Qualifying Modified Heat 6 Rd2 – Video
No surprises as Stocker takes first Pro Stock qualifier
Day 2 of the Euro Touring Series has opened with the first round of qualifying for Pro Stock and at the top of the time sheet there was not great surprise, Alexander Stocker setting the pace with an 18 lap run in 5:13.375. The German described the run as ‘not too bad’ saying it was a safe run with extra caution required due to the huge increase in traction since their final practice run yesterday evening. The current championship leader, Stocker said he likes such conditions, a worrying fact for his rivals.
Claiming second for the round was young Slovak talent Zdenko Kunak who was the only driver to break into the 16 second laps with a fastest lap of 16.895. The Xray driver is using Juraj Hudy’s T3 chassis’ this weekend, the Xray owner absent from Poland as he is flying to American tomorrow to get race mileage on the company’s up coming 1:8 electric buggy. Kunak said they have now found a good base setting for the huge track here in the Arena Ursynow but plans some small changes to try make the car a little easier to drive.
Setting the third fastest time was Jan Gehrig who is enjoying somewhat of an arrive and drive weekend thanks to David Ehrbar. Making the A-Main here last year, the German is using one of Ehrbar’s old T3 chassis’ with the Czech Grand Prix winner also doing the set-up on the car. Gehrig said the car feels really good and said he has been told by the boss that no changes will be made for the second qualifier and that an improved time needs to come from his driving.
Pro Stock ace Tommy Bergfeldt ended up fifth, behind Germany’s Henrik Heitsch, after he got t-boned while running a Top 3 pace. The incident cost him 7 seconds but the Swede said this aside he was pleased with both the car and his driving and plans no changes for the next round. Czech ETS race winner Daniel Wohlgemuth got caught out by the increased traction, rolling his Hot Bodies twice and ending up only 6th fastest. The German plans to glue up the side walls of his front tyres for Q2.
Pro Stock results after round 1
1. Stocker Alexander (DE) – 18 5:13.375
2. Kunák Zdenko (SK) – 18 5:16.872
3. Gehrig Jan (DE) – 17 5:01.883
4. Heitsch Henrik (DE) – 17 5:03.097
5. Bergfeldt Tommy (SE) – 17 5:03.923
6. Wohlgemuth Daniel (DE) – 17 5:05.048
7. Wiessmann Felix (DE) – 17 5:06.119
8. Lepelaar Michael (NL) – 17 5:07.338
9. Madsen Carsten (DK) – 17 5:09.290
10.Klöckner René (DE) – 17 5:09.699
Full results can be found here.
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Rheinard tops opening qualifier in Warsaw
Chasing his third consecutive Euro Touring Series race victory, championship leader Marc Rheinard has got Round 4 here in Poland off to a strong start by topping the opening round of qualifying. Despite two moments during his run, the German ran 18 laps in 05:00.127 to TQ the opening heat from Tamiya team-mate Viktor Wilck who also had two bad laps on his way to setting a time of 5:00.569.
Rheinard lost time on lap seven when his Speed Passion propelled TRF416 X done a 360 on the main straight. The German said his car felt pretty good during the run and he can’t explain the strange moment. The second loss of time which cost him 2.5 seconds was easier to explain. On Lap 11 he caught a dot which sent his car into a roll. Wilck also rolled loosing 2 second on each occasion. The first roll came when his car grip rolled on tape while the second came after contact with Zdenek Hamak. Hamak was on a good run but it all came to an end shortly after his touch with Wilck. In spectacular fashion he rolled his Xray T3 the entire length of the front straight. If r/c racing was an Olympic discipline the Czech driver’s roll would have impressed the judges but its not and his car is going to need a thorough going over on the Hudy bench.
Setting an impressive 3rd fastest time, Czech Grand Prix winner David Ehrbar was delighted with his opening run describing his Xray as perfect. Running a GM speedo and a 4.5 Turn Speed Passion motor, the German is hopeful he can maintain his form tomorrow and challenge for his first ever ETS podium finish. Overall the opening round of qualifying on this huge track proved very successful for German drivers with Sebastian Lein and Lars Treder taking their Tamiyas to the fourth and fifth fastest times. Lein, an A-Main finalist in Hungary, said his diff didn’t feel right and is very encouraged by his Top 4 run. 18-year-old Treder, a regular ETS competitor, was really pleased with his run and hopes for more of the same tomorrow. Slovak driver Zdenko Kunak, who is looking very good for a strong Pro Stock performance here, completed the Top 6 for Modified.
Factory Xray driver Martin Hudy didn’t get any birthday presents in the first qualifier. Having had understeer in the final practice the birthday boy made adjustments to his T3 but he appears to have gone to far. At the end of the main straight on his out lap for the warm-up his car oversteered in to the track barrier resulting in a broken front wishbone and a DNS for the first heat.
Day 2 of the fourth round of the Xenon Racing backed Euro Touring Series kicks off with the opening qualifier for huge Pro Stock field of drivers.
Modified results after round 1
1. Rheinard Marc (DE) – 18 Laps in 5:00.127
2. Wilck Viktor (SE) – 18 Laps in 5:00.569
3. Ehrbar David (DE) – 18 Laps in 5:01.977
4. Lein Sebastian (DE) – 18 Laps in 5:04.382
5. Treder Lars (DE) – 18 Laps in 5:04.406
6. Kunák Zdenko (SK) – 18 Laps in 5:06.670
7. Prümper Yannic (DE) – 18 Laps in 5:08.802
8. Bok Michal (CZ) – 18 Laps in 5:08.813
9. Klöckner René (DE) – 18 Laps in 5:08.997
10.Lnenicka Sacha (CH) – 18 Laps in 5:09.376
Full results can be found here.
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Practice completed, Championship leaders top reseed
Euro Touring Series championship leader Marc Rheinard has ended practice for Round 4 in Poland at the top of the time sheets. Over the five practice runs the German recorded both the fastest individual lap time with a 16.233 and a Superpole time, average of his best three laps, of 16.352 around the huge track here in the Arena Ursynow. Running a 4 turn Speed Passion motor in his Tamiya TRF416 X, the German said the car felt pretty good despite running a fresh set of the controlled Xenon tyres in the final, and fastest, practice session.
Behind Rheinard with a Superpole time of 16.415 is the other half of the Tamiya Racing Factory team Viktor Wilck. The Swede was also happy with how his car is performing but looking over the individual lap times, in which his fastest lap is 15/100 off that of his team-mate, the Kastellaun winner was surprised by the gap saying ‘that’s too much’.
Fastest after three rounds of practice Zdenek Hamak has ended up third fastest continuing on from his impressive showing at his home race in the Czech Republic. The Xray supported driver managed only two laps in the fourth practice after a problem with a front CVD pin on his T3, the lost track time forcing him to make a lot of set-up changes for the final practice. The Czech driver said the changes made the car much smoother to drive and with a few very small changes, the car can be strong for the opening qualifier which takes place for the Hobby and Modified classes later this evening.
Putting in a great final round of practice, privateer Tamiya driver Sebastian Lein managed the fourth fastest time just ahead of last year’s Polish victor Yannic Prumper. With almost every other one of the 200 drivers racing here this weekend waiting for traction to increase, Prumper is struggling to keep his Tonisport car on four weeks due to grip roll. The young German said the car was the best it has been all day but is puzzled as to why he is the only driver suffering with too much traction. Due to his poor pace in the earlier sessions Prumper ended the reseed, based on the average best two Superpole times, in 12th. Completing the Top 6 in the reseed, David Ehrbar managed 5th from Xray’s Martin Hudy.
In Pro Stock practice ended with championship leader Alexander Stocker topping the reseed from Zdenko Kunák who actually recorded the fastest Superpole time with his Xray averaging 17.242 in the final session. Top Danish Pro Stock racer Carsten Madsen ranked third ahead of Tommy Bergfeldt. Bergfeldt, who is running a new colour scheme on his Redbull backed Hot Bodies, said he feels he has found a better line for the open track but is still playing with the gearing to get the best from his Advanced Electronics speedo. Germany’s Jan Gehrig did a good job to be reseeded 5th ahead of ETS Round 3 winner Daniel Wohlgemuth.
Winner here last year, taking his first ever international win, Meik Niemann is enjoying being back racing saying the big track was making it easier for him. The German who is now running a Hot Bodies Cyclone said he is having problems getting the right setting for on his LRP speedo but overall is happy with how practice has gone despite managing only 35th in the reseed. The large Pro Stock entry will have to wait till the morning for their first of the five scheduled rounds of qualifying.
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Czech star Hamak sets early pace in Poland
Practice for Round 4 of the Xenon Racing backed Euro Touring Series is underway here in Warsaw, Poland and all the talk in the pits is about the sheer size of the track. After securing the biggest hall in the capital city, the host club OSM promised to create the biggest indoor track the sport has seen and race director Scotty Ernst thinks that that has easily been achieved. The track which is 41 metres long and 28 metres in dept is getting mixed reviews from the drivers with some loving the high speeds while others say it lacks corners but the general consensus is that it will produce some very close racing in Sunday’s finals. Brand new carpet for the event have meant low levels of grip for the opening three rounds of practice but with the huge entry a black line is developing fast.
So far it is the star of the Czech round Zdenek Hamak who is setting the pace based on the super pole timing which will be used later to reseed the drivers for qualifying. Over three laps the Czech Xray driver managed an average of 16.966 with championship leader Marc Rheinard the nearest to him with a 17.074 average. Hamak said that the wide open layout of the track is taking a bit of getting used to and while he has good pace over three laps the car is hard to drive and not very consistent. The T3 currently has too much steering which is not good for this track but he is confident that he can easily dial that out for the fourth practice.
World Champion Rheinard, who is chasing his third consecutive ETS win here this weekend, described the track as not very technical but nice. The German said his Tamiya is OK but it is hard to get a true indication of where he is at due to to low traction. His Tamiya/Speedpassion team-mate Viktor Wilck, who has so far recorded the outright fastest lap time with a 16.685, also likes the track in particular the first corner at the end of the front straight where the cars are on maximum brake. The Swede is currently fourth in the super pole ranking just behind Czech ace Michal Bok.
One of the stars of the Pro Stock A-Main at the last round in the Czech Republic Ivan Laptev is running well so far in Modified with the fifth fastest pace. Russia’s top international touring car driver, Laptev struggled in the opening two runs but changes for the third made his Tamiya fell really good until the diff broke. Unfortunately in Stock he is struggling, currently lying only 9th fastest as he struggles with straight line speed. Sacha Lnenicka, an A finalist on his ETS debut in Budapest currently holds the sixth fastest time in Modified.
Birthday boy Martin Hudy, who was presented with a Formula 1 shaped cake after the second practice to mark his 26th year, sits seventh. The factory Xray driver said his T3 was working OK but it was hard to actually get a good feeling for what the car is doing cause the track is so open. Making a welcomed return to the Euro Touring Series, new Team Yokomo signing Steven Weiss is currently 11th but the former European Championship Top Qualifier said he is waiting for the grip to come up and we should see him move closer to the pace in the remaining two rounds of practice.
In Pro Stock up and coming Slovak driver Zdenko Kunak had a good third practice to put his Xray T3 top of the time sheets ahead the three main protagonists of the European Pro stock scene, Alexander Stocker, Tommy Bergfeldt and Daniel Wohlgemuth. Championship leader Stocker, together with his team-mate and Czech ETS winner Wohlegmuth, said they would like to see more corners in the track. For super fast Swede Bergfeldt, who arrived here on Wednesday and enjoyed a day of sightseeing yesterday around Warsaw, he is still trying to find the right lines for the huge track.
Unfortunately defending Pro Stock champion Balint Raijki has been forced to miss the event after laser eye treatment during the week has left him in too much pain to make the trip. Returning to racing after a couple of months absence former winner Meik Niemann is currently 39th fastest but once the German shakes off the cobwebs we should she him feature higher. One interesting competitor here this weekend in the Hobby Class is Durango designer Gerd Strenge.
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Polish capital awaits Euro Touring Series fourth round
Poland plays host to the fourth round of the Xenon Racing backed Euro Touring Series this weekend as it travels to a new venue, the huge Arena Ursynow, in the city of Warsaw. The final carpet race of the 2009/2010 season before the series move outdoors for Rounds 5 & 6, the second visit to the Polish capital has attracted over 200 entries including last year’s winners Yannic Prümper and Meik Niemann. Twelve months ago the two German’s notched up their first international race victories at the event, a special moment they will both be hoping to repeat again come Sunday.
Prümper makes a return to the ETS after school commitments forced him to miss the Czech round where 200mm World Champion Daniele Ielasi filled his drive at Toni-Sport. Despite being out of action for two months, the talented teenager is sure to be back up to speed quickly and be a serious podium contender this weekend.
Leading the championship by 2 points from Tamiya team-mate Viktor Wilck, Marc Rheinard travels to Warsaw as the clear favourite for the top step on the podium. Having won Round 2 in Budapest, the World Champion backed it up with a dominant performance last time out taking victory in the Czech Republic and now has his targets set on a third consecutive ETS race victory. Wilck, winner of the season opener in Kastellaun, is the only other driver to have been on the podium at all three opening rounds and will be determined get the better of Rheinard on the 41M X 28M track and leave Poland back at the top of the points table.
The star of Hrotovice, finishing fourth overall in the A-Main among the quality line-up of international team drivers, Zdenek Hamak will be hoping to repeat his best international performance and further impress Team Xray who are supporting the Czech driver for the 2010 season. Hamak will again have the benefit of working alongside full factory Xray driver Martin Hudy who currently lies joint fourth in the standings with Team Associated’s Juho Levanen.
In the 13.5T Pro Stock class there are four ETS race winners among the 107 entries but it is current standings leader and inaugural Euro Touring Series Pro Stock Champion Alexander Stocker that they will all be out to beat. The German dominated the opening two rounds but in the Czech Republic had to withdraw from the finals allowing fellow German Daniel Wohlgemuth to take his first win in the series from Russian driver Ivan Laptev.
Defending Pro Stock Champion Balint Rajki has had a difficult season so far and really needs to turn things around this weekend to have any chance of retaining his crown. Last year’s event winner Niemann makes a welcomed return to the series having been absent from the racing scene for a few months and is entered to run a Hot Bodies chassis. Another Hot Bodies that can be expected to feature strongly is that of super fast Swede Tommy Bergfeldt. The Redbull backed racer is a previous DHI Cup Champion and back in January had a great battle with Stocker who eventually took the win and so has a point to prove in Poland.
Round four of the Xenon Racing Euro Touring Series will be part of a major feature on Polish television with the country’s top TV station sending a crew along for the weekend to film all the action. OSM, the host club, have also arrange for the Lord Mayor of Warsaw to attend the event on Sunday making this a great showcase for the sport of r/c racing in Poland. Also supported by Speedpassion, the event gets underway with practice on Friday with RedRC.net on hand to bring live coverage throughout the weekend.
A-mains Leg 3 – Video
Wilck wins Leg 3, Rheinard Czech Champion
Viktor Wilck has won the third leg of the A-Main here in the Czech Republic but the final result remains the same as he takes second overall behind Tamiya Racing Factory team-mate Marc Rheinard with Juho Levanen completing the podium.
Again it looked like Top Qualifier Rheinard was going to cruise to a third win of the day but on lap 4 the German got out of shape allowing Wilck to slip through. Once in front the Swede stayed there despite the World Champion getting right up on his bumper in the last minute of the race. Wilck said afterwards that is TFR416X was very strong in the opening part of the race but started to get loose near the end. Rheinard said he was happy to hold station as a pass would have been an unnecessary risk especially with Levanen running a close third.
It was a case of three is the magic number for Associated’s Levanen as he took his no.3 car to third in all three legs to finish for 3rd overall at the 3rd race of the 2009/2010 season. Having done a lot of development work on his TC5R and tested it on high traction tracks, the Finn said he was very pleased with the performance of it here on the lower traction conditions. Happy with his pace in relation to the Tamiya team and at finishing on podium he said the weekend was very encouraging ahead of the Indoor European Championship.
The big star of the weekend was Czech driver Zdenek Hamak. Surprising everyone with his blistering pace in Friday’s practice when he toped the time sheets, the Xray driver backed it up with a great final round of qualifying that put him fifth on the grid. Struggling with his nerves in the finals, Hamak still managed to put in a great performance on home soil to claim his best international race result with a fine fourth overall.
In Pro Stock Daniel Wohlgemuth claimed his first ETS win but the German didn’t make it easy for himself. Holding a big lead in the third leg over Ivan Laptev, the Hot Bodies driver rolled on the last lap allowing the Russian past. With half a lap to go the two swapped paint before we got an action replay of the last corner move Dennis Fadtke pulled on Wohlgemuth in Leg 1. Diving down the inside of Laptev in a do or die move, the Top Qualifier made sure he made it to the finish line first this time round doing so by just 13/100th of a second. Having failed to convert his last TQ honours into victory Wohlgemuth was delighted to take his first Euro Touring Series win. Fadkte, who was making his ETS Pro Stock class debut completed the podium behind Laptev, the two of them both claiming their first podium finishes in the series. Fadkte, an ETS regular in Modified, said he now plans to do both classes for the remainder of the championship.
In the Hobby Class rising young Polish talent Michal Orlowski won all three legs of the A-Main from pole to further extend his lead in the point standings. The 8-year-old will be hoping to continue his winning ways at the next round of the Xenon Racing backed Euro Touring Series when it travels to his home country. The hosts of the Warsaw race confirmed this week that they have secured a new 1600 square metre hall for the March 5-7 event.
Modified A-main Overall results
1. Rheinard Marc (DE) – 2pts
2. Wilck Viktor (SE) – 3pts
3. Levanen Juho (FI) – 6pts
4. Hamak Zdenek (CZ) – 9pts
5. Hudy Martin (SK) – 9pts
6. Graversen Steen (DK) – 11pts
7. Jefferies Olly (GB) – 12pts
8. Harper Elliott (GB) – 14pts
9. Moore Andy (GB) – 15pts
10. Kunák Zdenko (SK) – 16pts
Pro Stock A-main Overall results
1. Wohlgemuth Daniel (DE) – 2pts
2. Laptev Ivan (RU) – 5pts
3. Fadtke Dennis (PL) – 7pts
4. Madsen Carsten (DK) – 7pts
5. Rajki Balint (HU) – 8pts
6. Klöckner René (DE) – 9pts
7. Ashton Chris (GB) – 9pts
8. Mara Jiri (CZ) – 12pts
9. Schmidt Martin (DE) – 18pts
10.Stocker Alexander (DE) – 20pts
Full results can be found here.
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