Euro Touring Series

June 15, 2013

Rheinard again in Q2

Marc Shell

Marc Rheinard backed up his performance in yesterday’s opening qualifier by kicking off Day 2 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Austria with another TQ, again the Tamiya driver topping the times from HB’s Andy Moore. However the big talking point among the drivers after Q2 was the pace of Yokomo driver Ronald Volker who despite running used tyres posted the third fastest time, the next fastest driver on tyres that completed a full five minutes in Q1 being Team Xray’s Alexander Hagberg who was 7th fastest.

Marc Andy

While pleased to post another TQ albeit almost 2 seconds slower than Q1, Rheinard seemed more concerned about the tyre strategy that was going to be played out over the remaining three qualifiers. Having used his second set of allocated Ride tyres, the German said the pace of Volker on used tyres was a bit of a surprise as while he knew his rival had good pace on new tyres his pace, having not tested on used, was very impressive. Describing the traction in this morning’s qualifier as low, the Apeldoorn winner said the run was good but Andy, who moved to the front half way through the 5-minute run, forced him to push harder than he had planned on a track that doesn’t forgive errors. With three rounds to count and no new tyres left Rheinard said he has to be very clever about how he chooses to use and selects his tyres adding that sitting out a round is one option he needs to consider.

Andy Moore

Moore, who set the fastest lap of the round, said he was reasonably happy with the result considering how close he came to a TQ run. Dropping off the lead pace after hitting some traffic, the former World Champion said his TCXX got a little loose after that with the traction in general feeling a ‘a lot less’ than yesterday’s Q1. Other than rebuilding his shocks, Moore plans on leaving his car as is for Q3 echoing the thoughts of Rheinard that its now down to tyre strategy and making the right call at the right time.

Ronald Volker

Having rolled out of a certain TQ run in Q1, Volker said they took a defensive approached to Q2 and ran on used tyres and considering the number of drivers on new tyres they managed to outpace he was very happy with how the run went. The defending ETS Champion said his LRP powered BD7 was still very easy to drive on used tyres and while he had more understeer it was something he was able to deal with. While the Yokomo team was giving away nothing in relation to when they will run their star driver on his second set of tyres the general feeling of his rivals is that he will use them in Q3. Also running used tyres in Q2, team-mate Yannic Prumper said his BD7 was not good and combined with the low traction he could not have gone any quicker than his 9th he got for the round.

Martin Hudy

Running new tyres on his T4, Martin Hudy was fastest of the Xray drivers posting 4th for the round but the Slovak driver said afterwards he expected more. The man responsible for designing the car, Hudy said on a track like Traiskirchen the car has a lot more potential and so he is a little disappointed by the result. The team’s lead driver Alexander Hagberg posted the 7th fastest time, which the Swede said considering being on used tyres and having to let some faster cars through was ‘not a bad result’.

Awesomatix team driver Freddy Sudhoff backed up his Q1 performance with another fifth fastest time but was a little disappointed with the run considering he was on new tyres. The German said his A700 felt different to yesterday with it having developed more understeer something he is putting down to the cooler conditions having a effect on the oil in diff.

Viktor Wilck

After a tough day yesterday, Viktor Wilck posted the 6th fastest time describing the run as ‘safe’. The Swede who effectively had a new set of tyres after he crashed out on his opening lap in Q1, said he needs to repeat a similar run again in Q3, hinting that he will be using his second set of tyres, and then hope he can round it off with a third solid result on used tyres so as to make the A-Main. Struggling with ‘no balance’ in his TRF417, the Swede said he is also struggling with his driving as the track here does not suit his driving style.

Elliot Harper

Completing the Top 10 was Team Durango’s Elliot Harper. The British driver was pretty pleased with his run considering he was on used tyres. Availing of last nights opening testing after Q1, he said this allowed him to make the car smoother & easier to drive and this morning it felt ‘quite good’. With a fresh set of tyres at his disposal he said he needs to make a good call on when to use them but his focus for Q3 is to try a different front end geometry.

Ride Modified Q2 times
1. Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 21/5:14.497
2. Andy Moore – HB – 20/5:01.246
3. Ronald Völker – Yokomo – 20/5:02.947
4. Martin Hudy – Xray – 20/5:03.235
5. Freddy Südhoff – Awesomatix – 20/5:03.270
6. Viktor Wilck – Tamiya – 20/5:04.228
7. Alexander Hagberg – Xray – 20/5:05.728
8. Dominik Fleischmann – Yokomo – 20/5:07.448
9. Yannic Prümper – Yokomo – 20/5:07.514
10.Elliott Harper – Durango – 20/5:07.823

View the complete event results here.

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June 14, 2013

Rheinard TQs opening qualifier at ETS Austria

Marc Rheinard

Marc Rheinard TQ’d Round 1 of qualifying at the Austrian round of the Euro Touring Series, the Tamiya driver setting the opening pace ahead of fellow former World Champion Andy Moore’s HB with last year’s Traiskirchen winner Yannic Prumper completing the top three. Having set the pace in practice earlier in the day, Prumper’s Yokomo team-mate Ronald Volker looked to be on target to end Day 1 of the event perfectly as he sat top of the timing screens until his BD7 suffered a roll on lap 15 which cost him 5-seconds. Eventually the defending champion, who set the fastest lap of Q1, would end up 6th, a result he will be hoping is one of his throw out rounds.

Marc Rheinard

Rheinard was ‘happy’ with his run saying his Much More powered TRF417 was good. The most winning driver in the ETS, the German said the biggest drama of the run was him mistaking another car for Volker which left him slightly confused as to how his rival could have pulled such a gap so early on in the run. With many of the drivers availing of open testing yesterday, Volker ran a white bodyshell which Rheinard got used to watching as they did runs together but for the start of the race proper Volker reverted back to his familiar colour scheme, something Rheinard failed to register. While he admits he got lucky with Volker’s roll, running second to him up to then, he said in terms of pace he believes there is very little between them and the rest of the qualifiers are going to be very close. For Rheinard’s team-mate and fellow title contender Viktor Wilck what started out as a bad day didn’t get any better. Coming up to complete his first lap the Swede traction rolled his Thunder Power equipped TRF417 ending any chance of a competitive first run so he pulled up to save his tyres saying afterwards its best to forget today and start fresh tomorrow.

Andy Moore

Moore described his run to the second fastest time, in which he produced a faster lap than Rheinard, as a pretty decent start considering his pace in yesterday’s practice and for a small team today was a ‘huge step forward’. Having struggled with understeer on his Hobby Wing powered TCXX, the British ace said the car was ‘pretty OK’ for the first qualifier although he cant push as much as he wants to but the time sheets show he is pretty much on the pace. Losing time in the first minute of the run when the car is very edgy he said he will probably make some changes for Q2 to try and cure this.

Yannic Prumper

Having changed springs on his BD7, Prumper said the car was better but ‘stupid lines’ in the last three laps cost him second for the round. With the car now too easy to drive he will switch to a lighter oil in his gear diff for Q2.

Alex Hagberg

Setting the fourth fastest time, Team Xray lead driver Alexander Hagberg said his run was decent and overall it was not too bad a start for the team as they got 5 of their cars into the Top 10. With conditions for the opening qualifier cooler than in practice, Hagberg said he had a little too much steering which forced him to drive a little cautiously but able to do the full 5-minutes without mistake he was happy with his approach. With the second round of Modified qualifying due to get underway at 08:00 in the morning, the Swede said conditions will be similar to those of Q1 and so he will make a set-up change to his T4 to try reduce the oversteer. Second fastest of the Xrays, with the 7th fastest time, was Hagberg’s fellow countryman Magnus Vässmar.

Freddy Sudhoff

Taking 5th in Q1, Awesomatix star driver Freddy Südhoff described his run as the ‘perfect start’ with the A700 the best it has been all weekend. Having struggled yesterday for pace, the German switched back to the car’s basic set-up today improving it every run. Now happy with his car he will leave it the same and instead focus on his driving. For the second half of the first qualifier Südhoff said after seeing so many drivers make mistakes he reverted to driving wider lines so as to keep the run clean but for tomorrow he will drive with a little more aggression and take more risks.

Ronald Volker

Summing up his opening qualifier, Volker said his BD7 was ‘super good’ and he was running in ‘control mode’ when the car ‘just traction rolled’. Describing the roll as having ‘come out of nowhere’, he said it wasn’t a major disaster as there was still four qualifier to go and he is confident they have the car to TQ three of those.

Having set the second fastest time in controlled practice Serpent’s Marc Fischer ‘just pushed too hard’ leading to a roll on his second lap which cost the German over 5-seconds leaving him 16th for the round, one position behind Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp.

Viljami

In the Xray Pro Stock class, who had two of their qualifying rounds today, it was practice pace setter Viljami Kutvonen who was fastest from Awesomatix team-mate Dominic Vogl in Q1 with Xray’s Marek Cerny bouncing back from a speedo shut down in the first one to take Q2 in which Vogl was again second. Third fastest in Q2 having an issue with understeer, it is Kutvonen, who posted the fastest lap time of the two qualifiers, who holds the provisional TQ overnight in Austria. In the Speed Passion Formula class Roman Pichler set the pace in both qualifiers with his TOP chassis.

Ride Modified Q1 times
1. Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 21/5:12.571
2. Andy Moore – HB – 21/5:14.316
3. Yannic Prümper – Yokomo – 21/5:14.808
4. Alexander Hagberg – Xray – 20/5:00.511
5. Freddy Südhoff – Awesomatix – 20/5:01.153
6. Ronald Völker – Yokomo – 20/5:02.066
7. Magnus Vässmar – Xray – 20/5:02.732
8. Martin Hudy – Xray – 20/5:03.427
9. Niclas Nilsson – Xray – 20/5:04.675
10.Marco Kaufmann – Xray – 20/5:04.704

Xray Pro Stock Q1 times
1. Viljami Kutvonen – Awesomatix – 19/5:06.333
2. Dominic Vogl – Awesomatix – 19/5:09.181
3. Tony Streit – Serpent – 19/5:11.199
4. Tobias Vogel – Xray – 19/5:11.604
5. Henrik Heitsch – ARC – 19/5:12.217
6. René Klöckner – Yokomo – 19/5:13.093
7. Oliver Franke – HB – 19/5:13.238
8. David Nemcek – Xray – 19/5:13.383
9. Vasco Christiaanse – Kyosho – 19/5:14.154
10.Bernhard Bopp – HB – 19/5:14.352

Xray Pro Stock Q2 times
1. Marek Cerny – Xray – 19/5:08.592
2. Dominic Vogl – Awesomatix – 19/5:8.845
3. Viljami Kutvonen – Awesomatix – 19/5:09.289
4. Martin Hofer – Schumacher – 19/5:09.996
5. Tobias Vogel – Xray – 19/5:11.855
6. Oliver Franke – HB – 19/5:11.964
7. Jerome Meile – Xray – 19/5:12.149
8. Tony Streit – Serpent – 19/5:12.653
9. Valetin Hettrich – Xray – 19/5:12.963
10.Bernhard Bopp – HB – 19/5:13.304

View the complete event results here.

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June 14, 2013

Advantage Volker in Austrian practice

Ronald Volker

Ronald Volker laid down his intentions for this weekend’s penultimate round of the Euro Touring Series, the German ace setting the fastest time over 3 consecutive laps to top practice in Austria by a healthy margin over Serpent’s Marc Fischer and title rival Marc Rheinard while Xray’s Alexander Hagberg made it four different manufacturers in the Top 4. Last year’s Traiskirchen winner Yannic Prumper, who is one of the four drivers still in contention for the title, would set the fifth fastest time but for Round 3 winner Viktor Wilck it was not a good start to this crucial weekend as he was only 11th fastest meaning he will run his five qualifiers in the second fastest heat group.

Ronald Volker

In a position to wrap up the title this weekend if he takes the win on Sunday, Volker declared himself happy with how his LRP powered BD7 ran in practice adding that he just needs to wait to see if it is good enough for a TQ run. Having run new tyres for both the timed practice runs, the German said he hoped his car turns out to be as competitive when he runs on used tyres. Drivers each get two sets of controlled Ride 34 tyres for the 5 rounds of qualifying of which the best 3 determine the grid, meaning every driver will have to run on used rubber at least once. Asked about the title battle the reigning European Champion, who won that title here in Traiskirchen, said he is just focusing on the race in hand and his target as always is to just try and do his best.

Marc Fischer

After freshening up the front end of his Serpent with new bearings for the final practice, Fischer said the S411 was a lot easier to driver. Also fitting a fresh Protoform LTC-R shell, he said the car did not want to flip as much as in his previous outing. Asked about his pace over a full 5-minutes he said without mistakes he feels a Top 5 is within his grasp. With plenty of banging going on in practice as cars hit the track perimeter wall, Fischer said to be fast you need to get ‘super close’ to the corner dots but this makes it easy to hit them and launch the car adding that ‘all in all its a difficult track’.

Marc Rheinard

Rheinard, who needs to win this weekend of he wants to have a shot at getting back the title he last held three years ago, described his practice as ‘OK’. Suffering from a little understeer on his TRF417 he said while the car is not perfect over 5-minutes he should be fine. Adding that qualifying will be all about who manages a clean 5-minutes he said while Volker is a little faster in lap times when on new tyres on used tyres he is not so sure his rival will have any advantage. Having run a front spool in the two timed practices the Round 4 winner said he might take a gamble on switching to a gear diff for the opening qualifier. Team-mate Wilck is not looking the rejuvenated driver we have seen at the last two rounds, the Swede ‘struggling with everything, the track, the car and his driving’.

Hagberg

After the disappointment of Apeldoorn, where the Xray team clearly struggled, Hagberg said his ORCA powered T4 was really good in the final practice adding if he can keep it on four wheels in Q1 he should be able for a Top 5 time. The Swede, who finished second at this race last year, said the high traction conditions here suit their car. This was reflected in the times with the Slovak manufacturer getting three cars in the Top 10 with its designer Martin Hudy posting the 8th fastest time and team driver Tim Wahl going 10th quickest.

Prumper

Prumper, who had a great weekend here last year, taking the TQ honours, the win and the ‘Dash for Cash’ win, said his Yokomo is ‘too hard to drive’. Hoping a change of spring for Q1 will improve the BD7, he said this track is not about fastest laps but all about making no mistakes for 5-minutes. Asked about the direction change from last year when the track ran in the clockwise direction Prumper, who sits seconds in the standings, said it was much easier that way but on making the comment was quickly reminded that this wasn’t a good enough excuse as this year’s direction was the way the track was run when he won €400 for running the two fastest laps in the Dash for Cash.

Driver Stand

Completing the Top 6 was Eric Dankel with Yokomo DB7 followed by HB’s Andy Moore, the former World Champion struggling with understeer on his TCXX. Outside the Top 10 Team Durango’s Elliot Harper posted the 16th fastest time. The British driver, who has won the opening two rounds of his National Championship with the prototype DEX410TC, is having a problem with traction roll but says he has a few ideas he will try for Q1 and he ‘will see on the warm-up lap’ if they are the solution to his problem.

Krapp

A driver who came here last year with a shout of the title, Kyosho Christopher Krapp described his day so far as the ‘worst practice ever’. Arriving last night his bag got lost in transit and he had no stuff for the first practice run of the day, then in the second he crash & broke leaving him with no set-up going into the 2 time practice runs. Setting the 23rd fastest time over 3-consecutive laps, he said he will change to his spare car for Q1 in the hope that it actually feels somewhere close to how a car should work.

Kutvonen

In the Xray Pro Stock class Finnish ace Viljami Kutvonen took his Awesomatix to the fastest time ahead of the Xray of title contender Marek Cerny and championship standings leader Dominic Vogl. Winning his title here last year after a tough event defending champion & Round 4 winner Zdenko Kunak took his Yokomo to the 5th fastest time ahead of last year’s Top Qualifier & race winner Tony Streit. In the Speed Passion Formula Class Jan Asmer made a return to the series in style setting the pace ahead of Apeldoorn winner Roman Pichler.

Controlled Practice – Top 10
1. Ronald Völker – Yokomo – 0:43.705
2. Marc Fischer – Serpent – 0:44.016
3. Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 0:44.121
4. Alexander Hagberg – Xray – 0:44.199
5. Yannic Prümper – Yokomo – 0:44.268
6. Eric Dankel – Yokomo – 0:44.336
7. Andy Moore – Hot Bodies – 0:44.356
8. Martin Hudy – Xray – 0:44.431
9. Freddy Südhoff – Awesomatix – 0:44.474
10.Tim Wahl – Xray – 0:44.711

View the complete event results here.

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June 14, 2013

Track Focus – Traiskirchen

Fri-Track-1

Name – Traiskirchen
Club – MAC Traiskirchen
Country – Austria
Location – 20 km south of Vienna
Direction – Anti-clockwise
Surface – Asphalt
No. of ETS Races hosted – 1 (2012)
Previous Winner – Yannic Prumper (Mod) / Zdenko Kunak (PS)

The Yokomo Euro Touring Series is in Austria this weekend in the town of Traiskirchen at what is the most unique track visited by the championship. The track is housed under a wooden roof structure but with only one side and end of the impressive piece of architecture enclosed, the event is officially classified as an outdoor race. Built as an ice-skating ring which closes for the Summer months, when the ice clears it reveals an asphalt surface which MAC Traiskirchen have converted into a top class r/c racing track just for this weekend’s penultimate round of the ETS. With the venue used for a variety of local events, the club, which has a permanent offroad track next to the building, only get one opportunity each year to host a touring car race. Hosting the 2011 European Touring Car Championships, it is only through the hard work of ETS regular Thomas Pumpler and top offroad racer Peter Pinisch that the venue has become an annual fixture on the international racing calendar. With half the track outlined by the plastic panels which nervous ice-skaters normally hold onto in the winter the rest of the track along with the infield is laid out with wooden boards. A very smooth surface the corners are marked out with wooden discs with a light blue paint filling in the run off areas to give it the look of a permanent race track. In terms of the layout the track is identical to last year the only difference being the direction the cars run with has been changed to anti-clockwise. Race Director Scotty Ernst described the track as one of the more challenging on the ETS calendar adding that mistakes on the technical layout tend to be costly and at times punishing.

Image Gallery

May 19, 2013

Wilck wins A3 for Tamiya 1-2

Mod Top 3

Viktor Wilck made it a Tamiya 1-2 at the fourth round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series finishing second overall behind team-mate Marc Rheinard after taking the win in the closing race of the Dutch event. Heading away the 9 car field, Top Qualifier Rheinard sitting out the 3rd A-Main having wrapped up the win in A2, the Swede took a tone to tone victory ahead of the Yokomo team-mates Yannic Prumper and Ronald Volker after HB’s Andy Moore spun out of a comfortable second 3-laps from the finish.

Viktor Wilck

Despite setting the fastest lap of the race, Wilck said his TRF417 ‘did not feel super good’. Once Volker rolled out of second just as they came around to complete lap 5, he said he was able to cruise, focusing on keeping a constant gap between him and Moore before the British ace had an unusual incident on the pit straight. Dropping back to finish sixth, Moore had no explanation for why his TCXX spun saying he didn’t do anything different that lap and was just running his regular line when the car decided to spin out onto the grass.

Volker Grid

Switching to his spare BD7 which featured a number of different parts and a totally different set-up, Volker said it was a big improvement on his previous car with the key point being that he had more steering. Unfortunately getting too close to the curbs, the defending champion & current standings leader would roll, landing rubber side down, but his challenge for the leg win and 2nd overall was over. Happy with third overall, maintaining his record as the only driver in the premiere Ride Modified class to finish all four rounds to date on the podium, the German said the change of car had highlighted a number of things and he is confident that they can use that knowlegde to good effect for the remaining two asphalt rounds of the championship. Despite being back to back ETS champion, Volker has never won an outdoor round of the ETS.

John Bruins

In the Xray Pro Stock class, former Apeldoorn event winner John Bruins won the third A-Main from new VBC signing Oliver Bultynck with Martin Hofer third. Hofer and last year’s winner Vasco Christiaanse had been fighting for the win until the pair had a coming together on the main straight on lap three. Despite this Hofer’s second place finishes in Leg 1 & 2 behind overall winner Zdenko Kunak meant the Schumacher driver would finish runner-up with Kyosho’s Christiaanse just hanging on to claim the final step on the podium on tie break with Awesomatix driver Dominic Vogl.

Pichler

In the Speed Passion Formula class Roman Pichler, like Rheinard and Kunak, took his first win of the 2012/13 season. Starting from pole position the Swiss driver won all three legs with Dutch duo Michael Lepelaar and Alexander Roeleveld joining him on the podium.

Ride Modified A-Main Overall Result
1. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – 2 pts
2. Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya – 3
3. Ronald Volker (DE) – Yokomo – 5
4. Yannic Prumper (DE) – Yokomo – 7
5. Marc Fischer (DE) – Serpent – 7
6. Andy Moore (GB) – HB – 10
7. Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho – 11
8. Eric Dankel (DE) – Yokomo – 12
9. Loic Jasmin (FR) – Yokomo – 13
10.Thomas Pumpler (DE) – Tamiya – 16

Ride Modified A-Main Leg 3 Result
1.(2) Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya – 20/5:09.134
2.(5) Yannic Prumper (DE) – Yokomo – 20/5:10.646
3.(3) Ronald Volker (DE) – Yokomo – 20/5:10.845
4.(7) Marc Fischer (DE) – Serpent – 20/5:11.402
5.(10)Loic Jasmin (FR) – Yokomo – 20/5:12.722
6.(4) Andy Moore (GB) – HB – 20/5:14.275
7.(6) Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho – 19/5:01.437
8.(8) Eric Dankel (DE) – Yokomo – 19/5:01.531
9.(9) Thomas Pumpler (DE) – Tamiya – 19/5:04.237
10.(1)Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – DNS

Xray Pro Stock A-Main Overall Result
1. Zdenko Kunak (SK) – Yokomo – 2 pts
2. Martin Hofer (DE) – Schumacher – 4
3. Vasco Christiaanse (NL) – Kyosho – 7
4. Dominic Vogl (AT) – Awesomatix – 7
5. John Bruins (NZ) – Kyosho – 8
6. Philip Tschupp (CH) – Top Racing – 9
7. Oliver Bultynck (BE) – VBC – 10
8. Tobias Vogel (DE) – Xray – 11
9. Alexander Stocker (DE) – Xray – 14
10.Valetin Hettrich (DE) – Xray – 14

Xray Pro Stock A-Main Leg 3 Result
1.(8) John Bruins (NZ) – Kyosho – 17/5:02.636
2.(9) Oliver Bultynck (BE) – VBC – 17/5:05.316
3.(2) Martin Hofer (DE) – Schumacher – 17/5:07.708
4.(3) Vasco Christiaanse (NL) – Kyosho – 17/5:07.841
5.(6) Philip Tschupp (CH) – Top Racing – 17/2:11.383
6.(10)Tobias Vogel (DE) – Xray – 17/5:11.407
7.(4) Dominic Vogl (AT) – Awesomatix – 17/5:11.811
8.(7) Valetin Hettrich (DE) – Xray – 17/5:13.117
9.(5) Alexander Stocker (DE) – Xray – 17/5:13.927
10.(1)Zdenko Kunak (SK) – Yokomo – DNS

View the full event results here.

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May 19, 2013

Rheinard wins Dutch ETS

Marc Win

Marc Rheinard has claimed his first ETS victory for 12-months, the German taking his third consecutive Apeldoorn win which is where the 3-time former World Champion last stood on the top step of the podium. Dominating the second leg of the A-Main ahead of team-mate Viktor Wilck, who didn’t mount the much anticipated challenge, the win maintains Tamiya’s 100% winning record at the Dutch track, which has now hosted the race 4-times. Behind the Tamiya 1-2, Team Yokomo’s Ronald Volker completed the Top 3 with the defending champion and Wilck now set to battle it out for what could be a crucial second place in terms of the championship standings with two rounds still remaining.

Marc Rheinard

With Rheinard handed an easy win in Leg 1 after Wilck spun out off the start line, a clean start second time of asking by the Swede set the stage for a good battle between the duo. Evenly matched on pace in qualifying and having a distinct performance this weekend over their rivals, Wilck would unfortunately be no match for the Top Qualifier who setting a new fastest lap of the event on just his second lap pulled clear to win a very uneventful race by 1.8 seconds from Wilck who in turn finished 2.1-seconds in front of Volker. In fact the Top 5 drivers started as they finished, Yokomo’s Eric Dankel the best placed mover in the race finishing 6th having started in 8th.

Viktor Wilck

Commenting on the race, Wilck said he just didn’t have the pace to match his team-mate. Lacking the same level of steering and corner speed he said Rheinard had the better set-up, the German who will sit out leg 3 running a different top deck and front arm set-up on his TRF417. Not willing to risk switching his car over to the same set-up as Rheinard for the third leg he said with his car as it is now he should be able to hold off Volker for the A3 win and second overall, the Tamiya team not having had a 1-2 since this time last year when they filled all three podium places.

Volker

Volker said changes to his LRP powered BD7 made his understeer issues even worse and his concern was not battling with Wilck but keeping HB’s Andy Moore at bay. In the end he managed that but he said a lap or two more and the Brit would probably have taken third from him. With a podium position pretty secure following his 2nd & 3rd place finishes in the opening two legs, the only driver to finish every race this season on the podium said its time to ‘Go big or go home’ for the final A-Main and he will switch cars. Keen to secure second which would hurt Wilck’s championship aspirations, he will run his practice chassis in the hope he find the steering he is looking for.

Zdenko

In the Xray Pro Stock the overall winner of Round 4 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series was also decided with defending champion Zdenko Kunak taking a tone to tone win to claim his first ETS win since taking over the reign of the series biggest class, 133 drivers competing in the class that features a controlled Speed Passion speedo and handout motor. After the second leg race director Scotty Ernst had all the cars thoroughly inspected with ratios checked, motor stripped and even the speedo disassembled to check for any tampering with the circuit boards. We are glad to report that all cars passed the scrutiny muting rumors that cheating was going on in this hugely successful class. Behind Kunak, who was clearly delighted to take his first win of the 2012/13 season and first major win with Yokomo, Martin Hofer again finished second despite a strong challenge from last year’s race winner Vasco Christiaanse.

Ride Modified A-Main Leg 2 Result
1.(1) Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – 20/5:06.456
2.(2) Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya – 20/5:08.204
3.(3) Ronald Volker (DE) – Yokomo – 20/5:10.378
4.(4) Andy Moore (GB) – HB – 20/5:10.730
5.(5) Yannic Prumper (DE) – Yokomo – 20/5:11.619
6.(8) Eric Dankel (DE) – Yokomo – 20/5:12.670
7.(6) Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho – 19/5:00.089
8.(10)Loic Jasmin (FR) – Yokomo – 19/5:03.536
9.(7) Marc Fischer (DE) – Serpent – 19/5:06.680
10.(9)Thomas Pumpler (DE) – Tamiya – 0/0:00.000

Xray Pro Stock A-Main Leg 2 Result
1.(1) Zdenko Kunak (SK) – Yokomo – 18/5:17.826
2.(2) Martin Hofer (DE) – Schumacher – 17/5:02.314
3.(3) Vasco Christiaanse (NL) – Kyosho – 17/5:02.946
4.(4) Dominic Vogl (AT) – Awesomatix – 17/5:02.958
5.(5) Alexander Stocker (DE) – Xray – 17/5:05.128
6.(7) Valetin Hettrich (DE) – Xray – 17/5:06.906
7.(10)Tobias Vogel (DE) – Xray – 17/5:07.459
8.(8) John Bruins (NZ) – Kyosho – 17/5:09.297
9.(9) Oliver Bultynck (BE) – VBC – 8/2:29.229
10.(6)Philip Tschupp (CH) – Top Racing – 7/2:11.756

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May 19, 2013

Easy A1 win for Rheinard

Marc Rheinard

Tamiya’s Marc Rheinard took an easy win in the opening A-Main at the fourth round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in the Netherlands, getting the race pretty much handed to him when team-mate Viktor Wilck spun out from his No.2 starting position on the sound of the start tone. Setting the fastest lap of the race, in the end the German who has won the last the previous two ETS encounters at the Apeldoorn track eventually took a comfortable win by over two seconds from Ronald Volker with Serpent’s Marc Fischer completing the Top 3.

As Wilck’s car shot off to the right and dropped to the tail of the field, it was Volker’s No.3 starting Yokomo that lead the early challenge on Top Qualifier Rheinard. For the first three laps it looked like Volker had found the pace he was missing in qualifying but quickly it became evident that the defending champions understeer problems still remained as he dropped back from his great rival. Rheinard, who was expecting a strong challenge from Wilck, the Swede putting his spin down to a dirty track, said he was a little surprised at Volker’s early pace but said once the tyres came in he was able to cruise to pull clear for an ‘easy win’.

Ronald Shell

Volker, who based on team-mate Prumper’s performance in Q3, switched to a front gear diff on his BD7 for the first final and said it was a big improvement but it was not enough to close the gap to the Tamiyas. Happy to be able to run with Rheinard for the first few laps he said his car is still developing understeer which gets worse as the race progresses and while very happy to get a second for the Leg he said they have no choice but to make further set-up changes for Leg 2.

Andy Moore

The defending back to back champion Volker’s second place finish was made easier after his team-mate Yannic Prumper crashed into HB’s Andy Moore while the pair were battling over third. ‘Peeled’ was how Moore summed up the lap 11 incident which Prumper afterwards took full responsibility for going over to the Brit to apologise. Moore said his TCXX was ‘there or there abouts’ in terms of pace with Volker, a statement confirmed by the two setting an identical fastest lap time of 15.211 in the race, and he was just driving around until Prumper ruined the race for both of them. In the end Moore who finished 8th while Prumper’s battered looking BD7 finished 5th. The big benefactor of the incident would be Fischer who went from fifth to third finishing a lonely third 2.5-seconds behind Volker and 4.7-seconds ahead of Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp.

Kunak

In the Xray Pro Stock class Team Yokomo’s Zdenko Kunak also took a convincing win ahead of the battling Schumacher of Martin Hofer and Awesomatix’s Dominic Vogl. The defending champion who has yet to win this season took the opening leg by over 4-seconds helped by Hofer and Vogl getting together on lap 11. In the Speed Passion Formula class Top Qualifier Roman Pichler took a tone to tone victory ahead of Alexander Stocker and Sandro Kuriger who came through from starting 8th on the grid.

Ride Modified A-Main Leg 1 Result
1.(1) Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – 20/5:06.265
2.(3) Ronald Volker (DE) – Yokomo – 20/5:08.536
3.(7) Marc Fischer (DE) – Serpent – 20/5:11.089
4.(6) Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho – 20/5/15.801
5.(5) Yannic Prumper (DE) – Yokomo – 19/5:01.790
6.(9) Thomas Pumpler (DE) – Tamiya – 19/5:02.405
7.(2) Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya – 19/5:02.608
8.(4) Andy Moore (GB) – HB – 19/5:12.711
9.(8) Eric Dankel (DE) – Yokomo – 19/5:21.142
10.(10)Loic Jasmin (FR) – Yokomo – 7/1:49.998

Xray Pro Stock A-Main Leg 1 Result
1.(1) Zdenko Kunak (SK) – Yokomo – 18/5:15.168
2.(2) Martin Hofer (DE) – Schumacher – 17/5:02.345
3.(4) Dominic Vogl (AT) – Awesomatix – 17/5:03.396
4.(6) Philip Tschupp (CH) – Top Racing – 17/5:05.324
5.(10)Tobias Vogel (DE) – Xray – 17/5:05.624
6.(3) Vasco Christiaanse (NL) – Kyosho – 17/5:06.582
7.(8) John Bruins (NZ) – Kyosho – 17/5:11.348
8.(9) Oliver Bultynck (BE) – VBC – 17/5:12.243
9.(7) Valetin Hettrich (DE) – Xray – 17/5:14.384
10.(5)Alexander Stocker (DE) – Xray – 3/0:59.927

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May 18, 2013

Wilck tops final qualifier for all Tamiya front row

Viktor Wilck

Equipped with a fresh set of tyres ETS Round 3 winner Viktor Wilck topped the third & final qualifier at Apeldoorn in the Netherlands to secure an all Tamiya front row for tomorrow’s finals, the Swede set to line up 2nd beside his team-mate Marc Rheinard who wrapped the overall TQ honours in Q2. Also benefiting from a fresh set of the championship controlled Ride tyres, each driver allowed two sets for qualifying, French driver Loic Jasmin set the second fastest time to secure the last spot on the grid for the Main event.

Viktor Wilck

Setting a time just 3/10ths shy of Rheinard’s fastest TQ run, set in Q2, Wilck said the run was simply down to him having new tyres but added it was very close between him & his team-mate and he was looking forward to a good race with him tomorrow. Running the same Raceberry chassis as Rheinard on his TRF417, the Swede said his car is working well and other than fitting a fresh set of tyres he doesn’t plan on changing anything for the final.

Marc Rheinard

The fastest driver on used tyres in Q3, Rheinard set the third fastest time 3.7-seconds off Wilck but said after the run that his car was ‘actually good’ on the old tyres. Commenting on the final, last year’s event winner who is chasing a third ETS win at the Dutch track, said he expects to be pushed hard by his team-mate who is still riding high after his win at Round 3 in Gran Canaria. Asked about defending champion Ronald Volker, who will start 3rd on the grid, Rheinard feels his fellow German will have to contend with drivers starting behind him who are faster and that should play to his and Wilck’s advantage.

Ronald Volker

Volker, who was only 8th fastest in Q3, said they tried a number of things but running on used tyres it was hard to compare the full effects of the changes. Admitting to struggling today, he said he was happy to come away with third on the grid which means he still has a chance in the final. Admitting that they still had to find something in the set-up, the European Champion said changes made by his team-mate Yannic Prumper for Q3 improved his car a lot and so for tomorrow they will run something very similar. Prumper, who set the fourth fastest time on used tyres, said fitting a front geardiff to his BD7 made a ‘big difference’ and only 6/10th of his previous time set on new tyres he is very confident about tomorrow when he will start 5th on the grid.

Andy Moore

Pulling up late in the third qualifier after a mistake meant he would not improve his grid position, HB’s Andy Moore will start fourth, his best grid position this season. The 2006 World Champion said while the Tamiya team have a clear advantage this weekend, he feels he is very close on pace with Volker and is looking forward to a good race for a place on the podium.

Krapp

Fifth fastest in the final qualifier, Christopher Krapp was disappointed by his pace saying he expected more from running on fresh tyres but added it was a relief after missing Q1 to make the A-Main. Set to line up 6th on the grid behind Prumper, with whom he had a coming together in Gran Canaria, the factory Kyosho driver said his aim is to just go out and have three good races. With his TF6 sliding around a lot at the start of the run he plans to make a number of set-up changes but added with the weather set to be a lot warmer tomorrow than it has been so far this weekend he needs to account for how that will also effect the track conditions.

Fischer

Setting the 7th fastest time in Q3, to secure that position on the grid, Marc Fischer’s Serpent means five manufacturers will be represented in final but not Xray. It was a day to forget for the Slovak manufacturer whose best qualifier was Tim Wahl who ended up 12th overall. Team leader Alexander Hagberg could only manage 23rd in Q3, meaning he will line up 4th on the grid for the B-Final, with the Swede saying afterwards it was the ‘fastest (he) could go’ adding that the team is ‘struggling for pace this weekend’. Joining Hagberg in the B-final will be Elliott Harper and the all new Team Durango touring car. 13th fastest in Q1, retiring from Q2 and 19th in the final qualifier, the event was also going to be a tough challenge for a new car especially after the weather meant the driver got just two practice runs before going into qualifying. There was cruel luck for TOP Racing’s Steven Weiss in the last heat as he suffered a spur gear failure while on a Top 3 run which would have put the former European Championship Top Qualifier into the A final.

Zdenko Kunak

In the Xray Pro Stock class, defending champion Zdenko Kunak claimed his first overall TQ honours in 8 races. The Yokomo team driver said at the start of the weekend his BD7 was ‘Super Shit’ but every run they were able to get it better and better and now he is really happy with how the car is working. Asked about the final the Slovak ace said with Pro Stock the final is always going to be very close especially on such a large track. Starting behind Kunak will be Schumacher’s Martin Hofer, the driver whom he took over the title last year, with last year’s winner Vasco Christiaanse putting his Kyosho on the second row of the grid where he will be joined by the Awesomatix of Dominic Vogl. Making a very welcome return to the ETS after a long absence, 2 time Champion Alexander Stocker will start 5th on the grid and will be one to watch tomorrow. Unfortunately for current championship leader Marek Cerny Q3 saw another DNF for the Xray driver and despite TQ’ing yesterday’s opening qualifier the Czech driver’s run of wins is over and he will not play a part in tomorrow’s main event.

Pichler

In the Speed Passion Formula class Top Racing’s Roman Pichler completed a clean sweep topping all three qualifiers to secure pole position ahead of Dutchman Michael Lepelaar and class debutant Stocker.

Stocker F1

Interested by the class yesterday which he saw for the first time yesterday the German got hold of a Yokomo kit which was build up last night and he was given an entry bringing the field to 37 cars. Having missed the first qualifier, he duly set 4th fastest times in Q2 & 3 to qualify just in front of defending champion Herbert Weber who starts 4th.

Ride Modified Q3 times
1. Viktor Wilck – Tamiya – 20/5:05.569
2. Loic Jasmin – Yokomo – 20/5:08.347
3. Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 20/5:09.242
4. Yannic Prumper – Yokomo – 20/5:10.525
5. Christopher Krapp – Kyosho – 20/5:10.853
6. Thomas Pumpler – Tamiya – 20/5:11.000
7. Marc Fischer – Serpent – 20/5:11.242
8. Ronald Volker – Yokomo – 20/5:12.243
9. David Ehrbar – Serpent – 20/5:12.408
10.Oliver Bultynck – VBC – 20/5:13.296

Ride Modified A-Main Grid
1. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – 310 pts
2. Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya – 308
3. Ronald Volker (DE) – Yokomo – 305
4. Andy Moore (GB) – HB – 303
5. Yannic Prumper (DE) – Yokomo – 302
6. Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho – 300
7. Marc Fischer (DE) – Serpent – 297
8. Eric Dankel (DE) – Yokomo – 296
9. Thomas Pumpler (DE) – Tamiya – 294
10.Loic Jasmin (FR) – Yokomo – 292

Xray Pro Stock A-Main Grid
1. Zdenko Kunak (SK) – Yokomo – 310 pts
2. Martin Hofer (DE) – Schumacher – 306
3. Vasco Christiaanse (NL) – Kyosho – 304
4. Dominic Vogl (AT) – Awesomatix – 303
5. Alexander Stocker (DE) – Xray – 300
6. Philip Tschupp (CH) – Top Racing – 300
7. Valetin Hettrich (DE) – Xray – 298
8. John Bruins (NZ) – Kyosho – 297
9. Oliver Bultynck (BE) – VBC – 296
10.Tobias Vogel (DE) – Xray – 294

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