‘the important thing is the team wins’. Asked if he can challenge Coelho for the win, he replied ‘I’ll try to fight for win but we have to be sure we don’t fight & end up letting someone else win’.

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While ‘Very, very disappointed to lose out on 2nd by 2/10ths of a second’, Volker was pleased that his Yokomo was ‘finally amazing’ again. Making a ‘very big set-up change in the direction of Meen’s set-up’, he said his LRP powered BD7 was transformed but his start was less than ideal as he spun on the first corner of the first lap. Posting the fastest lap of the final qualifier despite being on used tyres, the former champion said the 2-seconds lost cost him a TQ run and P2 on the grid. Looking to the final he said ‘If my car is as good as it as in Q4 I should be able to put pressure the guys ahead’. A win could see the German demote his long standing rival Marc Rheinard to third in the overall standings. Pulling off half way through the qualifier, Rheinard described the run as ‘a disaster’ adding he had ‘just no grip’ and he lines up P8 behind Awesomatix’s Freddy Sudhoff and VBC Racing’s Yannic Prümper. Completing the top half of the grid Groskamp starts fifth.

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In the Pro Stock class it will also be an Xray on pole with Tom Krägefski the Top Qualifier. The German took his first ETS pole on a tie breaker with Swiss driver Noah Asendorf. Both drivers had a TQ run each but it was Krägefski’s Q3 time that was faster. Behind them Marco Siegenthaler starts third ahead of the Team Magic of Q1 pace setter Patrick Gassauer. In the Formula class, champion Jan Ratheisky is the Top Qualifier looking for his 5th clean sweep of the season having missed Luxembourg. Behind the Xray driver, Luxembourg winner David Ehrbar will start 2nd with his Serpent with Roche driver Olivier Bultynck third.

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View the complete event results here.

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July 23, 2016

Coelho is new ETS Champion

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Bruno Coelho is the new Yokomo Euro Touring Series Champion, the Portuguese ace ending Ronald Volker’s 5-year reign over the World famous championship on only his second attempt. The title marks a number of firsts with it Xray’s first title in the ETS’ premiere class and the first time one manufacturer has claimed a clean sweep of titles with the Slovakian manufacturer having already taken the Pro Stock and Formula titles. As a driver Coelho also becomes the first driver to win both an ETS and Euro Offroad Series title a claim he can add to his already impressive feat of being the only driver to win races in the ETS, EOS and Euro Nitro Series. While Volker was eliminated from the title race at the previous round in Luxembourg, Coelho still had to deal with the possibility of having to share the title with Marc Rheinard. With the former champion needing to take the overall TQ to keep that slim chance alive, the third round of qualifying at the Hudy Arena would decide the title as Coelho’s team-mate Alexander Hagberg topped the penultimate qualifier while Rheinard could manage only a P8, leaving the Tamiya driver likely to finish runner-up for the sixth consecutive season, only a win tomorrow by Volker able to demote him.

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‘I’m super happy, this is not one race but the end of six hard races and the result of a lot of hard work and preparations’, was Coelho’s reaction to finally locking down the title. The only multiple race winner this season, he was quick however to revert his attentions back to the job in hand and trying to make it three wins saying, ‘I almost have the TQ because Alex (Hagberg) now has used tyres so it will be hard to be better my time’. He added, ‘If I start first sure sure I will fight for the win for the perfect end to the championship’. Asked about Q3 in which he ended up 32nd after ‘a small mistake’ in which he flipped his T4 he said, ‘I was on used tyres so I expected to finish at the back and was just waiting to see what Rheinard could do’.

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Reacting to Coelho’s title, Rheinard said, ‘to TQ and win at the Hudy Arena is like going to the Ferrari track as a Mercedes driver’. He continued, ‘Bruno is champion and I’m second again for the sixth time in a row’. Still the ETS’ most winning driver, the 4-time World Champion was also on used tyres for the third qualifier and felt ‘for old tyres my car was pretty good’. With a best round of a P2 in Q2 to his credit, the German is hoping to end qualifying with a strong run and will switch to the set of tyres he spun out on in Q1. With only 4-laps on the tyres, the spin caused by a suspected tweak in his car, he hopes they will give him the opportunity to TQ the round with only former team-mate Viktor Wilck and Team Associated’s Juho Levanen left with a new set of tyres to run.

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Commenting on his TQ run which was 1.4-seconds off Coelho’s Q2 topping time, Hagberg said, ‘the track was a little slower than expected. It heated up too fast this morning which was frustrating’. The Swede continued, ‘the car was still fast and felt good but it was a conservative run to the TQ’. Admitting claiming the overall TQ is a tall order now with the conditions of the final qualifier expected to be even hotter and the fact he will be on used tyres, he said ‘I should be able to put in a good run on old tyres’.

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‘I’m happy the gap is smaller now’, that was Luxembourg winner Jilles Groskamp’s reaction to taking a P2 for the round. The Team Infinity driver continued, ‘I had new tyres and did the same tyre prep as before but still the first 2 or 3 corners were not great so I need find what I am missing, maybe I need to leave the tyre warmers on longer’. Feeling the gaps between drivers should be announced during the qualifiers, he said he knew he was swapping the lead with Hagberg but when he heard Hagberg was in lead he ‘settled for 2nd as (he) needed a good run’ so he ‘didn’t take an risks’. Admitting to being relieved by his Q2 result after a bad start had him worried that after a successful Luxembourg race like last year that he might again find himself in the B-Main, he said the aim for the final qualifier is to try better his P5 result. Running an Xray chassis, the Dutchman said any set-up changes will depend on temperatures at the time of the run.

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Posting his first Top 10 run with the third fastest time of Q3, Meen Vejrak said, ‘finally a good run, now my car is comfortable to drive’. Having struggled yesterday, the former ETS podium finisher said his car was much better today. Asked what the issue was yesterday when he could only managed a P17 and P21, the Yokomo team driver reply, ‘I had no rear bite, I had no everything’. Looking to make his Scorpion powered BD7 ‘a little more stable’ for Q4, the Thai driver said ‘I hope I have a chance to make the A-Main’. Team-mate Ronald Volker would end up only 11th despite running new tyres on his LRP powered example of the BD7. Suffering a spun onto the grass when he touched the paint on the curbing the German said ‘even without this I was off the pace’.

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Setting the fourth fastest time, Yannick Prumper was very happy to book his first A-Main appearance since joining VBC. With extra factory support this weekend, the German said, ‘this was an important run as it puts me in the A-main which is the first time with VBC and this shows we have made big improvements with the car’. Running on new tyres, the multiple race winner adjusted the toe in for the fresh rubber saying the change ‘added a little push but overall made the car easier to drive’.

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‘I needed a safe run after a random spin in Q1 and a random flip in Q2’, was former World Champion Andy Moore’s reaction to a P5 time in Q3. The Team Infinity driver, who like team-mate Groskamp is also running an Xray this weekend, ran his second set of tyres but said while it was a clean run it was not as fast as he would have liked. The British driver said, ‘the steering I had yesterday I need to find again’. With only a P12 from yesterday, he concluded, ‘I still need one more (result)’ if he is to make his first A-Main appearance of the season.

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Making a very welcomed return to the ETS, Atsushi Hara completed the Top 6 of the penultimate qualifier. The multiple world champion said, ‘Fresh tyres for sure helped’ him get the result’ but added after he crashed on the first lap of Q1 he needed to make a safe run. Running a Kyosho as a privateer on his return to the championship, he said while he tested the car in Thailand before the event that was on other tyres and so he was left to find a set-up for the ETS handout Volante tyre. Describing the event as starting off ‘very bad’ after he ‘changed many things’ the car he is now starting to get the car to his liking but admitted he is still learning the car and needs more track time against the world class level that is the ETS. While the car is easy to drive he needs to get ‘just a little more speed’ out of it. Asked about the upcoming World Championship in China, a unique event in that no one will have driven the track prior to start of the event, he said while he is undecided on which car he will race its is looking more likely he will stick with the Kyosho adding the aim is to be ‘the first privateer to beat the factory drivers’.

View the complete event results here.

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July 22, 2016

Coelho holds overnight TQ in Slovakia

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Euro Touring Series champion elect Bruno Coelho completed the perfect day at the season finale in Slovakia as he claimed another TQ run in the second round of qualifying leaving the Xray driver to hold the overnight TQ. Having TQ’d the opening qualifier from outgoing champion Ronald Volker, the second time of asking Coelho topped the times ahead of his only remaining title rival Marc Rheinard however the German’s hopes of sharing the ETS title with the Portuguese ace now looking like increasingly unlikely due to both having used two their sets of tyres while others have a new set still at their disposal for tomorrow’s remaining two qualifiers. Also on new tyres, Freddy Sudhoff would complete the Top 3 just ahead of Alexander Hagberg who was the quickest driver on second run tyres. On used tyres, Volker would suffer an ‘unnecessary roll’ which would leave him with a P16 for Q2 but some consolation for the German is that he still has a new set for tomorrow. After a strong P3 in Q1, Yannic Prumper was again on a good time leading the second fastest heat until he put his VBC on its roof opting to pull off once marshalled.

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‘Did what we needed to do, the car was perfect’, was how Coelho summed up Q2. Running new tyres on his T4, he said ‘the track was a little slower than expected’ but he was ‘still able to do faster lap times’. Bettering his Q1 pace and able to go 17-laps, 1.7-second clear of Rheinard he hopes the time will be enough should someone TQ Rounds 3 & 4 tomorrow. Having used both his sets of the Volante handout tyres, he said for tomorrow he must ‘just wait to see how the remaining qualifiers work out with the drivers who still have a new set’.

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Rheinard said after his unexplainably bad car in Q1 they got two cars ready for second qualifier. Having checked over his first car after it spun out in the first round, he said on the warm-up lap it did the exact same thing. Changing to his spare car, he said ‘at least it was drivable’ allowing him to put a P2 on the board after his earlier DNF. Not sure what the issue is with his ‘better car’, he will for Q3 copy across the set-up to the spare car but added as the cars feature different chassis plates he is not sure how it will work. Despite also being on new tyres, Rheinard’s best lap would be 2/10ths off that of Coelho. The fastest Tamiya in Q1, Christopher Krapp would complete the Top 10 in Round 2 choosing to save his second set of tyres for tomorrow.

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Still not feeling right, Sudhoff said while he had new tyres on his Awesomatix for Q2 he felt he had also managed to further improve his A800. Missing out on 17-laps, he said the changes while making it faster left the car ‘a little more edgy to drive’ adding ‘that its the only weak point now’. Planning to make some changes for the morning’s Q3, he said his ‘own energy should be higher after a good night’s sleep’. Faster of the two Awesomatix’ in the first round, Viljami Kutvonen would post a P8 time on used tyres.

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Best of the drivers on used rubber, Hagberg said his Xray ‘was very good but faded too much at the end’. Happy with his T4 on used tyres the Swede will use his second set of new tyres to ‘try to move up the grid’, him currently holding third overall in the qualifying standings. Hagberg’s team-mate Marek Cerny, the outgoing Pro Stock champion who has made the switch to the premier Modified class, backed up his Q1 Top 10 performance with another to post the ninth fastest time.

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Having struggled with his Xray in Q1, Team Infinity driver Jilles Groskamp posted a P5 time on partly used tyres. Commenting on the first qualifier, the ETS Luxembourg winner said, ‘I had zero traction and thought maybe I made a tyre prep error. I couldn’t believe the car was so bad’. Pulling off half way through after he rolled, the 2012 World Champion used the same set of tyres for Q2 only this time he changed both his tyre warmer settings and his prep. Having to open to allow Rheinard through, losing 2 to 3 tenths of a second which was enough for a Top 3 finish, the Dutch ace was still ‘super happy with 5th on old tyres’ adding the result put him ‘back in the game’ with it ‘nice to still have a new set of tyres for tomorrow’.

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A driver to gamble on pulling off at the start of Q1 to save tyres, Viktor Wilck would only get a P6 admitting himself he ‘expected more’. The Serpent driver said his Project 4-X was ‘at the beginning a little loose and at the end had way too much push’. Running a Top 3 pace he said the car’s drop off caused him to fall back to sixth adding ‘it was the same at the Euros, it loosing too much at the end (of the run)’. Asked what changes he could make for Q3 to cure his understeer, the Swede, ‘I’m not sure at the moment’.

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‘A shit load better than the first one’, was how former British National Champion Olly Jefferies described his run to P7 in Q2. The Xray driver said he ‘couldn’t get around the track in the first one’ adding ‘I think the rear right tyre was dead as it just kept swapping ends’. ‘Just switch(ing) to another set of tyres’, his T4 was ‘9-seconds faster’. Looking to tomorrow he said, ‘I think my car is good on used tyres’ but he will take a closer look at the other set of tyres to figure out the problem adding the hot conditions of Q1 would really show up a bad tyre.

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In the Xray Pro Stock class having impressed with a P3 in Q1, Marco Siegenthaler went two better to take his Xray to a TQ run. Behind the Swiss driver would be Noah Asendorf also driving an Xray with Yokomo’s Nico Catelani, last year’s Hudy Arena Top Qualifier, completing the Top 3. In the Serpent Formula class, already crowned back to back champion Jan Ratheisky reversed the order of Q1 to TQ ahead of David Ehrbar. Dutch Team Infinity driver Jitse Miedema would take third driving an Xray ahead of Roche driver Olivier Bultynck.

View the complete event results here.

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July 22, 2016

Coelho takes opening qualifier at ETS Finale

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Bruno Coelho has taken the opening qualifier at the season finale of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Slovakia. With qualifying brought forward due to forecast rain that thankfully didn’t arrive in Trencin, Coelho was top seed for qualifying after setting the pace over yesterday’s 5 rounds of free practice and had no problems carrying that form through to qualifying. Initially followed by team-mate Alexander Hagberg until a small error, Coelho would top the time by almost a second from outgoing champion Ronald Volker. Only 18th fastest in practice which put him in the second fastest heat Yannic Prumper would put in a great Q1 performance to complete the Top 3 ahead of Viljami Kutvonen and Hagberg. Needing to TQ to stand a chance of sharing the ETS title with Coelho, Marc Rheinard would retire from the first of the four qualifiers after suffering a spin, the Tamiya team struggling with today’s extra hot track conditions.

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Chasing a third win of the season to cap off an ETS title winning campaign, Coelho described his Q1 performance as ‘a very good start’. The only multiple race winner this season, the Xray driver continued, ‘we ran the car the same as yesterday and it again worked very well even though the asphalt temperature was super high’. He added, ‘the traction was lower but it was the same for everyone’. Pleased that, ‘Alex had super good pace’ until his error, the Portuguese ace plans to run his Hobbywing powered T4 unchanged for the day’s second & concluding qualifier.

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‘Decent start to Q1’, was how Volker summed up his performance. Eliminated from the title chase in Luxembourg, the Yokomo driver was ‘happy to match the pace of Bruno & Alex’ but added his LRP powered BD7 started to develop ‘a little too much understeer over the 2nd half (of the qualifier)’. Looking to ‘try fix that for Q2′, the German said ,’I didn’t push too hard as I didn’t want to destroy the tyres’, drivers getting 2 sets for the four qualifiers, and he was ‘OK with P2’ as a result.

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Running a prototype VBC this weekend which feature different material arms, Prumper said the car was ‘for sure a big step forward on the previous car’. With Carven Chow making the trip to Slovakia to support the Hong Kong manufacturer’s star driver, a change from a 3 to a 2.5mm swaybar for Q1 would give the car ‘a lot more steering’ with Prumper adding while making it ‘a little loose’ he was still ‘in control’ of it. By far Prumper’s most promising showing since his switch from Yokomo to VBC, his time 8/10ths of a second off old team-mate Volker, the former ETS race winner plans to ‘keep everything the same’ for Q2.

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Kutvonen described his P4 as ‘pretty good’ before pausing and adding ‘actually better than expected’. The Awesomatix driver continued, ‘normally in hot weather we struggled but we have done a lot of work on this as a team and its getting better’. Making a dampening set-up change after practice he said this had made his A800 ‘better now’. Happy that both he and team-mate Freddy Sudhoff have ‘found the right direction’ in terms of set-up the Finn plans to continue his testing program with more changes for Q2. Suffering a body tuck on the opening lap, the Round 4 podium finisher said, ‘I need to fix that so it doesn’t happen again’.

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‘My car was really good but I made a mistake after the straight’, was how Hagberg summed up his P5 before adding ‘shit happens’. Describing the error as ‘very costly at this level’, the Swede said the plan for the next qualifier is to leave his T4 as is and cut out the mistake.

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Not feeling well within himself, Sudhoff said of his on track performance he ‘improved car a lot from yesterday (when his) pace was off a lot to Viljami’. Copying his team-mate’s set-up allowing him to post the sixth fastest time, the German said this improved the car but a contributing factor was that ‘I also found my rhythm’. For the his next outing he will ‘fine tune the set-up more to his driving (style)’.

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With Rheinard pulling off after his spin having completed just 4-laps, Christopher Krapp would be the top Tamiya in P7 with World Champion Naoto Matsukura 10th with his TRF419X. Having missed Luxembourg, Krapp said ‘I’m kind of happy with P7 but in terms of the car I’m not happy’. The former ETS race winner continued, ‘yesterday in practice our car was good but we had a problem in the hot conditions. Compared to the practice conditions today is like starting from zero’. With the car suffering, ‘understeer and oversteer’, the German said, ‘other cars handling it (hot conditions) better and we need to work on finding something’. Behind Krapp outing Pro Stock champion Marek Cerny was 8th fastest followed by the Schumacher of Elliot Harper. Elsewere Round 5 winner Jilles Groskamp would pull over after rolling his Xray onto the grass half way through the qualifier while Serpent’s Viktor Wilck immediately played the tyre game pulling over immediately after crossing the start line.

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In the Xray Pro Stock class, the top 3 times would come from the second fastest heat with Patrick Gassauer topping Q1. Behind the Team Magic driver, Xray’s Tom Krägefski was second fastest followed by Marco Siegenthaler. Fastest in the top heat, already crowned champion Jan Ratheisky would get P4 ahead of Olivier Bultynck. In the Serpent Formula class David Ehrbar set the pace followed by Ratheisky and Bultynck.

View the complete event results here.

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July 22, 2016

Track Focus – Hudy Racing Arena

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Name – Hudy Racing Arena
Country – Slovakia
Location – Trencin (120km NE from capital city of Bratislava)
Host – Hudy/Xray
Surface – Asphalt
Direction – Anti-clockwise
No. of ETS Races hosted – 3
Previous Winners –Bruno Coelho (2015), Marc Rheinard (2014), Ronald Volker (2013)

For the fourth year in succession the Hudy Racing Arena in Slovakia plays host to the season finale of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series. Widely regarded as the world’s greatest RC facility, the Xray/Hudy owned track first opened its doors to international racing when it welcomed the ETS in 2013 with Ronald Volker taking the win to cap off the successful defence of his inaugural ETS Modified title. Located in the city of Trencin, most drivers flying to Vienna airport in Austria and making the 2-hour drive, the track was built in 2006 on the grounds of a former soccer stadium. The impressive 25,000 square metre facility also includes the factory of both Xray, Europe’s only true r/c car manufacturer, and tool & accessory manufacturer Hudy but it is the Arena which commands most of the facility. In addition to the facility, the Hudy’s have ensured services at the track are also top quality with an excellent local restaurant brought in for the weekend as well as a local barista to ensure great coffee for the over 300 racers who have travelled the world for the now traditional end of season event & celebrations, a party at the track on Saturday night always popular.

While the 320 metre outdoor asphalt track with its 75 metre long straight that covers a depth of 28 metres hasn’t changed in 12-months the view from the driver’s stand has. Set to add a fourth track, two indoor tracks already in place, a new structure has literally popped up across from the main straight. Completing the full set of track options, the building which is the same size as the existing indoor arena area will house two covered dirt offroad tracks. A covered as opposed to an indoor track, the new structure will have open sides in which completely separate 1:8 and 1:10 dirt tracks will be built. The current plan is to have the building completed before winter but the intention is the track will only be used during the late Spring to early Autumn months.

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July 21, 2016

New champion(s) to be crowned at ETS Finale

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Following five years of having the same champion in Ronald Volker, the Yokomo Euro Touring Series will crown a new champion or champions this weekend (22-24 July) at the Season #9 finale at the Hudy Arena in Slovakia. In a season that has produced 4 different winners in the Volante Modified class over the five rounds to-date, Volker’s quest for a sixth consecutive title came to an end last time out in Luxembourg when the Yokomo driver missed out on an essential podium finish. With championship returnee & former champion Jilles Groskamp taking the win it was the two that joined him on the podium that are left to battle for the title. Finishing 2nd behind Groskamp and ahead of Bruno Coelho, former champion Marc Rheinard needs a perfect weekend in order get back the title he last held in 2010 but even if he does he will have to share it. Third in Luxembourg, Coelho is so far the season’s only double winner and if Rheinard was able to equal that feat at what is the home track of the Xray driver it would mean that for the first time in ETS history there would be joint champions. One of the most competitive seasons with no single driver or manufacturer dominating, the reason the top prize may have to be shared is that both drivers counting rounds including the number of TQ’s are identical in all tie break scenarios.

A driver who burst onto the scene once last season’s ETS moved outdoors, Coelho has the advantage of the fact he will be champion no matter how Rheinard performs. However as this will be Xray’s first time to win the title in the premiere class, the Portuguese star will want the Slovakian manufacturer to enjoy the full title glory and not have to share it with 3 time champion manufacturer Tamiya. Having already given Xray its first Euro Offroad Series title this year when he took the 4WD crown, Coelho also has the benefit of home advantage although that didn’t prevent Volker from taking the Hudy Arena hosted European Championships title recently. Another feat Xray will like to have all to themselves is the fact that Coelho’s crown will make them the first manufacturer to hold all three ETS titles in one season with Jan Ratheisky having already got the job done in both the Xray Pro Stock and Serpent Formula classes.

A driver who normally excels when the odds are stacked against him, for Rheinard the weekend needs to go his way from the start as the bonus championship point for the TQ is essential to the ETS’ most winning driver’s chances of what would surprisingly be only his second ETS title.

Outside of the title chase, Volker is not travelling to Slovakia to make up the numbers and clearly frustrated by driving standards in Luxembourg will be out looking for nothing less than victory as a warning to his rivals that he means business for the upcoming World Championships in China. Relishing the environment of his new surroundings at Team Infinity and having claimed his first ETS win in 7-years, Groskamp is another driver who will be out to make a statement at the Hudy Arena ahead of the World Championships. The 2012 World Champion also has the benefit of running an Xray at the very same track on which it was largely developed. Concluding a season in which he was overshadowed by his team-mate Coelho, Alexander Hagberg would like to finish off a campaign that has produced Top 4 finishes in 4 of the 5 races by claiming the top step on the podium. Another former ETS race winner looking to end the season on a high and boost his World Championship prospects is Christopher Krapp. Having missed Riound 5 this will be the Tamiya driver’s first outing since his podium finish at the Reedy Race of Champions. With Groskamp a very welcomed ETS returnee in Luxembourg, this weekend will see another returning World Champion in Atsushi Hara, this being the iconic Japanese driver’s first ETS outing in two years

June 26, 2016

Groskamp wins ETS Luxembourg

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Jilles Groskamp has won the penultimate round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Luxembourg, the event marking the 50th running of a round of the world famous championship. An instrumental supporter of the championship in its founding years and becoming its inaugural champion, the win is only the 2012 World Champions’ 5th and his first since winning a second ETS title in 2009. Behind the Infinity driver, Marc Rheinard kept his title hopes alive by finishing second ahead of Bruno Coelho who completed the podium at Mini Circuit “Ville de Luxembourg”. Unfortunately while winning A3 would give reigning champion Ronald Volker 4th overall, it was one position below what the Top Qualifier needed to keep alive his hopes of retaining his crown.

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‘I wanted to make a nice 3rd final and finish the race in a nice way. It’s nice to win at ETS again’, was how Groskamp summed up his first win in the championship in 7 years. His first ETS outing the season, the Dutch driver who won his 2009 European Championship title at the same track added, ‘I feel especially bad for Ronald and that I ruined his championship and I really apologise for that. I didn’t know it as I am not in the championship’. Recalling A3 he said, ‘I didn’t want to challenge Ronald and my main focus was on Marc but when he rolled I knew the pressure was off but then I flipped but it was OK, I knew I still had the overall win’. As his car lay upside down Coelho would collect it causing the body shell to invert which is how he would finish the race losing a place to Rheinard. Commenting on his performance over the event having chosen to run an Xray chassis, he said, ‘all weekend the car has been really good for me and it’s a good option for the World Championship’. Set to also race at the ETS season finale, with Infinity planning to have its own car for next season, he plans to also bring a Tamiya to the Hudy Arena event saying ‘I guess the Xray will be fast there as it’s their own track but Marc’s car looks good so I will try one’.

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‘I knew I had to win to have a chance of overall victory today. It didn’t happen but 2nd overall is still OK, we had the pace and the car was good’, was how Rheinard summed up the day. Having clashed with Coelho in A2, the German complimented his rival saying, ‘Bruno made a nice pass on me’ but the Portuguese driver would hand it back with a mistake later in the race. In third he said he ‘tried to catch Groskamp saying ‘Jilles was not that fast’ but catching the curbing and rolling his Muchmore powered TRF419X he said his chance of the overall win was gone. While today’s result reduces his deficit in the championship from 5 to 4 points, Rheinard said his options for the the season finale very straight forward, ‘I have to TQ and win the last one’.

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With today’s result moving him one step closer to the title, Coelho’s biggest concern after A3 was to work out the various scenarios based on either of his rivals winning at the Hudy Arena. Having already given Xray their first Euro Offroad Series title this year and now looking to give them their first ETS Modified title, second today would have done that but he said after getting caught in mistakes of both Rheinard and Groskamp in A3 ‘there was no chance to get him’, him being Volker. With his Hobbywing powered T4 ‘again really impressive’ he would first lose time when Rheinard spun in the Laguna Seca section and he collected him and then again later when Groskamp rolled and made heavy contact with his car, both surviving to finish the race. Having won in Slovakia last year and needing only a second place in the case that his only rival Rheinard TQs and wins there, even Rheinard admitted that given the points scenario and that the title is to be decided at the track where the T4 was developed Coelho already has one hand on the champion’s trophy.

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‘I am both angry & really disappointed to have been robbed like this of a chance to fight for the championship’, said Volker. Having been taken out of the lead of A2 in a controversial incident with Groskamp he added, ‘winning A3 meant nothing to me because my goal was always the championship and after yesterday it was all going to plan but today it was all over because of what happened in A2’. A driver who since under taking his first full ETS campaign in 2010/11 has gone on to be crowned champion five times in succession, Volker concluded, ‘I am going to be frustrated by today for a few days but hope I can get some consolation at the Euros next week’.

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With the Xray Pro Stock and Serpent Formula winners decided in A2, the third A-Main would determine the rest of the podium. Belgian Olivier Bultynck would win both encounters to finish runner-up to Lars Hoppe in Pro Stock and David Ehrbar in Formula, Jacques Libar adding local interest to the podium with third. In Pro Stock after a great A3 battle with the Schumacher of Nicolai Lindegaard, Tamiya driver Christian Donath would take the final step on the podium.

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View the complete event results here.

View the event image gallery here.