Volker tops practice at inaugural Italian ETS encounter
While the event may be all new to the Yokomo Euro Touring Series the name at the top of the time sheets at the end of four rounds of practice is not with Team Yokomo’s Ronald Volker setting the pace. The reigning champion, who got his title defense off to the perfect start by dominating the opening round of the 2011/12 season in Germany, set a best time of 13.209 to ensure he is the top seed for qualifying ahead of the Tamiya’s of Viktor Wilck, who recorded a best time of 13.236, and Marc Rheinard who posted a 13.271 average lap.
Liking the layout of the track the Italian race organisers have created, which he described as technical, Volker said the surface is a little bumpy and this makes it very challenging. Rolling his LRP powered BDX5 WXi twice on his fourth and fastest practice run the German said his car feels pretty good but the combination of the track design and the bumps make it very difficult to pull off a clean run.
Wilck said he was happy with his practice pace and how his Thunder Power powered Tamiya TRF417X was handling. Like Volker, the Swede said the track is the biggest challenge here in Scandiano because if you push too hard and the car slides it can easily catch a bump resulting in a roll. Not planning any set-up changes for this evening’s opening round of qualifying which will bring the first day of action to a close Wilck said his focus will be on putting in consistent laps times rather than pushing for outright speed. TRF team-mate Rheinard said his Speed Passion powered car is OK but due to the bumps feels very inconsistent to drive and he plans to make adjustments to the droop and shock oil for Q1.
Setting the fourth fastest practice time, Yannic Prumper is happy with his Yokomo ahead of the opening qualifier. The German teenager complained of a lack of steering at the end of P3 but after switching to a heavier oil in the rear shocks for the final practice he found it a lot easier to drive. Yokomo team-mate Eric Dankel set the sixth fastest time but plans to follow Prumper’s direction and change his rear shock oil. Having only signed for Yokomo just ahead of the start of the ETS season, Dankel said he has been busy testing since the opening round in October and is now far more comfortable with the Japanese chassis and is hopeful of a stronger performance here in Italy.
In between Prumper and Dankel with the fourth fastest time was factory Kyosho driver Christopher Krapp. The German, who scored his first ever ETS podium at this season’s opener, said his TF6 is fast but not consistent enough. Very edgy he will glue his tyre walls for the first of the four scheduled rounds of qualifying. Asked if he could repeat his Round 1 performance the World Championship finalist said his first target of the weekend was to qualify in the Top 10 and he would wait to see how it goes after that.
Heading the Xray challenge in the Ride Modified class was Alexander Hagberg. The Swede managed only the seventh fastest time just ahead of team-mate Martin Hudy saying he is struggling with the feeling of his T3 2012 something he is putting down more to himself rather than the car. Hudy, who went from 700w to 1500w oil in his rear diff for the final practice, said his car is very easy to drive and while not the fastest out there he can run it with mistakes.
Completing the Top 10 in practice and therefore making up the final two places in the top heat were Team Associated’s Juho Levanen and Hot Bodies driver Dominik Fleischmann. Other than making some small adjustments due to bumpiness of the track Levanen said he has done little with his TC6 set-up as he expects it to be pretty good for a consistent run over five minutes.
In a country better known for its nitro racing the first visit of the ETS to Italy has attracted a massive entry creating a great atmosphere in the pit area. Among the entry are three of nitro racing’s top names with Lamberto Collari, Dario Balestri and Andrea Pirani competing as electric racing novices this weekend.
A nine time World Champion in 1:8 Onroad, Collari is the most experienced of the trio as this is his second time to race an electric touring car. One of the true legends of the sport, the Italian says he is really enjoying the experience describing it as being totally different to what he is used too. Being looked after this weekend by the very capable Toni Rheinard, the biggest difference Collari is finding is that of getting his braking right and then getting the timing right for when to get back on the power but added jokingly if he had a few hours of practice he is confident he could perfect this. Known for being a master of strategy in longer gas races, the Italian said thats not possible here and you’ve got to give 100% for the full 5-minutes. Asked if he planned to do more electric racing in the future he said he would very much like to look at the possibilities of being able to contest the Electric Touring Car World Championships. At the end of practice Collari was a very respectable 22nd fastest.
Balestri, a two time 1:10 200mm European Champion and a podium finisher at last year’s 1:8 Worlds, said electric racing is an all new experience for him. Running a Team Magic 4RS2 this weekend, the Italian said he was just here for fun but said maybe in the future it could become something more serious for him but this year his focus was firmly on the 200mm World Championships in Thailand. Having not raced electric before or on carpet, Balestri said knowing what set-up changes to make after each run is proving his biggest challenge but he hopes he can get his head around it before the end of the weekend.
Racing in the new Formula class that has been added to ETS for the remainder of the 2011/12 season, Andrea Pirani is here as part of his birthday present. Due to celebrate his 23rd birthday on Sunday he was invited to come race at the ETS race by the owner of WRC who make a 1:10 Formula car. A 1:8 Onroad specialist, Pirani said its very different to nitro but he really likes the electric RC paddock. Enjoying the 2WD Formula car which runs a handout Speed Passion 21T Motor/Speedo combo, he said in the future he would like to try his hand at the modified Touring Car class to see how he would compare with the likes of Volker and Rheinard.
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