Euro Touring Series

November 2, 2013

Qualifying times – Round 3

Ride Modified Q3 times
1. Ronald Völker – Team Yokomo – 25/5:02.416
2. Freddy Südhoff – Awesomatix – 25/5:03.067
3. Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 25/5:03.328
4. Yannic Prümper – Team Yokomo – 25/5:06.035
5. Marc Fischer – Serpent – 25/5:06.454
6. Alexander Hagberg – Team Xray – 25/5:07.467
7. Eric Dankel – Yokomo – 25/5:07.517
8. Viktor Wilck – Tamiya – 25/5:07.998
9. Tim Wahl – Team Xray – 25/5:08.468
10.Marco Kaufmann – Team Xray – 25/5:09.264

Xray Pro Stock Q3 times
1. Jan Asmer – Serpent – 24/5:12.004
2. Martin Hofer – Schumacher – 24/5:12.710
3. Bernhard Bopp – HB – 23/5:00.704
4. Tobias Vogel – Team Xray – 23/5:01.436
5. Henrik Heitsch – ARC – 23/5:01.791
6. Mike Gosvig – Awesomatix – 23/5:02.868
7. Kuba Simurda – Team Xray – 23/5:03.071
8. Philipp Neudinger – Awesomatix – 23/5:03.548
9. Tony Streit – Serpent – 23/5:03.865
10.Tim Benson – Serpent – 23/5:03.895

November 2, 2013

Round 2 of qualifying at the season opener of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series produced a very close three way battle but a late charge by last night’s Q1 pace setter Ronald Volker saw the Yokomo driver just pip Xray’s Alexander Hagberg to make it two from two. Once again Awesomatix’s Freddy Sudhoff was in the mix claiming third despite two mistakes, finishing just ahead of Serpent’s Marc Fischer.

Ronald Volker

Having flipped his LRP powered BD7 on his warm-up lap, Volker said he had to be very careful with his car at the beginning of the qualifier. Making ‘a lot of tiny errors’, he said he wasn’t able to push the car for the first four minutes. Describing the traction for the morning run as being higher than last night, as the run entered the final minute the car started to improve giving him the confidence to push harder. Knowing that it was again going to be a close finish he said he made a late charge, resulting in three consecutive 11-second laps, which was enough to take him ahead of Hagberg to take the round by 0.293. For Q3, the German said he needs to find a set-up that gives him the right balance between having enough steering with making the car too edgy. For team-mate Naoto Matsukura the round netted him a fifth while a traction roll meant Yannic Prumper would pull up. Leading the B heat, Prumper lost 6-seconds after traction rolling his BD7 and unable to get back into his rhythm decided to stop 4-laps later.

Team Hagberg

Hagberg said after his run that he ‘can’t go any faster’ joking that he needs the others to make a few more mistakes. Unable to break into the 11-second lap times, the Swede said that his advantage over his rivals is that his ORCA powered T4 ’14 is so easy to drive. Team-mate Marco Kaufmann enjoyed another strong showing backing up his P7 in Q1 with a run to the 6th fastest time while T4 designer Martin Hudy made it three Xray’s in the Top 10 with a 9th in Q2.

Freddy

Sudhoff described Q2 as another good run. Having missed out on a potential TQ last night when he started to drive wide lines to avoid the corners dots, this morning it was hitting the dots that cost him a shot at topping the round. Describing the track as having ‘changed a lot overnight’ to become even more edgy, the German was setting the TQ pace until the first of two occasions when he got his A700L EVO up on two wheels which he reckons lost him about 1-second. With two good runs to his credit and booking his place in the A-Main, last year’s podium finisher said he can now try more risky set-up changes for the remaining two qualifiers.

Marc Fischer

In total contrast to yesterday, Fischer said his Hobby Wing powered S411 was good in the beginning of the qualifier but then got ‘super hard’ to drive. Setting the early TQ pace, a Top 3 finish was still on the cards until lap 19 of 25 when he collected the crashed Awesomatix of Dionys Stadler at the end of the straight. Surviving the impact, he said overall his car was better than yesterday mainly down to the use of less additive. Having made no chassis set-up changes he plans to make the front spring and camber change he originally planned for Q2 for the next qualifier.

Marc Rheinard

Setting the 7th fastest time, and the second fastest lap time behind Volker, Marc Rheinard said his Muchmore powered TRF418 was hard to drive. Rolling on the first lap of the qualifier the 3-time former World Champion said the problem is that the chassis plate they have is too stiff for the high traction and unfortunately there is not much they can do about it as it is the only version they have this weekend. Behind Rheinard, TRF team-mate Viktor Wilck posted the 8th fastest time.

Levanen

Very happy with his new Associated TC6.2, Juho Levanen said all he is short of is a bit of luck. Having collected a rolled car on the straight in yesterday’s opening qualifier, the Finn was on for a Top 6 run this morning before he once again collected a stray car. Running behind Dionys Stadler having started the heat last due to his DNF in Q1, the young German got out of shape at the end of the straight when he hit the dots with Levanen collecting him losing over 7-seconds as a result. Upbeat that he has a good car this weekend he said hopefully for the next two he will find a clear track for each of the the 5-minutes.

Jan Asmer

In the Xray Pro Stock class, Jan Amser topped Q2 ahead of Martin Hofer and Q1 pace setter Marek Cerny. The Serpent driver, who also enjoyed a strong run in Modified with 10th in Q2, said his S411 is working really well. So well infact that he hasn’t touched the set-up since the first battery in yesterday’s opening practice. Schumacher team driver Hofer said a switch to a gear diff in the front of his Mi5 cured his traction roll issues experienced in Q1. For Q3, the former Champion will try a different steering set-up which he said will change how the car feels to drive adding he wants to see how this suits his driving style. Defending champion Cerny said his Xray was harder to drive adding the ‘traction is quite different today’ giving the car too much steering. For Q3 he will change the timing of his additive.

Roman Pichler

In the Formula class, TOP Racing’s Roman Pichler took Q2 ahead of the Yokomo of Hungarian Gabor Forrai with Germany’s Dai Sakaguchi third. For Q1 pace setter a problem with the gluing on a rear tyre meant he could only manage 8th.

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November 2, 2013

Qualifying times – Round 2

Ride Modified Q2 times
1. Ronald Völker – Team Yokomo – 25/5:03.046
2. Alexander Hagberg – Team Xray – 25/5:03.339
3. Freddy Südhoff – Awesomatix – 25/5:04.820
4. Marc Fischer – Serpent – 25/5:05.291
5. Naoto Matsukura – Team Yokomo – 25/5:05.322
6. Marco Kaufmann – Team Xray – 25/5:06.893
7. Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 25/5:07.451
8. Viktor Wilck – Tamiya – 25/5:08.462
9. Martin Hudy – Team Xray – 25/5:10.031
10.Jan Asmer – Serpent – 25/5:10.539

Xray Pro Stock Q2 times
1. Jan Asmer – Serpent – 24/5:12.906
2. Martin Hofer – Schumacher – 24/5:16.214
3. Marek Cerny – Team Xray – 23/5:01.255
4. Max Mächler – Awesomatix – 23/5:02.181
5. Bernhard Bopp – HB – 23/5:02.856
6. Tobias Vogel – Team Xray – 23/5:04.134
7. Markus Kreder – Serpent – 23/5:04.167
8. Mike Gosvig – Awesomatix – 23/5:04.215
9. Manuel Wagner – Team Xray – 23/5:04.533
10.Henrik Heitsch – ARC – 23/5:04.778

November 2, 2013

‘Race Control’ Day 2

It is Day 2 of the opening round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series here in Hrotovice, Czech Republic, and today is all about qualifying. After last night’s opening round of qualifying, the schedule is made up of the three remaining rounds with drivers counting their best 2 of 4. Once qualifying is complete there will be the first round of the 3 Leg Mains for all the finals up to & including the C. The day will be brought to a close with the ‘Dash for Cash’ with €200 up for grabs for the fastest driver over 2 laps of the track.

November 1, 2013

Volker stamps authority on Day 1 of ETS

Volker

Defending champion Ronald Volker stamped his authority on the opening day of the new season of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series by topping the opening round of qualifying in the Czech Republic. Having set the pace in both free and controlled practice, the Team Yokomo driver capped off the perfect day by taking Q1 from Freddy Sudhoff and Naoto Matsukura in what was a very close battle which saw a number of drivers set the lead pace.

Volker

Just 3/10ths faster than Sudhoff, Volker summed up the first of the four scheduled qualifiers as ‘super close’. Struggling at the beginning of the 5-minute heat running only mid pack pace, the German said his BD7 was a little edgy. As his set of controlled Ride tyres came in he said he was then able to drive a little more aggressively and work his way back to the front. Describing it as a four horse race to the finish with the final gap ‘almost nothing’, he said he was really pleased to start off the new season with a TQ adding he hopes he can repeat it again tomorrow. Team-mate Matsukura summed up his run to third by saying ‘car good, driver shit’. The Japanese ace said the nerves of the opening qualifier got to him but now that its out of the way and he has a solid first run he is hoping for better tomorrow.

Ronald Freddy

Running an aluminum chassis on his Awesomatix, Sudhoff said it was a great way to start the new season. Describing the new A700L EVO as suiting his driving, he said the new diff has given him a very consistent car. Featuring a screw that allows the diff to be filled fully with oil and void of any air, this helps in a way he said that ‘only Oleg (the car’s Russian designer) can fully explain & understand’. On the TQ pace, setting the only 11-second lap of Q1, he said he started to get nervous about making a mistake and so starting running wider lines around the corners to stay clear of the dots and this ultimately cost him the small amount of time he missed the TQ for the round by.

Alex Hagberg

Setting the fourth fastest time, Alexander Hagberg said the opening qualifier showed just how high a level the ETS is at. The factory Xray driver described his run as not too bad adding he was surprised more drivers didn’t make mistakes due to the high traction conditions. Making just minor driver errors himself he said his T4 ’14 was still working really well and he hopes he can do better tomorrow. Team-mate Marco Kaufmann made it two Xray’s in the Top 10 taking his example to the 7th fastest time. For Adrian Berntsen he eventually decided to call it a day after he suffered a series of traction rolls.

Marc Fischer

Setting the early pace until he got his Hobbywing powered S411 on two wheels, Marc Fischer described his qualifier as ‘OK’. The German said he put ‘way too much’ additive on his tyres resulting in the car being very edgy for the first 2 minutes. After that he was happy how the car ran and for tomorrow plans, along with ‘using a lot less additive’, to change front springs and add more camber.

Marc Rheinard

Completing the Top 6 Marc Rheinard said his time was ‘almost the best I can do’ adding ‘it was hard’. Planning to keep the set-up on his new TRF418 the same for tomorrow, he will try to glue up the walls of his tyres. Describing the tyres he used for Q1 as being pretty fresh, after he retired half way through the first controlled practice with a stripped spur gear using the same set, he feels the tyres should be better anyway for Q2 as they reach their peak performance.

Marek Cerny

In the Xray Pro Stock class defending champion Marek Cerny topped the opening qualifier from former champion Martin Hofer with Bernard Bopp third. Winner of his home event last season, Cerny said he went for a safe run. Outpacing Hofer by 1.9 seconds, the Czech driver said his Xray T4 ’14 is ‘pretty easy to drive’. Having spent the days leading up to the season opener testing at the Hudy Arena in Slovakia, the 4-time ETS race winner said the test was a good opportunity to learn about the new car and how to deal with traction roll.

Martin Hofer

For Season #4 Champion Hofer traction roll in Q1 was a big issue. Rolling his Schumacher a number of times on his warm-up for the qualifier he said he had to drive the run with great caution. Despite this he was able to set the lead pace until he got the Mi-5 up on two wheels dropping him back down the order. Still he was able to recover to end the run second but the German said for tomorrow he needs to try a different set-up to make the car easier to drive. Behind Bopp, Serpent’s Jan Asmer set the fourth fastest time with former Champion Zdenko Kunak taking his Yokomo to 5th.

Jan Asmer

In the Formula class, defending champion Jan Amser claimed the opening qualifier with his Serpent over the VBC of Belgium’s Olivier Bultynck. Factory Xray driver Francesco Martini, running a hybrid from the Slovakian company, completed the Top 3 in the fast growing category.

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November 1, 2013

Qualifying times – Round 1

Ride Modified Q1 times
1. Ronald Völker – Team Yokomo – 25/5:03.382
2. Freddy Südhoff – Awesomatix – 25/5:03.711
3. Naoto Matsukura – Team Yokomo – 25/5:04.077
4. Alexander Hagberg – Team Xray – 25/5:04.251
5. Marc Fischer – Serpent – 25/5:04.911
6. Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 25/5:05.114
7. Marco Kaufmann – Team Xray – 25/5:07.659
8. Yannic Prümper – Team Yokomo – 25/5:07.660
9. Viktor Wilck – Tamiya – 25/5:08.136
10.Julian Borowski – Serpent – 25/5:10.598

Xray Pro Stock Q1 times
1. Marek Cerny – Team Xray – 23/5:00.257
2. Martin Hofer – Schumacher – 23/5:02.104
3. Bernhard Bopp – HB – 23/5:02.109
4. Jan Asmer – Serpent – 23/5:02.987
5. Zdenko Kunak – Yokomo – 23/5:03.141
6. Max Mächler – Awesomatix – 23/5:03.203
7. Philipp Neudinger – Awesomatix – 23/5:03.802
8. Patrick Buddrus – ARC – 23/5:04.550
9. Henrik Heitsch – ARC – 23/5:05.082
10.Tim Benson – Serpent – 23/5:05.900

November 1, 2013

Volker No.1 for Qualifying at Czech ETS

Volker

Ronald Volker backed up his early free practice form by topping the two rounds of controlled practice at the ETS season opener in the Czech Republic to secure himself the top seeding for qualifying. The Team Yokomo driver set the fastest time over 3-consecutive laps in the final practice by a convincing 3/10ths of a second from team-mate Naoto Matsukura. Behind the two Yokomos, Alexander Hagberg took his Xray to the third fastest time ahead of Freddy Sudhoff while Tamiya’s Marc Rheinard ended up only 9th fastest.

Ronald Volker

Widely recognised as the world’s best driver on carpet, Volker was pleased with his pace in the controlled practice runs. Managing to post is three fastest laps within just four laps of CP2 posting two 11 second laps, the German on the advice of his mechanic Yukijiro Umino pulled up 2-laps later to save tyres. Looking ahead to the opening qualifier, the winner of the last three ETS season openers said the plan is to go for a clean save run but with the traction increasing ever run he said he hopes he can keep his LRP powered BD7 on the ground for the full 5-minutes.

Naoto

Still finding the high traction conditions ‘very difficult’, Naoto described his practice runs as OK. Struggling a little with his BD7 wanting to traction roll, the Japanese racer will change the front of the car to try and make it a little easier to drive for the 5-minutes duration of the qualifiers. Team-mate Yannic Prumper, who was second fastest to Volker in free practice, didn’t have a good controlled practice. Changing his set-up ‘a lot’ his BD7 was ‘not good’ leaving him to post only the 19th fastest time over the two 4-minute runs. Planning to go back to the set-up he ran in the morning, the German said he hopes this will allow him to run competitively in tonight’s opening qualifier and they can build on things from there.

Alex Hagberg

Hagberg was very happy with his T4 once again describing it as ‘very easy to drive’. Planning to keep the set-up as is for Q1, the former ETS race winner said his aim for the moment is to just try & drive a clean 5-minutes and see where that takes time. Team-mate Tim Wahl took his T4 to the 7th fastest time, the 19-year-old also very happy with how easy his car is to drive. A finalist at last season’s opening race in Germany, Wahl said through a series of small changes he has improved the car every run and while it had a very slight amount of understeer it is nothing major and he can work around it. Adrian Berntsen made it three Xray’s in the Top 10 in the reseeding. After struggling in free practice, the Norwegian said a shock set-up adjustment improved the car a lot. Unfortunately in CP1 he didn’t get to see how the changes worked as he stripped a spur gear in the warm-up but doing the full 4-minutes in CP2 he was pleased with the changes that allowed him to post the 10th fastest time just behind Rheinard.

Freddy

Running a new prototype diff in their cars, which only arrived at the Sport V Hotel after free practice, Sudhoff was the only driver along with Volker to run an 11-second lap in controlled practice. One of the contenders for the race win here last season, the lead Awesomatix driver said overall all the cars are working really well and they are very positive about the rest of the weekend. Highlighting this was the performance of 17-year-old Dionys Stadler. Very happy with the new diff, the German said fitting a top deck to his new A700L EVO has made the car really well balanced and he is happy to run it as is for the first qualifier. Viljami Kutvonen said changes to his A700L EVO made it a little too easy to drive for the 3-consecutive laps but over 5-minutes he feels he should have good pace. Ending up 12th fastest, the Finn tried two bodyshells comparing the Protoform Speed 6 to Bitty Designs’ new Nardo. He said in terms of lap times there was little difference but they both felt very different to drive and he is undecided which to choose for Q1.

Marc Fischer

Setting the sixth fastest time, Serpent’s Marc Fischer said his S411 was now easier to drive than in free practice. While the set-up has a little understeer the runner-up here last season said it feels OK and should be good for the full 5-minutes. Planning to go for a safe opening qualifier he plans to run the Hobbywing powered Serpent as is, adding that if that goes well they may look at some small adjustments for tomorrow’s second qualifier to try and improve the steering.

Juho

Team Associated’s Juho Levanen described his 8th fastest time as ‘not bad’. Running a pre-production TC6.2, the Finn said he was not really happy with the car on his faster run as he feels it can go faster. Suffering from understeer on corner entry he will fit a harder front spring for Q1.

Marc Rheinard

‘Not so bad’ was how former champion Marc Rheinard summed up his controlled practice. The Tamiya Racing Factory driver lasted just two & a half minutes in the first run after he stripped a spur gear due to him losing a screw in his TRF418’s bulkhead. In the second run he had further gear issues when his pinion came loose. Luckily fast work by Muchmore’s Mr. Jang, who is the 3-time World Champions pitman this weekend, would mean he would get to rejoin the run after losing a minute & a half to set his 3-fastest consecutive laps.

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November 1, 2013

Volker tops free practice at ETS Season opener

Ronald Volker

Reigning Yokomo Euro Touring Series Champion Ronald Volker has kicked off the defense of his 3rd consecutive title by putting his Yokomo top the times sheets in free practice. Drivers had two rounds of free practice this morning for the Czech Republic event, with the German fastest from team-mate Yannic Prumper. Volker’s main title rival for the past three seasons, Marc Rheinard was third fastest around the track which is proving popular with the drivers with Marc Fischer, Andy Moore and Viljami Kutvonen completing the Top 6.

Ronald Volker

Winner of this event on the last two occasions the ETS traveled to Hrotovice, Volker said after a poor opening practice run changes for FP2 gave him a much more consistent car although he would like to find a little more steering. The first ETS race to feature handout additive and tyre cleaner, the additive set to be a different colour for each round of the series, the 8-time ETS race winner welcomed the move describing it as ‘a good thing’. Hinting that he isn’t a big fan of tyre additive testing, he said for the two controlled practice rounds he will work on his tyre strategy to determine whether to run new or used, scrubbed or unscrubbed tyres in qualifying. Asked about going for a fourth consecutive title, Volker said his approach this season is no different to before and as always his aim will be to try and go as fast as possible. Rating Prumper as being his biggest title rival, he said it is great to have Naoto Matsukura here for the opening race as he is ‘always fast on carpet’. Unable to gauge the true pace of Tamiya’s Rheinard and Vicktor Wilck with the new TRF418 on carpet, he said in addition to his own team-mates he feels Serpent’s Marc Fischer will be strong this weekend as he was last year here.

Yannic Prumper

Prumper declared himself happy with his free practice. Liking the track in the second practice he ran two cars, preferring his own to the car of his long time mentor/mechanic Toni Rheinard. Setting the seventh fastest time 1:12 World Champion Naoto Matsukura described the track as difficult due to the high traction. The Japanese ace, who depending on the outcome of this weekend could contest the full season of ETS, said his BD7 feels pretty good but he plans to make some small changes to try and get it a little easier to drive for the high bite conditions.

Marc Rheinard

Having spent the days leading up to the season opener testing at the Hudy Racing Arena, Rheinard said so far things were going ‘OK’. Cautious about how his Much More powered TRF418 will cope should the traction get any higher, he said he probably could have ran a faster time in FP2. Trying two cars in the 4-minute run he said for him the controlled Ride tyre was only really starting to come in when he stopped to change car. Back to back testing two set-ups the former World Champion said the first car he ran felt better and he will run this for the first controlled practice.

Marc Fischer

Despite setting the fourth fastest time, Fischer said he has work to do. The runner-up here last season, he said his S411 is hard to drive and feels like it is on the limit of traction rolling. While his pace over 3-laps is competitive he said over 5-minutes with the current set-up he is not very confident. Setting himself a target of a Top 5 result this weekend, the German hopes a shock position & spring change for controlled practice will result in his car being a little easier to drive.

Viljami Kutvonen

Running Awesomatix’ new A700L EVO for the first time on carpet, Kutvonen said the car is much easier to drive. Putting in a very competitive performance here last year with the old car, the Finn said that with a few more small set-up changes he thinks they are on a for a good result again this year. Team-mate Freddy Sudhoff, who was on the podium here last time, declared himself really happy with the performance of the new car. Although he failed to register a competitive time, the German said the new parts have improved the car. For the first controlled practice, Sudhoff will run a new design of differential in his car which was only delivered to he hotel just before lunch time. He said the diff is ‘typical Oleg (Babich) design’ and just in his hand already feels a lot smoother than the previous design.

Hagberg

Setting the 8th fastest time Alexander Hagberg was the fastest Xray. The Swede, described his ORCA powered T4 as ‘very easy to drive’. Having also spent the earlier part of the week testing at the Hudy Arena adding that it was good having other manufacturers there to better gauge their pace, he said while over 3-laps he’s ‘not super fast’ with his car very consistent to drive he should be good over the 5-minutes of the qualifiers. Team-mate Adrian Berntsen said he is struggling a little with his car something that was not helped by his throttle not being properly matched between his speedo and radio.

Levanen

Running a pre-production version of the soon to be released Associated T6.2, former ETS race winner Juho Levanen is very upbeat about his chances this weekend. Having raced the same car at the recent IIC in Las Vegas, the Finn said he hopes he can build on that performance declaring himself very happy with how free practice went. Featuring ‘almost all new parts’, he said the overall result is that the car now has more steering and more corner speed.

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Qualifying times – Round 3

Volker from Hagberg in Q2

Qualifying times – Round 2

‘Race Control’ Day 2

Volker stamps authority on Day 1 of ETS

Qualifying times – Round 1

Volker No.1 for Qualifying at Czech ETS

Volker tops free practice at ETS Season opener

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