Volker stamps authority on Day 1 of ETS
Defending champion Ronald Volker stamped his authority on the opening day of the new season of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series by topping the opening round of qualifying in the Czech Republic. Having set the pace in both free and controlled practice, the Team Yokomo driver capped off the perfect day by taking Q1 from Freddy Sudhoff and Naoto Matsukura in what was a very close battle which saw a number of drivers set the lead pace.
Just 3/10ths faster than Sudhoff, Volker summed up the first of the four scheduled qualifiers as ‘super close’. Struggling at the beginning of the 5-minute heat running only mid pack pace, the German said his BD7 was a little edgy. As his set of controlled Ride tyres came in he said he was then able to drive a little more aggressively and work his way back to the front. Describing it as a four horse race to the finish with the final gap ‘almost nothing’, he said he was really pleased to start off the new season with a TQ adding he hopes he can repeat it again tomorrow. Team-mate Matsukura summed up his run to third by saying ‘car good, driver shit’. The Japanese ace said the nerves of the opening qualifier got to him but now that its out of the way and he has a solid first run he is hoping for better tomorrow.
Running an aluminum chassis on his Awesomatix, Sudhoff said it was a great way to start the new season. Describing the new A700L EVO as suiting his driving, he said the new diff has given him a very consistent car. Featuring a screw that allows the diff to be filled fully with oil and void of any air, this helps in a way he said that ‘only Oleg (the car’s Russian designer) can fully explain & understand’. On the TQ pace, setting the only 11-second lap of Q1, he said he started to get nervous about making a mistake and so starting running wider lines around the corners to stay clear of the dots and this ultimately cost him the small amount of time he missed the TQ for the round by.
Setting the fourth fastest time, Alexander Hagberg said the opening qualifier showed just how high a level the ETS is at. The factory Xray driver described his run as not too bad adding he was surprised more drivers didn’t make mistakes due to the high traction conditions. Making just minor driver errors himself he said his T4 ’14 was still working really well and he hopes he can do better tomorrow. Team-mate Marco Kaufmann made it two Xray’s in the Top 10 taking his example to the 7th fastest time. For Adrian Berntsen he eventually decided to call it a day after he suffered a series of traction rolls.
Setting the early pace until he got his Hobbywing powered S411 on two wheels, Marc Fischer described his qualifier as ‘OK’. The German said he put ‘way too much’ additive on his tyres resulting in the car being very edgy for the first 2 minutes. After that he was happy how the car ran and for tomorrow plans, along with ‘using a lot less additive’, to change front springs and add more camber.
Completing the Top 6 Marc Rheinard said his time was ‘almost the best I can do’ adding ‘it was hard’. Planning to keep the set-up on his new TRF418 the same for tomorrow, he will try to glue up the walls of his tyres. Describing the tyres he used for Q1 as being pretty fresh, after he retired half way through the first controlled practice with a stripped spur gear using the same set, he feels the tyres should be better anyway for Q2 as they reach their peak performance.
In the Xray Pro Stock class defending champion Marek Cerny topped the opening qualifier from former champion Martin Hofer with Bernard Bopp third. Winner of his home event last season, Cerny said he went for a safe run. Outpacing Hofer by 1.9 seconds, the Czech driver said his Xray T4 ’14 is ‘pretty easy to drive’. Having spent the days leading up to the season opener testing at the Hudy Arena in Slovakia, the 4-time ETS race winner said the test was a good opportunity to learn about the new car and how to deal with traction roll.
For Season #4 Champion Hofer traction roll in Q1 was a big issue. Rolling his Schumacher a number of times on his warm-up for the qualifier he said he had to drive the run with great caution. Despite this he was able to set the lead pace until he got the Mi-5 up on two wheels dropping him back down the order. Still he was able to recover to end the run second but the German said for tomorrow he needs to try a different set-up to make the car easier to drive. Behind Bopp, Serpent’s Jan Asmer set the fourth fastest time with former Champion Zdenko Kunak taking his Yokomo to 5th.
In the Formula class, defending champion Jan Amser claimed the opening qualifier with his Serpent over the VBC of Belgium’s Olivier Bultynck. Factory Xray driver Francesco Martini, running a hybrid from the Slovakian company, completed the Top 3 in the fast growing category.
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