Euro Touring Series

April 9, 2016

Chassis Focus – Michele Romagnoli

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Chassis – WRC STX
Motor – Orion VST2 4.5T
ESC – Orion R10
Batteries – Orion 6000mAh
Tires – Volante (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa
Bodyshell – Protoform LTC-R
Remarks – Having made the switch to WRC from rival Italian manufacturer Capricorn, Michele Romagnoli is running an updated version of the STX. His car features a new aluminium chassis, harder compound arms and aluminium front and rear hubs. The steering system has also been updated for improved precision.

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April 9, 2016

Volker again benefits from Coelho error to take Q2

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Ronald Volker has made it two out of two at the Yokomo Euro Tourng Series in Austria as he again benefited from an error by Bruno Coelho to take Q2. Having claimed yesterday’s opening qualifier ahead of the joint championship leader, two errors by Coelho allowed the Yokomo driver to open Day 2 with another TQ, this time ahead of the championship’s other joint leader Marc Rheinard. With Coelho’s Xray ending up 5th fastest, a good drive from Rheinard’s Tamiya team-mate Akio Sobue left the former podium finisher to complete the Top 3 ahead of Alexander Hagberg.

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‘I’m very happy to get away with another TQ especially after Bruno passed me so early in the qualifier’, was Volker’s reaction to Q2. Starting out first ahead of Coelho due to his TQ run yesterday, Volker said with his rival starting before he was called he found himself having to open up for him on only the second lap. With it ‘annoying it happened so early’, Volker added ‘he starts out much quicker than I can’. With his own lap times getting better as the run progressed and helped as ‘Coelho ‘lost it twice’ he said he was able to hold on for the TQ but admitted his rival is ‘still definitely faster’. Looking to change his tyre preparation for Q3 to make his BD7 faster at the beginning of the 5-minutes the reigning champion said they also need to improve the car’s set-up. While his Q2 time was the fastest so far, which could be vital in determining the tie break should Coelho TQ both remaining qualifiers, Volker said as it stands ‘even if Bruno doesn’t TQ it’s going to be difficult to beat him in the finals as he’s better out of the gate’.

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At a loss to explain his first error, Coelho described himself as ‘a little unlucky’. Making the ‘perfect’ start and getting passed Volker so early on, the Offroad World Champion said his roll halfway through the qualifier was ‘strange’, the car traction rolling on what he said are not high traction conditions. Again posting the fastest lap time, he would put his T4 back to the top of the timing screen only to touch the curbing and roll, which required his car to be marshalled. Asked about his car he replied, ‘I’ve just been unlucky with the errors, the car is perfect’.

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With a ‘shitty first lap’ on which he ‘missed many corners’, Rheinard said while his car was ‘not far off’ he was starting to suffer understeer towards the end. Having changed to lighter diff oil, the ETS’ most winning driver said he thinks he went too soft and for the next one he will go back up. Pleased to have two Top 3 runs which he feels should give him at least third on the grid he said it might not be the worst starting position if Volker can hold onto the TQ ahead of Coelho. With the opening two races producing different Top Qualifiers, he is quietly hoping Volker holds on and denies Coelho the bonus TQ championship point.

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Having struggled with a loose car in practice that left him seeded in the fourth fastest heat, Sobue was pleased with getting a P3. Ninth in the opening qualifier after a mistake, the Japanese driver said Q2 was ‘perfect’. Describing the track layout as ‘a little difficult’, highlight the left side of the track, he said having made changes after Q1 he will now go into Q3 with his car unchanged. For Sobue’s World Champion team-mate Naoto Matsukura, who is running in the second fastest heat, crashes in the opening qualifiers meant he will need to drastically turn things around in the remaining rounds if wants to avoid missing out on the A-Main as he did in Germany.

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Having crashed heavily in Q1, Hagberg said he had to drive a ‘conservative run to get points’. While ending up with a P4 a little over half a second off Sobue, the Swede said they ‘still need to improve (the) car’. Looking for ‘more pace’ from his T4, he added ‘we’ll work on it and see what we can do’.

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Completing the Top 6 behind Coelho would be Marc Fischer. While he managed to avoid a repeat of his opening lap error in Q1, the German would still suffer a mistake albeit a lesser one when he had a roll over in the third minute. The Serpent driver said his all new 4X was ‘really good in the beginning’ but running an old battery he said after 3-minutes it had ‘no more power’. In addition to running a different battery for Q3 he will also rebuild the car’s shocks, the David Ehrbar creation featuring an extra roll shock. Planning to leave the set-up unchanged so as to gauge the impact of the shock rebuild he said for the final qualifier he will use the track time to try a different set-up.

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With Viljami Kutvonen suffering an early error in Q2 and ending up 10th, it was the returning Freddy Sudhoff who was the top Awesomatix. Claiming a P7, the German said ‘it feels good to be back in the Top 10’. Copying his team-mate’s shock set-up this made his A800 ‘less edgy’ and he believes this has left him with ‘a good base to work on now’. ‘Still missing a tenth here and there’ he said it was ‘up to (him) and a little set-up work to find it’. Behind ‘Fast Freddy’, Schumacher’s Magnus Vassmar enjoyed another strong run with the new Mi6 backing up his P7 in Q1 with the 8th fastest time ahead of Xray’s Dionys Stadler.

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In the second round of Xray Pro Stock qualifying it was the Yokomo of Valentin Hettrich who set the pace ahead of ARC pairing Lars Hoppe and Helge Johannessen. Q1 pace setter Marek Cerny could only manage 5th behind Xray team-mate & championship leader Jan Ratheisky.

View complete event results here.

View the event image gallery here.

April 8, 2016

Volker takes Q1 at ETS Austria

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Ronald Volker has TQ’d the opening round of qualifying at the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Austria. Having been second fastest in practice behind Bruno Coelho, the first of the four scheduled qualifiers would see that order reversed as Volker was able to benefit from a mistake by Coelho at the 2-minute mark. Behind them Marc Rheinard would ensure the Top 3 would respresent the championship’s big three manufacturers as he took his Tamiya to third, the Top 3 covered by 0.584 of a second.

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Pleased to open the weekend with a TQ, Volker said, ‘intially Bruno checked out and I was just trying to keep up but as the heat went on I got better and started to find my rhythm which allowed me to take the lead when Bruno had his mistake’. Having been as close as they were to Coelho in practice, the German said they made the decision to leave his BD7 unchanged for Q1 with a clean run the focus. Having conducted pre-race testing in Hrotovice in the days leading up to Wels, Xray & Tamiya doing their testing at the Hudy Arena, Volker feels they have come into the event in a much stronger position but said they still need to improve. The reigning champion said they ‘need to make small changes for tomorrow just to have a better pace’ so they can ‘win Q2 on pace and not by a mistake from Bruno’.

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‘I was driving very well until the 3rd minute when I made a mistake’ was Coelho’s reaction to his first qualifier. The ETS Germany winner would lose over a second when in the corner before the straight he hit the dot and flipped his T4. Posting the fastest lap of the round from team-mate Alexander Hagberg, who crashed heavily during the race, Coelho said while he couldn’t get back to P1 he was pleased to have been able to get ‘super close’ to Volker. With his car working ‘really good’ he said without the mistake it would have been an easy TQ and with no plans to change his set-up for the tomorrow morning’s second qualifier he will just look to putting in a clean run.

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After completely going over his TRF419 to trace the problem of it being very loose when turning right but fine to the left, Rheinard said while they failed to find any issues it was now good. ‘Much happier with the car’, the German who shares the points lead after 2 rounds with Coelho, said he got caught out by the amount of time you spend on full throttle and this left him with low voltage over the final laps. Planning to charge to a higher voltage for Q2 he said other than this the run was fine and he is quite confident about tomorrow’s three qualifying runs.

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Posting a fourth for the qualifier and best of the drivers on 20-lap runs, Viljami Kutvonen said it was as ‘a super consistent run’. The Finn added while ‘4th was a good position’ they ‘needed to find more pace’ highlighting he benefited from the mistakes of both Hagberg and VBC Racing’s Yannic Prumper. Switching from a Protoform LTC-R to an LTC-R 2.0 for Q1 he said it felt better for that run but going forward he said he was still undecided having been switching between the two shells throughout practice. He added irrespectively of which body he runs he needs to change something in his A800 set-up to knock a few tenths off his fastest lap times.

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‘What an idiot, the first lap was a stupid mistake by myself’, was how Serpent’s Marc Fischer summed up his first qualifier with the new 4X. Losing 2.8-seconds due to the error, the German said without this he would have finished ahead of Viljami. Yet to make the A-Main this season, Fischer said other than his mistake everything was fine. Opting against changing the all new car for Q1 saying they ‘just want to get in the books’ he said they are considering changing to a softer diff for the next qualifier but will give the idea more thought overnight.

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Completing the Top 6, Christopher Krapp said he felt in practice he had a good car over 5-minutes. Running in the second fastest heat, having been 18th fastest at the end of practice, the factory Tamiya driver said he just aimed to stay on his wheels for the 5-minutes with the fast chicane especially difficult – as Hagberg, Prumper and others found to their cost. Feeling the latest development of the pending TRF419X kit release is a step forward on what they had at Round 2 of the ETS, he said small tweaks to the car after practice were an improvement. With nerves getting the better of him towards the closing stages of the qualifier, the former ETS race winner said that was something he would work on for Day 2.

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Another manufacturer debuting a new car this weekend is Schumacher with Magnus Vassmar taking it to P7 in the first qualifier. The Swede, whose team-mates Elliot Harper and Michal Orlowski were 13th and 15th respectively, said his Mi6 was ‘easy to drive’ adding he was himself ‘quite surprised with his time’. Making ‘a few small changes’ after practice, looking to build up knowledge of the new car, Vassmar said this led to ‘better overall balance’ while retaining good rotation. Describing the car as having ‘very good pace’ he said he hoped to be able to make further improvements for Q2. Behind him, the Top 10 would be completed by Dionys Stadler, Akio Sobue and Marco Kaufmann.

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In the Xray Pro Stock class defending champion Marek Cerny topped the times from Xray team-mate Jan Ratheisky. Having set the pace in practice, the current championship leader would be just 0.193 off the Czech’s pace with Valentin Hettrich also on the same second to claim a P3. With the Formula division running two of their qualifier today at the Modellbau Wels hobby show hosted event, Olivier Bultynck took the first round ahead Ratheisky and David Ehrbar, with the order reversed in Q2, Ratheisky taking P1.

View complete event results here.

View the event image gallery here.

April 8, 2016

Chassis Focus – Michal Orlowski

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Chassis – Schumacher Mi6
Motor – LRP X20 4.5T
ESC – LRP Flow
Batteries – LRP 5600mAh “LCG”
Tires – Volante (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa
Bodyshell – Protoform LTC-R
Remarks – Schumacher factory driver Michal Orlowski is debuting the new Mi6 touring car from the British manufacturer, the first car to be penned by Aaron Rose sporting a number of interesting new features. The “S” shaped wishbones, like the anti-roll bar, are mounted on ball bearings. This makes for a perfectly smooth and precise suspension travel. The car also features all new geometries, with the shocks mounted sideways on the arm so that the shock angle can be determined by simply adding or removing shims. The car is equipped with a new bumper mount and new body posts, new shocks that allow for a double o-ring option and a new spool. The twin point steering system is now stock and the motor has been moved 2mm towards the center of the car and lowered by 1mm. Options wise, Michal is using an aluminium chassis, front double joints driveshafts and rear aluminium driveshafts.

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April 8, 2016

Euro Touring Series Rd3 – Friday Action

Live results from be found on MyRCM here.

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April 8, 2016

Video – Modified Qualifying Rd1

April 8, 2016

Chassis Focus – Yannic Prumper

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Chassis – VBC Wildfire D08
Motor – Muchmore Fleta 5.0T
ESC – Muchmore Fleta Pro
Batteries – Muchmore 6000mAh
Tires – Volante (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/Highest
Bodyshell – Protoform LTC-R
Remarks – Making his first ETS outing with his new team VBC Racing, Yannic Prumper is running the latest version of the Hong Kong based company’s called D08. His car is pretty much an out-of-the-box example the only exception being harder c-hubs and titanium screws.

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April 8, 2016

Coelho tops practice in Austria

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Coming into the third round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series on the back of his first carpet win of the championship, Mulheim winner Bruno Coelho has picked up where he left with the Xray driver fastest at the end of practice. The ETS making its first trip to Wels in Austria and laying down a track that all drivers are describing as different to normal, the joint championship leader set the fastest 3-consecutive laps from reigning champion Ronald Volker, with Alexander Hagberg completing the Top 3. Sharing the lead in the standings with the swede, Marc Rheinard would end up 4th quickest after the 3-rounds of practice.

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Summing up his practice Coelho said ‘the (track) layout is a bit strange but I like it’. Running two cars in each practice run, the Portuguese driver said both cars felt pretty similar but one had more steering and while a little more difficult to drive he would run it in this evening’s opening qualifier. Although planning to change some small details in the set-up for Q1, his main focus would be on driving the track better saying it was hard to be consistent every lap. Explaining that in ‘many spots you are close to the dots’ he added that the perfect line at the chicane had the potential to take 3/10th off the lap time but get it wrong and you ‘destroy the car’.

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‘Being close to Bruno is definitely better than previous race in Germany’ was Volker’s reaction to being just 0.06 of a second off Coelho’s pace. Running two cars, which for this weekend had a greater set-up difference than normal so as to help them better gauge which direction to go with set-up, the German said one felt faster having better grip and steering. Set to use this car for Q1, the Yokomo driver is hopeful a small set-up change can give the car a little more rear stability so it’s more comfortable over 5-minutes.

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Fresh from claiming a third consecutive European 1:12 Championship title last weekend, Hagberg said ‘I wish I was racing by 1:12, the touring car feels more like a tank’. 4/10ths off his team-mate, the Swede said his practice runs were ‘alright’. With one of the two cars he ran ‘a little easier to drive’ he said they will work on that for qualifying and try to get more steering from it. A fan of the track, which is much deeper than normal, he said it is ‘really good’ to drive.

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‘Average’ was how Rheinard summed up his practice performance. Almost half a second off Coelho, the Tamiya driver said his first car he used each run was ‘undrivable’ when turning right but ‘good’ turning left. The 2nd of his cars, which are both latest developments of the upcoming TRF419X release, while easy to drive he said was too slow due to it ‘missing grip’. The German said his preference is to run the first car if they can get it to turn as good both right & left adding there ‘must be something wrong which (they) haven’t spotted yet’.

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Giving the revolutionary new David Erbhar designed Serpent 4X its international race debut in Wels, Marc Fischer showed its potential setting the fifth fastest time. Serpent’s long standing lead driver, the German said the car is ‘much better than the 4.0’ adding it’s ‘more easy to drive’. Featuring some unique new design ideas, Fischer said there are a lot of unknowns with the car in terms of what set-up changes they need to be making. Hoping to be able to fine tune the car for qualifying, Fischer said the weekend was already a positive beginning for the new car.

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Making his big race debut for VBC Racing, having switched from Yokomo since Round 2, Yannic Prumper completed the Top 6. The former race winner reaction to his early performance was ‘not too bad actually’. While in ‘low traction the car felt good’, he said as the traction comes up they are now struggling a little with set-up. With the car ‘now too nervous & edgy’ and ‘lifting a wheel’, for Q1 they will replace the carbon chassis with a new one to see if that’s the problem. With the event providing the first indication of where he and the new car are really at he said as a starting point he is overall happy with how the weekend has started out.

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Behind Prumper, Awesomatix’s Viljami Kutvonen would end up 7th. The Finn described his pace as ‘too slow’ adding he’s not sure why as his A800 ‘feels OK’. Lacking some consistency he plans ‘a few set-up changes’ for Q1 adding ‘hopefully that brings more speed’. Making his return to the team this weekend, describing it as ‘like being back home’, Freddy Sudhoff would post the 8th fastest time behind promising Xray talent Dionys Stadler. Sudhoff described his his A800 as ‘super easy to drive’ over 5-minutes. ‘Missing 1 to 2/10th on lap times’, the German will make a small change for the opening qualifier in the hope of find a 1/10th. Behind Sudhoff, Xray designer Martin Hudy completed the Top 10 in front of his British team driver Olly Jefferies.

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In the Xray Pro Stock and Serpent Formula class it was the same man Jan Ratheisky who topped practice for both. The Xray driver topped Formula from Serpent designer David Ehrbar and Oliver Bultynck while in Pro Stock it was the Yokomo of Valentin Hettrich who was closest to the German. Round 2 winner Tony Streit would complete the Top 3 for Awesomatix.

View complete event results here.

View the event image gallery here.