Euro Touring Series

February 8, 2015

Chassis Focus – Helge Johannessen

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Chassis – ARC R10 2015
Motor – Muchmore (handout)
ESC – Muchmore (handout)
Batteries – Silverback 7200mah
Tires – Ride (handout)
Radio/Servo – Futaba
Bodyshell – Blitz TSX
Remarks – One of ARC’s four ProStock A-main finalists here in Muelheim, Helge Johannesen is running a number of optionals on his R10 2015. Choosing to run an aluminum chassis, he also opted for the short version shocks and an entire low friction transmission set. To lower the overall weight, titanium and aluminum screws and turnbuckles have been installed as well as aluminum rear dogbones.

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February 8, 2015

Video – Modified, Pro Stock & Formula A1

February 8, 2015

Rheinard cruises to A1 win at German ETS

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Tamiya’s Marc Rheinard cruised to an unchallenged win in the opening A-Main at Round 2 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series tonight in Germany. Posting the fastest lap of the race the Top Qualifier would win by a 1.4-seconds from the number 2 starting Yokomo of Ronald Volker and new Serpent signing Viktor Wilck both benefiting from an mistake by Yannic Prumper which saw the Yokomo driver crash out while running second.

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‘So far its a copy of Hrotovice’ was Rheinard’s reaction after his win, the German referring to Round 1 of the championship when he TQ’d and took A1 only to crash out in A2 and ended up leaving the Czech Republic with only 4th place. Continuing ‘this time though I still have good tyres’, he said he knew Volker might not be so quick at the start and he was able to use this to build up a ‘small gap’. Expecting Volker would let Prumper through if he hadn’t found speed for A1 he said by the time he did that he knew that while he might be able to catch him, passing would be another thing so he never felt under threat. Pleased with his car, the championship’s most winning driver said other than check it over he would run it as is for A2 tomorrow morning.

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Changing to a different set of tyres and back to his Q2 set-up, Volker said the oversteer he suffered in Q4 turn to understeer. Lacking overall grip in the opening laps, the reigning champion said he let his team-mate Prumper through but after 2-minutes his BD7 got better and he was able to match Rheinard’s pace, Prumper having crashed out after 8-laps. With Wilck running all over the back of his car for the first part of the race, he said he was able to break away from the Swede once his car improved. Winner of the Season #8 opener, Volker said they have no choice but to again try something with the set-up for A2 as a last chance effort to go for the overall win.

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Accepting congratulation from his new team for his efforts to try and get by Volker, Wilck said ‘I just couldn’t find a way passed Ronald’. Describing his S411 as feeling really good he said even with his car much better than the Yokomo at the end of the straight Volker was able to block him. Making heavy contact with the boards through the chicane he said that ended his challenge for second with the car feeling tweaked after the impact. Looking forward to tomorrow’s remaining two Mains, he said his A1 performance was very encouraging and already he was able to show the potential that lies with his new team.

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Asked about his off after the chicane, Prumper said he was pushing hard to try and make up the gap to Rheinard and just clipped the boards causing his car to shoot off at the hairpin. Having got by last year’s race winner Alexander Hagberg on lap 6, Christopher Krapp would be promoted to fourth by Prumper’s retirement with the Kyosho driver holding position to the end ahead of Hagberg with Marc Fischer completing the Top 6.

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There were also easy wins for Top Qualifiers Marek Cerny and Jan Ratheisky in the opening Pro Stock and Formula A-Mains. In Pro Stock such was Cerny’s lead the reigning champion was able to back off over the final three laps to head home an Xray 1-2 over team-mate Mike Gosvig with an impressive drive from ARC backed driver Helge Johannessen netting the towering Norwegian third. In Formula Ratheisky was a class act and despite the best efforts of Ride Modified A-Main starter Bruno Coelho he won by almost 2-seconds with Gosvig making a 1-2-3 for the championship winning Xray X1.

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February 7, 2015

Video – Modified Qualifying Rd4

February 7, 2015

Wilck takes Q4, Rheinard Top Qualifier

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In one of the most interesting qualifying battles seen at a round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series for some time, Serpent’s new signing Viktor Wilck became the fourth different driver in as many qualifiers to top the times but it was Marc Rheinard who claimed the overall TQ honours for the German event. The Tamiya driver went into the deciding qualifier up against the Yokomo pairing of Yannic Prumper and Ronald Volker with both drivers needing a second TQ run to better Rheinard’s faster TQ time of Q3, while Wilck took them all by surprise with his pace to top Q4 by 6/10ths of a second. Behind Rheinard, Volker will start second followed by Prumper, Wilck and last year’s event winner Alexander Hagberg.

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Claiming his second overall TQ of Season #8 having claimed pole position for the season opener in the Czech Republic, Rheinard said ‘Four different TQ guys has to be a first for the championship’. Pleased to again claim the bonus point for the TQ he said ‘hopefully this time round I wont mess it up in the final’, the German referring to his 4th place finish in Hrotovice. With ‘not so much tyre wear’ he said he should be good as he can keep the same set of tyres on his TRF419 for the finals. Commenting on the finals, the first of which takes place tonight, he said ‘I should be ok especially as Ronald looks to be struggling but I’m taking nothing for granted as they might find something between now & the first final’.

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Only 5th fastest in Q4, Volker said ‘I’m more disappointed about my pace than my position on the grid’. The 4-time back to back ETS champion said he is still lacking pace at the beginning of the run and as it stands now they have no chance so they have no choice but to make a ‘big change’ for A1.

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Pulling a shock off his BD7, Prumper said he ‘just pushed over the limit and messed it up’. The runner-up in Muelheim-Kaerlich last year, the 21-year-old said his car is good for racing and his approach for the final was pretty simple, ‘maximum attack’.

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Having had little or no testing with his new Serpent due to waiting on the go ahead to get early release from his Tamiya contract, Wilck said ‘finally I have TQ’d one round on carpet, its been a very long time’. Going up in his rear diff oil on his S411 he said this helped the car carry more corner speed and a droop adjustment also made the car faster through the chicane. Starting from fourth on the grid, the Swede said he can only wait and see what happens with the three ahead of him during the finals but added the car is fast enough to challenge for the win.

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The driver who started on pole last year from where he took a very convincing win, Hagberg is not enjoying the same form this time round. Struggling with the rear end of his Xray, the clearly frustrated Swede said he still hasn’t been able to cure the poor handling. Behind Hagberg, enjoying his best run in Q4 when he took his Kyosho to the third fastest time, Christopher Krapp will start third. The German started in that same position when the race was first hosted at the current venue and came away with a podium finish.

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In the Xray Pro Stock class it is defending champion Marek Cerny who is Top Qualifier ahead of Xray team-mates Mike Gosvig and Jan Rathiesky who posted his first TQ run in the final qualifier. Changing to harder oil in the rear shocks for the final qualifier so as to get more steering, Cerny said he got caught out by the change as his T4 had more steering than expected. Causing him to hit the boards and lose time he said once he adjusted his driving he was very happy with the change adding that having steering in reserve is a nice thing to have in a final. Gosvig said he tried for the TQ but over did it and made a mistake coming onto the straight that cost him over a second, the gap at the end of the 5-minutes to Rathiesky being 3/10ths. Rathiesky, who capped off the Formula TQ he secured in Q3 with a clean sweep of qualifying by topping all four qualifiers, said starting from 3rd on the Pro Stock grid was ‘no problem’ and while passing would be ‘not so easy’ he had some good tactics to try and get passed his team-mates.

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February 7, 2015

Chassis Focus – Roman Pichler

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Chassis – Project HP-1
Motor – Hobbywing 21.5 (handout)
ESC – Hobbywing
Batteries – Muchmore “flat” 3300mah
Tires – Ride (handout)
Radio/Servo – Futaba/Sanwa
Bodyshell – Mon-Tech F13
Remarks – Swiss driver Roman Pichler is running the definitive version of the Project HP-1 formula car he’s been developing together with the other designer Michael Hauptli. The main features on the car are for sure the adjustable wheelbase in the rear and the huge amount of camber link positions in the front. The chassis comes from a cooperation with Raceberry, and the layout allows for different battery positions. Both front and rear wings are the old school Tamiya Type-C.

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February 7, 2015

Chassis Focus – Jan Ratheisky

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Chassis – Xray X1
Motor – Hobbywing 21.5 (handout)
ESC – Hobbywing (handout)
Batteries – LRP 4700 mah
Tires – Ride (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/Savox
Bodyshell – Xray
Remarks – Back from a successful U.S. campaign at the Snowbirds, Jan Ratheisky is in attendance here with his X1 formula car. Having being just released after a long development process, the only noticeable differences from standard is the rear wing that is now mounted in front of its support to bring it closer to the rear end and the use of a molded front wing, something which is required in the ETS series.

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February 7, 2015

Rheinard TQs third qualifier at ETS

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Marc Rheinard topped yet another close qualifying encounter at the second round of the ETS in Germany when the Tamiya driver claimed his first TQ run ahead of Yannic Prumper and former team-mate Viktor Wilck. The third different driver to top qualifying in as many rounds, the result sets the stage for a three way battle between Rheinard, Prumper and defending champion Ronald Volker in the fourth & final qualifier at the Muelheim-Kaerlich event.

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The Top Qualifier at the Season #8 opener in the Czech Republic but ending up only 4th in the final result, Rheinard said ‘again pretty close only this time I kept onto my few 1/10ths at the end’. Having lost out to Volker in Q2 by 3/10ths of a second, this time round 3/10ths would be his advantage over Q1 pace setter Prumper. Having increased the voltage to which he charges his battery for the run, the 4-time world Champion said the power was better but he feels it could be further improved. With MuchMore’s Mr. Jang on nto support his lead driver, for the final qualifier they will move the position of the fan to further away from motor so as to improve cooling to reduce any potential power drop off due to exccessive heat.

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Echoing Rheinard, Prumper described the round as ‘pretty close’ but was clearly frustrated by being delayed by traffic over the final two laps which lost him the 3/10ths he needed. Having struggled in the early part of Q2, last year’s second place finisher at this event said his BD7 was much better now after a change of tyre prep. This fact highlighted by him recording the fastest lap of Q3 on his second lap.

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Posting his first Top 3 qualifyinig run, Serpent’s new recruit Wilck was pleased to ‘finally put in a clean run’. Losing a couple of tenths when he caught fellow Swede Alexander Hagberg in the chicane, the Xray driver having a terrible run after suffering a body tuck following contact with the boards, he said while his driving was better his car pushed a little. Adding more front droop to his S411, he said the change made the car push too much on power and he will change back for the final round. He will also again continue to increase the oil weight in the rear diff.

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Posting the fourth fastest time, Volker said his run ht problems on the first lap after he caught a piece of tape on the track. Struggling with understeer, he said his team-mate Prumper was getting closer every lap forcing him to open up to let him passed. Unfortunately as he moved aside he tapped the boards further adding to the total time lost. Having changed his tyre from Q2, he said they need to work on the car set-up for the final qualifier which will hopefully put him in a position to battle with Prumper and Rheinard for the overall TQ.

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Enjoying Top 10 runs in the opening two qualifiers, Yokomo’s Loic Jasmin posted the fifth fastest time. The French National Champion said he had a lot more overall traction after he made the switch from alu to a carbon chassis on his BD7. Describing the car as ‘easy to drive’ he added ‘but like everyone I need more steering’ and so he will adjust either the ackermann or bump steer for his qualifier.

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Again completing the Top 6, Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp said ‘I can’t get it done over the 5-minutes’. Putting 15K oil in the diff for the run, he said this gave him more steering and all he needed to do was drive it around for the 5-minutes but again catching Wilck he made a mistake that cost him over 1-second. Already locked into the final, the German will use Q4 to test thinner sway bars on his TF6.

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Another driver making his internationl debut with a new team this weekend, Elliot Harper would set the 7th fastest time just ahead of Marc Fischer. Opening qualifying with an impressive Top 6 run last night, the Schumacher driver changed his car for the first outing of the day but instead of giving the car more steering the change saw him lose steering although he still managed a Top 10 time. Reverting to his Q1 set-up for Q3 he said it was better but he is still looking for more initial steering and already locked in to the A-Main he will take a gamble with tyre prep for the closing qualifier to try to get a better car for the final.

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In Pro Stock, the biggest of the three classes which make up the ETS with 209 entries this weekend, defending champion Marek Cerny claimed his second TQ run of the event. Having TQ’d Q1, the factory Xray driver took the third qualifier from team-mate & previous round pace setter Mike Gosvig. A very convincing winner of the season opener in the Czech Republic, ARC’s Lars Hoppe ran the third fastest time. Changing from a plastic to an alu steering linkage on his T4, something he would normally only use on asphalt, Cerny said the change gave him better steering. Posting the fastest lap he acknowledged the speed of Gosvig who but for a roll on his second lap would have been a lot closer than the 1.3-seconds at the end of the 5-minutes. Despite his early error Gosvig would work his way back to the top of the timing screens but further small mistakes towards the end cost him the chance to repeat his opening qualifier of the day when he TQ’d ahead of Cerny. The only driver who can deny Cerny the overall TQ, the Dane said his car is enough to get the job done in the final qualifier and he just needs to cut out the mistakes.

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In Formula Jan Ratheisky wrapped up the overall TQ as he made it three from three times for the third time despite not liking how his X1 felt after he went full hard with the car’s monoshock. The defending champion and winner of the season opener, said with the pressure off him for the final qualifier he will use the run to test the opposite setting on his monoshock after which he hopes to be able to gauge the best set-up for the first A-Main which takes places tonight. In terms of the finals he said class debutant Bruno Coelho, who set a new fastest lap in Q3, is very fast but set to have to first get by Francesco Martini, who starts second on the grid, he hopes this will give him enough time to build up a gap.

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View the complete event results here.

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