Euro Touring Series

July 10, 2011

Rheinard secures Andernach victory

Marc Rheinard

Outgoing Euro Touring Series Champion Marc Rheinard has won the sixth & final round of the 2010/11 series after backing up his win in yesterday’s opening final with another start to finish victory this morning at Andernach. Starting from pole the German was never really challenged once again as he headed home the Yokomos of Ronald Volker and Yannic Prumper to claim his second overall win of the season.

Marc Rheinard

Looking to end his ultra successful ETS season, in which he notched up three consecuitive wins and four consecutive TQs, Volker was clearly disappointed that he couldn’t take the fight for round 6 honours to the third leg. The Yokomo ace said afterwards he lost the race at the start when he had a few over shoots in the opening laps and with himself and Rheinard so evenly matched it was hard to pull back the time.

Once again making a blistering start to pass Jilles Groskamp on the opening lap, Prumper set the fastest lap of the race and goes into the final race of the season with a chance of claiming third overall in the standing from Poland winner Juho Levanen.

Tony Streit

In the Xray Pro stock second A-Main Ivan Laptev looked to have his first overall ETS victory in the bag until he caught a kerb on his penultimate lap rolling his Awesomatix and allowing Xray driver Tony Streit through to take the win. Finishing second behind the German the duo will now go head to head for the win in the third leg later this afternoon. Starting from 8th on the grid, Apeldoorn winner John Bruins produced a stunning drive taking his Tamiya to third for the Leg putting himself in contention for an overall podium position.

Xenon Modified A-main Leg 2 result
1. Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 18L 5:13.467
2. Ronald Völker – Yokomo – 18L 5:13.957
3. Yannic Prümper – Yokomo – 18L 5:16.321
4. Viktor Wilck – Tamiya – 17L 5:00.326
5. Jilles Groskamp – Tamiya – 17L 5:02.630
6. Andy Moore – Hot Bodies – 17L 5:03.322
7. Eric Dankel – Xray – 17L 5:03.941
8. Steen Graversen – Awesomatix – 17L 5:04.508
9. Christopher Krapp – Kyosho – 17L 5:07.974
10.Atsushi Hara – Hot Bodies – 17L – 5:08.887

Xray Pro Stock A-main Leg 2 result
1. Tony Streit – Xray – 16L 5:01.276
2. Ivan Laptev – Awesomatix – 16L 5:02.258
3. John Bruins – Tamiya – 16L 5:02.675
4. René Klöckner – Tamiya – 16L 5:04.724
5. Steffen Leinburger – Xray – 16L 5:05.313
6. Michael Spiering – TOP – 16L 5:06.644
7. Michael Kiesewetter – Xray – 16L 5:09.528
8. Martin Hofer – Schumacher – 16L 5:10.183
9. Andre Schäfer – Serpent – 16L 5:11.624
10.Daniel Wohlgemuth – Tamiya – 10L 3:14.923

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

July 9, 2011

Video – Mod & Pro Stock A-main Leg 1

July 9, 2011

Rheinard wins opening Andernach final

Marc Rheinard

Due to the record entry competing at the Yokomo Euro Touring Series season finale in Germany, the opening leg of the finals took place directly after qualifying on Saturday evening with Top Qualifiers Marc Rheinard and Ivan Laptev pulling off easy wins, leading from start to finish.

In the Xenon Modified class Rheinard won by over a second from the Yokomo of Yannic Prumper even after reverting to cruise mode for the final three laps. Expecting a strong challenge from Ronald Volker who started second on the grid, the outgoing champion was never really pressured by the Yokomo ace. Struggling with his car’s handling the 2010/11 champion elect had an off on lap 6 allowing the Tamiya driver to take full control of proceedings.

Ronald Volker

Holding second despite the off, another error in the final minute would ultimately end Volker’s race as he dropped into the pack getting tagged from behind by Jilles Groskamp as they battled for fourth. Groskamp waited following the contact but with the body tucked on the Yokomo, the Tamiya driver resumed racing resulting in a Stop & Go penalty which the two time former champion felt was not justified. With no chance of a strong finish Volker pulled his BD5 WX to save the tyres for tomorrow’s remaining two finals while Groskamp went on to finish 6th.

While Prumper made a great early pass on Groskamp for third, Viktor Wilck didn’t want to risk contact with his team-mate in the opening laps but said afterwards it cost him a chance of second position. With his TRF417 working better than Groskamp’s, by the time he made the pass on the Dutchman the gap to Prumper was too large to claw back.

Hot Bodies’ Andy Moore finished a distant fourth with the British ace saying it was only because he managed to stay out of trouble as those ahead of him made mistakes. Summing up his race by saying he was ‘just hanging on’ to his TCX he said he needs a major rethink in terms of his set-up for tomorrow’s action. Team-mate Atsushi Hara didn’t complete a full lap as he lost a front wheel as the pack went through the Hudy esses for the first time.

Ivan Laptev

Although he has been a Top Qualifier in the ETS’ largest class before, Laptev has yet to win an event overall but in Leg 1 of the Pro Stock A-Main he looked very much like he is on target to set that record straight this weekend. Starting from pole the Awesomatix team driver won by 3-second from the No.2 Xray of Tony Streit who was no match for the Russian with René Klöckner finishing third. For Martin Hofer, who is more used to starting at the front end of the grid it was a tough race and despite setting the fastest lap of the race the Schumacher driver finished last.

Xenon Modified A-main Leg 1 result
1. Marc Rheinard – 18L 5:13.689
2. Yannic Prümper – 18L 5:14.921
3. Viktor Wilck – 18L 5:15.969
4. Andy Moore – 17L 5:03.184
5. Steen Graversen – 17L 5:03.328
6. Jilles Groskamp – 17L 5:03.822
7. Christopher Krapp – 17L 5:04.364
8. Eric Dankel – 17L 5:04.502
9. Ronald Völker – 14L 4:15.037
10.Atsushi Hara – 1L 0:10.712

Xray Pro Stock A-main Leg 1 result
1. Laptev Ivan – 16L 5:01.131
2. Streit Tony – 16L 5:04.281
3. Klöckner René – 16L 5:05.962
4. Leinburger Steffen – 16L 5:06.755
5. Bruins John – 16L 5:07.269
6. Wohlgemuth Daniel – 16L 5:08.862
7. Schäfer Andre – 16L 5:10.154
8. Spiering Michael – 16L 5:11.710
9. Kiesewetter Michael – 16L 5:12.113
10.Hofer Martin – 16L 5:16.026

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

July 9, 2011

Rheinard claims first TQ of the season at home track

Marc Rheinard

Marc Rheinard has claimed his first Euro Touring Series TQ honour since starting last year’s season finale at Andernach from pole position enroute to lifting the overall title. Having claimed his first win as champion of the series at Apeldoorn last month, the German secured the honour of Top Qualifier by topping the final round of the Xenon Modified heats from Yannic Prumper.

Rheinard, Volker and Apeldoorn Top Qualifier Jilles Groskamp went into the final run of the day as the only drivers capable of claiming the pole. Rheinard eventually took the round convincingly after Volker rolled his Yokomo through the chicane on the final lap as he tried to pull back a 2/10th deficit to his big rival. Ending up fourth fastest, Volker will start second in front of Dutch ace Groskamp who is very pleased with 3rd as this is a track he traditionally does not do well at.

Yannic Pruemper

Thanks to his run to second for Q4, Prumper will start the triple mains from fourth on the grid with his Yokomo lining up in front of the Tamiya of Viktor Wilck. Andy Moore fills the sixth spot on the grid while a poor last heat for Hot Bodies team-mate Atsushi Hara will see him start 9th making his chances of repeating his 2010 podium finish a tough one. Adding three other brands of cars in to the mix are Christopher Krapp whose Kyosho will carry number 7, Steen Graversen who qualified eighth for Awesomatix and Xray’s Eric Dankel who takes the final spot on the grid. With a seven way battle for the 10th spot in the grid there was a wager, started by Toni Rheinard, going on in the pits prior to final heat. Dankel, a two time Pro Stock winner this season, was the most popular choice with those who bet on the German getting a €21.50 return on their €5 bet.

John Bruins

In Pro Stock Ivan Laptev secured a second TQ honour of the season for small Russian manufacturer Awesomatix as Apeldoorn winner John Bruins turned around a tough weekend here in Germany to top the final round of qualifying. Taking Q4 ahead of former race winner Daniel Wohlgemuth, Bruins said the result was totally unexpected. Having struggled since arriving in Germany the Dutch racer said he finally got a good feeling with his Tamiya and into a rhythm on the very technical track layout they are running this weekend.

LRSat-PapaLaptev

Only 8th fastest in Q4, Laptev said he struggled in the sweeper due to the wind but is confident he has a good safe car for the finals as shown in Q1 & 2 when he set the pace. Having failed to convert pole in Poland to victory with champion elect Martin Hofer taking the win, Laptev is confident he can claim the first ever all Russian win tomorrow. Xray driver Tony Streit starts second on the grid while Hofer, who is set to be crowned champion of the Xray Pro Stock class tomorrow, will line-up 7th, his lowest starting position of the season.

Xenon Modified A-Final Grid
1. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya/Speed Passion – 310pts
2. Ronald Völker (DE) – Yokomo/LRP – 308
3. Jilles Groskamp (NL) – Tamiya/Orion – 307
4. Yannic Prümper (DE) – Yokomo/Thunder Power – 305
5. Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya/Thunder Power – 304
6. Andy Moore (GB) – Hot Bodies/Moorespeed – 302
7. Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho/Orion – 301
8. Steen Graversen (DK) – Awesomatix/Speed Passion – 299
9. Atsushi Hara (TH) – Hot Bodies/Reedy – 298
10.Eric Dankel (DE) – Xray/LRP – 293

Xray Pro-Stock A-Final Grid
1. Ivan Laptev (RU) – Awesomatix – 310pts
2. Tony Streit (DE) – Xray – 308
3. Michael Spiering (DE) – TOP – 306
4. Daniel Wohlgemuth (DE) – Tamiya – 304
5. Michael Kiesewetter (DE) – Xray – 303
6. René Klöckner (DE) – Tamiya – 302
7. Martin Hofer (DE) – Schumacher – 301
8. John Bruins (NL) – Tamiya – 300
9. Steffen Leinburger (DE) – Xray – 299
10.Andre Schäfer (DE) – Serpent – 299

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

July 9, 2011

Rheinard TQs third qualifier

Marc Rheinard

The fight for the honour of being the Top Qualifier for the final race of the 2010/11 ETS is set to go down to the wire in Andernach this evening after Marc Rheinard became the third different driver to top the times sheets at the German event. The Tamiya driver and outgoing champion ran very closely with Q2 pace setter Ronald Volker until the Yokomo ace had trouble passing Steen Graversen losing 8/10th on his penultimate lap.

Rheinard said while conditions were not as good as Q2 this morning, due to the wind coming up and carrying sand onto the track, his Speed Passion powered TRF417 actually felt OK. Commenting on the wind/sand issue, the German who lives just 5 minutes from the track said it makes the car set-up very challenge as the track can change completely in just a matter of minutes. The Top Qualifier here last year the World Champion will leave his set-up as is and hope conditions are similar to Q3 in the final round.

Volker

Volker said while his incident was not good for him it does mean a more exciting climax to qualifying. Receiving an apology from Steen Graversen, who was fifth fastest for the round, Volker said his LRP powered BD5 WX pushed a little due to the higher temperature at the time of the heat but a switch from running a spool this morning to a geardiff had made the car more easy to drive.

Starting the heat one place ahead of Volker, who started last, Viktor Wilck said he had some problems with traffic. Having to go off line to let Volker passed he said he picked up a lot of dust on his tyres which took a few laps to clean off. Otherwise the Swede said his Thunder Power equipped Tamiya felt pretty OK.

Christopher Krapp

Having made a mistake in Q2 which left him 15th for the round, Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp kept it clean this time to set the 4th fastest time. The German said his Orion powered TF6 was better suited to this morning’s track conditions but he was still happy with the package. With the wind picking up at the track, making for even more sandy conditions, Krapp plans to run softer sway bars in the final qualifier.

Moore & Hara Cars

Sixth fastest behind the Awesomatix of Graversen, Andy Moore said his Hot Bodies was almost undriveable at the start of the run improving slightly as the run progressed. Looking for a cause to the ill handling the British ace found he had a broken front diff. Team-mate Atsushi Hara said his TCX felt better after changing the mixture in his front diff but the Japanese legend made a number of stupid mistakes, one which cost him four seconds, and he ended up only 10th fastest.

Eric Dankel

Posting the eighth fastest time behind Yannic Prumper, Team Xray’s Eric Dankel said he is having a problem with overheating his tyres. Starting off with a good feeling in the car the latter half of the run is different as the tyres go off. Currently 10th in the qualification ranking the German plans to fit anti dive to his T3’11 for the final round in the hope that the less aggressive set-up will be easier on the tyres and allow him to keep his place in the A-Main.

Having TQ’d the opening round and backed it up with 3rd in Q2, Jilles Groskamp made some big changes to his Tamiya for the penultimate qualifier but after having to let Rheinard through and getting up on two wheels the Dutchman pulled up half way through the run.

Tony Streit

In Pro Stock Xray T3’11 driver Tony Streit set the pace from the similar car of Michael Spiering denying Awesomatix’s Ivan Laptev the chance to wrap up early his second Top Qualifier honour of the season. The pace setter in Q1 & 2, Laptev had to settle for third while champion elect Martin Hofer had a difficult run managing only 12th.

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

July 9, 2011

Völker snatches Q2 from Rheinard

Ronald Völker

Ronald Völker has TQ’d the second round of qualifying for the Euro Touring Series finale snatching the fastest time on the last lap of the 5-minute run from Marc Rheinard. Having failed to complete even a lap in yesterday’s opening qualifier due to a drive shaft failure, the champion elect started Q2 from 10th and didn’t appear to be in contention on the timing screen until the very last lap on which he set his fastest lap of the run. The only other driver to record 18 laps, Rheinard set the outright fastest lap, setting a time of 17.286 on his third lap a full 1/10 faster than Völker’s best.

Jilles Groskamp

Surprising himself yesterday when he topped the opening round of qualifying Jilles Groskamp set the third fastest time. The former ETS Champion said traction was much higher this morning and his TRF417 set-up may not have been best suited for the conditions but otherwise described his run as ‘decent’. The TRF driver will change to his base set-up for Q3 which he said should make the car better suited to the more grippy track. He also plans to try a different additive which other members of the TRF squad have already tried and found better.

Setting the fourth fastest time Hot Bodies’ Atsushi Hara ran a new front diff on his TCX but felt it was too hard. Filling it with cleaning putty he said the car had understeer for the early part of the run but as the putty softened it started to improve. Happier with his driving today, having made a costly mistake while on a TQ run in Q1, the former World Champion will run a mixture of putty and oil in the diff for Q3. Team-mate Andy Moore, second fastest in the opening qualifier, could only manage 14th this time round saying he just drove exceptionally bad.

Failing to finish the opening qualifier Tamiya’s Viktor Wilck was fifth fastest just ahead of Yannic Prumper. Prumper said his driving was below par at the beginning of the run but his Yokomo felt good if maybe a little down on power. Planning on changing the power program on his speedo he said his main aim for the next outing is to put in a mistake free run.

Marc Fisher

Elsewhere Corally team driver Marc Fisher put in a strong run to take 7th for the Dutch company ahead of France’s Loic Jasmin. German Yokomo driver Patrick Pasch enjoyed a good showing with 10th just behind World Championship podium finisher Elliot Harper. Once again Eric Dankel was the fastest Xray in 16th just ahead of Poland race winner Juho Levanen who is struggling for traction on his Associated TC6.

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

July 8, 2011

Groskamp pulls TQ run out of nowhere

Jilles Groskamp

‘I pulled that one out of nowhere’ was how former ETS Champion Jilles Groskamp summed up his surprise TQ run in the opening round of qualifying at the final round of the ETS at Andernach. The Dutch racer topped Q1 from the Hot Bodies of Andy Moore and TRF team-mate Marc Rheinard while practice pace setter Ronald Volker ended up in the barrier on the opening lap.

Having lacked pace in practice, on a track that he said has never been successful for him, Groskamp was very amused by his TQ run but said his Orion powered Tamiya was much improved after fitting a fresh diff in which he increased the oil from 700 to 1000w. Producing a more stable car, the Apeldoorn Top Qualifier said running a set of used controlled tyres also made for a better overall package.

Andy Moore

Moore was happy with second for the opening round but said he pushed too hard over the final laps as he tried to get the better of Rheinard but this resulted in two average laps that he felt lost him the top spot. Also finding used tyres to suit his car better the 2006 World & European Champion said it was more stable but he still needs to find something to give him a little more steering.

Yannick Prumper

Losing Volker on the opening lap when a front drive shaft broke under braking at the end of the straight, Team Yokomo’s Yannick Prumper produced the third fastest time just 1/10 shy of Moore. Changing to Yokomo’s new longer chassis which the team are trying out here this weekend, the World finalist said it made the car better in every aspect and only for a mistake which cost him almost a second felt it was good enough for a TQ run.

Marc Rheinard

The Top Qualifier and winner of the event last year, Marc Rheinard was on target to take the round but got it wrong on the last lap losing over 2 seconds dropping him to fourth. The outgoing champion said he didn’t drive a good heat and was pushing too hard at the end trying to make up for some poor laps.

Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp took his TF6 to the fifth fastest time followed by the Awesomatix of former team-mate Steen Graversen. Setting the seventh fastest time young German René Klöckner put in a great opening round of qualifying mixing it among the World class field.

Atsushi Hara

Setting the fastest lap of the round Atsushi Hara said his TCX was finally good maybe too good as his driving let him down on lap 5 while he was setting the TQ pace. Having struggled in practice he put the same set-up as he runs a lot at his local track in Thailand on the car for Q1 and it transformed it to being very precise which he said lead to a mistake when he rode up on a curb and then crashed into a track barrier loosing him over 3.5 seconds. Ending up eigtht, the winner of the first ever ETS race at Andernach said tomorrow his event will really get started as he now feels he has the confidence to win here again.

Eric Dankel

As in practice Eric Dankel was once again the quickest of the Xray drivers with the ninth fastest time ahead of team-mate Alexander Hagberg. Juho Levanen, winner in Poland, was 11th fastest with his Associated TC6.

Ivan Laptev

In Pro Stock the opening qualifier went to Awesomatix team driver Ivan Laptev. The Top Qualifier at Round 4 of the series in Poland, he said having found his car difficult in practice a switch to running anti roll bars on the A700 gave him a very consistent car. Despite running a poor opening lap he was able to take the round by a comfortable one and a half seconds over the Xray T3s of Tony Streit and last year’s winner Michael Kiesewetter. Getting to run their second qualifier, which brought Day 1 of Round 6 of the 2010/11 Yokomo Euro Touring Series to a close, Laptev improved on his time outpacing Steffen Leinburger by over 2 seconds.

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

July 8, 2011

Volker tops practice at ETS finale

Ronald Volker

Team Yokomo’s Ronald Volker is the top seed for qualifying at the sixth & final round of the 2010/11 ETS after outpacing Tamiya’s Viktor Wilck and Marc Rheinard in the second controlled practice. Once again the German tried two different cars this time to back to back test a front geardiff against a spool, the former proving the better option. Describing the ever changing track conditions as not being as good as CP1, Volker said he was surprised by his faster time for the three consecutive laps and now plans to run that set-up for this evening’s opening round of qualifying.

Victor Wilck

Using CP2 to run in his second set of race tyres, Wilck was happy to be able to run closer to the pace of Volker this time round also managing to move ahead of his TRF team-mate Rheinard. The Swede found the track to suit his TRF417 better and chose to scrub in the tyres as it should make for a more stable car over the opening laps of the first qualifier.

Andy Moore

The first two laps of the run are still a problem for Hot Bodies’ two former World Champions Andy Moore and Atsushi Hara but having found a front drive shaft to be binding in the diff of his Hot Bodies TCX after CP1 Moore was able to improve to the fourth fastest time. Hara also improved his time but dropped to sixth. Running a softer set-up the Japanese star said the car produced faster lap times but did not have the correct feeling and he will revert back to his earlier set-up.

Steen Graversen

Top Danish racer Steen Graversen, who is running the still relatively new Russian designed Awesomatix, ran the fifth fastest time in CP2. Describing the traction as a complete lottery due to the wind being able to completely change conditions, Graversen is happy with the handling of the A700 for when the track is good. Finding it hard to judge what the traction is going to be like when you arrive into a corner he admitted he is not sure what set-up changes he would change if he had too.

Although he improved his time in CP2 Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp ends practice seventh fastest ahead of Tamiya’s Jille Groskamp and Team Yokomo’s Lucas Urbain. The fastest Xray driver Eric Dankel, the winner of the opening to round of this year’s series in Pro Stock, completes the Top 10 for Modified practice.

Ivan Laptev

In Pro Stock Ivan Laptev set the pace with his Awesomatix outpacing Jens Kroger, Martin Hofer and Cyril N’diaye, the Top 3 in CP1, who all failed to better their times in the final practice.

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.