Euro Touring Series

March 16, 2008

Groskamp and Nilsson takes A Main 1 victories

Jilles Groskamp TQ

The finals are underway and so far it has been the pole men that have taken the opening A Main victories despite some exciting and intense racing. In the Modified Class Jilles Groskamp kept his cool while coming under intense pressure from team mates Marc Rheinard and Vicktor Wilck to head home a Tamiya 1, 2, 3. Rheinard was all over the back of Groskamp at stages during the race and early on went down the inside of the Dutchman at the end of the straight but backed out for fear of touching him. In the dying minutes of the race the pair did touch after Groskamp caught a dot and Rheinard tagged him from behind but the duo rejoined in the same order to finish first and second. A mistake late in the race saw Wilck’s challenge come to an end as he fell into the clutches of Steen Graversen but the Kyosho driver could not get by the Swede and deny the TRF squad a podium white wash.

Nicolai Nielsen TQ

Pro Stock was also a thrilling encounter with Nicolai Nielsen pushed for the entire race by Rasmus T. Callesen but the pole sitter didn’t put a wheel wrong with his Serpent and the Corally racer had to settle for the runners up spot.

In the Hobby class we witnessed another great battle for victory as once again the top two qualifiers raced nose to tail but in the end it was TQ Axel Thoms that crossed the line first when Lasse Scholt made a mistake in the closing stages of the first of three A Mains.

March 16, 2008

Wilck fastest in final Qualy but Groskamp starts A-Mains on pole

Viktor Wilck

Vicktor Wilck sent a warning shot to his Tamiya team-mates this morning as he produced his fastest run in qualifying at the 2nd round of the Euro Touring Series to top the final run for Modified here in Denmark. The Swede has looked good all weekend but until this morning he has been unable to complete a full run without dumping but having got over that obstacle he should now be in a position to mount a serious challenge for the overall victory as he starts from the second row of the grid directly behind team-mates Jilles Groskamp, on pole, and Marc Rheinard who has recorded the fastest outright lap time in the qualifiers with a 13.77.

Kyosho prototype of Steen Graversen

Joining Wilck on the second row is Danish ace and Kyosho team driver Steen Graversen with his prototype Stallion. The third row is a brotherly affair with Soren and Johan Eskildsen doing a good job with their LRP powered Schumacher Mi3s. Lining up in seventh position is Patrick Hornum driving an Xray with Dutch Serpent driver Rob Janssen alongside him in eight. Filling the final two places on the A Mains grid are Associated team driver Joel Myrberg, who has finally managed to get a more stable set up on his TC5, and Johnni Andersen at the controls of his Yokomo BD.

In Pro Stock Nicolai Nielsen was again fastest in the final heat but the Serpent driver missed out on bettering his TQ time from yesterday by a mere 2/100th of a second. Rasmus T. Callesen, who only managed 8th in his heat this morning will line up his Corally alongside Nielsen on the front row of the grid for what is sure to be an exciting Pro Stock A Main.

Axel Thoms saved his best for last recording the fastest qualifier for the Hobby Class here this morning with a run over 17 laps in 308.914 to secure the TQ ahead of Lasse Scholt to make it an all Corally front row for the finals.

View images of the event in our image gallery here.

March 15, 2008

Tamiya takes pole, Groskamp overnight TQ

Tamiya TF416 of Marc Rheinard

A Tamiya is guaranteed to start the second round of the Muchmore backed ETS in pole for tomorrow’s Modified A mains, but which driver it will be will not be decided until tomorrow morning’s final qualifier. As today’s action comes to a close it is Jilles Groskamp who holds the overnight TQ but victory in the final heat today for team-mate Marc Rheinard means the German has the chance to deny the Dutchman the No.1 starting position.

Nicolai Nielsen

In Pro Stock things are even closer with Nicolai Nielsen and Corally driver Rasmus T. Callesen equal on points but it is the Serpent driver that will go to bed tonight holding the top qualifier position thanks to his blisterly fast 20 lap run in round 3. Palle Hornum and Dutch visitor Ronald Arts look set to start from the second row for the Pro Stock A Mains as they hold 3rd & 4th respectively in the standings overnight.

Axel Thoms holds the No.1 spot in the Hobby Class but the competitiveness throughout the classes here today means he to could be demoted in the morning by Lasse Schol.

The Final round of Qualifying gets under way at 10:00 CET and once again we will be bringing live coverage as the day unfolds.

March 15, 2008

Groskamp continues Tamiya rule

Steen Graversen quick in Rd3

Jilles Groskamp continues to rule proceedings here at the European Tour Series Round 2 making it three fastest runs from as many heats to maintain the provisional TQ position with his Speed Passion powered Tamiya. Round 3 was to prove a slower run for Groskamp and his two team-mates but for Kyosho’s Steen Graversen the heat was his fastest so far as he finally joined Groskamp, Rheinard and Wilck on 22 laps.

In Pro Stock Nicolai Nielsen became the first driver to break 20 laps with his Serpent S400 as he took his first heat victory in the third run but with Rasmus T. Callese having won the opening two heats he still remains on target for the TQ spot.

Alex Thoms heads qualifying in the Hobby Class with two heat victories to his credit with Lasse Scholt provisionally holding the second spot on the starting grid for tomorrow’s 3 leg finals.

March 15, 2008

Tamiya 1,2,3 after Q2

Tamiya Team

The Tamiya factory team are really showing the rest of the field the way around the track here in Denmark as their TRF416 recorded the fastest three times in the second round of qualifiers. Jilles Groskamp once again set the fastest time bettering that of the first round to head home Marc Rheinard by just 7/10th with Viktor Wilck making the full 5-minutes this time with a impressive run that puts all three TRF drivers out on their own on 22 lap runs.

Holding third at the moment in terms of points is Kyosho ace Steen Graversen who has the pace to mix it with the Tamiyas but for a few small errors. Team Associated’s Joel Myrberg continues to have a difficult event. The Swede has a problem with his TC5 which he is unable to identify and is now considering building a brand new car over night to give himself a chance of being competitive tomorrow.

March 15, 2008

Groskamp takes first Qualifier

Jilles Groskamp took first blood in qualifying for the second round of the European Touring Series as he was the only driver to break 22 laps here in Vejle. Groskamp took the provisional TQ spot from Tamiya team-mate Marc Rheinard with Steen Graversen, who was on target for the pole before making a slight error, clocking up the third fastest time. Groskamp, Rheinard and Viktor Wilck are showing great team work here this weekend as they each try different set-up options each time they hit the track. Unfortunately for Wilck, who looks very quick, his cells dumped in the dying minute of his run.

In the Pro Stock, Rasmus T. Callese did a great run to win the first heat and so provisionally holds the pole with his Corally over Palle Hornum and Nicolai Nielsen.

After two rounds of Hobby Class qualifying it is Lasse Scholt that holds the points advantage having finished second in Heat 1 beforing going one better in the second. Heat 1 winner Axel Thomas could only take fourth second time round and drops to second for the moment but with the best 2 results of the 5 heats to count its still wide open here at the Much More backed event.

March 15, 2008

Practice makes perfect – Practice Over

Serpent S400 of Nicolai Nielsen

Practice has come to a close here at the second round of the European Touring Series and only time will tell which drivers have found the ideal set-up as cars are now got ready for the serious business of qualifying. On current timing information the Hobby class looks like Axel Thomas will be the man beat as he recorded both the fastest 5 minute run and individual lap time for the 27T class but Poul Damgraad, Evan Jepsen and Mikkel Kirsbak will be out to prove otherwise.

Rasmus T. Callesen

Despite feeling a little off today Nicolai Nielsen heads the Pro Stock field with his Serpent S400 closely followed by fellow Danes Palle Hornum and Rasmus T. Callesen. With all three drivers at the controls of different chassis’ and running in the same qualifying heat, it will be interesting, especially with Scotty Ernst providing the commentary.

Marc Rheinard

In Modified things couldn’t be closer with Viktor Wilck and Marc Rheinard both posting identical fastest laps times with Jilles Groskamp just 1/100th of a second behind. Also up there in terms of lap times is local star Steen Graversen who is the highest placed non Tamiya driver with his Team Orion powered prototype Kyosho chassis. Top Associated team driver Joel Myrberg appears to have a bit more work to do managing only to post the 10th fastest time .

Four rounds of qualifying now awaits the drivers this evening, with a fifth scheduled for tomorrow morning.

Check out our image gallery here and you can view the current updated results in the right of this page, just below the sponsors logos.Â

March 15, 2008

ETS Rd 2 – Wilck sets outright pace

Poul Damgaard

After four of the five rounds of practice the drivers are really starting to look good around the carpet track here in Denmark. First to run each round is the Hobby class, which was introduced to give club racers the chance to take part in the same event as some of the sports biggest names, and it is Poul Damgaard that has jumped to the top of the times sheets with his Xray T2 008 demoting Axel Thoms to second.

Palle Hornum

In Pro Stock Palle Hornum is setting the pace from Nicolai Nielsen with Corally driver Rasmus T. Callesen having produced his best run to go third fastest ahead of Dutchman Ronald Arts who says he is still settling into driving a Pro Stock car having previous raced Mod. Hornum has been making just small changes to his car with each run and this strategy appears to be working well. Serpent driver Nielsen says his car his working well but a cold has him feeling a little under the weather.

Viktor Wilck

Jilles Groskamp continues to set the pace in Mod over 5 minutes but in terms of lap times it is his Tamiya team mate Viktor Wilck who is quickest with a time of 14.13 which he recorded in the fourth run. Marc Rheinard is the next fastest man on the lap charts 2/10th off the Swede with Groskamp next up. Both Groskamp and Rheinard are the only two in the Modified top 10 to not have set their fastest lap times in the most recent run.