Euro Touring Series

February 4, 2018

Ratheisky hands Mächler opening A-Main win

Max Mächler took the opening A-Main of Pro Stock at the ETS in Daun, Germany, this morning, the Awesomatix driver handed the win when Top Qualifier Jan Ratheisky rolled his Xray while holding a solid lead. It all went wrong for the championship leader on lap 6 when he put his car on its roof and with the marshall having to wait for the field the German lost almost 6-seconds. This let second place qualifier Mächler go to the front and despite Mustafa Alp looking like he was on to mount a challenge a mistake put amends to that. In the end Mächler crossed the line 1.1 second ahead of the Xray driver with Alex Kunkler completing the Top 3 while Ratheisky ended up 6th.

A mistake would also cost the Top Qualifier of the Scorpion Power System Formula class any chance of victory. David Ehrbar stint at the front didn’t even last a lap as the Serpent driver hit a dot 4 corners into the opening lap sending him plummeting to the back. This allowed Olivier Bultynck to come out in front and from there the Belgian dominated the race. Ratheisky would close a little having come through from 6th but the Shepherd driver quickly responded and won by a massive 5.3 seconds with Ehrbar recovering to third. In the Infinity 40+ Masters class, Top Qualifier Ozer Yürüm drove a perfect race taking a tone to tone win over Thomas Oehler and Marcus Askell.

View complete event results here.

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February 3, 2018

Coelho claims TQ in Germany

Bruno Coelho has claimed the overall TQ at the Euro Touring Series second round in Germany. The Xray driver secured the top spot on tomorrow’s A-Main grid with the fastest 5-minute run of the weekend in the fourth and final qualifier. With only Ronald Volker in a position to deny the reigning champion pole position, a set-up change by the Yokomo driver meant he couldn’t match Coelho’s improved set-up with the main challenge for the round coming from a further improved Marc Rheinard. Another mistake however, similar to the one he made in the previous round, ended Rheinard’s TQ hopes. Finishing 2nd to Coelho, the championship leader will start third behind Volker with Yannic Prumper and Alexander Hagberg completing the front half of the grid.

Summing up final qualifier after not being happy with his car in Q3, Coelho said, ‘we changed completely the car. I was not faster on the fastest lap but over 5-minutes it was quicker and more stable. I’m super happy with the car, the new Hobbywing motor and my new servo. I can’t ask for anything more going into the finals’. Asked his thoughts on those finals, the Portuguese driver said, ‘the track looks open for overtaking. I think it is easier to be behind on this track. I saw in practice when someone is following it is easy for them to catch you. Everyone has different braking points and are using a lot of different lines so I think it will be difficult to lead’. Planning to ‘start off slowly to be safe’, Coelho said he is aware ‘Volker is slightly quicker in the beginning’ but added ‘I’m slightly faster in the middle of the race’. Expecting him to ‘push hard’ from the start, he said his plan is ‘don’t touch any boards and try to pull away’.

On his Q4 performance, Volker said, ‘I changed a few things to avoid traction roll but the car pushed a bit too much. I couldn’t keep up with Bruno this time. Overall though I’m glad with our team result getting 4 cars in the main and 3 in the stock main. It is our best result in years’. Commenting on the finals, the World Champion said, ‘with these kind of boards its easy to make mistakes and while it is difficult to overtake it might be a good chance to get things mixed up’. He added, ‘I hope I can put some pressure on Bruno but Marc has found some pace now so it should be a good battle’.

‘I tried’ was Rheinard’s reaction. He said, ‘the car was good and in the beginning I was in the lead until I messed up at the chicane again big time so I’m starting 3rd instead of 2nd. I could catch Ronald again but Bruno is still a little bit faster’. On his starting position he said, ‘maybe its a lucky third because everything can happen on this track because its so difficult’. He concluded, ‘Everyone is super close, Yannic and Hagberg are all there on pace so its going to be interesting tomorrow’.

Failing to complete the final qualifier after knocking a battery mount off his car after a mistake, Prumper, who was aiming or a result that would allow him start ahead of Rheinard, said, ‘I ran my second set of tyres which only had one run on them but they took too long to come in. In the end I crashed anyway’. He will go back to his first set of tyres for A1. Enjoying his best qualifying in more than two years, the Yokomo driver wants a podium finish but feels the track is going to make it a challenging final for everyone. ‘This direction its impossible to pass, the other would have been really good with many spots to try a pass but with boards a lot can happen so lets see’.

View complete event results here.

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February 3, 2018

Ratheisky is Pro Stock Top Qualifier at ETS Daun

Jan Ratheisky is the Pro Stock Top Qualifier at Round 2 of the ETS in Daun, Germany. Posting a third TQ run in the fourth & final round, the championship leader secured his second pole position start of the season and in doing so has extended the points lead he held coming into the weekend. With Q1 pace setter Max Mächler the only potential challenger to Ratheisky for the overall TQ going into Q4, the Awesomatix driver couldn’t match the former champion ending up 3rd for the round but holds onto second on the grid for tomorrow’s final. Suffering his second consecutive heat DNF in the final qualifier, Mustafa Alp will start third thanks to his second places in the opening two qualifiers. Behind, Frenchman Alex Kunkler and former champion Martin Hofer complete the top half of the A-Main grid.

In the Scorpion Power System Formula class, it was reigning champion David Ehrbar who came away with the TQ. Taking Q1 and 3, the Serpent driver went into the final qualifier only needing to finish ahead of Belgian Olivier Bultynck to get pole. Leading away the heat on the second lap Ehrbar made a mistake. With his car facing the wrong way, the following Bultynck would hit him turning him facing back in the right direction and the battle was back on. Half way in however Bultynck’s heat was over while Ehrbar put in some bad laps allowing the Xray of ETS Austria podium finisher Luke Lee to TQ the round and split the pairing on the grid by taking 2nd from Bultynck.

View complete event results here.

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February 3, 2018

Chassis Focus – Viktor Wilck

Chassis – Serpent 4X Evo
Motor – Dash by Arrowmax 4.5T
ESC – Dash by Arrowmax AI Pro
Batteries – Arrowmax
Tires – Volante (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa
Bodyshell – Protoform Type S
Remarks – This is Viktor’s first ETS appearance running Serpent’s 4X with all the parts that will make up the upcoming 4X Evo kit release, with the Swede starting off the weekend with a P7 in the opening qualifier. Happy with the performance of his car, he said the biggest challenge is the track and getting a set-up that gives you steering but doesn’t cost you speed.

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February 3, 2018

Rivals hand Coelho Q3

The third round of qualifying at Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Germany saw Bruno Coelho handed the TQ as the majority of his rivals threw away potential TQ runs through driver errors. Afterwards even the Xray driver admitted he was lucky that so many other drivers crashed allowing him to claim his second TQ run of the weekend. Having looked strong to become the third different TQ so far, Marc Rheinard would make a mistake at the chicane eventually ending up 2nd ahead of Yannic Prümper who threw away his TQ chances on the penultimate lap.

While taking the TQ Coelho wasn’t overall happy with his performance in the qualifier. He said, ‘we changed the set of tyres and the car was very difficult to drive’. He continued, ‘luckily everyone crashed, Volker, Marc, Alex and Yannic. We need to change the car for the last one.’ Asked if he would revert to his other set of tyres he replied, ‘we need to discuss this, the tyre is slightly newer so maybe this is the reason but anyway we will make changes to the car set-up’.

‘Just one stupid mistake’, was Rheinard’s reaction at losing out on what would have been a very important TQ run given the difficultly of the track layout. He continued, ‘I got stuck on the board at the chicane at it cost me 1-second. At least the pace is there, we improved the car a lot, but I really needed that TQ for a chance to start 2nd or 3rd (in the final).’ Putting the car improvement down to running the rear wider, the Infinity driver currently sits third in the qualification ranking equal on points with Prumper with Hagberg in 5th only a point off them. With it all to play for to be in the Top 3 he said, ‘I will try to improve in the last one’.

With Prumper enjoying running at the front of an ETS for the first time in more than a season, the multiple race winner was not happy with himself. ‘I screwed up my first lap and started with a 17.0 lap and then on the second last lap I screwed up again when I was fighting for the TQ but I did it on my own’. The Yokomo driver continued, ‘the car is really good just my driving is not the best’. Looking for his best ETS start since qualifying 5th two years ago in Germany, he said his goal for Q4 is to try and move himself ahead of Rheinard on the grid for tomorrow’s A-Main.

‘Very good except for one mistake’, was how Hagberg summed up P4 in the penultimate qualifier. Setting the fastest lap of the round, the Xray driver continued, ‘I was pushing hard for the TQ and crashed in the infield so lost out’. Having struggled in Q2 in the morning, the Swede said they reverted back to the set-up he used to post the third quickest time in yesterday’s opening qualifier. Describing his car as ‘competitive’ he concluded, ‘I just need try and repeat a clean run and I’ll be ok’.

Having struggled in the first two qualifiers, a change of car brought Akio Sobue into the mix. The Infinity driver said, ‘I had big problems with my car. Once I go on throttle it always wants to turn. It wouldn’t go straight so we changed car and now it much better for me’. The pressure is now on the Japanese driver to get a good time in Q4 if he is to line up on the A-Main grid.

The only driver who can now stop Coelho from starting the final tomorrow from pole, Ronald Volker didn’t have a good Q3 but topping the second qualifier he is confident he can challenge Coelho in the final round. He said, ‘I made a mistake on the first lap but I still felt the car was there. I was pulling away from Bruno but traction rolled so the TQ was gone’. The Yokomo driver said with the traction getting higher, something he put down to having running the same set of tyres throughout qualifying and an improving track, his car is constantly improving.

View complete event results here.

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February 3, 2018

Chassis Focus – Marc Rheinard

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

Winner of the season opener in Vienna, here in Daun at Round 2 Marc Rheinard is running a number of new parts on his IF14. At the front of the car there are new spool outdrives made from a more durable material along with more durable blades. At the rear he is using updated drive shafts and new, lower, hinge pin mountings allow for greater roll centre adjustments.

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February 3, 2018

Ratheisky takes charge in Pro Stock qualifying

Having thrown away the TQ with a mistake last night in the opening round of qualifying, ETS Pro Stock Championship leader Jan Ratheisky has taken charge of proceedings this morning in Daun, the Xray driver posting TQ runs in the 2nd & 3rd rounds of qualifying. Ending up third quickest in Q1 behind winner Max Mächler and top seed Mustafa Alp, the German took Q2 by almost 2-seconds over Alp with Mächler third. In the third round Ratheisky’s advantage would be even more with him posting the fastest time of the weekend ahead of Norwegian Helge Johannessen. For Alp, a crash would see him break, while Mächler crashed in the middle of the heat and dropped to P6. Going into the fourth & final qualifier, only Mächler can deny Ratheisky his second TQ start of the season.

In the Scorpion Power System Formula class, reigning Champion David Ehrbar made a mess of Q2 but redeemed himself in Q3 for his second TQ run of the weekend. With Q2 going to Shepherd’s Olivier Bultynck ahead of British pairing Luke Lee and Ben Cosgrove, the third round would see a close fight for the TQ between between Ehrbar and Ratheisky. Ehrbar would take it by 6/10th but the heat signified Ratheisky seems to have found his way after two tough qualifiers yesterday.

View complete event results here.

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February 3, 2018

Volker snatches Q2 from Coelho

Ronald Volker has kicked off Day 2 of the Euro Touring Series in Daun with a TQ run, the Yokomo driver snatching the the second round of qualifying from Bruno Coelho. Clearly the quickest man on track, Coelho would have two mistakes of his own doing but it was the flying car of Akio Sobue that ultimately cost him the TQ allowing Volker to top the times by 2/10th. With a fastest lap almost 3/10th quicker than the rest of the field, Coelho looked set to make it two out of two but coming into the sweeper at the end of the straight, the Xray driver was greeted by Sobue’s car flying through the air from the infield. While no contact was made, the T4 somehow just finding its way under the landing IF14, Coelho was forced off the racing line losing him 8/10th allowing Volker to go to the top. Pulling back 2/10ths a lap Coelho would run out of time and with Volker laying down his fastest lap on the last lap it was the German who got the TQ. Behind Yannic Prumper would set the third fastest time ahead Marc Rheinard and Naoki Akiyama, the Top 5 all managing 19-laps this morning.

‘Its great to get Q2 as my minimum goal of second on the grid is becoming more safe’, was Volker’s reaction to his first TQ run in four races, his last being in Italy last season. The World Champion continued, ‘I made a shock set-up change front and rear and a different tyre prep and I felt more comfortable with the car. It had more steering like I wanted but I still need more without losing corner speed. Pace wise I was now closer to Bruno. He’s still quicker but the gap is less’. Having a clean run compared to Coelho, he said one issue he did have was his view of the straight with radios in his view, something he said he will try to adapt to by leaning out more in Q3.

‘It was a strange qualifier’ was how Coelho summed up the first of the day’s three scheduled qualifiers. The reigning champion added, ‘I started easy so as to make no mistake and then started to push but touched the board and flipped, Luckily it landed on its wheels. I forced to get back to the point and once back on point I drove smooth again but then I had a lot of traffic and a second mistake at the chicane. Overall I had many mistakes and much traffic’. On his car, it still not to his liking at the beginning of the 5-minutes he said, ‘Its still not perfect yet and we will work on it for sure for the next one’.

Improving on his P6 from Q1, Prumper said, ‘I had large drops in my lap times. I think I just need to improve my driving to be more consistent’. Suffering one moment when he ‘kissed the board one time’, the Yokomo driver added, ‘I was in the lead at the beginning but then dropped off. I’m happy with third but I can do better in my driving, the car is good’.

Again finding himself 4th fastest, Rheinard was happier with his car saying it was ‘better’ but like Prumper felt his driving was the issue saying, ‘I just didn’t drive well’. The championship leader continued, ‘Bruno is still a little faster and while its on the limit we got closer to the pace that time’. Making a number of changes to his IF14 including standing up the front shocks, he plans to ‘make the rear wider’ for Q3.

Running in the second fastest heat, Akiyama was very happy with his P5 run. The Japanese Yokomo driver had many mistakes in Q1 but produced a ‘clean’ run in Q2. Having run a standard weight bodyshell in yesterday evening’s opening qualifier, he switched to a lightweight body this morning saying it made a big improvement to his car’s performance. He will run an unchanged car in Q3 to get another solid result on the board and drop his P13 from Q1. Also running in the second fastest heat, Schumacher’s Elliott Harper completed the Top 6 times and sits 6th overall after two rounds.

View complete event results here.

View the event image gallery here.