A-mains Leg 2 – Video
Rheinard ‘Czechs’ out in Leg 2 to win ETS Round 3
Marc Rheinard is the winner of the third round of the Xenon Racing backed Euro Touring Series, the current World Champion backing up his A-Main Leg 1 win by cruising to a 2 second winning margin over his Tamiya team-mate Viktor Wilck. The result means Rheinard leaves the Czech Republic with a 2 point advantage over the Swede who came to Hrotovice as the championship leader.
Rheinard said once he had established a gap up front he just controlled the race. Commenting on the weekend the German said it was one of the more difficult races for the team as they struggled with set-up but in the end they made progress and it was good practice for the up coming indoor European Championships in Finland. Wilck was disappointed he wasn’t able to mount a challenge for the win in Leg 2 and take the race to the third leg. The ETS Round 1 winner said his Tamiya was lacking steering after being late putting on the front additive and despite giving his all there was nothing he could do about his team-mates pace.
Repeating his Leg 1 third place finish Associated’s Juho Levanen said he felt he could pass Wilck before making a small mistake which dropped him back. With the pace of the Top 3 so close the Finn said he couldn’t make back the lost time and had to settle for third once again.
The big battle of the race was for fourth position with Martin Hudy once again the man getting the most attention from his rivals. Like in Leg 1 the Slovak driver stayed calm and kept his LRP powered Xray online to finish in front of fellow T3 driver Zdenek Hamak and former World Champion Andy Moore. After piloting his airborne Hot Bodies down the straight on the opening lap the former World Champion finished ahead of fellow Brits Elliot Harper and Olly Jefferies.
In Pro stock, Leg 2 wasn’t as action packed as the opening race with Daniel Wohlgemuth converting his TQ starting position into victory but once again the German had his moments rolling once as he came onto the straight. Behind him it was defending Champion Balint Rajki took second making it a 1-2 finish for the Cyclone. Afterwards the Hungarian summed up the race but saying, ‘that was much better’. Ivan Laptev again had a good run to bring his Tamiya home in third ahead of a very Carsten Madsen, the Dane recording the fastest lap of the race. The overall winner of Round 3 for Pro Stock will be decided in the third leg with three drivers, Wohlgemuth, Leg 1 winner Dennis Fadtke and Rajki, in contention.
Modified A-main Leg 2 results
1. Rheinard Marc – 19 Laps in 5:07.623
2. Wilck Viktor – 19 Laps in 5:09.841
3. Levanen Juho – 19 Laps in 5:11.944
4. Hudy Martin – 18 Laps in 5:00.699
5. Hamak Zdenek – 18 Laps in 5:01.031
6. Moore Andy – 18 Laps in 5:01.816
7. Harper Elliott – 18 Laps in 5:02.192
8. Jefferies Olly – 18 Laps in 5:03.177
9. Graversen Steen – 18 Laps in 5:03.724
10.Kunák Zdenko – 18 Laps in 5:06.805
Pro Stock A-main Leg 2 results
1. Wohlgemuth Daniel – 18 Laps in 5:03.906
2. Rajki Balint – 18 Laps in 5:06.344
3. Laptev Ivan – 18 Laps in 5:08.984
4. Madsen Carsten – 18 Laps in 5:11.017
5. Ashton Chris – 18 Laps in 5:12.039
6. Fadtke Dennis – 18 Laps in 5:12.352
7. Mara Jiri – 18 Laps in 5:12.690
8. Klöckner René – 17 Laps in 5:02.898
9. Schmidt Martin – 17 Laps in 5:07.910
10.Stocker Alexander – DNS
Full results can be found here.
View our event image gallery here.
A-mains Leg 1 – Video
Rheinard & Fadtke win first A-Main
The first A-Main of the third round of the Euro Touring Series has been run with Marc Rheinard and Dennis Fadtke taking the respective Modified and Pro Stock wins. Starting from pole, Rheinard took an easy victory while Fadtke won a thrilling race from 9th on the grid with a great move on Top Qualifier Daniel Wohlgemuth at the final corner.
There was drama at the Sport-V-Hotel this morning just as the Modified C Final, in which the 200mm World Champion Daniele Ielasi is competing, were lining up on the grid. Melting snow on the roof of the hall had caused a number of leaks in the roof right over part of the track, forcing race director Scotty Ernst to halt proceedings and make the call of a track redesign to avoid the wet area. Thanks to the efforts of the host club racing resumed in around an hour with drivers given an extra minute of warm-up to adjust to the new layout.
First of the A-Main’s was Pro Stock. Unfortunately championship leader Alexander Stocker had to return home after his daughter became ill last night leaving the No.2 spot on the grid blank. With the extra gap over the pack it looked like the No.1 Hot Bodies of Daniel Wohlgemuth was checking out after the opening lap but the German made a mistake on lap 3 dropping him down the field and allowing local star Jiri Mara to take the lead but on lap 6 he too made a mistake. Russian Ivan Laptev was the new driver to lead but all the time Wohleguth was working his way back to the front. Eventually retaking the lead Wohlgemuth made another mistake this time with three laps to go allowing Fadtke, who was enjoying a superb drive from the back of the grid, to close right on his bumper. Coming to the last corner Fadkte pulled off a fantastic move getting his Tamiya down the inside to take the win by just 4/100th of a second.
Afterwards the winner said he was a little lucky in the race to get up front but that his adjustments to the front end of this Speed Passion powered TRF416WE had transformed it compared with qualifying. Wohlgemuth was clearly annoyed with himself for making two mistakes while leading and for miss judging the position of the timing loop but gave Fadkte credit for a great overtaking maneuver. Finishing third Ivan Laptev, who started the race in 5th, described the race as ‘very exciting and a lot fun’ and despite having led at one point was pleased to finish in the Top 3. Schumacher Racing’s Chris Ashton, who ran as high as second, finished 4th and hopes that with a little more steering on his Mi4LP for Leg 2 he can finish in the Top 3.
In contrast to the Pro Stock final the Modified race was a far more straight forward affair. In the early laps Levanen put a lot of pressure on Wilck for second but the Finn couldn’t find a way passed his Scandinavan neighbour and they finished how they had started. The big battle of the race was for fifth with Martin Hudy pushed all the way by Steen Graversen, with Elliot Harper and Zdenko Kunák joining the action in the latter part of the race. Hudy resisted the challenge and took fifth behind fellow Xray driver Zdenek Hamak. Finishing sixth from 10th on the grid Danish ace Graversen, who was feeling ill yesterday, said he was feeling a lot better today and that was reflected in his driving. All the drivers admitted that while traction was low on the new section of the track they actually preferred it.
Pro Stock A-main Leg 1 results
1. Fadtke Dennis – 18 Laps in 5:15.131
2. Wohlgemuth Daniel – 18 Laps in 5:15.171
3. Laptev Ivan – 18 Laps in 5:16.995
4. Ashton Chris – 17 Laps in 5:02.982
5. Klöckner René – 17 Laps in 5:03.196
6. Rajki Balint – 17 Laps in 5:03.780
7. Madsen Carsten – 17 Laps in 5:04.580
8. Mara Jiri – 17 Laps in 5:11.137
9. Schmidt Martin – 17 Laps in 5:12.681
10.Stocker Alexander – DNS
Modified A-main Leg 1 results
1. Rheinard Marc – 19 Laps in 5:12.719
2. Wilck Viktor – 19 Laps in 5:13.764
3. Levanen Juho – 19 Laps in 5:14.376
4. Hamak Zdenek – 18 Laps in 5:00.367
5. Hudy Martin – 18 Laps in 5:03.748
6. Graversen Steen – 18 Laps in 5:03.897
7. Harper Elliott – 18 Laps in 5:04.133
8. Kunák Zdenko – 18 Laps in 5:04.672
9. Moore Andy – 18 Laps in 5:05.386
10.Jefferies Olly – 18 Laps in 5:09.010
Full results can be found here.
View our event image gallery here.
Rheinard on pole for Czech final
Marc Rheinard will start tomorrow’s A-Main on pole position after he TQ’d the final qualifier for the third Round of the ETS here in the Czech Republic. The Tamiya Racing Factory driver put in the fastest 5 minute run of the weekend just missing out on breaking into the 17 laps with a time of 5:00.663. The German claims his first Top Qualifier honours of the 2009/10 Series ahead of team-mate Viktor Wilck who set the fourth fastest time for the round.
The big star of the final round of qualifying was Czech driver Zdenek Hamak. Topping free practice yesterday ahead of some of the world’s best touring car drivers, the Xray driver went in the wrong direction with set-up this morning but reverting back to his practice settings for Q5 he showed he could run with the best. Fastest in his heat it was only the World Champion who was running in the top heat who could better his time. The result will see Hamak start fifth on the grid, something he admits he is a little nervous about.
Also putting in an impressive final heat was Slovak teenager Zdenko Kunak who too was at the controls of Xray’s T3 chassis. Setting the 3rd quickest run Kunak will start 7th on the grid one position higher than he achieved at Round 2 in Budapest. Sandwiched between Hamak and Zdenko on the grid will be Xray’s factory driver Martin Hudy who failed to finish the last qualifier.
Juho Levanen was the only driver that could deny a Tamiya car from carrying the Number 1 plate in the final here in Hrotovice. TQ’ing the penultimate qualifier, the Finn went all out in an attempt to put his Associated on the front of the grid but it didnt work. Afterwards he said he had nothing to loose and took big risks to try and better Rheinard’s time but it didn’t pay off as he only managed sixth following a number of errors.
Andy Moore didn’t have a good final heat saying track conditions had changed from earlier causing his Cyclone TC to feel very loose. With strong runs in Q4 & 5 the former World Champion will line up 4th on the grid and his best international showing for quite some time. This weekend has seen a marked improvement in Moore’s competitiveness and the Brit has a real chance of challenging for a podium here tomorrow.
Completing the grid for the triple A-Mains are Associated Team UK driver Olly Jefferies, TRF’s new signing Elliot Harper and Steen Graversen. The Dane climbed onto the back of the grid at the expense of Czech Grand Prix winner David Ehrbar thanks to fifth fastest time in the final round of heats.
Modified top 10 qualifiers
1. Rheinard Marc (DE) – 310pts (Tamiya TRF416X/Speedpassion)
2. Wilck Viktor (SE) – 308pts (Tamiya TRF416X/Speedpassion)
3. Levanen Juho (FI) – 308pts (Associated TC5R/LRP)
4. Moore Andy (GB) – 305pts (Hot Bodies Cyclone/Team Orion)
5. Hamak Zdenek (CZ) – 303pts (Xray T3/LRP)
6. Hudy Martin (SK) – 303pts (Xray T3/LRP)
7. Kunák Zdenko (SK) – 301pts (Xray T3/LRP)
8. Jefferies Olly (GB) – 301pts (Associated TC5R/LRP)
9. Harper Elliott (GB) – 299pts (Tamiya TRF416X/Speedpassion)
10.Graversen Steen (DK) – 296pts (Tamiya TRF416X/Team Orion)
In Pro Stock Daniel Wohlgemuth wrapped up pole position by taking his fourth TQ run of the day. The German was much happier with the handling of his Hot Bodies in the final qualifier having lowered his front shock positions. The German’s only challenger for the Top Qualifier’s spot was Alexander Stocker who switched to a Yokomo chassis in a effort to claim his third pole of the 2009/10 series. Rolling the car at the first corner the switch didn’t pay off and the championship leader will start 2nd tomorrow. Behind the two Hot Bodies drivers on the grid will be impressive local driver Jiri Mara. Driving an Xray T3, the 17-year-old Mara hasn’t been outside the Top 4 on the time sheets all day and is in with a real chance of ensuring local representation on the podium come tomorrow evening. Defending ETS Champion Balint Rajki will start fourth.
Pro Stock top 10 qualifiers
1. Wohlgemuth Daniel (DE) – 310pts (Hot Bodies Cyclone/LRP)
2. Stocker Alexander (DE) – 308pts (Hot Bodies Cyclone/LRP)
3. Mara Jiri (CZ) – 306pts (Xray T3/LRP)
4. Rajki Balint (HU) – 304pts (Hot Bodies Cyclone/LRP)
5. Laptev Ivan (RU) – 304pts (Tamiya TRF416X/LRP)
6. Schmidt Martin (DE) – 302pts (Serpent S400/GM Racing)
7. Ashton Chris (GB) – 300pts (Schumacher Mi4LP/GM Racing)
8. Madsen Carsten (DK) – 300pts (Tamiya TRF416WE/Tekin)
9. Fadtke Dennis (PL) – 297pts (Tamiya TRF416WE/Speedpassion)
10. Klöckner René (DE) – 296pts (Tamiya TRF416X/Speedpassion)
Full results can be found here.
View our event image gallery here.
Modified Class qualifying – Video
The video embedded above shows action from Heat 7, qualifying round 4 and shows Team Associated team driver Juho Levanen take the TQ for the round ahead of Hot Bodies driver Andy Moore.
Levanen tops Q4 for Associated
Tamiya’s reign at the top of the time sheets here in Hrotovice has been ended with Associated’s Juho Levanen setting the pace in the penultimate round of qualifying for the third round of the Euro Touring Series. The Finn posted a time of 16 laps in 5:04.308 to TQ the round from Andy Moore with Martin Hudy third. Levanen said his TC5 is now working really well and apart from a roll right in front of the drivers’ rostrum he was happy with the run. The result means that he is now in contention along with Rheinard and Q2 winner Viktor Wilck for pole position in tomorrow’s triple A-Mains.
Stopping the clock just 3/10ths slower than Levanen, Moore once again came right into contention in the second part of the run. Loosing too much time to his rivals over the opening 2 minutes, the Hot Bodies driver said he needs to get the car more consistent as it changes too much through the run. Having also made a costly mistake in the heat the British ace plans to try a different additive in the fifth and final qualifier.
Having lowered the positions of the shocks on his Xray, Hudy said it was super easy to drive in Q4. Finishing only 7/10th off the fastest time for the round, the Slovak driver will try softer oil for the last run of the day to make his LRP powered T3 more aggressive and hopefully fastest.
Leading British Championship contender Olly Jefferies enjoyed a very strong round setting the fourth fastest time. The Associated driver found the steering servo twisted in its mountings during preparations for Q4. With the servo back in place and making no set-up changes to the chassis he said the car worked really well. Jefferies is hoping droop adjustments can further improve things. The star of practice yesterday Czech driver Zdenek Hamak took his Xray to fifth followed by Elliot Harper who was the best of the Tamiyas. Harper’s team-mates both failed to finish. Rheinard was mixing it with Levanen but pulled up after two rolls saying his car was not good after a switch to other oil. Viktor Wilck retired when the lead came off the battery following a roll.
In Pro Stock Daniel Wohlgemuth came a step closer to securing pole for tomorrow’s A-Main after taking his third qualifier. Afterwards he said his Hot Bodies was really loose but it didn’t appear to hamper the German from producing the fastest five minute run of the event with 16 laps in 05:12.169. Carrying local hopes of a podium placing, buggy regular Jiri Mara again put in a fine performance to set the second fastest time. Putting together a good clean run Tamiya driver Ivan Laptev completed the Top 3. The Russian said changes to his set-up had made it very easy to drive and keeping out of trouble was key to him knocking 6 seconds of his previous best time. He will go with that same formula for the final qualifier.
Full results can be found here.
View our event image gallery here and Live video stream here.
Q3 Update
The third round of qualifying for Modified saw Marc Rheinard return to the top of the time sheets with a 16-lap run in 05:01.141. The World Champion said while the result is good his Tamiya is very hard to drive in particular when he comes off the power the car wants to slide. The German, who has the support of the car’s designer Kiyo Suzuki here this weekend, said the track conditions this weekend are proving a real challenge in terms of getting a good set-up.
Juho Levanen enjoyed his best run so far with the second fastest time. The factory Associated driver said changes to his car had made the car very consistent be at the cost of outright speed. The Finn said each change he makes thinking it will improve the car actually makes it worse and now he plans to revert to the set-up used in the opening qualifier yesterday evening.
2006 World Champion Andy Moore is continuing his strong showing here with his Hot Bodies. Recording the third fastest time in Q3, despite a few rolls, he also posted the fastest lap so far of qualifying with a very quick 18.578. Softer springs improved the car but it didn’t come good until the second half of the run and the Englishman plans to play with the timing of his tyre additive application.
Making it four different teams represented at the top of the results for the round Martin Hudy placed his Xray fourth fastest. The Slovak driver increased the rear roll centres which improve the overall feel of his T3 but by the end of the run he was starting to suffer with understeer.
Having changed car for Q3 Elliot Harper said it was better but it had a lot of oversteer. The World and European Championship finalist will revert to his first chassis which has undergone a radical set-up change, which he hopes will allow him to score well in the final two rounds of qualifying. Young Slovak driver Zdenko Kunak completed the top 6 with his Xray.
In Pro Stock, ETS championship leader Alexander Stocker denied Daniel Wohlgemuth from claiming the overall Top Qualifier’s honours earlyas he topped the time sheets for the first time today. Fastest in the opening two heats, Wohlgemuth was on a TQ pace but rolled as Stocker applied the pressure and the German ended the run fourth. Defending Champion Balint Raijki enjoyed his best qualifier setting the second fastest time while Jiri Mara put in another strong performance to complete the Top 3.
Full results can be found here.
View our event image gallery here and Live video stream here.
