Sudhoff tops CP1 at ETS Daun
Freddy Sudhoff has topped the first round of controlled practice at the Euro Touring Series in Daun, Germany. After an almost 4-month break in ETS action, Sudhoff opened the second round of the championship by taking his Awesomatix to the fastest 3-consecutive laps ahead of reigning champion Bruno Coelho. Behind, Marc Rheinard almost matched Coelho on pace, his arch rival quicker by just 2/1000ths of a second. It was a strong start to the weekend for Xray with Alexander Hagberg and Elliot Harper making it three of their cars in the Top 5. Completing the Top 6 would be Yokomo’s Christopher Krapp with team-mate and winner of the season opener Ronald Volker 8th behind Infinity new recruit Viktor Wilck.
Topping the times by almost 2/10ths, the same margin covering 2nd through 6th, Sudhoff summed up his early pace with, ‘it’s very good so far’. Fourth fastest in the single round of free practice, the German continued, ‘I was just running in my second set of tyres that and both sets have the same pace which is a good thing. I think we just need to fine tune the car now to get a good rhythm for the track’. Asked what he thought of the layout he replied, ‘I think it’s flowing. The only bad thing is the timing loop at the end of the straight. I think they need to make a rule that you cannot make full power on your last lap. I know its hard to control but the times are close and it could make a big difference’. Running the Russian manufacturers mid motor car, Sudhoff said, ‘the base is very good so for the last practice I just want to make some minor set-up tweaks’.
While summing up the first controlled practice as having gone ‘good’, Coelho added, ‘we made some changes to the car and they weren’t the best’. With Sudhoff’s outright fastest lap 3/10th quicker than his, the World Champion continued, ‘the car was still good but we were a little slower than Freddy. We have something to change for the last practice which we think will be better. We will see how it goes’.
‘It’s pretty close up the front’, was Rheinard’s reaction after CP1. The Infinity driver continued, ‘the car felt pretty easy to drive. I was using the Zoo Racing Preopard body. It is good to drive and its stable in the rear but I think I will go to the Protoform Type S for the next one. I will keep the car the same as is and play with the bodyshell’. On the track layout, the German said, ‘It fast and nice to drive but it could be a bit more technical’.
Fresh from winning another Snowbirds National title in Florida last weekend, Hagberg said, ‘It’s always though when you have little track time. Three rounds (of practice) is little time to fine tune your set-up so you hope it works well. This time it was on pace’. The Swede continued, ‘I have broke in both sets of tyres now so I can fine tune the set-up for the last practice’. Asked what he was looking for from his T4, he replied, ‘the track is very technical and the average speed his higher than last year so it is important to have good steering for the 180 corners’.
Summing up his P5 pace with ‘Good so far’, Harper added, ‘I think the track has a nice flowing layout and my car is pretty balance. 3 Xrays in the Top 5 shows the car works well here’. Looking to make a few set-up changes to his LRP powered T4 for the final practice he explained, ‘I want to make the car more consistent over the run. If I can make it a bit easier to drive I can push harder over the 5-minutes of the qualifiers. I just need to make small tweaks’.
Best of the Yokomo team with his P6, Krapp said, ‘I am still kind of getting used to the layout and to finding my rhythm. The shape of the hall makes things a bit different’. On his car the German said, ‘The car is pretty good to drive but there are a lot 180 corners so I need to get it to turn in more for them. I think I will change something on the front end for the last practice because the rear of the car is solid’.
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