Euro Touring Series

June 15, 2013

Volker & Pumpler win ‘Dash for Cash’

Volker & Pumpler win 'Dash for Cash'

Something that was started at Traiskirchen and has now become a Saturday night feature at every round of the Euro Touring Series, the ‘Dash for Cash’ in Austria saw Yokomo’s Ronald Volker and Thomas Pumpler pocket €200 each with Volker then bringing his takings to €300 after a new feature saw him go head to head for 2 laps with the man he beat to the ‘Dash for Cash’ Viktor Wilck. With the drivers running in the reverse order of how they qualified it was the No.7 Tamiya of Wilck that laid down to first really fast time over 2 laps run in the reverse direction. Setting a time of 30.712 that time would stand until Volker, who was second last to run, would pip him by 31/1000th of a second. With only Marc Rheinard left to run the Top Qualifier was unable to better the time handing Volker his second ‘Dash for Cash’ cheque of the year.

To mark the fact that the ‘Dash for Cash’ was first run here Scotty Ernst then sprung an extra challenge on the Top 2 for a heads up race over two laps for an extra €100 which both drivers accepted and which got a massive round of cheers from onlookers. Both snaking off the line and then clashing at the first corner and getting out of shape at the second corner in an almost synchronized fashion, the next lap Wilck ran wide pulling a corner of his Tamiya and allowing Volker to take the win. For Wilck it wasn’t all in vain as a anonymous donation meant he too would get €100 for his attempt. While the Modified A-Main is always a feature of the ‘Dash for Cash’, a lottery decides which of the lower finals get a chance at the event with the Modified D Main getting picked. Second last to run of the 10 drivers Pumpler set the pace but running last it looked like Serpent’s David Ehrbar had the pace to beat the local but running wide at the last section of corners as he came to complete his run the German lost 9/10th and with it the €200.

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June 15, 2013

Qualifying compete – Q5 Update

LRSat-ModGrid

The top three in the Yokomo Euro Touring Series championships standings will line-up tomorrow at the front end of the grid in Traiskirchen, Austria, in the reverse order of how they sit in the points table with Yannic Prumper snatching the number 2 starting position from his Yokomo team-mate Ronald Volker when he finished second fastest to Top Qualifier Marc Rheinard. Having secured the TQ honours in Q4 Rheinard, who is third in the points, completed the perfect day by topping the final qualifier by .224 ahead of Prumper with Andy Moore third. Championship leader & defending champion Volker could only manage fourth in Q5. After a difficult start to the event, the fourth title contender Viktor Wilck has made the A-Main but starting from 7th behind fellow Swede Alexander Hagberg the Gran Canaria winner will have his work cut out for him if he is to claim the podium finish he needs to have any chance going to the finale in Slovakia with a shot at the title.

Viljami Kutvonen

In the Xray Pro Stock class Viljami Kutvonen TQ’d the final qualifier although his second place starting position behind Marek Cerny, who sat out the round, was never in doubt and tomorrow’s final should see a good battle between the Awesomatix and Xray drivers. Starting behind them will be Austrian Awesomatix driver Dominic Vogl and former Champion Martin Hofer.

Jan Asmer

In the Speed Passion Formula class, Jan Asmer, who is running Serpent’s new chassis this weekend, has returned to the series in the best way possible by securing pole position for the A-Main. A podium finish tomorrow would secure the German the overall title but Apeldoorn winner Roman Pichler, who starts second with his TOP chassis, will be looking to at least deny him the win.

Krapp

Two big names who wont play a part in tomorrow’s A-Main Finals are Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp and reigning Pro stock Champion Zdenko Kunak. Krapp had a bad start to the event when he missed the first practice as he waited for his bags which were misplaced by the airline and it never got better for last year’s title contender. Krapp whose best qualifier was Q1 when he was 15th fastest will start in the C final. Having reignited his title defence chances by taking the TQ & win at Round 4 of the championship last month in Apeldoorn unfortunately those hopes are now dashed as a terrible run in qualifying leaves the Yokomo team driver back in the G Final.

Ride Modified A-Main Grid
1. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – 465 pts
2. Yannic Prümper (DE) – Yokomo – 460
3. Ronald Völker (DE) – Yokomo – 458
4. Andy Moore (GB) – HB – 458
5. Marc Fischer (DE) – Serpent – 454
6. Alexander Hagberg (SE) – Xray – 450
7. Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya – 448
8. Freddy Südhoff (DE) – Awesomatix – 447
9. Martin Hudy (SK) – Xray – 444
10.Magnus Vässmar (SE) – Xray – 439

Ride Modified Q5 times
1. Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 20/5:01.583
2. Yannic Prümper – Yokomo – 20/5:01.807
3. Andy Moore – HB – 20/5:01.860
4. Ronald Völker – Yokomo – 20/5:02.373
5. Marc Fischer – Serpent – 20/5:02.440
6. Alexander Hagberg – Xray – 20/5:02.854
7. Niclas Nilsson – Xray – 20/5:04.032
8. Viljami Kutvonen – Awesomatix – 20/5:04.066
9. Viktor Wilck – Tamiya – 20/5:04.207
10.Magnus Vässmar – Xray – 20/5:04.450

Xray Pro Stock A-Main Grid
1. Marek Cerny (CZ) – Xray – 465 pts
2. Viljami Kutvonen (FI) – Awesomatix – 463
3. Dominic Vogl (AT) – Awesomatix – 456
4. Martin Hofer (DE) – Schumacher – 454
5. Tobias Vogel (DE) – Xray – 453
6. Valetin Hettrich (DE) – Xray – 451
7. Oliver Franke (DE) – HB – 450
8. Henrik Heitsch (DE) – ARC – 446
9. David Nemcek (SK) – Xray – 444
10.Jan Asmer (DE) – Serpent – 443

Xray Pro Stock Q5 times
1. Viljami Kutvonen – Awesomatix – 19/5:08.548
2. Valetin Hettrich – Xray – 19/5:09.248
3. Oliver Franke – HB – 19/5:09.372
4. Martin Hofer – Schumacher – 19/5:09.902
5. Henrik Heitsch – ARC – 19/5:11.850
6. David Nemcek – Xray – 19/5:12.301
7. Oliver Bultynck – VBC – 19/5:12.313
8. Tobias Vogel – Xray – 19/5:12.478
9. Martin Wollanka – 19/5:12.515
10.Vasco Christiaanse – Kyosho – 19/5:13.341

View the complete event results here.

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June 15, 2013

Chassis Focus – Andy Moore

Sat-MooreTCXX-2

Chassis Name – Hot Bodies TCXX
Motor – Hobbywing
ESC – Hobbywing
Batteries – Reedy
Tires – Ride (handout)
Radio/Servos – Sanwa
Remarks – 2006 World Champion Andy Moore is running quick times with this TCXX, running a similar setup to that used in Apeldoorn at Rd5 of the series. Liking this style of track and layout, the British driver has stiffened the oil in the rear gear diff and lowered the upper shock mounting positions front and rear. A modification that Andy is running, just for this race, is to remove the X brace from the centre of the front wishbones to help them flex more to gain steering. Sometimes removing half of the bracing, this weekend he has chosen to remove it completely.

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June 15, 2013

Rheinard ‘Top Qualifier’ in Austria

Marc Rheinard

Marc Rheinard is Top Qualifier at the penultimate round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Traiskirchen, Austria. The Tamiya driver secured the honour, and the all important bonus championship point that goes with it, by posting the second fastest time in Q4 behind Yokomo’s Yannic Prumper with Xray’s Tim Wahl, who like Prumper was also on fresh tyres, completing the Top 3. The penultimate qualifier would see a troubled run for Ronald Volker and Alexander Hagberg that would see both drivers DNF.

Marc Rheinard

One of four drivers who came to Round 5 of the championship still in contention for the title, Rheinard was relieved to claim his second consecutive ETS TQ having expected the battle to go down to the fifth & final qualifier. Opting to run his Q2 tyres for a third time so as to save his Q1 tyres for the final run when everyone would be on old tyres, he said his TRF417 didn’t start out too well but improved as the run progressed. At the end of the 5-minutes the 3-time World Champion was just .282 off Prumper, the pair being the only drivers to record 21 lap runs. Happy to be starting up front, the German said he hopes a final good run by Prumper, Andy Moore or Marc Fischer can help to put more cars between him and his great rival Volker who is provisionally holding second on the grid for tomorrow’s three leg A-Main. Asked about the track layout for racing, Rheinard said while over taking will be hard always hitting the correct line is also difficult and as seen in qualifying mistakes are costly so he expects 15-minutes of intense racing.

Yannic

Prumper, who along with Viktor Wilck is also in with a chance of the title although so far that challenge looks to be fading, said his car was the best it has been all weekend. Running a harder shock set-up he said this improved the feel of his BD7 but added that ultimately the TQ run was down to his fresh tyres. While Prumper was pleased to turn around his performance somewhat, team-mate Volker was very disappointed with how Q4 went. Running ahead of Rheinard when he had his roll, which he said they cannot understand given the car was on used tyres, he said it would have been a close finish. Pulling up to save his tyres, the European Champion said he will be giving his all in the last qualifier in an attempt to give himself the best chance of securing second on the grid.

Tim Wahl

While 18-year-old Wahl enjoyed his best run saying it somewhat made up for back luck he had in the earlier qualifiers, Xray’s lead driver Alexander Hagberg got hit with some cruel luck. Switching to his fresh second set of Ride tyres, the Swede was on a quick run until his T4 shut down 3-laps from the finish with a electric problem.

Posting the fourth fastest time, Serpent’s Marc Fischer ran a geardiff in the front of his S411 which while it made the car a little lazy improved the car’s on-power steering. Overall the German was pretty pleased with the result which books him a place in the A-Main meaning he can attack 100% in the final qualifier and challenge for that 2nd place starting position which is still up for grabs.

Marek Cerny

In the Xray Pro Stock class, the fourth round of qualifying also saw the Top Qualifier decided with Marek Cerny claiming it as he posted his third TQ run, each driver’s best three of the five qualifiers counting. The Xray team driver, who will sit out the final qualifier to save his tyres for the finals, said after the problems he experienced in Apeldoorn, when he failed to make the A-Main after 2 DNFs in qualifying, it was nice to again take the TQ, his third of the season. Commenting on the race the Czech driver says he expects a tough race with Viljami Kutvonen adding that the Finnish driver is ‘very fast’.

Ride Modified Q4 times
1. Yannic Prümper – Yokomo – 21/5:14.181
2. Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 21/5:14.463
3. Tim Wahl – Xray – 20/5:00.844
4. Marc Fischer – Serpent – 20/5:03.021
5. Andy Moore – HB – 20/5:03.878
6. René Klöckner – Yokomo – 20/5:04.250
7. Viktor Wilck – Tamiya – 20/5:04.952
8. Elliott Harper – Durango – 20/5:04.992
9. Magnus Vässmar – Xray – 20/5:05.857
10.Martin Hudy – Xray – 20/5:06.764

Xray Pro Stock Q4 times
1. Marek Cerny (CZ) – Xray – 19/5:07.596
2. Viljami Kutvonen – Awesomatix – 19/5:07.997
3. Martin Hofer – Schumacher – 19/5:09.017
4. Valetin Hettrich – Xray – 19/5:10.160
5. Dominic Vogl – Awesomatix – 19/5:12.205
6. Jan Asmer – Serpent – 19/5:12.208
7. Tobias Vogel – Xray – 19/5:12.273
8. Jerome Meile – Xray – 19/5:12.931
9. David Nemcek – Xray – 19/5:13.111
10.Zdenko Kunak – Yokomo – 19/5:13.474

View the complete event results here.

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June 15, 2013

Chassis Focus – Viljami Kutvonen

Sat-KutvonenA700-1

Chassis Name – Awesomatix A700 EXL
Motor – Speedpassion (handout)
ESC – Speedpassion (handout)
Batteries – LRP
Tires – Ride (handout)
Radio/Servos – Sanwa
Remarks – Finnish rising star Viljami Kutvonen is the top Awesomatix driver in the Pro Stock class here in Austria. Also running modified he says the difference in both cars is quite wide, with the modified car needing a stiff chassis while his Pro Stock car is running a very soft chassis setup. Running a prototype chassis on his A700 EXL, it is missing the flex slots but is 2.5mm thick compared to the standard 3.0mm chassis. Also Viljami has cut all of the connecting struts on the top deck up to the front of the plate, to get the car to much flex as much as possible.

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June 15, 2013

Video – Modified Qualifying Rd3

June 15, 2013

Volker tops Q3 from Fischer

Ronald Volker

Ronald Volker claimed his first TQ run in the third round of qualifying at the ETS in Austria after a close fought battle with Serpent’s Marc Fischer, the latter loosing out by 4/10ths after a number of rough laps including one which saw him make a good save when his S411 got up on two wheels just after passing Yannic Prumper. With the Top 2 on new tyres, Marc Rheinard was the fastest driver on used rubber setting an impressive pace to claim third which should be enough to ensure the Tamiya driver will be Top Qualifier.

Volker

‘An important TQ run’ was how Volker summed up Q3. The defending champion said following his Q1 moment, when his car traction rolled costing him the TQ for that round, he started off a little too smooth. With Fischer announced as running the predicted TQ pace, the Yokomo ace said he had to push harder but compared to yesterday his BD7 which, while it had slight understeer, overall was a lot safer to drive than yesterday. Impressed by the pace of Rheinard on used tyres, his great rival only 7/10th off at the end of the 5-minutes, Volker who is realistic about his chances now of taking the overall TQ honours said he hoped he could match the Tamiya driver’s pace in Q4.

Marc Fischer

Setting the fastest lap, Fischer was pleased with his pace admitting himself that he got lucky to get away with not rolling adding that the quick reactions of Prumper helped as most other drivers would most likely have tipped his car over. After a disappointing Q2 run when he was on used tyres, Fischer said that was more down to the cold conditions of the early morning run rather than the tyres and he is confident that Q4 should be OK with his main target to get a Top 6 finish and book himself a place in the final. Once he has that done he said he can take bigger risks in the final two qualifiers.

Marc Rheinard

Rheinard, who used the same set of tyres from Q2 after opting not to match his two used sets, said he was surprised at how good his Much More powered TRF417 was on used tyres. More comfortable with the traction in Q3, as a result of higher temperatures, Rheinard believes it will be difficult now for Volker to take the overall TQ as Prumper and Alexander Hagberg both still have a fresh set of tyres meaning they will most likely TQ one of the remaining rounds. Using his second set of fresh Ride tyres in Q3, Viktor Wilck enjoyed his best round setting the fourth fastest time but comparing like for like the Swede is still someway off the pace and is likely to see his championship aspirations end this weekend.

Alex Hagberg

Running his first set of tyres for a third time, Hagberg said he did what he could with the tyres and claiming fifth for the round he was very happy with the result. Pleased with how his ORCA powered T4 is working on used tyres he said he now just needs to decide on when is the right time to run his second set of allocated tyres.

Andy Moore

Matching up his two used sets of tyres and opting to run a front/front combination, Andy Moore said his TCXX worked a lot better than expected. With the Rear/Rear combination in theory offering better performance the factory HB driver said he is feeling pretty confident he can put in one more strong run to add to his second fastest times set in Q1 & Q2.

Eric Dankel

Behind Moore, Eric Dankel managed his first clean round to set the 7th fastest time 46/1000th ahead of the Awesomatix of Freddy Sudhoff with Martin Hudy and Prumper completing the Top 10.

Marek Cerny

In the Xray Pro Stock class, Xray team driver Marek Cerny claimed a second TQ run ahead of Q1 pace setter Viljami Kutvonen, the Awesomatix driver setting the fastest lap. Tobias Vogel completed the Top 3 ahead of Schumacher team driver & former Champion Martin Hofer. For defending champion Zdenko Kunak a DNF looks like the end of the road for the Slovak drivers hopes of retaining his title.

In the Speed Passion Formula class Serpent team driver Jan Asmer TQ’d the third qualifier ahead of reigning champion Herbert Weber while Q1 & Q2 pace setter Roman Pichler had a tough run setting only the 7th fastest time.

Ride Modified Q3 times
1. Ronald Völker – Yokomo – 21/5:12.832
2. Marc Fischer – Serpent – 21/5:13.289
3. Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 21/5:13.589
4. Viktor Wilck – Tamiya – 20/5:02.280
5. Alexander Hagberg – Xray – 20/5:04.034
6. Andy Moore – HB – 20/5:04.120
7. Eric Dankel – Yokomo – 20/5:04.949
8. Freddy Südhoff – Awesomatix – 20/5:04.995
9. Martin Hudy – Xray – 20/5:06.769
10.Yannic Prümper – Yokomo – 20/5:06.821

Xray Pro Stock Q3 times
1. Marek Cerny – Xray – 19/5:08.876
2. Viljami Kutvonen – Awesomatix – 19/5:09.172
3. Tobias Vogel – Xray – 19/5:12.561
4. Martin Hofer – Schumacher – 19/5:12.602
5. Jan Asmer – Serpent – 19/5:13.095
6. Oliver Franke – HB – 19/5:13.142
7. David Nemcek – Xray – 19/5:13.337
8. Valetin Hettrich – Xray – 19/5:14.466
9. Henrik Heitsch – ARC – 19/5:14.897
10.Bernhard Bopp – HB – 19/5:15.095

View the complete event results here.

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June 15, 2013

Chassis Focus – Martin Hudy

Sat-HudyT4-1

Chassis Name – Xray T4
Motor – Lipotech
ESC – ORCA
Batteries – ORCA
Tires – Ride (handout)
Radio/Servos – KO
Remarks – Xray touring car designer Martin Hudy is having a really good showing here in Austria, leading his team in an improved performance over Rd4 which saw the Slovakian company fail to get any cars into the modified A-main. Since then they have done a lot of testing and found that running harder springs and harder oil helped find the steering they were lacking, while retaining a responsive car. A change to anti-dive front and rear, harder oil in the rear diff as well as progressive springs all around and they now have a car that is competitive again. Martin and some other team drivers are also running the company’s new low friction white belts which are smoother, giving the drive train less friction.

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