Euro Touring Series » ETS 11/12 Rd6 Traiskirchen Austria

July 7, 2012

Prumper Top Quaifier at ETS Finale

Yannic Prumper

Team Yokomo’s Yannic Prumper is Top Qualifier for tomorrow’s 2011/12 Yokomo Euro Touring Series season finale after a bizzane change in track conditions in Traiskirchen, Austria, resulted in Turkish driver Mustafa Alp taking a surprise TQ for Q4. With just the top 3 heats left to run to complete qualifying the humidity suddenly shot from a 27% to over 66% resulting in a reaction with the sugar water on the roof covered asphalt track that left the worlds top drivers looking like drifters rather than touring car racers. While the freak track conditions didn’t effect much at the front of the grid it was to cost former World Champions Atsushi Hara and Hayato Matsuzaki any chance of making the final.

Securing his second ETS TQ, the first of which he successfully converted into victory in Poland 3-years ago, Prumper said his Thunder Power equipped prototype BD5 has the pace to secure him his second ever win in the prestigious series and its just up to him to put in two clean races. Having dominated the opening qualifier on Friday by 4 seconds when on new tyres the young German is confident that tomorrow he can pull off a repeat performance as he still has his second set of allocated Ride controlled tyres while the No.2 starting Xray of Alexander Hagberg used both his sets in qualifying.

Hagberg

The best placed of the title contenders on the grid in second, Hagberg said he was happy with his starting spot and he is confident that his ORCA powered T3 is now competitive enough to challenge for the win tomorrow. The winner of his and Xray’s first win in the ETS in Poland from second on the grid the Swede has little to loose as he needs the win, and a poor result from defending champion Volker, if he is to lift the title.

Andy Moore

Starting third on the grid, Team HB’s Andy Moore said the track layout is going to make overtaking in the finals difficult but his Hobbywing powered TCX has the pace to at least match Hagberg but added that if Prumper maintains his qualifying form through to tomorrow the teenager should easily cruise to victory.

Ronald Volker

Lining up fourth on the grid defending champion Ronald Volker said he hopes his team-mate Prumper can pull off his first win with Yokomo and while he will be racing with his eye very much on championship points his goal is to try make it a 1-2 on the podium for the Japanese manufacturer. The other two title contenders Christopher Krapp and Marc Rheinard start 6th and 7th respectively with the two German’s admitting they will have their work cut out for them tomorrow starting so far back on such a track. Rheinard added that even if there where good opportunities to pass on the track he doesn’t feel he has good enough pace to work his way through the field quickly enough to be able to challenge even for a podium finish. The World Champion, who leads the points standings has been on the podium at every ETS encounter so far this season.

Mustafa Alp

With factory Serpent driver Marc Fisher unfortunately having to cancel his trip to Austria following a fever that saw the German spend two days in hospital no one expected an S411 to top the time sheets at the season finale not least Mustafa Alp. Describing the result as the highlight of his 5-year involvement in the sport, the 19-year-old said he knows it was luck rather than speed that allowed him to take the round and it was a story that he was going to enjoying telling people about for many years to come. Only his second ever international electric touring car race having made his debut at Apeldoorn last month the TQ run will see him start pole in the B-Main his target for the weekend having been to make it on to the back of C-Main grid! Making the most of his 5-minutes of fame Alp said he wanted to use the opportunity to thank Serdar from Evil Hobby Shop and Team NCRC for the small but much appreciated support this season.

Tony Streit

In the Xray Pro Stock class Apeldoorn Top Qualifier Tony Streit gave himself the perfect birthday present as he made it two in a row with a TQ run in Q4 securing him pole position for tomorrow’s A-Main ahead of title contender Oliver Franke and out going champion Martin Hofer. Unable to convert his Dutch pole position into a maiden ETS victory, the 23 year old Xray driver said if the race starts are clean he is confident that he can get the job done as his T3 was perfect in the final qualifier after a set-up change gave much better overall traction. Although third in the standings Streit can not win the championship but a win tomorrow could lead to him helping Xray claim a 1-2 in the championship behind Zdenko Kunak who starts seventh on the grid. The only double winner in the ETS’ largest class the Slovak driver need to finish 6th or higher to secure the Slovak manufacturer’s first ETS championship title.

In the Speed Passion Formula class Austrian driver Martin Szunyogh took the TQ honours ahead of championship leader and fellow countryman Hebert Weber with Polish race winner Roman Pichler set to line up third on the grid.

Ride Modified A-Main Grid
1. Yannic Prümper (DE) – Yokmo/Thunder Power – 310 pts
2. Alexander Hagberg (SE) – Xray/ORCA – 305
3. Andy Moore (GB) – HB/Hobbywing – 303
4. Ronald Volker (DE) – Yokomo/LRP – 303
5. Vitkor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya/Thunder Power – 302
6. Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho/Orion – 300
7. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya/Speed Passion – 300
8. Magnus Vässmar (SE) – Xray/Thunder Power – 297
9. Freddy Sudhoff (DE) – Awesomatix/LRP – 294
10.Martin Hudy (SK) – Xray/LRP – 294

Xray Pro-Stock A-Main Grid
1. Tony Streit (DE) – Xray – 310 pts
2. Oliver Franke (DE) – HB – 306
3. Martin Hofer (DE) – Schumacher – 305
4. Morten Iversen (DK) – Awesomatix – 305
5. Marek Cerny (CZ) – Yokomo – 304
6. Philipp Neudinger (AT) – Awesomatix – 303
7. Zdenko Kunak (SK) – Xray – 300
8. Dominic Vogl (AT) – Awesomatix – 299
9. Bernhard Bopp (DE) – HB – 296
10.Ivan Laptev (RU) – Awesomatix – 294

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July 7, 2012

Video – Qualifying Action Rd3

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez5GXx_yJso[/youtube]

July 7, 2012

Q3 Update

Yannic Prumper

Yannic Prumper is almost certain to be the Top Qualifier at the final round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Austria after the young German posted his second TQ run at the Traiskirchen track in Q3 ahead of the Xray of Alexander Hagberg and his Yokomo team-mate Hayato Matsuzaki in a qualifier that saw many suffer with traction roll.

Finishing 2/10th up on Hagberg, Prumper rolled his Thunder Power backed BD5 through the sweeper at the end of the straight but unlike team-mate Ronald Volker he managed to survive the incident. Prumper said the roll, which cost him a 21 lap run, was his own mistake as he just took the corner too fast. Defending Champion Volker, who was much happier with his BD5 after a change of shock set-up, roll his BD5 slightly later in the sweeper and sliding on it roof into the barriers lost its LRP battery ending his run. Currently sitting fourth in the qualification ranking Volker said his team-mates pace was playing into his hands as it would deny his three title rivals the extra bonus point it offers.

Hayato Matsuzaki

Finally completing a full 5-minute run Matsuzaki, like Prumper, managed to survive a roll. Catching a corner dot the former 2WD Buggy World Champion lost around 3 seconds but said he was just happy to take ‘big’ points for the round but added with two non finishes in the earlier qualifiers the pressure is very much on for the final heat. Needing a top result the Japanese driver, who could not capitalise on fresh tyres in Q1 and Q2, said he doesn’t know whether to take the gamble of running fresh tyres or to save them in the hope that he can secure a place in the A-Main using old tyres.

One driver who will use his second set of tyres in the final qualifier in the hope of boosting his grid position is Christopher Krapp. The factory Kyosho driver said while it might be coming a little late his Orion powered TF6 is working really well now and the German was able to produce his fastest 5-minute run in Q3 and his best point haul with fourth in the round.

Modified Stand

Setting the fifth fastest time Andy Moore ran another ‘safe’ round but said he was maybe too cautious in the beginning and this cost him a potential Top 3 time. Team-mate Atsushi Hara traction rolled his TCX and said he had no choice this time round but to pull up as it was undrivable. Like Matsuzaki, Hara has only one finish to his credit, a 9th in Q2, and so he too needs to pull off a strong final run if he is to line up on the grid for the main event tomorrow.

Viktor Wilck

Q2 top qualifier Viktor Wilck said changes to his Tamiya had improved it a lot on used tyres but a roll in the infield that saw his car cross onto the main straight lost him 6 seconds ending any hope of a strong run and he ended up 15th. It wasn’t a good round for the TRF squad with Marc Rheinard suffering a roll on the opening lap, the lost time leaving him 11th fastest while Elliot Harper had what looked like being a solid run ended when he got hit by another car.

Oliver Franke

In the Xray Pro Stock class title contender Oliver Franke TQ’d the penultimate qualifier ahead Denmark’s Morten Iversen and Q1 pace setter Tony Streit. While Q3 was the best qualifying run from standings leader Zdenko Kunak the Xray driver, and double race winner, is clearly struggling for pace on this an important weekend.

Ride Modified Q3 Top 10 times
1. Yannic Prümper (DE) – Yokmo/Thunder Power – 20/5:00.652
2. Alexander Hagberg (SE) – Xray/ORCA – 20/5:00.838
3. Hayato Matsuzaki (JP) – Yokomo/Reedy – 20/5:02.037
4. Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho/Orion – 20/5:02.228
5. Andy Moore (GB) – HB/Hobbywing – 20/5:02.293
6. Freddy Sudhoff (DE) – Awesomatix/LRP – 20/5:04.093
7. Magnus Vässmar (SE) – Xray/Thunder Power – 20/5:04.173
8. Martin Hudy (SK) – Xray/LRP – 20/5:04.213
9. Zdenko Kunak (SK) – Xray/LRP – 20/5:05.791
10.Jakob Zundel (AT) – Awesomatix – 20/5:06.104

Xray Pro-Stock Q3 Top 10 times
1. Oliver Franke (DE) – HB – 19/5:09.797
2. Morten Iversen (DK) – Awesomatix – 19 5:10.549
3. Tony Streit (DE) – Xray – 19/5:10.823
4. Marek Cerny (CZ) – Yokomo – 19/5:11.264
5. Philipp Neudinger (AT) – Awesomatix – 19/5:11.606
6. Zdenko Kunak (SK) – Xray – 19/5:13.496
7. Martin Hofer (DE) – Schumacher – 19/5:13.676
8. Dominic Vogl (AT) – Awesomatix – 19/5:13.898
9. Philip Tschupp (CH) – TOP – 19/5:14.296
10.Felix Wiessmann (DE) – Yokomo – 19/5:14.309

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July 7, 2012

Wilck pips Prumper to take Q2

Viktor Wilck

Tamiya Racing Factory’s Viktor Wilck has taken the second round of qualifying at the season finale of the 2011/12 Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Austria by just 58/1000ths of a second over Q1 top qualifier Yannic Prumper. Having pulled up early after traction rolling his Thunder Power equipped TRF417 in Q1 yesterday, Wilck had the benefit of fresh tyres for this morning’s heat and while pleased to TQ the round the Swede said all been equal in terms of tyres Prumper is in a different league this weekend. With Team Xray’s Alexander Hagberg using his second allocated set of controlled Ride R32 tyres to set the third fastest time, Prumper’s second fastest time was all the more impressive given the young German’s tyres had already produced a 21 lap TQ run.

Wilck

Describing his run as safe, Reedy Race Champion Wilck said his car was ‘not nice to drive’ with it being very edgy. Asked what set-up changes he can make to improve the car for the remaining two qualifiers, he replied that having tried a few ideas in practice yesterday that did not work he was starting to run out of things to change adding that he expects it is going to be a tough afternoon here at Traiskirchen. Team-mate Marc Rheinard, who set the 5th fastest time on used tyres, said a number of set-up changes to try and make the car less edgy didn’t work and actually resulted in him suffering with lack of steering. While his car is better on new tyres the World Champion said he thinks there is little to be gained in terms of overall starting position and it would be more beneficial to save his second set of tyres for tomorrow’s finals.

Mod Heat

Prumper said on used tyres his Thunder Power equipped Yokomo was more difficult to drive but considering how close he was able to run against Wilck on fresh tyres he was very happy with his pace. Preferring to adjust his driving to the feeling of the car on used tyres the former ETS race winner said he will run the same set-up for Q3. Team-mate and defending champion Ronald Volker took fourth in Q2 with a run he described as ‘OK’. The German ace said his LRP powered BD5 is super consistent but lacks overall pace. Looking to retain the car’s stability but find more steering he will try some small changes for Q3. One of the drivers to pull up early in Q1 to save tyres Yokomo’s Hayato Matsuzaki couldn’t capitalise, traction rolling his Reedy powered BD5 on the second lap before again pulling in to save his rubber.

Hagberg

Taking the gamble to run his second set of tyres in Q2, Hagberg said his ORCA powered T3 was still getting onto two wheels through the corners but he managed to complete a mistake free run. With a more stable car on used tyres the Polish ETS race winner is hopeful that for Q3 the majority of drivers will be on used rubber giving him the chance to add to his third place points from Q2.

Christopher Krapp

The fourth of the title contenders, Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp was much happier with his Orion powered TF6 compared with yesterday. Running on used tyres the Gran Canaria winner was able to better is Q1 time while most of the front runners went slower. Having made a host of set-up changes he said he now has a good feeling with the car and he is confident that with a few more small adjustments and a different tyre management he should be a lot more competitive for the final two heats.

Having done just four laps in Q1, Team HB’s Atsushi Hara couldn’t make the most of the tyres as he once again traction rolled but opting to continue he set the 9th fastest time. Team-mate Andy Moore who was second fastest in Q1 did not even complete a lap after he lost the pin from his left rear drive shaft on the opening lap.

Stock stand

In the Xray Pro stock class out going champion Martin Hofer took his Schumacher to the fastest time ahead of the Awesomatix’s of Philipp Neudinger and Morten Iversen. Title contenders Oliver Franke and Zdenko Kunak set the 4th and 10th fastest time respectively.

Ride Modified Q2 Top 10 times
1. Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya/Thunder Power – 20/5:00.614
2. Yannic Prümper (DE) – Yokmo/Thunder Power – 20/5:00.672
3. Alexander Hagberg (SE) – Xray/ORCA – 20/5:01.392
4. Ronald Völker (DE) – Yokomo/LRP – 20/5:02.611
5. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya/Speed Passion – 20/5:03.535
6. Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho/Orion – 20/5:04.149
7. Magnus Vässmar (SE) – Xray/Thunder Power – 20/5:05.979
8. Martin Hudy (SK) – Xray/LRP – 20/5:06.253
9. Atsushi Hara (TH) – HB/Reedy – 20/5:06.556
10.Freddy Sudhoff (DE) – Awesomatix/LRP – 20/5:08.360

Xray Pro-Stock Q2 Top 10 times
1. Martin Hofer (DE) – Schumacher – 19/5:10.999
2. Philipp Neudinger (AT) – Awesomatix – 19 5:11.693
3. Morten Iversen (DK) – Awesomatix – 19 5:12.209
4. Oliver Franke (DE) – HB – 19/5:12.260
5. Marek Cerny (CZ) – Yokomo – 19/5:13.921
6. Tony Streit (DE) – Xray – 19/5:15.162
7. Denis Zuykov (RU) – Awesomatix – 19/5:16.044
8. Markus Kreder (DE) – Yokomo – 19/5:16.346
9. Jens Kroger (DE) – Kyosho – 19/5:20.708
10.Zdenko Kunak (SK) – Xray – 18/5:00.091

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July 6, 2012

Prumper TQs opening qualifier at ETS finale

Yannic Pruemper

Yannic Prumper produced a blistering opening qualifier at the season finale of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Austria to top Q1 by a massive four seconds over the HB of Andy Moore with defending champion Ronald Volker the only other driver to manage 21 laps of the Traiskirchen track to record the third fastest time. Changing to a heavier shock oil in his Thunder Power equipped BD5 for the first of the four qualifiers, the young German was clearly delighted with how the car handled in the cooler conditions. Finding it a little difficult over the first 2-minutes of the 5-minute run from then on it was very easy to drive and had ‘minimum traction roll’. Impressing onlookers with the authority he stamped on Q1 over the World class field, Prumper said afterwards with the car working so well he has no plans to make any changes ahead of tomorrow morning’s Q2.

Andy Moore

Describing Prümper as being in a different league, former World Champion Moore was pleased with second saying he just focused on driving safe and for that approach his Hobbywing powered TCX felt pretty good. With a good points hall from the round the British Champion said he can push harder in his next run but said in order to do this he will need to improve his set-up. While new team-mate Shin Adachi took 8th in the round, Atsushi Hara pulled up after he traction rolled on his fourth lap. One of the greats of the sport, Hara admitted he was trying a little too hard but having had no problems at that section of the track in practice said he was surprised to roll there. With practically new tyres for Q2 Hara is hoping he can register a good run in the morning but he was not the only one to pull up after early mistakes, both Tamiya’s Viktor Wilck and Yokomo’s Hayato Matsuzaki also having the advance of better tyres for Q2.

Ronald Volker

Having found his LRP powered BD5 difficult to drive from the start Volker said he reverted to going for a clean run which paid dividends as he took third and was fastest of the four title contenders. Losing some time having to let team-mate Prumper through, the only double race winner of the season said they have no choice for tomorrow but to try a different set-up as he struggled in the infield with understeer.

Alex Hagberg

Just missing out on a 21-lap run, factory Xray driver Alexander Hagberg was content with his run to fourth as he always knew he would be at a disadvantage on new tyres. With his ORCA powered T3 stronger on used tyres the Swede hopes this will allow him to capitalise tomorrow when all drivers are on worn rubber. Team-mate and fellow countryman, Magnus Vassmar said his car was much better than it had been in practice but added there is still room for improvement. One of the stars of qualifying at the Polish ETS encounter where he TQ’d a round, he set the sixth fastest time just behind Marc Rheinard and ahead of Kyosho’s title hopeful Christopher Krapp.

Marc Rheinard

Rheinard, who currently leads the points standing thanks to his TQ & win at the previous race, said his car was not nice to drive resulting in him flipping the Speed Passion powered TRF417. Having set the pace in practice, the World Champion who will go for a unprecedented three world titles in a row later this month, said he found the track for Q1 a lot more grippy but expecting the track to be warmer for Q2 doesn’t plan any set-up changes as he was pretty happy with his car in such conditions early today.

Tony Streit

In the Xray Pro-Stock class Austrian driver Philipp Neudinger drove the best 5-minutes of his life only to have the time disallowed for his ratio being below the allowed 4.50 for the control Speed Passion speedo and motor class. Driving an Awesomatix, Neudinger followed the gearing ratios contained in the manual of the unique Russian designed car but when manually calculated at post race tech inspection it was discovered those figures in the manual had been rounded up and he was infact running 4.979. Although he believed Neudinger had not intentionally tried to break the minimum 4.50 ratio rule, race director said Scotty Ernst said the rule was was in place in the super close class and he had no choice but to disallow the time. This gave Xray driver Tony Streit the TQ for the round. Having struggled in practice the German found his car was tweaked but having time to complete a full rebuild before qualifying he said the car is now very competitive and he is very confident for the remaining three rounds of heats.

Championship leader Zdenko Kunak had a terrible opening heat, the factory Xray driver struggling on new tyres and managed only the 25th fastest time. Also competing in Modified where he posted the ninth fastest time, the talented Slovak racer said he has a good set-up for used tyres and he should be OK for tomorrow’s qualifiers. Title rival Olver Franke also had poor opening heat managing only the 7th fastest time after rolling his HB.

In the Speed Passion Formula class San Marino driver Andrea Selva set the pace ahead of Simone Leonardi and promising young Polish racer Bartlomiej Zambrzycki.

Ride Modified Q1 Top 10 times
1. Yannic Prümper (DE) – Yokmo/Thunder Power – 21/5:10.158
2. Andy Moore (GB) – HB/Hobbywing – 21/5:14.216
3. Ronald Völker (DE) – Yokomo/LRP – 21/5:14.668
4. Alexander Hagberg (SE) – Xray/ORCA – 20/5:00.130
5. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya/Speed Passion – 20/5:00.990
6. Magnus Vässmar (SE) – Xray/Thunder Power – 20/5:03.811
7. Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho/Orion – 20/5:05.169
8 Shin Adachi (JP) – HB/Reedy – 20/5:05.470
9. Zdenko Kunak (SK) – Xray/LRP – 20/5:05.615
10.Martin Hudy (SK) – Hudy/LRP – 20/5:06.431

Xray Pro-Stock Q1 Top 10 times
1. Tony Streit (DE) – Xray – 19/5:10.456
2. Bernhard Bopp (DE) – HB – 19/5:11.756
3. Dominic Vogl (AT) – Awesomatix – 19/5:11.845
4. Morten Iversen (DK) – Awesomatix – 19 5:13.488
5. Martin Hofer (DE) – Schumacher – 19/5:14.001
6. Martin Wilfinger (AT) – Serpent – 19/5:15.003
7. Oliver Franke (DE) – HB – 19/5:15.186
8. Marek Cerny (CZ) – Yokomo – 18/5:00.194
9. Radek Flek (CZ) – Yokomo – 18/5:00.381
10.Felix Wiessmann (DE) – Yokomo – 18/5:01.093

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July 6, 2012

Rheinard tops practice in Austria

Marc Rheinard

Marc Rheinard is the top seed for qualifying at the sixth & final round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Austria the Tamiya driver took his Speed Passion powered TRF417 around the track in Traiskirchen in the fastest three consecutive laps ahead of the Yokomo’s of Hayato Matsuzaki and Ronald Volker, the latter traction rolling his LRP powered BD5 before he could improve on his CP1 topping pace.

Running a fresh set of Ride tyres in CP2, Rheinard said his car was a lot better than in CP1, when he ran used tyres, but added that he could still do with more steering especially at the hairpin. Looking for a safe opening qualifier the World Champion said he will not risk changing anything for this evening’s Q1, the start to which was delayed after a heavy rain shower and gusting winds resulted in the sweeper at the end of the main straight getting wet on the outside line as the wind drove the rain in under the open ended roof structure of the unique venue. Following the rain there has also been a major change in the track temperature and humidity which many of the top drivers believe with make for a tricky first qualifier due to the cooler conditions.

Hayato put his improvement in time down to better driving and is hopeful of Q1 as he too plans to leave the set-up on his BD5 as is. Questioned about the possibility of high traction the Japanese ace said that having tested at the track last night he is confident they have a set-up should the conditions change significantly over the next hour to warrant a set-up change. Team-mate Volker managed only two fast laps before his car flipped and went crashing into the barriers backwards resulting in the wing mounting point on the bodyshell being damaged forcing him to pull up. The defending champion, who has TQ’d three of this year’s ETS events, said he will make a few small changes to his set-up for Q1 to try make the car just a little less aggressive.

Yannic Prumper

Improving his time but not his 4th position, Yannic Prumper said the change to plastic shock caps on his Thunder Power equipped Yokomo did the opposite to what he expected, making it more aggressive. Proving to be faster the young German will continue with the plastic caps but will change to a thicker oil for his opening heat.

Atsushi Hara

Reverting to the Protoform Speed 6 body in CP2 along with running a softer shock oil on his HB TCX Atsushi Hara improved to fifth fastest. Overall better than in CP1 when he ran the LTC-R shell he said his TCX was fast but inconsistent with the car still a little too aggressive. Team-mate Andy Moore, who didn’t post a time in the first controlled practice, said he just drove safe laps in the final practice which was good enough for the British ace to set the 7th fastest time ensuring he is in the top heat for qualifying. Not sure how his car will perform over a 5-minute run Moore said he hopes that the rain that got onto the sweeper wont have effected it too much as that was one place his TCX felt pretty good.

Viktor Wilck

Starting in between the Hot Bodies of Hara and Moore will be Reedy Race Champion Viktor Wilck. Third fastest in CP1, the Swede said after the strong opening run that he had a few ideas he planned to try in final practice but they didn’t work and with his car very aggressive to drive he was unable to improve his time dropping to sixth overall in the seeding. The third member of the TRF squad, Elliot Harper had a tough practice ending up 21st of the 76 Modified runners. Describing his car as ‘like driving a 50 pence piece’ (a seven sided UK coin) the World Championship podium finisher said he does not really know what direction to take with his set-up.

For first time ETS title contenders Alexander Hagberg and Christopher Krapp CP2 didn’t see an improvement in time with the pair dropping down the order to 8th and 13th respectively. Hagberg said while they have a good car on used tyres they still need to find a set-up that allows them to get the best from new tyres. With most of the top runners finding improvement from running a heavier shock set-up Krapp decided to go that route for CP2 but the Gran Canaria winner said it was even worse that the set-up he ran earlier. The German now plans to completely change his TF6-SP for Q1 by running a narrower from end and more rear toe-in along with going back to softer shocks.

Martin Hofer

In the Xray Pro Stock class reigning champion Martin Hofer bettered Marek Cerny’s CP1 to take the top seeding for qualifying ahead of the Czech driver. The winner of two race this season, championship standings leader Zdenko Kunak managed to improve his time taking his Xray from seventh to third and more psychologically importantly ahead of his only rival for the title Oliver Franke who was fourth fastest.

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July 6, 2012

Volker fastest in first controlled practice

Ronald Volker

In very hot and humid conditions at Traiskirchen, Austria, Ronald Volker set the pace in the first of the two controlled practice runs that will determine the seeding for qualifying at the title deciding round of the 2011/12 Yokomo Euro Touring Series. The defending champion, who is one of four drivers in the battle for the overall title, set a pace of 44.667 over three laps ahead of new Yokomo team-mate Hayato Matsuzaki on 44.826 with Tamiya’s Viktor Wilck third on 45.017.

Volker

Having had a weekend he would rather forget at the penultimate round in Apeldoorn, where he ended up qualifying down in the E final, Volker was pleased with his early pace at the roof covered asphalt venue but added that the high traction could made running a clean five minutes very difficult. Feeling the track has much more traction than when the unique venue hosted the European Championships, the German said this had made the track very tricky with there being a very fine line between having the amount of steering you want or ending up on your roof.

Hayato

Having made his ETS debut at the previous round where he finished 14th, former 2WD Offroad World Champion Matsuzaki was happy with his early practice on what he described as a ‘difficult’ track due to its wide variety of corners. Pleased with the feeling of his Reedy powered BD5, the Japanese racer said his focus for the moment is on improving his driving which could be better. Yokomo’s other star driver Yannic Prumper, who changed chassis between the morning’s two free practice runs and the first controlled practice was much happier with his pace, the German saying the second car had much more steering than the first chassis he ran. Setting the fourth fastest time just 3/1000ths faster than Alexander Hagberg, the German plans to switch shock caps for CP2 to the plastic version with the hole which he said should made the car a little easier to drive.

Hagberg

The second fastest of the title contenders with 5th in CP1, Team Xray’s Hagberg who like Volker had a disastrous weekend at the preceding round of the ETS said his ORCA powered T3 2012 was a lot better suited to the Thomas Pumpler designed track and felt ‘not so bad’. The Swede, who described the layout as being more like what you would normally have at an indoor carpet event, said getting the car ready for qualifying was going to be all about the small details.

Atsushi Hara

Completing the Top 6 former World Champion Atsushi Hara switched from a Protoform Speed 6 bodyshell to an LTC-R which he said while it gave his HB TCX more steering and the feeling of better corners speed it was slower in laps times. The Japanese ace, who has been spending a lot of time in Europe recently as part of his World Championship preparations, said he must decide whether to run the Speed 6 with a more aggressive setting or continue with the LTC-R but with a slightly less aggressive set-up having maybe changed the set-up too much for CP1 in his search for better corner speed. Team-mate Andy Moore only managed 2 laps after he traction rolled his Hobbywing TCX which slid into the track barrier resulting in a broken servo horn.

Marc Rheinard

The other two Ride Modified title contenders Marc Rheinard and Christopher Krapp set the 7th and 10th fastest times respectively. The current standings leader, Rheinard said he ran used tyres and there was a ‘huge’ difference compared to fresh rubber. The winner of Round 5, the reigning World Champion said his Tamiya feels good and so when everyone is on the same tyres he is confident he has the pace to match Volker.

Kyosho’s Krapp said he is struggling a little for pace and is not really sure why. While his Orion powered TF6 is very consistent he said it lacks overall speed. Having tried softer shocks to try improve it, which would normally work in theses conditions, he said having walked around the pits and talk to some of his rivals a harder shock seems to be the way to go and so he will try this for CP2.

Marek Cerny

In the Xray Pro Stock class Gran Canaria winner Marek Cerny was fastest for Team Yokomo ahead the title contending HB of Oliver Franke while standings leader Zdenko Kunak posted only the 7th fastest time behind the Schumacher of out going champion Martin Hofer.

View our event gallery here.

July 3, 2012

Four manufacturers chase ETS title at season finale in Austria

The stage is set for the most exciting title battle in the history of the ETS with four drivers representing four different manufacturers in with a chance of becoming the 2011/12 Yokomo Euro Touring Series Champions at this weekend’s (6-8th July) season finale in Traiskirchen, Austria. Having enjoyed it’s most successful season to-date with close on 700 drivers set to register points in the World famous electric touring car series, the fifth running of the championship has also produced its most competitive year of racing with four different drivers taking to the top step of the podium in the premiere Ride Modified class. Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp and Xray’s Alexander Hagberg both claimed their first ever ETS wins putting them in the position of going head to head with Team Yokomo’s defending Champion Ronald Volker and Tamiya’s former Champion Marc Rheinard for the prestigious title at the sixth & final round.

A new addition to the ETS calendar, Traiskirchen is the perfect venue for such an exciting climax to the season with the roof covered asphalt track ensuring that the current unsettled European weather can play no part in deciding whether the elusive ETS Modified Champions roll of honour remains at just three names (Jilles Groskamp, Rheinard & Volker) or gets the addition of a fourth worthy Champion. The Top 4 in the standings are seperated by just 7-points with a maximum of 156 points up for grabs so its very much still all to play for and as was witnessed at the preceeding round in Apeldoorn, where Rheinard rescued his campaign by taking the TQ and win, anything can happen in racing with Volker and Hagberg both failing to make the A-Main at the Dutch event.

While the focus of the weekend will be on the title battle, there will be a number of drivers among the World Class entry of over 200 racers who with no championship to worry about will be looking to make their own mark, this being the last major international touring car race before the World Championships that take place in the Netherlands at the end of the month. Having finished sixth at Round 5, his first ETS outing this season, former World Champion & ETS race winner Atsushi Hara will be hoping for a more competitive outing in Austria as will Team HB team-mates Andy Moore and Shin Adachi.

Having topped a round of qualifying to line up third on the grid in Apeldoorn, Serpent’s Marc Fisher will be looking to build on that performance this weekend and bring home some silverware for his small team. Also looking to convert his unquestionable raw talent in to a victory will be Volker’s Yokomo team-mate Yannic Prumper. Prumper finished runner up to Rheinard at Traiskirchen last year when it hosted the European Championships and the young German must be close to ending his 3-year victory drought.

In the Xray Pro Stock class, which has also produced four different winners this season, the title will too be decided in Austria in a duel between Xray’s Zdenko Kunák and Team HB driver Oliver Franke. A new addition to the ETS this year the Formula class, for 1:10 2WD Formula 1 cars which like Pro Stock use a controlled Speed Passion speedo/motor combo, is wide open with no less than five drivers in with a chance of becoming the inaugural champion.

While those in contention for a title will be holding off on any celebrations until Sunday evening, for the rest of the competitors they will be able to celebrate the successful conclusion of Season No.5 of Uwe Rheinard and Scotty Ernst’s Euro Touring Series with the now traditional end of season party planned for Saturday night at the track. With the organisation of the Traiskirchen ETS encounter being headed up by top Austrian touring car racer Thomas Pumpler with help from former European Electric Offroad Champion Peter Pinsch, the weekend is sure to be of a very high standard something that racers have now come to expect from ETS events.

Round 6 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series will be covered live throughout the weekend on Red RC where you can follow how the title battle unfolds over the three day event.