Video – Modified Qualifying Rd2
Rheinard is Dutch ETS Top Qualifier
Marc Rheinard has secured overall TQ honours at the fourth round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in the Netherlands after he backed up yesterday’s Q1 performance with a new fastest time in Q2, outpacing defending champion Ronald Volker by 3.8-seconds. Andy Moore completed the Top 3 for the opening round of action on Day 2 of the Apeldoorn event which due to overnight rain only got underway at lunchtime as race organisers waited until racing could resume on a fully dry track.
Rheinard’s first TQ in the series since he claimed his only pole position start & win of last season here 12 months ago, the German ace has never appeared so happy with his Muchmore powered TRF417. Describing the car, which is using a Raceberry chassis plate, as really easy to drive the former World Champion added he didn’t actually drive a great second qualifier. Missing his braking point at the end of the straight a number of times, he said he was still able to get the car to easily turn in and despite how forgiving it is to drive it can produce good lap times. Setting the fastest lap of both qualifiers, Rheinard has used his two sets of allocated controlled Ride tyres and said the final qualifier will be a test as to how his car runs on used tyres. Team-mate Viktor Wilck, who set the second fastest time in Q1, ran on used tyres and could only manage the 14th fastest time saying the difference between new and used is ‘pretty significant’. One of the few drivers with a new set of tyres for Q3, the Swede, who won Round 3 of the championship, is hopeful he can capitalise and TQ the last qualifier to give Tamiya a 1-2 on the grid.
Volker said while the track conditions were similar if not better than in Q1 despite the overnight rain, his car was slower. Changing the set-up on his BD7 along with how he prepped his tyres, the German said they went the wrong direction on both accounts. Adding that ‘luckily’ he still got second for the round he said that if he can secure a top three starting position on the grid he should be OK for the final. Team-mate Yanic Prumper set the fourth fastest time saying his car was much better than yesterday but ‘still too slow’. Running a Kimi Raikkonen/Lotus F1 paint scheme this weekend, a change of bodyshell made the biggest different to improved performance in Q2 after he was only 7th in Q1. With the body also painted on the outside to get a matt finish on the black sections of the colour scheme they found last night that the body less the wing weighed the same as a standard painted body with a wing and so the change to a white shell was made for today. Fifth fastest in Q1, a mistake meant Eric Dankel would only record 9th in the second qualifier but switching to a shorter wheelbase for today the German said his BD7 felt as if it was tweaked.
HB’s Moore said he over drove the last few laps and that cost him second for the round. Still pleased to claim third, the former World Champion said having used both his new sets of tyres he will have to rethink a few things for Q3 in terms of set-up to try and get the most from running on used tyres.
Having had tyre gluing dramas in Q1 resulting in him failing to start, Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp had a heart stopping moment as his transponder would not register but thankfully time keeping manually registered the German’s laps with him claiming the fifth fastest time. The German said it was a ‘solid run’ and he hopes with another good run in Q3 it will be enough to make the A-Main. Starting last of the 10 cars in the top heat, Krapp said after seeing how tight and fast Rheinard’s car can corner its clear he needs more steering and so he will shorten the camber rods for the last qualifier.
Completing the Top 6, Team Xray’s Alexander Hagberg said his set-up for Q2 was a ‘big step forward from yesterday’. The Swede was happy with the performance of his T4 for the beginning of the run but said it then started to overheat the front tyres. Despite this he added that they are headed in the right direction and he hopes further set-up improvements for Q3 will allow him to book a spot in tomorrow’s main event.
Behind Hagberg, TOP Racing’s Steven Weiss put in a great run to claim the 7th fastest time. Having run both practice runs on used tyres left over from Round 3 in Gran Canaria and then forgetting the spacers on his body posts for Q1 which left the bodyshell scrapping on the grid, the German said this was his first proper run on the Apeldoorn track. Delighted with the result he said he plans to leave his Photon EX exactly the same for Q3 and just hopes he can put in a repeat performance. Behind Weiss, reigning Pro Stock Champion Zdenko Kunák, who is running in the same heat, completed the Top 8.
Sixth fastest in Q1, Team Serpent’s Marc Fischer was running a similar pace to Prumper until his S411 suffered a bearing failure on the spur gear carrier. A podium finisher at Round 2 in the Czech Republic, the German said he knew something was wrong early on in the run with the car eventually coming to a stop just before the loop as he was about to complete his 18th lap of a potential 20.
Also retiring from Q2 was Team Durango’s Elliott Harper. Making the international debut for the company’s first touring car creation this weekend, the British driver lasted only half a lap with his car shutting down just as he came onto the straight. Afterwards he said the car didn’t feel right on the warm-up lap but he is not sure what actually caused the shutdown and as a precaution he will change both his motor and speedo for Q3 although the fault has cost him any chance of putting the prototype DETC410 in the main event.
In the Xray Pro Stock Class, Team Yokomo’s Kunák topped Q2 ahead of the Kyosho of last year’s race winner Vasco Christiaanse. For Q1 pace setter, and championship standings leader, Marek Cerny the run last less than two minutes as he retired with a broken drift shaft on his Xray. Austrian Awesomatix driver Dominic Vogl completed the Top 3 in Q2. In the Speed Passion Formula class, Roman Pichler made it two from two as he improved on his Q1 time with defending champion Herbert Weber second fastest.
Ride Modified Q2 times
1. Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 20/5:05.268
2. Ronald Volker – Yokomo – 20/5:09.060
3. Andy Moore – HB – 20/5:09.140
4. Yannic Prumper – Yokomo – 20/5:12.803
5. Christopher Krapp – Kyosho – 20/5:09.839
6. Alexander Hagberg – Xray – 20/5:12.328
7. Steven Weiss – Top Racing – 20/5:12.616
8. Zdenko Kunák – Yokomo – 20/5:12.909
9. Eric Dankel – Yokomo – 20/5:13.539
10.Thomas Pumpler – Tamiya – 20/5:13.577
View the complete event image gallery here.
Overnight rain delays start of Day 2
Overnight rain forced a delayed start to Day 2 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in the Netherlands but with the Apeldoorn track surface having now dried off, helped by 2-hours of open practice, the second round of qualifying has just got underway. With each round of qualifying taking approximately 3 hours to run, the organisers hope to be able to get in two rounds of qualifying today which would then see the best two of the three qualifiers count for the grid for tomorrow’s finals, Sunday’s weather giving a clear dry day. With drivers getting only two rounds of controlled practice yesterday, no reseeding of the heats was made for the first qualifier as the limited running would not have been a true reflection of every driver’s pace and so now at the end of Q2 a reseed will be made for the final qualifier based on each drivers fastest time of the two heats completed.
Rheinard heads Tamiya 1-2 at Apeldoorn in Q1
Marc Rheinard headed a Tamiya 1-2 in the opening round of qualifying for Round 4 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series, last year’s winner of the Dutch event setting the fastest pace around the Apeldoorn track from team-mate & Round 3 winner Viktor Wilck with reigning champion Ronald Volker completing the Top 3. Having had yesterday’s open practice washed out by heavy rain and the forecast for Saturday not looking favourable, organisers last night made the call to reduce this morning’s controlled practice to just two rounds so as qualifying could get underway early and as many rounds as possible could be completed. Despite the weather’s best efforts to disrupt Q1, the round having to be halted for a time due to light rain just as the top heats hit the track, thankfully a full round of qualifying was able to be completed. Getting Q2 underway unfortunately a light drizzle set in and despite waiting to see if it would pass the organisers ultimately had to cancel the round. Thankfully the latest online weather is showing that after a wet start to the day the rain should pass giving the opportunity for getting in two more rounds of qualifying in the evening giving a much fairer grid for the finals, the weather for Sunday giving a dry day.
Rheinard, who has won two of the three previous ETS encounters at Apeldoorn, said after he was ‘shocked really’ at how good his car was for Q1. Struggling in the first practice describing his car as ‘really bad’, the German ran two different cars in the second practice. Fitted with different flex chassis plates from Raceberry, the 3-time World Champion opted for the stiffer of the two posting a time that was 1.4 seconds faster than Wilck who also opted for the same chassis having also tested them back to back. The most positive Rheinard has been about the performance of his TRF417 for quite some time, he plans to run the same set-up ‘should they get to run any more qualifiers’.
Wilck, who ended a long winless streak in the ETS at the previous round in Gran Canaria, said his TRF417 started off well but his set-up was ‘eating up the front tyres’ causing him to battle with understeer later by the end of the 5-minutes. Happy with the overall feeling of his car, the Swede plans to make a number of small changes to try and get more consistency from the front tyres.
After the qualifying he experienced here 12 months ago, qualifying down in the E-Main, Volker said he was pleased to start off with a Top 3 run. Suffering from a little understeer, the factory Yokomo driver said due to the limited practice runs they are still working on tyre preparation but added that despite the break to allow the track to dry after the short shower the track had really good traction. Volker complimented the organisers for running 15-minutes of open practice after the rain delay saying the track was as good as it would have been had the round run uninterrupted.
Setting the fourth fastest time, HB’s Andy Moore said his run was as good as he could have hoped for. Describing his first lap as ‘not the best’, the former World Champion said while his drop off in performance by the end of the run was not as bad as what he experienced in practice he thinks had the Q1 not been delayed he could had been closer to the Top 3 pace. Changing his tyre prep for the first qualifier the delaying of his run meant he did not get to carry out the original plan. Happy with the set-up on his TCXX, the British ace said he will just focus on his tyre preparation for tomorrow when hopefully dry qualifying can resume.
‘Never expected it’ was how Eric Dankel described his run to 5th. The Yokomo team driver said in practice he was ‘super slow’ compared to his team-mate Volker but copying his fellow German’s set-up for Q1 he said his BD7 was hugely improved. His first time to run Volker’s set-up he plans to fine tune it to suit his driving style with a shorter wheelbase one of the changes he plans to make. Runner-up at Gran Canaria, Yannic Prumper could only manage an opening run of 7th fastest with his BD7. A ‘clean run’ he just didn’t have the pace with his car suffering from a lack of forward traction and for tomorrow he plans to radically change his set-up.
TQing a round of qualifying at this event last year, Serpent’s Marc Fischer took his S411 to the 6th fastest time. The German had an unfortunate incident as he tried to pass Xray’s Adrian Bernsten half way into the run. The Norwegian tried to move out of the way of Fischer’s faster car but clipped the curb rolling into the path of the Serpent causing it to to end up on its roof costing him over 3.5 seconds. Aside from the incident Fischer said his car was a little loose at the start of the run but added this was most likely due to taking his tyre warmers off too early on what is a very cold day at Apeldoorn but overall the car has good pace and he plans to leave as is for his next qualifier.
Top Xray in Q1 was Tim Wahl the German setting the 8th fastest time just 24/1000th ahead of the VBC of top Belgian driver Olivier Bultynck with the factory Xray driver Magnus Vassmar completing the Top 10. For Xray’s lead driver Alexander Hagberg Q1 got off to a bad start as he spun his ORCA powered T4 at the first corner. Ending up 14th fastest, the Swede said his car lacks steering and he just doesn’t have the right feeling with it and he will make a number of set-up changes for Q2 which he hopes will give him more confidence with it.
Making the international debut of Team Durango’s first ever touring car, Elliott Harper posted the 13th fastest time. The winner of the opening round of the British Nationals with the car, he said the pace is there for the first three minutes but then understeer causes him to drop back. Running a similar pace to Dankel for the first half of the run, he said he just has to sort out what is causing the car to go off. Having done quite a bit of testing with the development DETC410 he said a race like this is a completely different level and running a number of new parts on the car for the first time today he has still a lot of learning to do. Told by his new team to treat this event more as a test rather than focusing on trying to get a strong result, the Brit said he is relishing his role as a team-leader.
Elsewhere former ETS race winner and Kyosho team leader Christopher Krapp had a disastrous first Q1. Using glue giving to him by his team-mate, and last year’s winner of this event in Pro Stock Vasco Christiaanse, to glue his first set of controlled Ride tyres his tyres all came undone on the warm-up lap forcing the German to miss Q1. At first Krapp thought he had fitted the wrong, unglued, set of tyres on his TF6 but on checking the tyres it was discovered that the problem was with the glue which had failed to bond.
In the Xray Pro Stock class championship leader Marek Cerny took his Xray to the only 18 lap run ahead of the Schumacher of former Champion Martin Hofer and Bultynck. Last year’s race winner Christiaanse, the handout tyres in Pro-Stock being pre-glued, set the fourth fastest time with his Kyosho. Making a very welcomed return to the ETS, two time former class champion Alexander Stocker set the 7th fastest time ahead of Round 1 winner Oliver Franke. In the Speed Passion Formula class Roman Pichler TQ’d the opening qualifier ahead of fellow Swiss racer Beni Stutz and Germany’s Dai Sakaguchi completing the Top 3 in this growing category.
Ride Modified Q1 times
1. Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 20/5:06.113
2. Viktor Wilck – Tamiya – 20/5:07.584
3. Ronald Volker – Yokomo – 20/5:07.908
4. Andy Moore – HB – 20/5:10.415
5. Eric Dankel – Yokomo – 20/5:11.990
6. Marc Fischer – Serpent – 20/5:12.047
7. Yannic Prumper – Yokomo – 20/5:12.803
8. Tim Wahl – Xray – 20/5:13.104
9. Oliver Bultynck – VBC – 20/5:13.128
10.Magnus Vassmar – Xray 20/5:13.576
View the complete event image gallery here.
ETS Season 6 resumes at Apeldoorn
After an 11-week break, the Yokomo Euro Touring Series resumes this weekend (May 17-19) in the Netherlands with the beautiful Apeldoorn track getting the second half of the World famous electric touring car championship’s sixth season underway. A hugely popular track with competitors, the fourth round attracting 280 entries, defending champion Ronald Volker heads into the weekend at the top of the championship standings ahead of Yokomo team-mate Yannic Prumper and last year’s race winner Marc Rheinard. Volker, who has two wins and a third to his credit this season, will be hoping he has much better fortunes than he experienced 12-months ago in Apeldoorn when a difficult qualifying meant he would end up racing in the E-Final.
Having taken his first ETS win in 19-races when he won Round 3 of the championship in Gran Canaria at the beginning of March, Tamiya Racing Factory’s Viktor Wilck will be looking to build on that result and try & get his title chances on track after the Swede failed to make the A-Main at Rounds 1 & 2. Tamiya have won every ETS encounter at Apeldoorn, this being the championship’s fourth visit to the AMCA track, and the Japanese manufacturer will be keen to maintain that record. With the Apeldoorn win the only major success 3-time former World Champion Rheinard currently holds, the German will be determined not to give that up easily as he chases a hat trick of wins at the Dutch track.
Denied his first podium of the season in Gran Canaria where he finished 4th, Team Xray’s Alexander Hagberg will be hoping this race will be the turning point in a season which, after a great finish to last years championship, has not lived up to expectations. While the usual suspects of Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp, Serpent’s Marc Fisher, Hot Bodies’ Andy Moore, Team Associated’s Juho Levanen and Awesomatix’ Freddy Südhoff will be looking to bring success for their respective manufacturers in the premiere ‘Ride’ Modified class, this weekend sees the arrival of Team Durango to international touring car competition which is sure to generate plenty of interest.
Making a welcomed return to the series having missed Round 2 & 3 as he waited on the arrival of Durango’s first touring car, Elliot Harper has already shown the potential of the DETC410 taking it to victory two weeks ago at the opening round of the British National Championships ahead of former World Champion Andy Moore and the reigning champion Olly Jefferies.
In the Xray Pro Stock class, standings leader Marek Cerny heads to the Netherlands chasing his third consecutive win of the season. Based on that form, the Czech Xray team driver is favourite for the ETS’ largest class but defending champion Zdenko Kunák had his best result in Gran Canaria finishing second to Cerny as his confidence with his new Yokomo team grows. The only other race winner this season, winning Round 1, Oliver Franke will be in the hunt as will a host of Dutch drivers including last year’s winner Vasco Christiaanse.
Round 4 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series officially gets underway with controlled practice on Friday and culminates with triple mains for all drivers on Sunday, weather permitting. All the action from Apeldoorn can be followed on RedRC where regular updates and video action will be published throughout the weekend.
Video – Mod & Pro Stock A-main Leg 3
Prumper & Volker complete Gran Canaria podium
With Tamiya’s Viktor Wilck having sewn up the overall win at Round 3 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in the second A-Main, a Yokomo 1-2 in the final main would see Yannic Prumper and Ronald Volker completed the podium on the series’ second visit to the Spanish holiday Island. With Volker starting at the front of the grid as the Top Qualifier sat out the race, the defending champion would lead the closing race from start to finish shadowed by team-mate Prumper who would take the overall runners up spot. Despite setting the fastest lap of the race Prumper maintained team orders behind Volker for whom the win would be enough to secure him the final step on the podium ahead of Team Xray’s Alexander Hagberg on tie break. Starting third for the race Hagberg looked to be part of a four car battle up front but a tap from behind from Marc Rheinard caused his body to tuck. Although the Swede didn’t lose position the incident was enough for him to lose contact with the leaders. Rheinard would just hold on to take 4th in the leg just ahead of last year’s winner Christopher Krapp, the pair finishing 5th & 7th overall respectively.
In the Xray Pro Stock class, in which Marek Cerny wrapped up overall victory in A2, the 3rd A-Main was a very entertaining race. Awesomatix driver Viljami Kutvonen lead a closely fought race for 10-laps before he was clipped by the No.8 starting Xray of Bart Wubben. The benefactor of this was defending champion Zdenko Kunak who would stay out front to win by 6/10th from the battling Yokomo of Olivier Bultynck and Schumacher of former champion Martin Hofer. The result would secure Kunak second overall, his best result of the 2012/13 season, with Kutvonen who finished 5th completing the podium for the 3rd round of the world famous championship which next moves on to Apeldoorn in the Netherlands over the weekend of May 17-19.
Ride Modified A-Main Overall Result
1. Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya/Speed Passion – 2 pts
2. Yannic Prumper (DE) – Yokomo/Muchmore – 4
3. Ronald Volker (DE) – Yokomo/LRP – 5
4. Alexander Hagberg (SE) – Xray/ORCA – 5
5. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya/Muchmore – 7
6. Andy Moore (GB) – HB/Hobbywing – 11
7. Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho/Orion – 11
8. Adrien Berntsen (NO) – Xray/ORCA – 13
9. Marc Fischer (DE) – Serpent/Thunder Power – 13
10.Loic Jasmin (FR) – Yokmo/LRP – 15
Ride Modified A-Main Leg 3 Result
1.(2) Ronald Volker (DE) – Yokomo/LRP – 16/5:02.201
2.(3) Yannic Prumper (DE) – Yokomo/Muchmore – 16/5:02.623
3.(4) Alexander Hagberg (SE) – Xray/ORCA – 16/5:03.137
4.(5) Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya/Muchmore – 16/5:04.626
5.(8) Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho/Orion – 16/5:04.991
6.(9) Adrien Berntsen (NO) – Xray/ORCA – 16/5:09.831
7.(10)Loic Jasmin (FR) – Yokmo/LRP – 16/5:10.831
8.(7) Andy Moore (GB) – HB/Hobbywing – 12/5:10.024
9.(6) Marc Fischer (DE) – Serpent/Thunder Power – 3/0:48.711
10.(1)Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya/Speed Passion – DNS
Xray Pro Stock A-Main Overall Result
1. Marek Cerny (CZ) – Xray – 2 pts
2. Zdenko Kunak (SK) – Yokomo – 5
3. Viljami Kutvonen (FI) – Awesomatix – 5
4. Olivier Bultynck (BE) – Yokomo – 5
5. Martin Hofer (DE) – Schumacher – 5
6. Bart Wubben (NL) – Xray – 9
7. René Klöckner (DE) – Yokomo – 11
8. Trin Tanongsakchaikul (TH) – Yokomo – 12
9. Toni Mateo (ES) – Yokomo – 13
10.Alvaro Fernandez (ES) – Tamiya – 14
Xray Pro Stock A-Main Leg 3 Result
1.(3) Zdenko Kunak (SK) – Yokomo – 15/5:07.470
2.(4) Olivier Bultynck (BE) – Yokomo – 15/5:08.079
3.(6) Martin Hofer (DE) – Schumacher – 15/5:08.735
4.(8) Bart Wubben (NL) – Xray – 15/5:08.868
5.(2) Viljami Kutvonen (FI) – Awesomatix – 15/5:13.170
6.(7) Trin Tanongsakchaikul (TH) – Yokomo – 15/5:16.913
7.(10)Alvaro Fernandez (ES) – Tamiya – 15/5:18.009
8.(5) René Klöckner (DE) – Yokomo – 14/5:00.241
9.(9) Toni Mateo (ES) – Yokomo – 7/2:18.565
10.(1)Marek Cerny (CZ) – Xray – DNS
View complete event results here.
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Chassis Focus – Viktor Wilck
Chassis Name – Tamiya TRF417X
Motor – Thunder Power
ESC – Speed Passion Reventon
Batteries – Thunder Power
Tires – Ride (handout)
Radio/Servos – Sanwa
Remarks – Top qualifier and race winner here in Gran Canaria, Viktor Wilck, is running a modified version of the Tamiya TRF417X. Featuring some new parts from Raceberry, they appear to have worked with the Tamiya team having their best result in some time. The new parts include a top deck with different flex characteristics to the standard part as well as a new chassis plate. The car sports some other modifications to help provide flex and we are told that Tamiya will be coming out with their own official parts soon. Viktor was also running the latest Reventon speed controller from Speed Passion which includes new power profiles as well as a new cooling fan.
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