Euro Touring Series

October 27, 2018

Chassis Focus – Alexander Hagberg

Chassis – Xray T4 ’19
Motor – Hobbywing 5.0T
ESC –Hobbywing Xerun XR10 Pro
Batteries –Sunpadow 5300 mAh LCG
Tires – Volante (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/Br1no RC
Bodyshell – Montech Racer

Remarks – Xray team driver Alexander Hagberg is using the latest 2019 version of the Slovakian brand’s T4 equipped with several option parts such as steel front outdrives, an aluminium “Flex” chassis, progressive front springs and 1.6mm top deck. Running his standard ETS setup, he said the biggest step forward was brought by the LCG LiPo pack that made his car noticeably quicker in direction changes thanks to the reduced roll.

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October 27, 2018

Video – Modified Qualifying Rd3

October 27, 2018

Bruno Coelho comes good to take Q3

A much better round, I force it 200% to try to make the best result possible.”

Bruno Coelho

The 3rd round of qualifying produced our 3rd different top qualifier with Bruno Coelho finally coming good after showing pace in practice but struggling in the opening two qualifiers here in Austria. Again Thimo Weissbauer showed great speed and lead for a long time, later in the race, only to traction roll on the 2nd last lap. This allowed Ronald Volker up into 2nd place with Freddy Sudhoff taking 3rd in front of Q2 pace setter Marc Rheinard, who used the run to try his 2nd set of tires, in 4th. Coelho said of the run ‘A much better round, I force it 200% to try to make the best result possible’, continuing ‘the car was better, not 100%, but I also made mistakes throughout the run’. The Xray driver will now discuss with his mechanic Francesco Martini to go through changes for the next round, aiming like everyone for more steering without losing the rear.

Former World and ETS Champion Volker who now leads the qualifying order with one round left to run said ‘it started off a little bit slow, I was down the order but I could either improve my pace or the other guys dropped back’. Happy to get another good result, the Yokomo driver said ‘I’ll take the 2 points’. Admitting to struggling with the balance at the beginning of the run, he will make adjustments to get a little better balance over the entire 5 minutes.

It was another good showing for the Awesomatix team with Weissbauer setting the pace for much of the run, but with him having problems, it was to be his more experienced team mate Freddy Sudhoff who took over the gauntlet. ‘It was a pretty good run and very close to the front guys, only 2/10ths to the TQ’. The German had changed his setup closer to Thimo’s but for the next one will make another small change to get more mid corner steering and hopefully ‘that is enough to take a TQ’.

Pace is good I just have to keep my head down.”

Simon Lauter

In the Pro Stock class another Awesomatix driver, Simon Lauter, wrapped up the TQ spot with his 3rd round topping run. Talking about his run, he said ’I think it was pretty amazing, the TQ is safe now and I just have to stay confident and keep calm’. Starting from the pole position in tomorrow’s triple A-mains, the German’s strategy is ‘not to crash it or flip it or something like that. Pace is good I just have to keep my head down’. Taking 2nd for the round reigning champion Jan Ratheisky headed a very close battle that saw 2nd to 4th covered by 3 tenths of a second with Max Machler 3rd and Lukas Ellerbrock in 4th.

I had massive electronic problems in practice. I ran all new electrics every run but after 2-3 minutes something happened and it stopped.”

David Ehrbar

The Formula class saw former champion David Ehrbar take his 2nd TQ run of the day, a fine result considering the issues he had in practice. Explaining ‘I had massive electronic problems in practice. I ran all new electrics every run but after 2-3 minutes something happened and it stopped’, meaning he had to use his girlfriend Anne’s car who ran in the previous heat to set a time. Surprised at the pace of his car in the opening qualifier last night, which he TQ’d, after a 3rd in Q2 he was back to the top of the times in the 3rd run. Jan Ratheisky took 2nd for the round with Oliver Bultynck in 3rd, while Matej Dobnikar and Andreas Stiebler were 4th and 5th respectively.

In the Masters class, former Pro Stock Champion Alexander Stocker driving an Awesomatix continued his dominance of the class taking his 3rd TQ of the event to seal the top spot for tomorrow’s finals, however while his quickest time, 2nd placed Toni Mateo was closer than he had been previously. Only 3 and a half seconds back, the Spaniard was a second up on 3rd place Christian Drießle with reigning champion Thomas Oehler in 4th another 1.5 seconds further back. In the Stock class Daniel Pohlmann became the first top qualifier of this new for 2018/19 class as he took TQ number 3, this time ahead of Mark Valent and Markku Seppälä.

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

October 27, 2018

Chassis Focus – Marc Rheinard

Chassis – Infinity IF14
Motor – Muchmore 5.0T
ESC – Muchmore Fleta Pro V2
Batteries –Muchmore 6400 mAh
Tires – Volante (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/Power HD
Bodyshell – Protoform Type-S

Remarks – Sitting top of the times after two rounds of qualifying, former ETS Champion Marc Rheinard is running a pretty standard version of the Japanese Infinity IF14, the only option used being a lower shock tower. The Protoform Type-S has been the body of choice to take care of aerodynamics on his Muchmore powered car.

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October 27, 2018

Rheinard tops the 2nd round at ETS Austria

I’m very happy for Thimo, I believe he is now fixed into the final. Its great to have a new face in the A-main”

Marc Rheinard

Marc Rheinard has taken the 2nd round of qualifying for the Volante Modified class here in Vienna, Austria. The Infinity driver took the lead early on as he was able to pull clear from Freddy Sudhoff who started directly ahead of him and get in front of Q1 TQ Volker, who sat in 2nd for most of the run but had finish, losing 6 seconds on the last lap. Another collision on the final lap between eventual 3rd place finisher Alexander Hagberg and Yannic Prumper saw young Awesomatix driver Thimo Weissbauer take 2nd and the finish. Rheinard said his car was a lot better in that run and hopes that they continue with the same pace through to the end of the event, the 3-time ISTC World Champion winning this event 12 months previous.

Having had a previous best finish at the ETS of only 12th position 2 years ago in Germany and finishing in 13th here last year, Thimo Weissbauer is a one to watch this weekend. Running at the sharp end of the field all weekend, Q2 saw the German end the run 2nd and lock his place in the A-main having finished 6th in Q1. Commenting on his run he said ‘the car was really on point. I was 4th before the last lap crash (between Prumper & Hagberg) and i could make 2nd’.

Yannic was holding me up and crashed on the last lap and cost me 2nd place.”

Alexander Hagberg

Involved in that late crash, Hagberg gave his view on the incident saying ‘Yannic was holding me up and crashed on the last lap and cost me 2nd place’. Admitting to making some mistakes himself throughout the 5-minutes he feels the car is fast enough and just needs to put in a clean run and he can fight for the TQ.

I tried to start safe and build up speed but then made more mistakes.”

Bruno Coelho

Having set the pace in practice, reigning ETS champion Coelho endured another difficult qualifier ending up 6th after another mistake filled run. Feeling the track is different to yesterday which is causing his Xray car to flip too easily, he told us that he ‘tried to start safe and build up speed but then made more mistakes’. The Portuguese ace says the car is good, but it is him that is making too many small errors which he will need to clean up if he is to improve his qualifying position and give him a chance of fighting for the victory in tomorrow’s A-mains.

In the stock class Awesomatix driver Simon Lauter took the top spot in what he felt was an important round, believing that the track conditions were really good and would be considered a ‘rocket round’. On his car he has not made any changes since arriving in Vienna, with the exception of trying a new body in free practice, which he retained. Max Machler would end Q2 in 2nd place, exactly a second in front of Infinity driver Dominic Vogl.

The Scorpion Formula class saw Simon Lauter complete what was a good 2nd round of qualifying by also taking his Tamiya F1 chassis to the top of the times. This time top seed Andreas Stiebler went one better to take 2nd, while Q1 winner David Ehrbar finished in 3rd.

Alexander ‘Pro’ Stocker once again took the round in the 40+ class, this time some 6 seconds in front of Christian Drießle in 2nd with Toni Mateo in 3rd. It was a similar story of dominance in the Stock class as Daniel Pohlmann once again took the round ahead of Keving Sparbier and Mark Valent.

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

October 27, 2018

Q1 goes to Ronald Volker

It’s early in the morning and I’m already happy to take the first qualifier.”

Ronald Volker

The opening round of qualifying for the new ETS season has been completed and it was Ronald Volker who emerged quickest in conditions that were looser than the night before. Top seed Bruno Coelho had a number of mistakes early in the run which let the Yokomo driver, who was starting second, passed. Following another big moment the World Champion pulled up to save the car. With Volker in front, the battle was for remaining spots with Alexander Hagberg finally taking the 2nd spot having swapped the position back and forth with Marc Rheinard who ended up 3rd, with Freddy Sudhoff and Akio Sobue completing the top 5. ‘Obviously I’m happy to TQ the first qualifier of the season’ said Volker, continuing ‘the track was different to yesterday, a bit more loose’. The German said his BD9 started to get looser as the run went on, causing him to lose 0.5 second on the 2nd last lap, which nearly cost him the TQ. For the next run he will work with his mechanic Hayato to try make the car more stable as well as reduce the power back to what he had in free practice.

I felt like I had more potential than what I could show in free practice.”

Alexander Hagberg

Flying under the radar somewhat in Controlled practice, only seeding 7th, Xray driver Alexander Hagberg put in a solid run to take the 2nd spot, summing up his run with ‘good car, it has good pace.’ While admitting it was difficult to drive which led to some small mistakes, he will continue to work on further setup changes and ‘hopefully fight for the TQ’.

It’s hard to fight for a place in the main, you can’t take that for granted, the competition level is so high.”

Marc Rheinard

‘A solid start, it was pretty close’ was how Marc Rheinard described Q1, the Infinity driver commenting that he had some rough laps and was not easy to drive but the pace was not bad. Planning to switch back to his free practice setup which has a wider rear end, he hopes this will give him the extra corner speed he is looking for.

In the Pro Stock class, who had their first qualifiers late last night it was Awesomatix driver Simon Lauter who came out on top, this time ahead of Tim Benson in 2nd, just 1 second back. Oliver Bultynck took a close 3rd, the last of the drivers to make a 22 lap run, while top seed Jan Rathiesky and Max Machler completed the top 5 for the round.

In the Formula class, it was Serpent designer and former class Champion David Ehrbar who was fastest, having only seeded 10th, ending the 5-minutes over a second clear of Simon Lauter in 2nd. Top seed Andreas Stiebler, driving the Hawx F1 car, could only manage 3rd for the round, with Matej Dobnikar and his Xray team mate and reigning Champion Jan Rathiesky, who set the fastest lap of the round, completing the top 5.

The Masters 40+ class looked like a walk in the park for former Pro Stock Champion Alexander Stocker as he took the round by 9 seconds. Spanish driver Toni Mateo was 2nd, Peter Miko, running the 2nd fastest heat was 3rd with current champion Thomas Oehler in 4th. In the Stock class, which runs handout Muchmore 17.5T motors, it was top seed Daniel Pohlmann who was fastest in front of Mark Valent and Michael Gradl.

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

October 26, 2018

Video – Modified Controlled Practice Rd2

October 26, 2018

Defending Champion Coelho is top seed in Vienna

Qualifying tomorrow is very early so we will see how awake I am before we decide on any changes.”

Bruno Coelho

Bruno Coelho is the top seed in the Volante Modified class for the opening round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Vienna Austria, having improved upon his first round time in the 2nd controlled practice. Taking the round ahead of Freddy Sudhoff and Ronald Volker and a much improved Marc Rheinard, the Xray driver said while it was a very good run, he also made too many small mistakes. Putting them down to pushing the car to find its limits, he said ‘everything is looking good for tomorrow and we will see in the morning if we need to change anything for Q1’, the modified class having their opening qualifier first thing tomorrow morning.

Sudhoff declared CP2, ‘a little better, small steps’ as he further improved his setup and fastest time to end the round in 2nd. The Worlds finalist said his Awesomatix was improving minute to minute and if he was to pick out any issue he would say that perhaps for the first minute the car could be a little better and ‘then it would be the perfect car.’

At least it’s faster, but we are still missing something, it’s hard to drive without mistakes”

Marc Rheinard

Taking third for the run, while Volker seeded in 3rd with his CP1 time, Infinity driver Marc Rheinard felt his car was improved from the first run but they are still lacking something saying that before the car was pushing too much and now in that run it was too loose. ‘At least it’s faster, but we are still missing something, it’s hard to drive without mistakes’, ending by saying ‘we will make little changes and try to keep it on the track.’

In the Pro Stock class, defending champion Jan Rathiesky jumped to the top of the times with his Xray T4 19 to becoming top seed ahead of Simon Lauter who failed to improve in the 2nd run. Jan said ‘I used the OneTen series setup, which I also used at the AOC the week after, nothing has changed apart from the electronics’. Using Rd1 to run in his race tires, for CP2 he didn’t push, simply running a stead qualifying pace. Max Machler, Tim Benson and Frederik Mikkelsen complete the top 5 in seeding.

Andreas Stiebler is the top seed in the Scorpion Formula class, who along with 2nd placed Rathiesky had to rely on their CP1 times. The Xray driver would take the round ahead of Stiebler while Simon Lauter improved to take 3rd for the round and the seeding. Matej Dobnikar, Ben Cosgrove and Oliver Bultynck would complete the top 6 in the overall ranking.

The Infinity Masters 40+ class again saw Alexander Stocker at the front, but this time only 0.3 seconds ahead of Toni Mateo, with last year’s inaugural champion Thomas Oehler improving to take 3rd. For the Yokomo Stock class it was again Daniel Pöhlmann in CP2 with Marwin Riedelbauch jumping to 2nd in front of 3rd placed Kevin Sparbier.

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.