Euro Touring Series

June 2, 2012

Tamiya 1-2-3 in opening qualifier

Quick guys

The opening qualifier for the Dutch round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series produced a 1-2-3 for the Tamiya Racing Factory with Marc Rheinard fastest ahead of team-mates Jilles Groskamp and Viktor Wilck with Serpent’s Marc Fisher denying the team a perfect start to the event as he set the fourth fastest time ahead of the fourth member of factory team Elliot Harper.

Running a time of 20 laps in 5:04.054 around the fast flowing Apeldoorn track, Rheinard said track conditions this morning were very different to yesterday’s controlled practice, in which he was also fastest, and his Speed Passion powered TRF417X had very little steering. Pushed hard by Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp, who retired with a motor failure on his penultimate lap, Rheinard said he is not sure whether he will change his set-up for Q2 in the hope of improving the steering as it will be hard to make a direct comparison now that his controlled 32 compound Ride tyres are used and expected to be slower next time out.

Jilles Groskamp

A previous ETS Apeldoorn race winner when the series made its first visit to the superb venue in 2009, Groskamp described his run as ‘steady’. Having made mistakes in all his practice runs yesterday the Dutch driver and former back to back ETS Champion said he just wanted to put in a clean run this morning but felt he may have been a little to cautious in the first 2-3 minutes of the run. Happy with his Orion powered TRF417X he said after Krapp’s motor problems and the temperature rise at the track he plans to turn back the power settings for Q2.

Fisher

Setting the fastest lap of the opening round with a 14.892, Fisher said a change to 2.5 toe-in transformed his his Speed Passion equipped S411 from yesterday and he feels he had the pace to mix it with Rheinard and Krapp particularly over the later half of the 5-minute run. Loosing 3-seconds when he rolled on his 12th lap of 20, the German National Champion said he will change nothing for Q2 and instead try to fix his driving.

Harper

Fifth fastest, Harper said he wasn’t quick and it was just a steady drive that netted him the result. Happy to start of the day with a Top 5 he said his Orion powered Tamiya lacked steering. Fellow Brit Andy Moore completed the Top 6 but the Team HB driver said the result was helped greatly by the number of drivers that hit problems. With his Hobbywing powered TCX very edgy the former World Champion said he is only able to drive it at 80%. With team-mates Hara, Shin Adachi and Teemu Leino all trying different set-up he said he hopes they can find a better set-up which allows him to compete on pace rather than depending on others having trouble. Hara was one such driver to hit trouble when the rear belt failed on his TCX.

Elsewhere Cyril N’diaye was the fastest Yokomo in Q1 with the 7th fastest time from team-mate Eric Dankel with Juho Levanen the fastest Associated driver in 9th. Defending Champion Ronald Volker completed only half the run after a roll broke the glue on a tyre on his LRP powered BD5. The German who currently leads the standings said his car suffered with understeer and trying to make up time he over drove resulting in the roll. Yannic Prumper also rolled his BD5 on the second lap, deciding to pull up and save tyres. Yokomo’s newest signing Hayato Matsuzaki made an early tactical move by not starting the first qualifier meaning he has fresh rubber for Q2. For Xray US Champion Paul Lemieux was their highest placed driver in 16th while ETS Poland race winner Alexander Hagberg’s weekend failed to improve with the Swede finishing 31st one spot behind team boss Juraj Hudy.

Martin Hofer

In the Xray Pro-Stock class Martin Hofer TQ’d the opening qualifier ahead of Vasco Christiaanse. Setting the fastest lap of the round with a 17.067, Christiaanse was setting the pace ahead of Hofer’s Schumacher until he spun his Kyosho on lap 7 of 18. German driver Tony Streit completed the Top 3 while fellow Xray driver and title contender Zdenko Kunak had a disastorious first round endng up only 24th fastest.

View the complete event results here.

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June 2, 2012

Revised timetable for busy Day 2

Juho

While it is a pleasant dry start to Day 2 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series and set to remain that way for the entire day, mother nature’s intention for tomorrow are not looking as favorable and responding to the 85% chance of rain being forecast Series organisers have decided to react and revise the timetable to ensure the massive entry at Apeldoorn get to run at least one final today. Having considered dropping one of the four rounds of qualifying to clear time to run finals this evening it was decided after discussions with a number of drivers to retain the original qualifying schedule and just run later into the night.

With both the Ride Modified and Xray Pro Stock Championship titles at critical points the two A-Mains have been scheduled for tonight with the rest of the field getting one round which, should the rain force tomorrow’s action to be cancelled, will determine the overall result for the Dutch event.

Fastest in controlled practice yesterday and winner of this event last year, Tamiya’s Marc Rheinard welcomed the extended timetable saying it was a good call from the ETS as racing in the wet is fun for nobody and only ends up damaging equipment. Having considered dropping to three qualifiers the World Champion said sticking with four was the right decision as count 1 of 3 would be unfair and 2 of 3 would leave no room for a driver should they hit any problems.

Busy

With 21 qualifying groups to get through race director Scotty Ernst is in for a busy day to ensure the schedule runs swiftly and on time with the closing race of the day, the second of the Modified A-Mains, due to start at 21:22.

View the event image gallery here.

June 1, 2012

Rheinard tops practice at Dutch ETS

LRFri-Briefing-2

Winner of last year’s Dutch ETS round, Tamiya’s Marc Rheinard has topped practice at the fifth round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series putting him top seed for tomorrow’s four rounds of qualifying ahead of Yokomo’s Ronald Volker and Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp. Finishing up Day 1 of the event later than originally scheduled due to rain delays at the Apeldoorn track in the morning, Rheinard was for once pleased with the performance of his Speed Passion powered TRF417X. Having suffered a broken diff in CP3, the first of the top two timed runs, the German said with a new unit fitted his car felt really good, with his driving actually being the weakest part of his package. In a season that has so far failed to net Tamiya a victory, Rheinard said he is feeling pretty confident for tomorrow, something we have not heard from the former series champion in recent times.

LRFri-Umino

Posting a time of 44.952 compared with Rheinard’s 44.833, Volker said he was not able to drive as aggressively as he would have liked in the final practice as the track conditions of the late run made for very high bite meaning his LRP powered BD5 was close to traction roll. Despite this the defending champion said based on his early runs he was happy with how the day went but added that the level of drivers here in the Netherlands meant it was going to be an open race right till the end. Setting the 6th fastest time with his P3 run, team-mate Yannic Prumper said switching to a softer spring for the final practice was the wrong choice and with his Thunder Power equipped Yokomo decent in CP3 he will revert back to that set-up for the opening qualifier.

LRFri-KrappAct

The winner last time out on asphalt when he took his maiden ETS victory at Round 3 in Gran Canaria, Krapp is running a very similar set-up here in Apeldoorn but says he is suffering with a little understeer in the sweepers. Planning to run heavier oil tomorrow in Q1, the German feels that compared with his pace over the three consecutive laps that counted for the qualifying seeding his Orion powered TF6 SP should be very compeitive over the length of the full five minute heats.

LRFri-GroskampHara

Top Qualifier at last year’s event, Jilles Groskamp only ran the first of the two timed practices due to a family engagement made prior to the rain effected timetable but the Dutch ace still managed the 4th fastest time ahead of team-mate Viktor Wilck. Wilck said while his time was faster in P4, due to the track having higher bite caused by the cooler conditions, he said his set-up in P3 felt better. Adding more toe-in for the final run of the day he said this caused his car to understeer and he will revert back to his CP3 set-up for the morning.

Just outside the Top 6, Marc Fisher took his Serpent to seventh ahead of Britian’s Elliot Harper. Setting his quickest time in P3, the German National Champion said his S411 felt good in the final laps but needs improving at the beginning of the run. Not sure what direction to take with his set-up he said he will try changing from 2000 to 1500 oil in the rear diff.

LRFri-Hara

Atsushi Hara was fastest of the expanded HB team, the former World Champion setting the 9th fastest time ahead fellow Japanese driver Hayato Matsuzaki who took his Yokomo to an identical time. Changing to heavier oil for the final practice he said it was too stiff for the cool temperatures and he will revert back to what he ran in CP3 when he set his best time. One of the few top drivers not under contract to any electrics sponsor Hara used the day to play around with his choice of speedo and motor. A 2-time ETS race winner, he said the performance of the Hobbywing/Reedy combo he ran in CP4 felt good and together with his CP3 set-up he expects to be more competitive in qualifying.

After the high of winning the preceding round in Poland, Alexander Hagberg’s weekend has got off to a disappointing start with the factory Xray driver only 12th fastest behind American team-mate Paul Lemieux. The Swede said he is struggling with a lack of steering and he is still trying to figure out why.

LRFri-HoferAct

In the Xray Pro-Stock class defending champion Martin Hofer will for the first time this season go into qualifying as the top seed. The factory Schumacher driver put his Mi4CXL top of the time sheets with a time of 51.576 for his three fastest consecutive laps followed by Dutch drivers Vasco Christiaanse and Ronald Arts. Having run new tyres in the first of the timed practice runs Hofer said his car was very edgy but switching to used tyres for his final outing of the day he experienced traction roll, something the German feels could be to do with his choice of additive. Happy to end the day fastest while his main championship rival Zdenko Kunak ended up fourth fastest, Hofer felt his performance was a step forward and is relishing tomorrow’s qualifying. Having only received his TF6 SP last weekend taking it to second in the latest round of the Dutch Nationals, Christiaanse said he was very happy with how the car worked today. Despite having TQ’d two previous ETS events he does not yet have a win to his credit and reminded of this fact he joked maybe its best he qualifies second tomorrow!

In the Speed Passion Formula class Michael Lepelaar topped practice ahead of fellow Dutch racer Roman Pichler and Germany’s Dai Sakaguchi.

View the event image gallery here.

June 1, 2012

Weather delays Day 1 action in Apeldoorn

Track

After a wet start to the opening day of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series fifth round in the Netherlands proceedings finally got underway on a dry track just after 14:00 local time after a number of rain showers delayed the schedule by some 4 hours. Originally set to run four rounds of practice and the opening qualifier, the lost track time has forced organisers to now just run practice today and move Q1 to tomorrow morning, the grouping for which will be decided by times from tonight’s third & fourth timed practice runs. While the wet Apeldoorn track remained open throughout the morning rain showers few of the massive entry opted to take the opportunity to work on a wet set-up which, going by the latest weather forecast, may be required for Sunday’s finals.

Ronald Volker

After the completion of the opening two rounds of practice, the times of which are only to give drivers an indication of their own pace, it was defending champion Ronald Volker who was fastest based on the average of his three fastest consecutive laps ahead of the Tamiya’s of Marc Rheinard and Jilles Groskamp with Volker’s Yokomo team-mate Yannic Prumper next up. A last minute entry to the event and making his ETS debut, 2010 World Championship runner-up Hayato Matsuzaki, who has just returned to Yokomo from Team HB, got his weekend off to a solid start with the fifth fastest time ahead of former team-mate Atsushi Hara who completed the Top 6.

View the event image gallery here.

May 29, 2012

World’s best touring car drivers descend on Apeldoorn for ETS Round 5

World’s best drivers decend on Apeldoorn for Rd5

This weekend (June 1-3) the Netherlands plays host to the penultimate round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series with Apeldoorn the stage for what is set to be the most competitive race of the 2011/12 season. In addition to the regular line-up of world class drivers who are contesting the full 6 race ETS calendar, the beautiful Dutch venue will be bolstered by an increased presence of international factory drivers who are using the fifth round of the World famous electric touring car series to gauge their competitiveness ahead of the upcoming bi-annual World Championships.

The 26th running of an ETS event, the race has attracted a massive 240 entries including all nine members of the elusive modified class winners club. One of those victors making his first appearance of season no.5 is former World Champion Atsushi Hara. A two time ETS race winner, one of which he claimed in the Netherlands when the race was held at the MACH in 2010, Hara heads a much expanded Team HB entry this weekend. 2006 World Champion Andy Moore, who currently sits sixth in the ETS standings, will be joined by Hara and new for 2012 team-mates Shin Adachi and former European Champion Teemu Leino who both make welcomed returns to the series.

Tamiya, who are the most successful manufacturer in series with 3 titles and 14 race wins to their credit, also have an expanded squad for the penultimate round with former 2-time champion Jilles Groskamp returning to compete in his home event. Now based in Thailand, Groskamp’s presence at Apeldoorn should be a big boost for the TRF squad who are already riding high following Viktor Wilck’s victory at the prestigious Reedy Race of Champions last weekend in the USA. Tamiya have not yet scored a win this season in which Kyosho and Xray both took maiden victories, but 12 months ago at the Dutch venue the then defending champion Marc Rheinard claimed the team’s first win of the season on a weekend that saw the first double win for TRF as Dutchman John Bruins won the Pro Stock class.

Having taken the top step on the podium in both the Ride Modified and Xray Pro Stock classes at the preceding round in Poland in April, Xray will be hoping to continue their form this weekend and are another team with an increased presence. Star driver Alexander Hagberg who is joint third in the standings will be joined in the team by US Champion Paul Lemieux for whom this marks the American’s fourth ETS appearance.

After a tough weekend at Round 4 following his hugely popular win at the previous round in Gran Canaria, factory Kyosho driver Christopher Krapp is looking forward to competing again on asphalt. The German, who is in contention for the Euro Touring Series title, predicted his TF6 SP would be quick on asphalt and backed that up with a win at the first asphalt round and is relishing this weekends return to asphalt.

Defending champion and points standings leader Ronald Volker has never won an outdoor ETS event and would love to set that record straight on Sunday. The Team Yokomo driver TQ’d and won the opening two rounds of the season, both carpet events, and if he can pull off victory in Apeldoorn it would put the title beyond the reach of his rivals.

Elsewhere factory Awesomatix driver Freddy Sudhoff is a serious contender to become the 10th name on the role of honour of ETS race winners. The German was very fast in Poland where he finished fourth and is being tipped by many as having the potential to spring a surprise at the World Championships at the end of July.

Round 5 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series gets underway with practice on Friday and culminates with triple mains for all drivers on Sunday. All the action from Apeldoorn can be followed live throughout the weekend on RedRC.

May 1, 2012

Lemieux to contest ETS Apeldoorn

Xray have confirmed that American Touring Car ace Paul Lemieux will contest the penultimate round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series over the weekend of June 1-3 at Apeldoorn in the Netherlands. Having made annual appearances in three of the four previous seasons of the world famous electric touring car series, this will be the US National Champion’s fourth time to race in the ETS but will be the Wisconsin driver’s first experience of the Apeldoorn venue which is rated by many top drivers as one of Europe’s greatest race tracks. The RC America/Thunder Power backed driver will join factory Xray drivers Alexander Hagberg and Martin Hudy at the fifth round as the Slovakian manufacturer looks to build on their maiden victory in the Ride Modified class at Round 4 in Poland that has moved Hagberg into contention for the overall 2011/12 ETS Championship title.

The ETS’s third visit to Apeldoorn since its inspection in 2008, the Dutch venue is the second of three asphalt events on this season’s calendar and is expected to see the regular World class field bolstered by a number of additional factory entries. Having claimed his first ETS victory at the first outdoor race in Gran Canaria, factory Kyosho driver Christopher Krapp is one of the pre-event favourites for Round 5 but can expect tough competition in particular from World Champion Marc Rheinard who took his first of two wins there last year. The Tamiya Racing Factory driver needs to take his first win of the current season if he is to have any chance of denying Team Yokomo’s Ronald Volker back to back Euro Touring Series titles.

April 15, 2012

Video – Mod & Pro Stock A-main Leg 3

April 15, 2012

Hagberg gives Xray their first ETS win

Winners

Alexander Hagberg pulled off a stunning drive in the third & deciding leg of the Ride Modified A-main at the Yokomo Euro Touring Series fourth round in Poland this evening to claim both his and Xray’s first win in the championship’s premiere class. The day was to be very much an Xray affair at the podium presentations as team driver Zdenko Kunák took victory in the third Pro Stock A-Main to make it a double success for the Slovak company.

Alex WInner

Having won the second A-Main after a rare mistake by Top Qualifier Ronald Volker, Hagberg had pretty much conceded the win to the reigning champion going into the final race of the day in Poznan based on the German’s domination of practice, qualifying and the opening A-Main but the Yokomo driver had a surprise lack of pace in the deciding race. Securing his best ETS finish in the preceding race in Gran Canaria where he finished second, Hagberg could smell his first win but showed great patience waiting for the right opportunity to make his move on the man who has pretty much dominated the indoor carpet scene. Making a pass in which the pair made contact to go to the front, the 22-year-old pulled clear and kept his nerve to take the leg ahead of the Tamiya’s of Marc Rheinard and Viktor Wilck to claim a popular overall victory which keeps the title race alive as the series now moves outdoors and on to asphalt.

Hagberg

Delighted with his win, but not half as much as his father Bosse, Hagberg said his car felt really good and was by far the best car out there. Having finally added his name to the exclusive list of ETS race winners in a year in which he also took one of America’s biggest races, the Snowbirds, he said he is really looking forward to Round 5 at the start of June as he feels his Xray team have a better car this season for asphalt as he proved in Gran Canaria. A long time driver with Xray, Hagberg thanked the team for their support along with his new electrics sponsor ORCA for whom this is also their first win in the world renowned touring car series.

Top 3

Finish up fourth in the third leg, overall Volker ended up on the second step of the podium and after having had such an advantage over his rivals all weekend was clearly disappointed at losing out on his third victory of the season but added that Hagberg was a deserving winner. Struggling with the handling of his car Volker said for no apparent reason the car had gone from being super easy to drive to being edgy and having a lot of understeer despite making no set-up changes and he couldn’t respond to Hagberg’s pace. Regarded as best driver in the World on carpet, he said he wanted to thank his engineer Umino, a man who has been key to his success, for all his help over the indoor part part of the season. Having come so close to successfully defending his ETS title today, Volker said he must now switch his attentions to racing outdoors and he is looking forward to the extra challenge.

Marc Rheinard

Continuing his 100% record of podium finishes in this season’s series, the only driver with such a record, Rheinard said he was glad to see the end of the indoor season and added Apeldoorn cannot come quick enough. Having by his own standards struggled this weekend, he said their car has always been better on asphalt so he will be looking to end the season like last year when he won the final two races.

Just off the podium, Freddy Südhoff ended his Awesomatix debut in the ETS in fourth position after struggling in the third main with traction roll. Having finally got a good start from his second spot starting position, the German said his A700 started to struggle, in particular through left corners and eventually he traction rolled out of second to end up 5th. Having experienced the high of claiming his first ETS victory at Round 3, Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp could only manage 8th position but the 19-year-old German is sure to be a force again when the series move to the Netherlands and back on to asphalt.

Zdenko Kunak

In the Xray Pro Stock deciding third A-Main, a close fought race between Top Qualifier Oliver Franke and Zdenko Kunák was to go the way of the Slovakian who becomes the first double race winner in the category this season. Battling hard for the lead Franke ran a little wide and the Xray and HB made contact. Kunák waited but Franke ran over the dots allowing No.2 car to take the lead which he wouldn’t surrender. Italian ETS round winner Steffen Leinburger, who was a surprise winner of Leg 1 from 5th on the grid, completed the podium on tie break from reigning champion Martin Hofer. In the Formula class third place qualifier Roman Pichler took the win ahead of Dai Sakaguchi and pole sitter Herbert Weber.

With the biggest crowd we have ever witnessed at a race, being part of MotorShow Poznan has been a great experience for both the Yokomo Euro Touring Series and the sport in general as it is sure to have sparked an interest with the many youngsters who came along and witnessed the best touring car drivers provide some thrilling racing. We look forward to returning again next year.

Ride Modified A-main leg 3 results
1. (3) Alexander Hagberg (SE) – 24/5:01.783
2. (4) Marc Rheinard (DE) – 24/5:02.885
3. (6) Viktor Wilck (SE) – 24/5:03.620
4. (1) Ronald Völker (DE) – 24/5:04.541
5. (2) Freddy Südhoff (DE) – 24/5:07.366
6. (9) Zdenko Kunák (SK) – 24/5:07.592
7. (7) Andy Moore (GB) – 24/5:07.995
8. (5) Magnus Vässmar (SE) – 24/5:08.596
9. (10) Marco Kaufmann (DE) – 24/5:12.403
10.(8) Christopher Krapp (DE) – 24/5:12.706

Ride Modified A-main Overall results
1. Alexander Hagberg (SE) – Xray/ORCA – 2pts
2. Ronald Völker (DE) – Yokomo/LRP – 4
3. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya/SP – 4
4. Freddy Südhoff (DE) – Awesomatix/LRP – 7
5. Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya/Thunder Power – 10
6. Zdenko Kunák (SK) – Xray/LRP – 10
7. Magnus Vässmar (SE) – Xray/Thunder Power – 11
8. Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho/Orion – 11
9. Andy Moore (GB) – HB/Hobbywing – 15
10.Marco Kaufmann (DE) – Xray/ORCA – 18

Xray Pro Stock A-main leg 3 results
1. (2) Zdenko Kunák (SK) – 23/5:06.105
2. (3) Martin Hofer (DE) – 23/5:07.244
3. (1) Oliver Franke (DE) – 23/5:08.504
4. (5) Steffen Leinburger (DE) – 23/5:09.547
5. (4) Ivan Laptev (RU) – 23/5:09.958
6. (7) Tony Streit (DE) – 23/5:10.554
7. (9) Marek Cerny (CZ) – 23/5:11.986
8. (6) Michal Orlowski (PL) – 22/5:01.333
9. (8) Denis Zuykov (RU) – 22/5:01.807
10.(10) Rob Janssen (NL) – 22/5:02.980

Xray Pro Stock A-main Overall results
1. Zdenko Kunák (SK) – Xray – 3pts
2. Oliver Franke (DE) – HB – 3
3. Steffen Leinburger (DE) – HB – 5
4. Martin Hofer (DE) – Schumacher – 5
5. Tony Streit (DE) – Xray – 7
6. Ivan Laptev (RU) – Awesomatix – 11
7. Michal Orlowski (PL) – Tamiya – 13
8. Marek Cerny (CZ) – Yokomo – 13
9. Denis Zuykov (RU) – Awesomatix – 15
10.Rob Janssen (NL) – Tamiya – 19

View the complete results here.

View the event image gallery here.