Euro Touring Series » ETS 10/11 Rd1 Kastellaun Germany

October 16, 2010

Volker is Top Qualifier in Kastellaun

Ronald Volker has secured the overall TQ honours for the opening round of the 2010/11 Yokomo Euro Touring Series as he continued his domination of proceedings in the penultimate qualifier. The European Champion recorded the fastest 5-minute run of the event putting pole position for tomorrow’s finals beyond reach of his rivals. The German switched from a gear diff to a ball diff in the back of his Yokomo BD5 which improved stability through the sweeper but create understeer out of the hairpin but overall the car felt safer to drive. A great start to the event for Yokomo who have made a big commitment to the ETS becoming this season’s title sponsor, Volker feels pole position is a big advantage on this track as overtaking is difficult. With the pressure now off, Volker plans to use the fifth & final heat to test a different set-up ahead of the finals.

Volker is Top Qualifier in Kastellaun

Setting the fastest lap Sweden’s Viktor Wilck claimed second for the round, the Tamiya driver having set the early pace for the top heat. Making it three different cars at the top of the time sheets Freddy Sudhoff got a clear run in to claim third. A podium finisher here two years ago the German ran a self designed and produced chassis plate on his TCX. A narrower chassis than the standard kit version, it made for a softer car which he said felt perfect for the track conditions. Currently tied on points with Wilck, Sudhoff said he really wants to beat last year’s winner in the final qualifier which would allow him to line up third on the grid.

ETS Champion Marc Rheinard, who passed Sudhoff on track only to put his Tamiya on two wheels loosing both time and track position, finished fourth. Just missing out on his first 31 lap run by 8/10th Juho Levanen was next up just ahead of a much improved Yannic Prumper. An ETS race winner the young German said raising the bodyshell on his Speedpassion powered Yokomo had made the car much easy to drive and combined with better driving he was able to record his best run, but he has his work cut out for him to try and make the A-Main as he currently sits 13th in the qualification ranking.

Volker is Top Qualifier in Kastellaun

Eric Dankel notched up another TQ run in the Xray Pro-Stock class with the fastest time of the event. Running the controlled speedo & 13.5T motor from Speedpassion, the Xray driver once again headed the Yokomo of Martin Hofer meaning the pair will battle it out in the final qualifier to see who gets pole for the finals. Oliver Franke claimed another Top 3 time with his Hot Bodies ahead of Russia’s Ivan Laptev who finish 3rd overall in last season’s ETS standings. Czech race winner Daniel Wohlgemuth enjoyed his best time, which was good enough for fifth and sees him tied on points for 10th position on the grid with another race winner Meik Niemann. In the Speedpassion Hobby class Lucas Fischer claimed his first TQ run but having been fastest in the first three rounds Oliver Günther already had the pole secured.

Xenon Modified Top 10 – Q4
1. Ronald Völker (DE) – Yokomo/LRP – 31/5:05.832
2. Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya/SP – 31/5:07.422
3. Frederik Sudhoff (DE) – HB/LRP – 31/5:08.326
4. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya/SP – 31/5:09.836
5. Juho Levanen (FI) – Associated/Reedy – 30/5:00.891
6. Yannic Prumper (DE) – Yokomo/SP – 30/5:01.375
7. Teemu Leino (FI) – Xray/Orion – 5:02.226
8. Elliot Harper (GB) – Tamiya/SP – 30/5:02.544
9. Steen Graversen (DK) – Tamiya/SP – 30/5:02.982
10.Martin Hudy (SK) – Xray/LRP – 30/5:03.379

Xray Pro-Stock Top 10 – Q4
1. Eric Dankel (DE) – Xray – 29/5:03.543
2. Martin Hofer (DE) – Yokomo – 29/5:07.481
3. Oliver Franke (DE) – Hot Bodies – 29/5:07.950
4. Ivan Laptev (RU) – Tamiya – 29/5:08.556
5. Daniel Wohlgemuth (DE) – Xray – 29/5:09.318
6. Carsten Madsen (DK) – Tamiya – 29/5:10.118
7. Tony Streit (DE) – Xray – 29/5:10.408
8. Alexander Stocker (DE) – Hot Bodies – 28/5:00.211
9. René Klöckner (DE) – Tamiya – 28/5:00.226
10.Miek Niemann (DE) – Hot Bodies – 28/5:01.217

Full event results are available on MyRCM.

View our event image gallery here and Live Video stream here.

October 16, 2010

Volker closes in on pole position

Ronald Volker has made it three out of three in qualifying for the first round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series taking another TQ run to close in on securing pole position for tomorrow’s finals. The Team Yokomo driver felt track conditions had changed with traction levels increasing which made his LRP powered BD5 more difficult to drive. The German says they plan a number of changes to the set-up, which has so far remained unchanged, and try to put the overall TQ honours beyond the reach of his rivals in the penultimate qualifier.

Volker closes in on pole position

Setting the second fastest time and looking like a more serious threat to Volker, Marc Rheinard said he now felt things were starting to get better. Switching to a fresh TRF416 chassis for Q3, the ETS Champion said it worked pretty well. Fitted with a ball diff the more upbeat German will try a gear diff for the next outing. Tamiya/Speedpassion team-mate Viktor Wilck also produced a more competitive heat finishing only 2/100ths adrift to set the third fastest time despite a roll. The Top Qualifier and winner here last year, the Swede said his car seemed better after a diff rebuild and new belts and he plans to run it as it is for Q4.

Volker closes in on pole position

Driving a Hot Bodies Dominik Fleischmann continued his strong performance here in Kastellaun running the fourth fastest time followed by the third member of the Tamiya Racing Factory team Elliot Harper. Harper, who was on the podium at both the World and European Championships earlier in the year, felt it was a lucky run as other drivers were fastest than him but hit problems. With his car a handful to drive he is going to switch to the same set-up as Wilck for the penultimate round of heats.

Volker closes in on pole position

Fastest Xray was Martin Hudy, the Slovak racer posting his best round with the 6th fastest time. Hudy was frustrated by traffic which cost him time but was pleased with the progress he had made with his new T3 ’11. Harder oil and lowering of the shock position had transformed the car from being very edgy to very smooth. Freddy Sudhoff managed 7th but was on for stronger run until a big off cost him over 4 seconds. Teemu Leino recorded his first Top 10 run with 8th ahead Juho Levanen and Daniel Sober.

Volker closes in on pole position

Let down by his driving in Q2 Eric Dankel bounced back to top the third round of qualifying for the Xray Pro-Stock class. The German who opened the event by setting the pace in the first of the five rounds of heats said his Xray started off good but became very loose in the final 2 minutes. Despite this he set a new fastest time but to try cure the problem he will now try a heavier oil in the rear shocks. Martin Hofer had the opposite problem. Too much additive on the front tyres gave him too much front bite on his Yokomo BD5 for the early part of the race but by the end it was good again allowing him to set the fastest lap and recover to record the second quickest time. Young Rene Klockner enjoyed another strong round, setting the third fastest time as the only other driver to complete 30 laps over the 5-minutes. ETS race winners Oliver Franke and Meik Niemann finished 4th and 5th respectively.

Xenon Modified Top 10 – Q3
1. Ronald Völker (DE) – Yokomo/LRP – 31/5:07.472
2. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya/SP – 31/5:08.757
3. Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya/SP – 31/5:08.778
4. Dominik Fleischmann (DE) – HB/LRP – 30/5:01.453
5. Elliot Harper (GB) – Tamiya/SP – 30/5:03.917
6. Martin Hudy (SK) – Xray/LRP – 30/5:04.046
7. Frederik Sudhoff (DE) – HB/LRP – 30/5:04.409
8. Teemu Leino (FI) – Xray/Orion – 5:05.128
9. Juho Levanen (FI) – Associated/Reedy – 30/5:05.593
10.Daniel Sieber (DE) – Yokomo/LRP – 30/5:05.786

Xray Pro-Stock Top 10 – Q3
1. Dankel Eric (DE) – Xray – 29/5:05.633
2. Hofer Martin (DE) – Yokomo – 29/5:06.449
3. Klöckner René (DE) – Tamiya – 28/5:10.055
4. Franke Oliver (DE) – Hot Bodies – 28/5:00.002
5. Miek Niemann (DE) – Hot Bodies – 28/5:02.185
6. Madsen Carsten (DK) – Tamiya – 28/5:02.593
7. Ivan Laptev (RU) – Tamiya – 28/5:02.765
8. Tim Wahl (DE) – Xray -28/5:03.402
9. Streit Tony (DE) – Xray – 28/5:03.520
10.Daniel Wohlgemuth (DE) – Xray – 28/5:05.238

Full event results are available on MyRCM.

View our event image gallery here and Live Video stream here.

October 16, 2010

Another TQ run from Volker

Ronald Volker has backed up his opening TQ run with a new fastest time in the second round of qualifying here in Kastellaun. The Team Yokomo driver set the first and only 31 lap run saying the unchanged car felt better allowing him to increase his pace and again set the fastest lap. Really happy with the run despite having to deal with a lot of traffic, the European & German champion said the controlled Xenon tyres worked better on their second run and he now hopes he can maintain his distinct advantage for the remainder of qualifying. Second fastest was defending Champion Marc Rheinard but the German is still unable to get his Tamiya to his liking.

Another TQ run from Volker

Having suffered problems with traffic in Q1 Lucas Urbain got a clear run and put in an impressive third fastest time with his Speed Passion powered Losi JRX-S. The talented Frenchman increased the rear droop and said the car felt better. Suffering grip roll on his warm-up lap Urbain said he drove too cautiously on the opening lap but other than that was pleased with the run. The only change he plans for the next is more glue on the front tyres.

Another TQ run from Volker

Viktor Wilck was fourth fastest with his Tamiya ahead of the Xray pairing of Alexander Hagberg and Adrian Bernsten. Having struggled in the opening qualifier when Hagberg was the best of the new T3 ’11 drivers, the Slovak team made a big leap forward in pace. Hagberg switched to lighter oil in the rear shocks which gave him much needed rear traction and the Swede now says he can concentrate on his driving as the car is now competitive. Junior team-mate Bernsten also found more overall grip after a change of C-Hubs making the car much easier to drive. The 17-year-old Norwegian will stick with the same set-up for Q3.

Third fastest in Q1 Dominik Fleischmann was 7th fastest blaming his driving for the fall in pace saying his Hot Bodies was again very good. Fellow German Hot Bodies driver Freddy Sudhoff, who set the second fastest time in the first qualifier, failed to finish pulling up after two heavy crashes tweaked the car. Martin Hudy, who did much of the development testing on the new Xray T3 ’11, managed an improved 8th fastest time with Associated’s Juho Levanen and Tamiya driver Steen Graversen completing the Top 10.

Another TQ run from Volker

In the Xray Pro-Stock class Martin Hofer upped the pace from yesterday’s opening qualifier to TQ round 2. The Yokomo driver put the performance down to his driving saying the car feels just as he wants it to and he plans to change nothing for Q3. After being off the pace in Q1 last season’s Dutch ETS winner Oliver Franke said a change of bodyshell had allowed him to take his Hot Bodies to the second fastest time. Switching from Protoform’s LTC-R to the Mazda Speed 6 the 17-year-old German said the TCX was fast and very easy to drive and he too plans to leave as is for his next heat.

Another TQ run from Volker

Third fastest was Rene Klockner. Having made a mistake on the final lap yesterday in Q1 which cost him a decent time, the 16-year-old said his Tamiya was the same as yesterday only this time his driving didn’t let him down. Feeling his corner exit speed is slower than his rivals he plan to make a few set-up changes. Having TQ’d yesterday Eric Dankel was unable to repeat that performance finishing up fourth saying ‘Car was good but I wasn’t’, the German Indoor National Champion making a number of driver errors over the 5-minutes.

Xenon Modified Top 10 – Q2
1. Ronald Völker (DE) – Yokomo/LRP – 31/5:07.270
2. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya/SP – 30/5:01.238
3. Lucas Urbain (FR) – Losi/SP – 30/5:04.353
4. Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya/SP – 30/5:04.792
5. Alexander Hagberg (SE) – Xray/LRP – 30/5:05.060
6. Adrian Bernsten (NO) – Xray/LRP – 30/5:06.121
7. Dominik Fleischmann (DE) – HB/LRP – 30/5:06.179
8. Martin Hudy (SK) – Xray/LRP – 30/5:06.546
9. Juho Levanen (FI) – Associated/Reedy – 30/5:07.030
10.Steen Graversen (DK) – Tamiya/SP – 30/5:08.025

Xray Pro-Stock Top 10 – Q2
1. Hofer Martin (DE) – Yokomo – 29/5:09.340
2. Franke Oliver (DE) – Hot Bodies – 28/5:01.526
3. Klöckner René (DE) – Tamiya – 28/5:02.694
4. Dankel Eric (DE) – Xray – 28/5:03.477
5. Madsen Carsten (DK) – Tamiya – 28/5:05.181
6. Orlowski Blazej (PL) – Tamiya – 28/5:08.361
7. Streit Tony (DE) – Xray – 28/5:08.718
8. Rajki Balint (HU) – Hot Bodies – 28/5:08.858
9. Kröger Jens (DE) – 28/5:10.301
10.Schäfer Andre (DE) – 28/5:12.262

Full event results are available on MyRCM.

View our event image gallery here and Live Video stream here.

October 16, 2010

Volker opens qualifying with TQ run

Qualifying for the Xenon Modified class got underway this morning with Ronald Volker taking the first TQ run here in Kastellaun, German. The Yokomo ace ended the five minute run well clear of the opposition with Freddy Sudhoff just over 5 seconds adrift with the second fastest time. Volker said it was definitely a good way to start the day but admitted his car was still difficult to drive and he was having to drive a very fine line which on this occasion was possible as he faced no pressure from other drivers during the heat. Despite the car being loose the Indoor European Champion plans to stick with the current set-up for Q2.

Volker opens qualifying with TQ run

‘Not expected but a perfect start’ was how Sudhoff described his opening qualifier. The Hot Bodies driver said his LRP powered TCX was a little difficult to drive but the end result was it was fast. The German plans to run a thicker shock oil all round for Q2. Making it a very competitive start to the opening event of the ETS for Hot Bodies Dominik Fleischmann set the third fastest time.

Dominic Fleischmann

Pitting next to Sudhoff, Fleischmann is running the same set-up as his fellow German, the only difference between the two cars being that his car is fitted with a Spec-R gear diff. A long time Hot Bodies driver Fleischmann said the car was pretty good and consistent driving was important as track conditions mean the car is on the edge of traction rolling all the time. Planning to run the same set-up for his next heat he will continue to concentrate on his driving.

Fourth was the best defending Champion Marc Rheinard could manage, the Tamiya team leader making two mistakes. Leaving the track on one occasion, the 3 time World Champion described his TRF416 as OK but is struggling with it getting loose off throttle. His Tamiya/Speedpassion team-mate Viktor Wilck set the fastest lap for the opening round of qualifying but also had an off and had to settle for 6th behind Associated’s Juho Levanen who he was trying to pass when he had his off.

Levanen, who needed medical attention yesterday after getting superglue in his eyes, said his Reedy powered TC6 is working really well. The Finn said he got his tyre prep wrong and he sauced the controlled Xenon tyres too early, something he will change for Q2.

Volker opens qualifying with TQ run

French National Champion and European finalist Loic Jasmin took his Orion powered Tamiya to seventh ahead of Hot Bodies’ Andy Moore who suffered a broken diff during the run. French Losi star driver Lucas Urbain was a frustrated ninth fastest after traffic cost him a possible Top 4 run. Danish driver Steen Graversen completing the top 10 with Alexander Hagberg the fastest of the Xray team in 11th followed by team-mate Teemu Leino and Junior European Indoor Champion Adrian Berntsen.

Xenon Modified Top 10 – Q1
1. Ronald Völker (DE) – Yokomo/LRP – 30/5:00.713
2. Frederik Südhoff (DE) – HB/LRP – 30/5:05.820
3. Dominik Fleischmann (DE) – HB/LRP – 30/5:06.743
4. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya/SP – 30/5:07.028
5. Juho Levanen (FI) – Associated/Reedy – 30/5:07.297
6. Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya/SP – 30/5:08.158
7. Loic Jasmin (FR) – Tamiya/Orion – 30/5:08.465
8. Andy Moore (GB) – HB/Moore Speed – 30/5:08.471
9. Lucas Urbain (FR) – Losi/SP – 30/5:08.806
10.Steen Graversen (DK) – Tamiya/SP – 30/5:09.812

Full event results are available on MyRCM.

View our event image gallery here and Live Video stream here.

October 15, 2010

Dankel TQ’s opening Pro-Stock qualifier

Dankel TQ's opening Pro-Stock qualifier

Eric Dankel has TQ’d the opening round of qualifying for the Xray Pro-Stock class as day 1 of the Yokomo ETS comes to a close here in Kastellaun. The German Indoor National Pro-Stock Champion was the only driver to record 29 laps, despite a driver error which saw him roll his Xray luckily landing rubber side down. Afterwards the accomplished nitro racer described his new T3 ’11 chassis as perfect with it being very easy to drive. Setting the second fastest time with 28 laps was Martin Hofer, another who was very happy with his car. The Yokomo team driver said his BD5 was ‘really good’ and it was simply down to his driving now. The German did feel that he had a drop off in power in the final part of the run and plans to run a motor fan for tomorrow’s second qualifier.

Tim Wahl

Having just celebrated his 16th birthday on Monday, Tim Wahl set the third fastest time. Having been disappointed with his pace in practice he said things went much better in qualifying, something he put down to just better driving having changed nothing on his T3 ’11 from earlier in the day. Behind the German was top Danish Pro-Stock racer Carsten Madsen at the controls of his Tamiya followed by Alexander Stocker in 5th. The defending Champion, Stocker set the fastest lap with his Hot Bodies TCX but traction rolled in the sweeper at the end of the main straight. René Klöckner completed the Top 6 with his Tamiya.

In the Speed Passion Hobby class German’s Oliver Günther took the opening round of qualifying from Poland’s Andrzej Rózycki and Dutchman Eric Mulder. The first round of qualifying for the Xenon Modified class takes place in the morning.

Xray Pro Stock results after Rd1
1. Dankel Eric (DE) – Xray – 29 5:10.513
2. Hofer Martin (DE) – Yokomo – 28 5:04.509
3. Wahl Tim (DE) – Xray – 28 5:05.071
4. Madsen Carsten (DK) – Tamiya – 28 5:07.022
5. Stocker Alexander (DE) – Hot Bodies – 28 5:07.228
6. Klöckner René (DE) – Tamiya – 28 5:08.035
7. Streit Tony (DE) – Xray – 28 5:08.836
8. Laptev Ivan (RU) – Tamiya – 28 5:09.343
9. Leinburger Steffen (DE) – Xray – 28 5:09.701
10.Diedrich Mario (DE) – Tamiya – 28 5:10.292

Full event results are available on MyRCM.

View our event image gallery here.

October 15, 2010

New in the pits

The first round of the new Yokomo Euro Touring Series has seen a number of companies come out with updated and completely new products. Schumacher have a first production version of their new Mi4CX here, driven by Belgian team driver Manuel Henriet, which is an update to their British Championship winning chassis. The main changes are the new front and rear drive axle mounting blocks which have been put on a diet, while attached to those blocks are new composite lower wishbone mounting brackets which replace the current aluminium versions. Due to the reduced materials used in the areas, an updated chassis sporting additional mounting points for the blocks help increase stiffness. Up front the car also has a new spool and beefier front drive shafts.

New in the pits

Xray are present in a big way, debuting their new T3’11 that was only announced recently. Driven by a large number of the Xray drivers here, it is performing well, with Eric Dankel heading up the Pro Stock field following practice. In modified the team is taking a bit longer to get up to speed with Adrian Bernsten the fastest of the T3’11 drivers, sitting in 10th overall, heading into qualifying.

New in the pits

MR33, the brand of 3 time World Champion Marc Rheinard have released a number of new items, the most interesting of which is this body mounting hole positioning system. Solving the problem of marking your body post positions when trying to cut out a pre painted body, the set includes 4 posts that sit snuggly on the top of your body posts, set into which are magnets. You sit the body on the car, place the 4 supplied magnets onto the body and they find the magnets on the body posts. They are slack enough to allow you to position your shell and once in position you mark the hole position through the hole in the magnet. Simple and a big time saver. MR33 have also released a complete range of high quality shock oils as well as bottles of CA.

New in the pits

Released only recently, Hudy’s new lightweight limited edition tools are making their international race debut and as a primary sponsor, Hudy have given each of the Pro Stock and Hobby class drivers a 1.5mm wrench with ETS engraved on the handle. Regular racers of the series should end up with a complete set of tools by the end of the season with the Slovakian company giving away a different limited edition tool for each round.

View the image gallery for more images of these products.

October 15, 2010

Practice ends with Volker on top

Ronald Volker continues to set the pace in Germany at the opening round of the 2010/11 ‘Yokomo Euro Touring Series’. The Yokomo/LRP team driver improved his 3-consecutive lap time slightly to once again top Marc Rheinard on the time sheets. The German is clearly the man to beat here this weekend but while is BD5 is working better than then opposition he said like the rest of the field he is struggling with the car getting loose on the high speed sweeper at the end of the main straight. Despite this Volker said he will not make changes to his car for the first qualifier, which has now been rescheduled to run tomorrow morning, as the car is very good around the rest of the track.

Making a bigger improvement than Volker in terms of time, Rheinard described his Tamiya as ‘pretty bad’. The reigning champion said the car is very loose and stringing three decent laps together was difficult and he has a lot to do to have a good car for qualifying. His team-mate Viktor Wilck also improved his time to set the fourth fastest time but is also struggling with a very inconsistent car.

Practice ends with Volker on top

In between the Tamiya pairing with the third fastest time was Team Associated’s Juho Levanen. Extremely happy with how his TC6 is working he said it feels really fast and his focus now is to get consistency over 5-minutes from himself as a driver. Ranked 5th at the end of practice Hot Bodies’ Andy Moore said his pace was was ‘alright’ feeling he needs to work on his tyre prep as the car starts bad, feels good in the middle and then gets loose again in the last part of the run. Completing the Top 6 was European Finalist Loic Jasmin just ahead of Adrian Berntsen who once again was the fastest Xray.

In the Xray Pro-Stock class back to back German National Indoor Champion Eric Dankel improved his time to stay on top ahead with his Xray T3 ’11 ahead of the Hot Bodies of Alexander Stocker. Setting the third fastest time was young German Tamiya driver René Klöckner who moved ahead Team Yokomo’s Martin Hofer who failed to better his P3 time. The huge Pro Stock field along with those running in the Speed Passion Hobby class have their opening round of qualifying this evening.

Xenon Modified (Top 10 after P4)
1. Ronald Volker – Yokomo – 10.044
2. Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 10.091
3. Juho Levanen – Associated – 10.154
4. Viktor Wilck – Tamiya – 10.167
5. Loic Jasmin – Tamiya – 10.168
6. Andy Moore – Hot Bodies – 10.174
7. Freddy Sudhoff – Hot Bodies – 10.200
8. Elliot Harper – Tamiya – 10.229
9. Yannic Pruemper – Yokomo – 10.263
10.Adrian Bernsten – Xray – 10.264

Xray Pro Stock (Top 10 after P4)
1. Eric Dankel – Xray – 10.686
2. Alexander Stocker – Hot Bodies – 10.688
3. Rene Klockner – Tamiya – 10.793
4. Meik Niemann – Hot Bodies – 10.820
5. Steffen Leinburger – Xray – 10.861
6. Martin Hofer – Yokomo – 10.868
7. Carsten Madsen – Tamiya – 10.899
8. Yukijiro Umino – Yokomo – 10.902
9. Rob Janssen – Corally – 10.904
10.Tim Wahl – Xray – 10.951

View our event image gallery here.

October 15, 2010

Volker sets practice pace

Yokomo’s Ronald Volker is the early pace setter at the opening round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series taking his LRP powered Yokomo BD5 around the Kastellaun track in the three fastest consecutive laps by a considerable margin over defending champion Marc Rheinard. Recording a time of 10.060 compared with Rheinard’s 10.188, the European Indoor Champion has made little changes to his car in the opening three practice runs and plans to run the same set-up for the fourth and final run.

Rheinard described his Speed Passion powered TRF416, he will get the new TRF417 next month when he attends the Tamiya Fair event in Japan, as very inconsistent and said he is having to drive with great caution because if he steers to much the back end of the car steps out. In an attempt to cure the problem he plans to increase the toe in along with moving the rear shocks to a more upright position for the final practice.

Putting in an impressive performance setting the third fastest time is 17-year-old Adrian Berntsen. The current Norwegian and Indoor European Junior Champion is driving the new Xray T3 ’11 powered by LRP and has not touched the set-up from the opening practice run, waiting instead for the track to come to him and that plan is working well as he has outpaced the entire Xray factory line up of which Teemu Leino is the fastest in 10th.

Juho Levanen

Team Associated’s Juho Levanen described his new TC6 as very good as he set the fourth fastest time. The Finnish ace is another who has waited for the track to come to his car and believes that over a full five minutes his pace is even better and he is looking forward already to the opening round of qualifiers which will bring Day 1 of the event to a close. Last year’s winner Viktor Wilck is next up just ahead of team-mate Elliot Harper. The Swede’s Tamiya is easy to drive but at the cost of outright speed so a number of set-up changes are planned. Having found a large chunk of time in P3, Harper plans a number of changes to his TFR416 as he plays around with getting the car to his liking.

Lucas Urbain

Having build up a bit of following with Losi owners around the world, France’s Lucas Urbain once again continues to perform wonders with his aging JRX-S. Posting the 7th best 3-lap time in the high quality field he has had to do little in terms of set-up and the car is just getting better with each outing as the traction comes up. Having a lot of experience with the car on carpet he believes better is to come the higher the grip levels get. Just behind him by 1/1000th of a second is Andy Moore. The factory Hot Bodies driver is struggling with high speed rear stability on his Moore Speed powered TCX and is having to back off at through the sweeper at the end of the straight which is costing him time.

Eric Dankel

In the Xray Pro Stock class it is leading nitro racer Eric Dankel that heads the times with his Xray. The German said his new T3 ’11 was better than this morning’s opening two practices but plans to switch to a softer rear anti-roll bar as the car is loose for the opening part of the run. Just behind him is defending champion champion Alexander Stocker. The Hot Bodies driver also said his TCX is better than this morning but he is still ‘not satisfied’ with his set-up. Chasing his fourth consecutive Kastellaun win his TCX gets very loose when he pushes hard. Pitting next to him and next to him in the times is Martin Hofer. The German tried two different cars this morning and has opted for the car fitted with the new chassis plate which was used by Volker to win the outdoor Euros. Compared with the harder, original BD5 chassis plate, the new version gives the car better steering response. Making it four different cars at the top of the early Pro Stock time sheets it is Corally’s Rob Janssen. Despite his pace over three laps the Dutch racer is not happy with the consistency of the car and being his first big race on carpet he is unsure what changes to make.

Xenon Modified (Top 10 after P3)
1. Ronald Völker – Yokomo – 10.060
2. Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 10.188
3. Adrian Berntsen – Xray – 10.268
4. Juho Levanen – Associated – 10.280
5. Viktor Wilck – Tamiya – 10.280
6. Elliot Harper – Tamiya – 10.305
7. Lucas Urbain – Losi – 10.311
8. Andy Moore – Hot Bodies – 10.312
9. Loic Jasmin – Tamiya – 10.360
10.Teemu Leino – XRAY – 10.360

Xray Pro-Stock (Top 10 after P3)
1. Eric Dankel – Xray – 10.710
2. Alexander Stocker – Hot Bodies – 10.752
3. Martin Hofer – Yokomo – 10.868
4. Rob Janssen – Corally – 10.908
5. René Klöckner – Tamiya – 10.944
6. Carsten Madsen – Tamiya – 10.958
7. Yukijiro Umino – Yokomo – 11.016
8. Tony Streit – Tamiya – 11.058
9. Daniel Wohlgemuth – Xray – 11.138
10.Felix Wiessmann – Tamiya – 11.162

View our event image gallery here.