Chassis – Schumacher Mi5 EVO
Motor – G-Force 4.5T
ESC – G-Force
Batteries – Intellect 6000 mah
Tires – Ride (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa
Bodyshell – Protoform LTC-R
Remarks – Top British Schumacher driver Elliott Harper is running a slightly revised Mi5 here in Germany that sports an aluminium chassis, a new steering featuring a twin rack system, as well as new shock towers with optimised hole positions.
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Ronald Volker recovered from a slow start to the second round of qualifying this morning at the Euro Touring Series in Germany to give Yokomo its second TQ run of the weekend. Initially it was Tamiya’s Marc Rheinard who set the pace while Volker was on target for the fifth fastest time, but with his BD7 improving for the second half of the run the defending Champion would come back to top the times by 0.374 over his arch rival Rheinard. Behind them last night’s Q1 pace setter Yannic Prumper completed the Top 3 followed by Viktor Wilck and Alexander Hagberg.
Describing it as an ‘exciting qualifier’, with Rheinard, Prumper and Marc Fischer all having turns are setting the pace, Volker said in the beginning of the run his car didn’t have a good balance and he pretty much ruled himself out of having any chance of a TQ run. Aware he had lost a lot of time over the early laps but with the car improving over the run he said he decided to push. While he ‘took a lot of risks’, surviving two occasions when his car ‘almost left the track’, he said it was very satisfying to manage to end up TQ’ing the round. Putting his slow start down to tyre prep rather than a set-up issue, the defending champion said they will adjust it for the penultimate qualifier to get the car to work better earlier in the run.
‘Almost! Disappointing to of all people lose out to Ronald’, that was Rheinard’s reaction to the run. The Tamiya driver said his TRF419 ‘starts off good’ but by the end of the run is ‘missing punch’. Running a 5 turn Muchmore motor and charging his battery to 8.2 volts, for Q3 he will now charge to 8.4v as well as adding more turbo to his speedo settings. In terms of the car’s set-up he said it ‘felt pretty good’.
Prumper said his ‘driving was bad for the first 3-laps’. While his driving improved, like Volker he said his tyre prep was off and for the next one he will use more additive.
Setting the fourth fastest time, Viktor Wilck said his S411 was ‘good now’ but as in Q1 the run contained too many driver mistakes. Having gone up in the oil in his rear diff and reverted to the standard kit steering blocks, the newly signed Serpent driver said it was now just down to him to improve his driving. Having been on a TQ pace early on, Marc Fischer would also lose out to driver errors to end up 7th fastest. Also reverting to a standard car and increasing the diff oil from 6 to 7k, the German would set the fastest lap of the round saying ‘finally I am fast’. He said the biggest element in the improved pace was down to his tyres with him switching to his second set of race tyres for the qualifier.
Posting the 5th fastest time, last year’s event winner Alexander Hagberg said ‘for the first minute the car is undriveable as I have zero rear traction’. Having had similar issues in Q1, when he described his run to 3rd as ‘lucky’, he said having changed his set-up for Q2 but it making no difference he is now suspecting its his tyres that are the issue. While the car improves towards the end of the run he said his tyres still looking like brand new which at this point in the event shouldn’t be the case.
Completing the Top 6, Christopher Krapp said a camber change and less droop on his TF6 gave him a good car but he messed up his driving. The former ETS race winner said closing in on Wilck he just pushed a bit too hard and almost rolled. Considering running the car narrower for Q3, he said he might instead just focus on driving which will bring him the most improvement.
In Pro Stock, Mike Gosvig took the second qualifier from Q1 pace setter & Xray team-mate Marek Cerny with Awesomatix’ Max Mächler third fastest. Third in last night’s opening qualifier, Gosvig ran a harder rear spring on his T4 for Q2 which he said for the first laps had him thinking it was a bad decision but then the car ‘just got faster and faster’ as the change gave him more corner speed than yesterday. Passing Jan Ratheisky after the German rolled his T4, the 20-year-old Dane said it was hard having him running directly behind him for the second half of qualifier. Pleased with his car he will leave it unchanged for Q3.
Defending champion Cerny, who after a good night’s sleep was feeling a lot better, said his run was ‘quite OK’. Feeling that traction was higher than Q1 and that the hall being cooler than yesterday, he said his car was not as good as last night, leading to a number of small mistakes. Expecting conditions to be better for Q3 as the temperature rises, the outside temperature this morning reading -4, the Czech driver for now does not plan to change his set-up.
In Formula defending champion Ratheisky made it two from two as he this time topped the qualifier from Xray team-mate Francesco Martini with Roman Pichler again third quickest. Fresh from his Formula win at the Snowbirds in Florida, he said while his X1 is getting better each run he still needs more steering. Having moved the rear wing in as close as is possible to the chassis to reduce rear grip he said for Q3 he will narrow the rear axle width, run a harder monoshock as well as changing to a smaller pinion for more braking.
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Chassis – Yokomo BD7 2015
Motor – Muchmore (handout)
ESC – Muchmore (handout)
Batteries – GM 6400mah
Tires – Ride (handout)
Radio/Servo – Graupner/GM
Bodyshell – Protoform Mazda Speed6
Remarks – Making the switch from Schumacher to the Japanese company after the season opener, Martin Hofer is running a 2015 version BD7 which features lightweight options such as titanium screws and turnbuckles as well as aluminium rear dogbones. Martin also chose to run the short shocks along with X-gear springs.
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Yannic Prumper has taken the opening round of qualifying at the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Germany. The Yokomo driver brought Day 1 of the second round of the championship to a close by topping the times from team-mate Ronald Volker and last year’s event winner Alexander Hagberg in a ultra close encounter which saw the Top 5 covered by just one-second.
Having suffered a servo issue in the final practice but felt his carbon chassis BD7 had good potential Prumper was very happy to kick off qualifying at his home event with a TQ run. Having been content to run his car unchanged other than with a new servo, Prumper said the decision by long time mentor & mechanic Toni Rheinard to change to a softer 5k oil diff and move the shock position in one hole had left him with a’really good’ car and all he had to do was put in a clean round. Describing it as ‘a good start to the weekend’ he said he had no plans to change the car for Q2 in the morning adding he would just try to carry on where he left off.
Volker said said he was ‘not unhappy with second’ especially when only his team-mate was faster. Having topped timed practice, the defending champion set down the inital TQ pace until halfway into the 5-minutes when he made contact with the boards after coming off the main straight. Sending his BD7 into a half spin, the German would lose 1.5-seconds. Determined to try make up some of the lost time he said he ‘gave (his) best’ and considering how tightly packed the Top 5 ended up he was happy with his recovery. With his pace, him sharing the fastest lap time with Hagberg, giving him good confidence for Q2 he said having suffered from on power understeer in the qualifier they would hopefully also cure this by making the switch from running double joint rear shafts to standard versions.
‘Not enjoyable to drive but luckily I had a clean run’, that was how Hagberg summed up his opening qualifier. The Xray driver said his T4 was ‘very difficult to drive’ with the rear end still loose with the car wanting to spin out. While the car improves over the run, his fastest lap coming at 4-minutes, he said he needs to make the car easier to drive for Q2.
Swapping position at the top of the timing screens with Prumper, Marc Rheinard would end up fourth after contact with the curbing putting his Tamiya into a roll. Describing his error which cost him over one & a half seconds as ‘stupid’ he said the run was going really well until he came up on Hagberg afer which he just drove shitty leading to his mistake. While his car left to turn different left to right, he said overall his TRF419 was good and the potential is there with just really small changes now needed. One such change he is considering is the mounting position of his Protoform LTC-R bodyshell with the current one mounted quite far back.
Fitting all new electrics to his Schumacher after his lack of power in the final practice, Elliot Harper claimed the honour of the fastest qualifier of the drivers sporting new team gear this weekend. Setting the 5th fastest time the British driver, who is making his first international outing for his new team, said it was ‘a good start to the meeting’. Fitting a stiffer rear brace to the car for Q1 which would normally give him more steering he said with the alu chassis it made the car too stiff. For Q2 he will remove the brace and try to improve the steering with another set-up change.
Completing the Top 6 on his debut for Serpent having impressed in timed practice, Viktor Wilck said his run simply contained ‘too many mistakes’. In terms of his S411, the Swede said he went with the wrong diff set-up. Running too light of oil he said it went off after 2-minutes.
Seventh fastest ahead of Loic Jasmin and Bruno Coelho, Christopher Krapp also suffered with his car going off after 2-minutes. The factory Kyosho driver said the run started out really well with him in contention for a Top 3 time but then the car ‘started losing steering like hell’. Fighting with the car the former ETS race winner said ‘the last minute was horrible’. With the practice runs only 4-minutes he believes in the 5th minute of the qualifier he overheated his tyres and for Q2 he will make a camber change.
In the Xray Pro Stock class defending champion Marek Cerny recovered from a difficult practice to claim the opening qualifier. Describing his car as having been ‘so so in practice’, the Czech driver said with help from Xray team-mate’s Hagberg and Francesco Martini they came up with a good set-up for Q1. With the car easy to drive he said he really enjoyed the run. Starting to fell unwell as the day came to a close, Cerny said his only focus for Q2 was to get a good nights sleep so as to hopefully feel better for the morning. Behind Cerny, team-mate Jan Ratheisky set the second fastest time followed by Mike Gosvig. Gosvig said after ‘bad descisions’ in Q1 at the opening round of the ETS which saw him put his car on its roof, he just took it easy. As the run progressed he pushed harder and planning to fit harder spring to the rear of his T4 for Q2 he is feeling confident for Day 2 after his solid start to qualifying.
Formula would produce a super close Q1 with class rookie Bruno Coelho making defending champion Ratheisky work for his customary top spot on the timing sheets. Setting the fastest lap, Portuguese touring car ace Coelho would lose out on the TQ on the final lap with Ratheisky putting in a better lap to snatch it by 0.033 of a second. Behind the two Xray drivers Project HP1’s Roman Pichler would complete the Top 3.
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The final practice at the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Germany saw no change in the top order with Ronald Volker’s first time practice standing to see the Yokomo driver go into qualifying for Round 2 of the championship as top seed. Setting an impressive pace on his debut for Serpent with the second fastest time, Viktor Wilck would too retain his position in the final ranking despite being unable to better his earlier 3-consecutive laps. Knocking 1/10th of a second off his pace it was last year’s race winner Alexander Hagberg who was the best placed improver in the second & final timed although his 3rd placing remained unchanged.
Changing to a thicker rear diff in his BD7, defending champion Volker said the change was too much and the car ‘did not feel comfortable to drive’. Winner of the season opener in the Czech Republic, the German said he preferred how the car ran in the TP1 and he will revert back to the diff set-up used then. With the lighter oiled diff back in the car he said everything should be good for tonight’s opening qualifier.
Trying to build up some knowledge with his new S411, Wilck ran different steering blocks in TP2 which changed the bump steer but the Swede didn’t like such change. With the car having more understeer, he will switch back to the car’s standard blocks. Also going up in the rear diff oil he said the chance was almost unnoticeable and so for the opening qualifier he will go up further in the oil weight. Team-mate Marc Fischer, having been 7th fastest in first timed round, would drop to 9th fastest as he failed to improve his time. Picking the better of the two cars he ran in TP1 but changing the set-up the German said it wasn’t good and for Q1 he will put the same set-up as he ran at Round 1 in Hrotovice.
While changes to his T4 gave him a faster car, Hagberg said they also made it inconsistent. Describing the handling as being ‘very loose in the rear’, adding that is something he needs to work on, he said while not ideal he was happy to at least have found steering.
Improving fractionally on his opening time, Marc Rheinard said changing to the LTC-R bodyshell improved his Tamiya ‘a little’. Appearing to be engaged in mind games with Volker and the Yokomo star’s engineer Yukijiro Umino, the Round 1 Top Qualifier was being coy about any other changes made. Describing his TRF419 as ‘good’ he added it could be a little better with the car ‘sometimes (getting) loose on power’ something he would like to rectify.
Opting to change to a completely different car for TP2, making the switch to a carbon chassis BD7, Yannic Prumper improved his pace despite a faulty servo. With the servo not returning to center correctly he said while he adjusted his driving around the problem, his fastest time coming from his last three laps, overall he feels the cars has good potential. With a new servo fitted he will use the car otherwise unchanged for the first round of qualifying.
Improving from 8th to 6th fastest. Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp was very happy with the effects of a body change. Switching to the LTC-R he said this improved the steering quite a bit. Describing the car as ‘bullet proof’ to drive he said no matter how hard he pushed it was really consistent. Very happy with his pace on carpet he would like to find just a little more steering and having discussed his options with the car’s designer back in Japan via messaging he will raise the rear hub to remove some of the car’s rear traction.
Having impressed with the 6th fastest time on his first run, Elliot Harper would have electric problems in the final practice and drop to 7th in the final seeding. Making changes to his new Schumacher, he said the car just had a lack of power and he is unsure why with the problem also making it difficult to gauge how effective the changes he made in terms of car set-up were. Behind Harper, France’s Loic Jasmin had a good second practice to post the 8th fastest time.
Completing the Top 10 was Andy Moore. The HB driver said with all of the development work for the new PRO5 having been done on asphalt he was pretty happy with the early pace on carpet. Having improved the car’s mid & exit corner speed with a diff change after TP1, he said the initial turn in still needs improvement although he added this seems to be a general problem so far for all drivers. Planning a significant set-up change for Q1 he said if it turns out too much he can ‘dial it back’ a little for Q2.
In the Xray Pro Stock class, Jan Ratheisky would end up fastest but like Volker in the Ride Modified class he couldn’t improve in the second practice. The Xray driver used the run to test a second set of tyres to evaluate the first set he was planning to use for the rest of the event. Happy that his race tyres can’t be improved on he said with a small front camber link adjustment he is all set for qualifying.
Fastest in the second practice ending up second to Ratheisky was his Xray team-mate Mike Gosvig. The Danish driver said he actually had a better car for the first practice but his 3-consecutive laps were slowed by traffic. Changing to a harder rear shock set-up for the second run, he said this caused the T4 to drift more. Set to go back to his early shock set-up, the 20-year-old said this should give him a ‘pretty good’ car for Q1.
Making his debut this weekend for Yokomo, former champion Martin Hofer would post the fourth fastest time behind the Awesomatix of Max Mächler. Having had to sit his last exams for his Master in Sciences, Hofer said he was really happy with how his BD7 ran out of the box this morning and it’s just got better and better each run, the two cars so far having just 6-minutes of running each on them. Changing to a shorter shock and to X-Gear springs as well as switching from Protoform’s Dart body to a Speed 6 over practice, for Q1 he will make the rear end softer to try and get the car to rotate better.
In Formula, Italy’s Francesco Martini knocked Xray team-mate Ratheisky off the top spot with his second practice pace. Changing to a softer front spring on his X1 and rebuilding the diff, Martini said the car had more on throttle steering as a result of the change. Finding the traction coming up between rounds he said this should further improve the car’s steering for Q1. Ratheisky said the changes he made to his X1 didn’t have the effect he expected with him having too much rear traction. Planning to change the rear wing mounting so that it is closer to the rear of the car he said while he has never tried it before it should reduce the rear traction.
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Andy Chen from Savox is here in Muelheim with the first model of the brand new ‘Monster’ line of servos that will soon be available on the market. The uniqueness of this line is that the servo case also works as a motor body, so that the magnet can be larger in turn increasing the performances without exceeding the standard servo measures. Torque has been improved by 30% from the standard version of the servo reaching now the noticeable data of 31kg at 7.4V. The system is patented, and so is the upper gear that features a bearing to ensure the best possible precision. With the entire servo case acting as cooling for the motor, this greatly improves the efficiency.
