Coelho wins static A1
Bruno Coelho took an easy win of a completely static A1 final at the Yokomo Euro Touring Series season finale at the Hudy Arena, with not one pass being executed over the 5-minutes as the 10 cars finished exactly as they qualified. Top Qualifier Coelho made an early break over Xray team-mate Alexander Hagberg allowing the newly crowned champion to cruise to a 1.3 second victory. 1.9-seconds back from Hagberg, Awesomatix’s Viljami Kutvonen completed the Top 3 with the Finn having no problems fending off the Yokomo of Ronald Volker. The only attempted pass of the race came from Yannic Prumper as the VBC driver tried to find a way passed Team Infinity’s Jilles Groskamp but the German couldn’t get it done.
With many drivers joking as they left the drivers’ stand that the ETS should introduce DRS to help with overtaking, Coelho agreed it was ‘boring for all drivers’ as there was ‘no overtaking and no body even made mistakes’. On his own race, his fastest lap 2/10th faster than anyone else, he said, ‘my car was perfect on new tyres which allowed me to push a the beginning to pull away. Once I had a lead I could control the race, it was a little bit too easy (of a race)’. Looking to A2, which takes place in the morning, the new Season #9 Champion said, ‘everything was perfect and I hope it will be the same for tomorrow’. Another dominant performance in A2 would secure him a third win of the season and cap off a perfect campaign.
Hagberg described his ORCA powered T4 as being ‘a little loose at the start’ and losing time as result at the beginning he said he, ‘couldn’t make it back up later on’. While he couldn’t catch Coelho, the Swede said there was ‘no threat from behind’ so it wasn’t any pressure as a result. Asked about improving his car at the start for A2, the reigning Nitro Touring Car World Champion, replied, ‘we will try to find something overnight and put on a better show tomorrow.’
‘It was OK, on the negative side the Xrays were faster but on the positive all the others were slower’, was how Viljami summed up his final. While he would stay with Hagberg for the first few laps he said there was ‘no real pressure from Ronald behind’ so it was an easy race. Feeling the diff in his LRP powered A800 was too soft for the temperatures he said depending on conditions at time of the A2 start he might go harder with the diff.
While the first Volante Modified encounter was dull, the preceding Pro Stock race was entertaining with Top Qualifier Tom Krägefski having to see off two different challengers. First to mount a challenge was P2 starter Noah Asendorf. While the the pair duelled it out, from fifth on the grid, champion Jan Ratheisky found his way third and started to close. A mistake by Asendorf as the race reached half distance dropped the Swiss driver out of contention for the win with Ratheisky there to take over the challenge. With Ratheisky all over the bumper of his T4, Krägefski stood up to the pressure to hold on for the win by 0.114 of a second with Asendorf getting third. In Formula, it was an easy win for Ratheisky as the Top Qualifier & back to back champion won by a massive 6-seconds from Matej Dobnikar. Dobnikar benefited when the battle for second saw Jitse Miedema getting in to the rear of Serpent’s David Ehrbar. With Miedema waiting on Ehrbar to take back position Dobnikar slipped through with 3-laps to go for second followed by Miedema.
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Kutvonen takes final qualifier, Coelho is Top Qualifier
In a bit if a surprise, Awesomatix’s Viljami Kutvonen took the final round of qualifying at the season finale of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series but it is newly crowned champion Bruno Coelho who will start the A-Main at the Hudy Arena from pole. With only Hagberg with an outside chance of denying Coelho his X TQ of the season by taking the fourth & final qualifier, Kutvonen caught them all by surprise as he gambled on saving his second set of tyres for the run. Only a 16-lap run due to the extra hot conditions of the midday run, the Finn outpaced Ronald Volker by just 2/10ths of a second with Hagberg only a further 4/10th off despite both being on used tyres. With a P4 in Q1, the result puts Kutvonen 3rd on the grid behind the Xrays of Coelho & Hagberg and ahead of Volker & Jilles Groskamp.
‘Tyre strategy’ was Kutvonen’s response to his TQ run continued, ‘I saved a set of tyres for the last one and it paid off quite well’. With Coelho and Hagberg managing 17-lap TQ runs in the previous rounds, the ETS Italy runner-up said, his ‘pace on new tyres was not as good as expected’, adding it was ‘super loose’. Feeling his car will be better for the first final when conditions will be cooler and all drivers will be on new tyres, when asked if he can challenge the Xrays he replied, ‘its difficult to say, Alexander is crazy fast on both new and used tyres’. Feeling his LRP powered A800 is better now than Q1 when, with all drivers on new tyres, he was a competitive fourth quickest, he said ‘I think I should be ok for the final’.
Losing his Hobbywing powered T4 coming onto the straight on the second lap, Coelho described Q4 as ‘super hot and difficult track conditions’. Running used tyres he continued, ‘with new tyres for the final it should be a lot better’. Winner of the event last year from the pole, the Portuguese driver said his plan for the final is to ‘try to make no mistakes and see what happens’. On his opposition he added, ‘I hope Alex don’t attack too much but for sure he will’.
Commenting on his final qualifier, Hagberg said, ‘I had a problem with a bit of fade again towards the end if the run’. Putting some of the fade down to the track being ‘so hot’, he said for the final ‘the important thing is the team wins’. Asked if he can challenge Coelho for the win, he replied ‘I’ll try to fight for win but we have to be sure we don’t fight & end up letting someone else win’.
While ‘Very, very disappointed to lose out on 2nd by 2/10ths of a second’, Volker was pleased that his Yokomo was ‘finally amazing’ again. Making a ‘very big set-up change in the direction of Meen’s set-up’, he said his LRP powered BD7 was transformed but his start was less than ideal as he spun on the first corner of the first lap. Posting the fastest lap of the final qualifier despite being on used tyres, the former champion said the 2-seconds lost cost him a TQ run and P2 on the grid. Looking to the final he said ‘If my car is as good as it as in Q4 I should be able to put pressure the guys ahead’. A win could see the German demote his long standing rival Marc Rheinard to third in the overall standings. Pulling off half way through the qualifier, Rheinard described the run as ‘a disaster’ adding he had ‘just no grip’ and he lines up P8 behind Awesomatix’s Freddy Sudhoff and VBC Racing’s Yannic Prümper. Completing the top half of the grid Groskamp starts fifth.
In the Pro Stock class it will also be an Xray on pole with Tom Krägefski the Top Qualifier. The German took his first ETS pole on a tie breaker with Swiss driver Noah Asendorf. Both drivers had a TQ run each but it was Krägefski’s Q3 time that was faster. Behind them Marco Siegenthaler starts third ahead of the Team Magic of Q1 pace setter Patrick Gassauer. In the Formula class, champion Jan Ratheisky is the Top Qualifier looking for his 5th clean sweep of the season having missed Luxembourg. Behind the Xray driver, Luxembourg winner David Ehrbar will start 2nd with his Serpent with Roche driver Olivier Bultynck third.
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Chassis Focus – Atsushi Hara
Chassis – Kyosho TF7
Motor –LRP X20 4.5T
ESC –LRP Flow
Batteries – LRP 5600 LCG
Tires – Volante (handout)
Radio/Servo – Futaba
Bodyshell – Protoform LTC-R
Remarks – Making his comeback to the Euro Touring Series after a 2-year hiatus, former World Champion Atsushi Hara chose to run a Kyosho TF7 as a privateer for this event. His car features lower shock towers meant to be used with shorter shocks, both pre-production items. He has also chosen to use lightweight front outdrives.
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Chassis Focus – Noah Asendorf
Chassis – Xray T4 2016
Motor –Muchmore (handout)
ESC –Muchmore (handout)
Batteries – LRP 7500 StockSpec
Tires – Volante (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa / Xpert
Bodyshell – Protoform Speed 6
Remarks – Swiss upcoming driver Noah Asendorf is set to start second on the A-Main grid here at the Hudy Arena running the 2016 version of the Slovakian built T4. His car is equipped with aluminium steering system, graphite arms, adjustable body posts and Hiro Seiko aluminium and titanium screws. On this track he chose to use a 1.6mm top deck in order to improve the traction 0.25mm narrower hexes.
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Video – Modified Qualifying Rd3
Coelho is new ETS Champion
Bruno Coelho is the new Yokomo Euro Touring Series Champion, the Portuguese ace ending Ronald Volker’s 5-year reign over the World famous championship on only his second attempt. The title marks a number of firsts with it Xray’s first title in the ETS’ premiere class and the first time one manufacturer has claimed a clean sweep of titles with the Slovakian manufacturer having already taken the Pro Stock and Formula titles. As a driver Coelho also becomes the first driver to win both an ETS and Euro Offroad Series title a claim he can add to his already impressive feat of being the only driver to win races in the ETS, EOS and Euro Nitro Series. While Volker was eliminated from the title race at the previous round in Luxembourg, Coelho still had to deal with the possibility of having to share the title with Marc Rheinard. With the former champion needing to take the overall TQ to keep that slim chance alive, the third round of qualifying at the Hudy Arena would decide the title as Coelho’s team-mate Alexander Hagberg topped the penultimate qualifier while Rheinard could manage only a P8, leaving the Tamiya driver likely to finish runner-up for the sixth consecutive season, only a win tomorrow by Volker able to demote him.
‘I’m super happy, this is not one race but the end of six hard races and the result of a lot of hard work and preparations’, was Coelho’s reaction to finally locking down the title. The only multiple race winner this season, he was quick however to revert his attentions back to the job in hand and trying to make it three wins saying, ‘I almost have the TQ because Alex (Hagberg) now has used tyres so it will be hard to be better my time’. He added, ‘If I start first sure sure I will fight for the win for the perfect end to the championship’. Asked about Q3 in which he ended up 32nd after ‘a small mistake’ in which he flipped his T4 he said, ‘I was on used tyres so I expected to finish at the back and was just waiting to see what Rheinard could do’.
Reacting to Coelho’s title, Rheinard said, ‘to TQ and win at the Hudy Arena is like going to the Ferrari track as a Mercedes driver’. He continued, ‘Bruno is champion and I’m second again for the sixth time in a row’. Still the ETS’ most winning driver, the 4-time World Champion was also on used tyres for the third qualifier and felt ‘for old tyres my car was pretty good’. With a best round of a P2 in Q2 to his credit, the German is hoping to end qualifying with a strong run and will switch to the set of tyres he spun out on in Q1. With only 4-laps on the tyres, the spin caused by a suspected tweak in his car, he hopes they will give him the opportunity to TQ the round with only former team-mate Viktor Wilck and Team Associated’s Juho Levanen left with a new set of tyres to run.
Commenting on his TQ run which was 1.4-seconds off Coelho’s Q2 topping time, Hagberg said, ‘the track was a little slower than expected. It heated up too fast this morning which was frustrating’. The Swede continued, ‘the car was still fast and felt good but it was a conservative run to the TQ’. Admitting claiming the overall TQ is a tall order now with the conditions of the final qualifier expected to be even hotter and the fact he will be on used tyres, he said ‘I should be able to put in a good run on old tyres’.
‘I’m happy the gap is smaller now’, that was Luxembourg winner Jilles Groskamp’s reaction to taking a P2 for the round. The Team Infinity driver continued, ‘I had new tyres and did the same tyre prep as before but still the first 2 or 3 corners were not great so I need find what I am missing, maybe I need to leave the tyre warmers on longer’. Feeling the gaps between drivers should be announced during the qualifiers, he said he knew he was swapping the lead with Hagberg but when he heard Hagberg was in lead he ‘settled for 2nd as (he) needed a good run’ so he ‘didn’t take an risks’. Admitting to being relieved by his Q2 result after a bad start had him worried that after a successful Luxembourg race like last year that he might again find himself in the B-Main, he said the aim for the final qualifier is to try better his P5 result. Running an Xray chassis, the Dutchman said any set-up changes will depend on temperatures at the time of the run.
Posting his first Top 10 run with the third fastest time of Q3, Meen Vejrak said, ‘finally a good run, now my car is comfortable to drive’. Having struggled yesterday, the former ETS podium finisher said his car was much better today. Asked what the issue was yesterday when he could only managed a P17 and P21, the Yokomo team driver reply, ‘I had no rear bite, I had no everything’. Looking to make his Scorpion powered BD7 ‘a little more stable’ for Q4, the Thai driver said ‘I hope I have a chance to make the A-Main’. Team-mate Ronald Volker would end up only 11th despite running new tyres on his LRP powered example of the BD7. Suffering a spun onto the grass when he touched the paint on the curbing the German said ‘even without this I was off the pace’.
Setting the fourth fastest time, Yannick Prumper was very happy to book his first A-Main appearance since joining VBC. With extra factory support this weekend, the German said, ‘this was an important run as it puts me in the A-main which is the first time with VBC and this shows we have made big improvements with the car’. Running on new tyres, the multiple race winner adjusted the toe in for the fresh rubber saying the change ‘added a little push but overall made the car easier to drive’.
‘I needed a safe run after a random spin in Q1 and a random flip in Q2’, was former World Champion Andy Moore’s reaction to a P5 time in Q3. The Team Infinity driver, who like team-mate Groskamp is also running an Xray this weekend, ran his second set of tyres but said while it was a clean run it was not as fast as he would have liked. The British driver said, ‘the steering I had yesterday I need to find again’. With only a P12 from yesterday, he concluded, ‘I still need one more (result)’ if he is to make his first A-Main appearance of the season.
Making a very welcomed return to the ETS, Atsushi Hara completed the Top 6 of the penultimate qualifier. The multiple world champion said, ‘Fresh tyres for sure helped’ him get the result’ but added after he crashed on the first lap of Q1 he needed to make a safe run. Running a Kyosho as a privateer on his return to the championship, he said while he tested the car in Thailand before the event that was on other tyres and so he was left to find a set-up for the ETS handout Volante tyre. Describing the event as starting off ‘very bad’ after he ‘changed many things’ the car he is now starting to get the car to his liking but admitted he is still learning the car and needs more track time against the world class level that is the ETS. While the car is easy to drive he needs to get ‘just a little more speed’ out of it. Asked about the upcoming World Championship in China, a unique event in that no one will have driven the track prior to start of the event, he said while he is undecided on which car he will race its is looking more likely he will stick with the Kyosho adding the aim is to be ‘the first privateer to beat the factory drivers’.
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Chassis Focus – Eric Epp
Chassis – Team Associated TC7
Motor –Muchmore (handout)
ESC –Muchmore (handout)
Batteries – Reedy 5600
Tires – Volante (handout)
Radio/Servo – Ko Propo
Bodyshell – Protoform Speed 6
Remarks – Protoform’s very own Eric Epp traveled all the way from California to compete in the ETS Final, running an Associated TC7. His car is equipped with front double joint driveshafts and its steering is fixed to the chassis. He chose to run a Mazda Speed 6 bodyshell in order to achieve more corner speed. His body is cut 5mm forward and is equipped with an Elite wing and an anti-tuck system.
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