Euro Touring Series

July 20, 2013

Chassis Focus – Marc Fischer

Sat-Fisher411-1

Chassis Name – Serpent S411 ERYX
Motor – Thunder Power
ESC – Hobbywing
Batteries – Thunder Power
Tires – Ride (handout)
Radio/Servos – Sanwa
Remarks – Marc Fischer is running some new production parts on his S411 ERYX such as the front and rear upper aluminium suspension mounts and single piece aluminium front spool shaft. The suspension mounts are lightweight and include an additional linkage mount while the spool must be used with blades on the drive shafts. In terms of setup the German’s car was pushing mid corner when they arrived and have adjusted the droop front and rear to improve this as well as soften the oil on the rear diff and use split rear lower hinge pin blocks which he feels also works best with used tires.

Image Gallery

July 20, 2013

Volker ‘Top Qualifier’ for ETS Finale

Yokomo TQ

Ronald Volker is Top Qualifier for the season finale of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series after the Yokomo driver carried through his form from yesterday’s opening two qualifiers to top the third round this morning at the Hudy Racing Arena to put pole position for Sunday’s title deciding A-Main beyond the reach of his rivals. It was the perfect morning for Yokomo as they also locked up overall TQ honours in Slovakia with their Pro Stock team driver and outgoing champion Zdenko Kunak.

Volker

Topping the round from HB’s Andy Moore, who was on new tyres, Volker described his run on used tyres as ‘awesome’. Having previously been at a disadvantage to his rivals when running used tyres on asphalt, the German said after a lot of hard work by his engineer Umino Yukijiro they had finally found a way to get the BD7 to be competitive on old tyres. Delighted to sew up the overall TQ, the result takes Volker a step closer to a third consecutive ETS title. Complimenting Kunak on his performance in Pro Stock saying the team could not have asked for better, Volker said the team’s attention is now on trying to help his Modified team-mate Yannic Prumper, who still has a new set of tyres, improve his performance for the final two qualifiers so hopefully he can secure the No.2 spot on the grid thereby making the task in the final for the Tamiyas, and in particular title rival Marc Rheinard, more difficult.

Marc Rheinard

Rheinard took third for the round despite a costly roll on his final lap which cost him almost 5-seconds. The German said he was lucky all the other drivers just missed out on making 17 laps so while the mistake was frustrating it didn’t effect his position for the round. With Rheinard’s handling issues clearly visible to see on track, the Tamiya Racing Factory driver said that on power the car has chronic oversteer. While he has still to use his second set of allocated qualifying tyres he said with Volker taking the TQ honours his chance at the title is now very hard as even if he can turn things around and win tomorrow he also needs Volker to finish 3rd or lower.

Andy

While the round was by far his best run so far Moore said new tyres were probably the only reason for his pace. The British ace said for a new tyre run he should have been a lot faster adding that ‘in general (they are) not quite there yet’ in terms of set-up. ‘Still searching for something’ he plans to change a ‘bunch of stuff’ for the penultimate qualifier.

Magnus Vassmar

The next fastest driver running new tyres for the round was Xray’s Magnus Vassmar who took his T4 to fifth. The Swede said he didn’t drive particularly well and as a result he didn’t make the most of the new tyres. Happy with how his car is working he doesn’t plan to make any set-up changes for Q4 focusing instead on improving his driving. Team-mate & fellow countryman Alexander Hagberg was sixth fastest just 3/10th behind. The former ETS race winner said he pushed a little too hard which resulted in him running wide a number of times. Still with a new set of tyres at his disposal he said he is confident for the remaining two qualifiers.

Wilck

Having used his two sets of tyres in the opening two qualifiers to finish second to Volker on both occasions, TRF’s Viktor Wilck could only manage 7th on used rubber. Behind the Gran Canaria race winner Awesomatix’s Viljami Kutvonen had his best Modified qualifier. The Finn was on new tyres but said reverting to the original chassis plate in combination with new anti tork steer parts he was much happier with his A700. Planning to adjust the roll centres for Q4 he said he hopes he can get two more strong runs and make the A-Main.

View the event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

July 20, 2013

Qualifying times – Round 3

Ride Modified Q3 times
1. Ronald Völker – Yokomo – 17/5:16.248
2. Andy Moore – HB – 17/5:18.062
3. Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 17/5:23.421
4. Yannic Prümper – Yokomo – 16/5:00.192
5. Magnus Vässmar – Xray – 16/5:00.356
6. Alexander Hagberg – Xray – 16/5:00.680
7. Viktor Wilck – Tamiya – 16/5:01.172
8. Viljami Kutvonen – Awesomatix – 16/5:01.246
9. Fabian Bucher – Xray – 16/5:02.504
10.Marco Kaufmann – Xray – 16/5:02.777

Xray Pro Stock Q3 times
1. Zdenko Kunak – Yokomo – 15/5:08.233
2. Viljami Kutvonen – Awesomatix – 15/5:09.181
3. Marek Cerny – Xray – 15/5:11.255
4. Dominic Vogl – Awesomatix – 15/5:11.919
5. Henrik Heitsch – ARC – 15/5:12.638
6. David Nemcek – Xray – 15/5:13.178
7. Olivier Bultynck – VBC Racing – 15/5:13.396
8. Martin Hofer – Schumacher – 15/5:14.880
9. Jan Asmer – Serpent – 15/5:15.880
10.Blazej Orlowski – Yokomo – 15/5:15.827

July 19, 2013

Video – Modified Qualifying Rd2

July 19, 2013

Perfect day for Volker at Hudy Arena

Volker

It was the perfect day for Ronald Volker at the Hudy Racing Arena in Slovakia as the Team Yokomo driver topping the opening two rounds of qualifying at the title deciding season finale of the 2012/13 Yokomo Euro Touring Series. Having topped timed practice earlier in the day, the German who is chasing a third consecutive ETS title opened qualifying with a TQ run which he then backed up with an even faster 5-minute run in Q2 which brought Day 1 of the event to a close. Once again it was Tamiya’s Viktor Wilck who was the closest challenger, the Swede again posting the second fastest time in a Round that saw tyre strategy play a big part, Serpent’s Marc Fischer benefiting from near new tyres to set the 3rd quickest run.

Ronald Volker

‘Everything is going to plan’ was how Volker summed up the day. Running his second set of allocated Ride tyres in Q2 he said they knew they had to match Wilck who also ran new tyres for the round. Admitting that Wilck has the faster car in the early laps he said he had to be careful not to drive too aggressively trying to match him and this approach paid off as on lap 5 of 17 he assumed control of the pace staying there till the end to take the round, which was 2.5 seconds quicker than Q1, by 1.7 seconds from Wilck. Wilck said he had the same issues as in Q1 with his TRF417 ‘pretty good’ for the first few laps before the front tyres go off and the car starts to ‘push’.

Marc Fischer

Having pulled up in Q1 after 5-laps following a crash, Fischer was happy with his 3rd. The German described his opening laps as a ‘little shit’ but said his S411 feels good and for tomorrow he will stay with the same set-up. Setting the fourth fastest time and the quickest driver for the round on second run tyres was Yannic Prümper. The Yokomo driver said considering this and how close he was able to run with Fischer he was pretty pleased with the run.

Rheinard

While Volker has had the perfect day the same cant be said for his only title rival. Rheinard had a spin on his opening lap which cost him a second and overall the German is not happy with the performance of his TRF417 on such a critical weekend, the 3-time World Champion critical of the tyres.

Berntsen

Completing the Top 6 was Team Xray’s Adrian Berntsen. The Norwegian suffered an speedo problem in Q1 which ended his run after just 4-laps, but the 19-year-old was able to turn that to his advantage in Q2 as he capitalised on having fresher tyres. Happy with his T4 he said by the end of the run the car started to develop understeer and for tomorrow’s remaining 3 qualifiers he plans to alter his tyre prep.

Sudhoff

Setting the seventh fastest time on used tyres, Freddy Südhoff said he was surprised at how good his Awesomatix ran. While the cooler condition have always suited the A700, he said he was still pleased with the performance of the car considering the number of drivers who ran new tyres. Another driver running on practically new tyres was Team Associated’s Juho Levanen who posted the 9th fastest time behind Alexander Hagberg. Completing only 2-laps in Q1, just like Italian Alessio Menicucci who set the 10th fastest time, the former ETS race winner said he was a little disappointed he didn’t finish higher. Describing his TC6.1 as feeling ‘pretty good’ he said he needs now to choose carefully when he runs his second set of tyres.

Kunak

In the Xray Pro Stock class Zdenko Kunak made it the perfect day for Yokomo as he backed up his Q1 TQ run with another fastest time in the second qualifier ahead of Viljami Kutvonen and championship protagonist Marek Cerny.

View the event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

July 19, 2013

Qualifying times – Round 2

Ride Modified Q2 times
1. Ronald Völker – Yokomo – 17/5:10.769
2. Viktor Wilck – Tamiya – 17/5:12.540
3. Marc Fischer – Serpent – 17/5:14.131
4. Yannic Prümper – Yokomo – 17/5:14.463
5. Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 17/5:15.027
6. Adrian Berntsen – Xray – 17/5:15.198
7. Frederik Südhoff – Awesomatix – 17/5:15.529
8. Alexander Hagberg – Xray – 17/5:15.590
9. Juho Levanen – Associated – 17/5:17.588
10.Alessio Menicucci – Xray – 17/5:17.777

Xray Pro Stock Q2 times
1. Zdenko Kunak – Yokomo – 15/5:07.578
2. Viljami Kutvonen – Awesomatix – 15/5:07.764
3. Marek Cerny – Xray – 15/5:11.882
4. Mike Gosvig – Awesomatix – 15/5:12.501
5. Barnabas Toth – Yokomo – 15/5:13.084
6. Martin Hofer – Schumacher – 15/5:13.088
7. David Nemcek – Xray – 15/5:13.962
8. Jan Asmer – Serpent – 15/5:14.061
9. Tobias Hepp – Xray – 15/5:14.095
10.Henrik Heitsch – ARC – 15/5:14.324

July 19, 2013

Volker TQ’s opening qualifier at ETS finale

Ronald Volker

Team Yokomo’s Ronald Volker got the finale of the 2012/13 Yokomo Euro Touring Series off to the best start possible as he TQ’d the opening round of qualifying at the Hudy Racing Arena in Slovakia. The title protagonist took the first of the five rounds of qualifying by 2.2 seconds from Tamiya’s Viktor Wilck who for a time was setting the early pace. Marc Rheinard completed the Top 3, the German’s hopes that a binding CVD in practice was the reason for his lack of pace not turning out to be the case.

Ronald Volker

Volker said the run was what he had ‘hoped for’. Looking to put in a ‘clean & fast’ opening round he said that worked out although the defending champion said he struggled a little with his driving in the closing laps, clipping the curbs a number of times. Hoping he can repeat the result in Q2 he said tyre strategy could play a big part as he expects some drivers to run the second qualifier on the second set of their two allocated sets of qualifying tyres.

Viktor Wilck

‘Lucky to get away with second’ was how Wilck summed up his opening qualifier after the inside of his left rear tyre came unglued on the last lap. The Swede said his Tamiya starts off really good but mid way through his tyres go off and the car starts to understeer. Winner of round 3 of the series, he said he doesn’t think the problem is with the set-up of his TRF417 but rather to do with his driving and he will try to drive his next qualifier slightly different.

Marc Rheinard

Rheinard said he is ‘just too slow’ and he is ‘not sure why’. A driver who is at his best racing on asphalt, the winner of the last two ETS encounters on the surface said overall his Much More powered TRF417 feels like it has no traction with it suffering a lot with understeer.

Yannic

Setting the fourth fastest time, Yannic Prumper said his first heat was ‘not good’. Suffering from a front shock tower that came loose over the 5-minute run he said he also had a problem with a bad front right tyre. With the shock tower hopefully well screwed in place for Q2, the 19-year-old said he doesn’t plan to change his set-up for Q2 as he is happy with how his BD7 is running when everything stays in place. Despite the loose tower Prumper was only 1.1 seconds off Rheinard.

Hagberg

Making a series of small set-up changes to his Xray, Alexander Hagberg described his run to the 5th fastest time as ‘not too bad’. The former ETS race winner said the changes made his T4 turn in better and while he feels he drove a little too safe he is optimistic that he can improve in Q2. The best placed Xray in timed practice setting the 6th fastest time, Magnus Vassmar took his T4 to the 9th fastest time in Q1 just ahead of team-mate Marco Kaufmann who completed the Top 10.

Freddy

Taking his Awesomatix to the sixth fastest time, Freddy Sudhoff said it was a ‘solid run’ with his Russian designed chassis ‘maximium easy to drive’. The said he is really happy with the new parts they have on the car. Now with a floating front spool, that prevents torque steer, he said on power steering particularly through left hand corners due to the position of the motor is much better now. Having seen a number of driver’s speedos shut down in some of the heats before his run, including Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp, he said he took it a little easy with his throttle to be safe which probably cost him some time. For Q2 this should not be an issue and in terms of set-up he plans to leave everything as is.

Dankel Car

HB’s Andy Moore took his Hobbywing powered TCXX to seventh in front of Euro Nitro Series Champion Eric Dankel. The Yokomo driver was pretty pleased with his run saying he hopes he can repeat the run two more times. Comfortable with his BD7 he said the biggest problem for him on the track which he describes as ‘awesome’ is his driving style which he will try to adjust for Q2.

Kunak

In the Xray Pro Stock class current champion Zdenko Kunak TQ’d the opening qualifier. A making a lot of small changes to his Yokomo ahead of Q1, the Slovak driver said the car was much better than practice and while he is getting it to where he wants it it is still a bit away from what it can be. Chasing his fourth win of the season and the overall championship title, Marek Cerny was second fastest. The factory Xray driver said his T4 worked perfectly but a motor problem meant he lacked top speed and this cost him a TQ run. With a different handout Speed Passion motor for Q2 he said he hopes this will resolve the problem. Completing the Top 3 was Awesomatix’ flying Finn Viljami Kutvonen. Running a standard car in Pro Stock, he said in the beginning of the run his A700 was OK but by the end it had gotten very nervous to drive. Feeling the problem is that he is overheating his tyres he will make some small suspension adjustments for tonight’s second qualifier.

View the event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

July 19, 2013

Qualifying times – Round 1

Ride Modified Q1 times
1. Ronald Völker – Yokomo – 17/5:13.262
2. Viktor Wilck – Tamiya – 17/5:15.539
3. Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 17/5:15.614
4. Yannic Prümper – Yokomo – 17/5:15.718
5. Alexander Hagberg – Xray – 17/5:17.339
6. Frederik Südhoff – Awesomatix – 17/5:18.995
7. Andy Moore – HB – 16/5:00.419
8. Eric Dankel – Yokomo – 16/5:01.274
9. Magnus Vässmar – Xray – 16/5:02.172
10.Marco Kaufmann – Xray – 16/5:02.851

Xray Pro Stock Q1 times
1. Zdenko Kunak – Yokomo – 15/5:08.092
2. Marek Cerny – Xray – 15/5:08.539
3. Viljami Kutvonen – Awesomatix – 15/5:08.678
4. Olivier Bultynck – VBC Racing – 15 5:09.967
5. Dominic Vogl – Awesomatix – 15/5:10.580
6. Martin Hofer – Schumacher – 15/5:12.724
7. Henrik Heitsch – ARC – 15/5:12.759
8. Jan Asmer – Serpent – 15/5:12.779
9. Barnabas Toth – Yokomo – 15/5:12.929
10.Tobias Hepp – Xray – 15/5:13.692