Video – Modified Qualifying Rd4
Chassis Focus – David Ehrbar
Chassis – Serpent F110 SF2
Motor – Hobbywing 21.5 (handout)
ESC – Hobbywing (handout)
Batteries – Gens Ace 4200 mah
Tires – Ride (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/Graupner
Bodyshell – MonTech F13
Remarks – Winner of ETS Round 3 in Riccione, David Ehrbar is carrying out the development of Serpent’s latest formula car running here at Fahr(T)raum a prototype shorter chassis that pairs with a pair of side electrics support plates. Everything else is stock, apart from the rear wing that comes from the previous version of the car.
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Chassis Focus – Viljami Kutvonen
Chassis – Awesomatix A700 EVO IIC
Motor – LRP
ESC – LRP
Batteries – LRP 5600 LCG
Tires – Ride (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/Awesomatix
Bodyshell – Bittydesign MC10
Remarks – Top Awesomatix driver in the Ride Modified class, Viljami Kutvonen is running an updated version of the Russian car. Using a carbon chassis instead of the usual aluminium one, his A700 EVO also features new upper camber link plates that allow for finer tuning. Other new parts in rear steering arms, a front bumper and stronger body posts mounts. The swaybars are now black and laser engraved.
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Volker TQs ahead of Coelho at ETS Austria
Ronald Volker has claimed what is probably the most important pole position of this season’s Yokomo Euro Touring Series after the challenge from Tamiya’s Akio Sobue came to nothing in the final round of qualifying in Austria. His 17th time becoming Top Qualifier, last year’s winner of the fahr(T)raum hosted event would end Q4 second fastest 0.233 of a second off the Xray of Bruno Coelho. The TQ run would help Coelho to move ahead of Sobue in the final qualification ranking with the Portuguese star set to start directly behind Volker, the same order in which they lined up for Round 3 in Italy. A track where the majority of A-Main drivers agree overtaking will be ‘impossible’, Sobue starts third and could be perfectly placed should there be a repeat of the sparks that flew in Riccione.
While it was quickly apparent that Sobue, his only potential challenger for pole position, was struggling after a change of tyres, Volker still wanted to put his Yokomo top of the time sheets. The reigning champion said said it was all going well until the middle of the run when a number of incidents by other drivers caused him to fall out of his rhythm. With this allowing first Alexander Hagberg until a mistake and then Coelho to take up the TQ pace, Volker threw everything he had at it for the last lap in the hope it might be enough. Driving his BD7 ‘over the limit’ it would became the only car to do a sub 12-second lap with a very impressive 11.984 time but it wasnt enough to deny Coelho the TQ and second on the grid. Commenting in the race Volker, who saw off an intense challenge from his team mate Yannic Prumper last year, said ‘it is super difficult to overtake but Bruno is on fire so I will just try not to give him the opportunity to attempt a pass’.
Very happy to get a TQ, having been on a TQ pace at one stage in each of the four qualifiers, Coelho said his T4 was ‘super good’ at the end of the 5-minutes but was equally super bad at the start. Saying his and Volker’s cars are opposite to how they were in Italy, him now struggling at the start of the run, the 21-year-old feels his issue is tyre related ad he will try a different prep for A1. Asking about getting passed Volker, the World championship runner up not impressed by Volker’s attempts in Italy, he said it would be super difficult if not impossible as it is also very easy to drive defensively but ‘for sure I will try to pass’.
Sobue said his second set of tyres were ‘maximum not good’ and he would fit ‘very old tyres’ for the final. The 20-year-old, who has really impressed this weekend especially as his high profile team mate Marc Rheinard lines up an uncompetitive 8th on the grid, said while racing for the win would be very hard due to the nature of the track even though he wasn’t there he said if history was repeated between Volker & Coelho he was in the right place.
With his T4 unlike team-mate Coelho’s very strong at the start, Hagberg said the run was ‘super good’ until he made a mistake and hopped the curbs causing him to miss his line coming into the chicane. The Swede said his car should be good for the final but a quick car was one thing with the track offering little opportunities for overtaking unless the driver ahead makes a mistake.
Winner in Riccione, ending a 3-year winning hiatus, Yannic Prumper starts a disappointing fifth and joked he ‘hope(s) they all crash and (he can) take advantage’. The 21-year-old knows better than most how difficult it is to pass on the boards layout track having last year ran on the rear bumper of his Yokomo team-mate Volker without being able to find a way past. While his Much More powered BD7 was ‘a little better’ in the final qualifier as he again claimed P4 he said they plan to ‘go big or go home’ with a set-up change for tomorrow’s finals.
Securing his 3rd ETS A-Main appearance in as many years, one per season, Marco Kaufmann was delighted at achieving his best ever qualifying position with 6th on the grid. Making Xray the best represented manufacturer in the Ride Modified A-final, the German said he has been very happy with his T4 which is plenty fast as highlighted by the fact that even with mistakes in the final qualifying he still managed a P5.
Completing the grid will be Serpent’s Marc Fischer who starts 7th and whose new team-mate Viktor Wilck just scrapped on to the back of the 10-car grid on a tie breaker with HB’s Andy Moore. Starting between the two Serpents will be Rheinard and Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski, the event marking the former ETS Hobby Class Champion’s first Modified A-Main appearance.
In the Xray Pro Stock class while Jan Ratheisky and Mike Gosvig topped Q3 & 4 respectively it is ETS Czech Republic winner Lars Hoppe who took overall TQ. Having topped both of yesterday’s qualifiers, the ARC driver starts on pole position in front of the Xrays of Gosvig and Ratheisky. Nursing a shoulder injury that forced him to miss Italy, that doesn’t seem to be hampering the German too much. Defending champion and current points leader Marek Cerny he managed to turn around a terrible first day of qualifying, suffering a DNF and a DNS, by scrapping onto the back of the grid.
In Formula it was defending champion Ratheisky who resumed business as usual following his Round 3 absence. His third TQ in as many races, the Xray driver starts ahead of the Serpent of Rccione winner David Ehrbar with Gosvig and Italian Michele Romagnoli lining up in 3rd and 4th.
View the complete event results here.
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Euro Touring Series Rd4 – Saturday Action
Live results from be found on MyRCM here.
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Chassis Focus – Michal Orlowski
Chassis – Schumacher Mi5 EVO
Motor – Speed Passion
ESC – LRP
Batteries – LRP 5600 LCG
Tires – Ride (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa
Bodyshell – PF LTC-R
Remarks – 13-year-old Schumacher driver Michal Orlowski is enjoying a strong showing at Round 4 of ETS using some key option parts on his Mi5 EVO. In addition to the 2015 front and rear shock towers, he is using Schumacher’s twin point steering system, front double joint drive shafts and bearings to minimise the play in the caster block. He is also using the new Low Center Gravity LRP LiPos.
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Volker TQs another close qualifier in Austria
Ronald Volker posted a second TQ run at Round 4 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Austria, the German coming out on top of a very closely contested Q3 that saw the Top 3 covered by less than half a second. Posting a new overall fastest TQ time Volker would outpace Bruno Coelho by 0.258 of a second up who in turn was 0.216 fastest than his Xray team-mate Alexander Hagberg. A number of mistakes while on a TQ pace would leave Q2 pace setter Akio Sobue 7th fastest.
‘Another super close qualifier’ was Volker’s description of the the penultimate round of qualifying at the temporary Mattsee track. After the frustration of Q2, when he got blocked on the last lap costing him a TQ run, the Yokomo driver said he was ‘very happy’ to lock up at worst a Top 2 start position with Sobue the only one who can deny him from adding to his tally as the ETS’ most successful Top Qualifier. Tweaking the set-up on his LRP powered BD7 the reigning champion said this ‘improved the overall a bit’ but they still need to do more to find that ‘extra bit of steering’. Happier with how the car started out he said it still developed understeer towards the end of the 5-minutes and that’s something he hopes they can work on for the final run so he can in particular see off Sobue’s Tamiya.
For Coelho Q3 was almost a repeat of Q2 when he rolled his T4. Luckily this time round his car came back down on fours as he clipped the same curbing. Recovering from his moment to finish under 3/10ths behind Volker he said it shows the speed is there and he just needs to run a clean round. Switching to a heavier rear diff for the round, the 21-year-old said this ‘was not a good choice’ and he will go back for the last one.
Setting the fastest lap of Q3, Hagberg said a downstop adjustment to his ORCA powered T4 had made the ‘car much better than the last one (Q2)’. The Swede was happy to have been ‘closer to the TQ’ than before. Laying down the TQ pace for a number of laps, the Nitro Touring Car World Champion said he had two small mistakes, a back marker helping him out to make one of them, and if it wasn’t for this his car had the pace to TQ. Much happier with the car he will leave it unchanged for the final qualifier.
Fourth fastest Yannic Prumper said there’s obviously something wrong with the set of tyres he has been running. Changing from 10k to 5k oil in his DB7’s diff, a change that normally makes a big difference, the 3-time ETS race winner said he couldn’t feel any difference. With the 21-year-old’s second set of allocated tyres brand new and used tyres proving the best option for the low traction conditions he said he had no choice than to risk the new tyres adding ‘there is no point in continuing with it as it is now’.
Marc Fischer said he was lucky to post the 6th fastest time as he suffered a centre pulley bearing failure. Having tried a front roll centre change, the Serpent driver said it wasn’t a significant improve and they need to try something more so for the final qualifier they’ll go with a completely different set-up. Making big changes to the shock set-up, the toe in and roll centres he said he had ‘nothing to lose’ and hopefully it would help his team-mate Viktor Wilck make the A-Main. Ninth fastest, the Swede said he had no steering. Starting last on such a short track he also needed to let both Volker and Sobue to pass him but ultimately he was ‘going too slow anyway’. Currently sitting in the BQ position in the qualifying ranking he will copy the set-up Fischer is going to run in Q4.
Completing the Top 6, Michal Orlowski said it was a ‘pretty good run with no mistakes’. sporting a new blue based colour scheme this weekend, moving away from the red the 13-year-old has been running for the past 6-years, he is very happy with his Schumacher having run it the same throughout qualifying. Like everyone he said more steering would be nice and for the last qualifier he plans to go up in the rear diff in the hope it will give him a little more on-power steering exiting the corners.
Sobue said his tyres reached their limit in the third qualifier and with his TRF419 loose he ended up making a few mistakes including getting away with launching the car on two wheels the first time through the chicane. Only 0.001 of second of Hagberg’s fastest lap, when passing Wilck the World Championship finalist would suffer a spin loosing him 2-seconds. He will fit his second set of tyres for Q4. Making a tyre change for Q3 team-mate Marc Rheinard said while everyone went faster he went slower ending up on 12th quickest.
Andy Moore posted the 8th fastest time but the HB driver said a 12.9 second lap as a result of having to let Volker by cost him a possible Top 4 for the round as everyone is ‘super tight’ on pace. Describing the run as ‘alright with no mistakes’, the British driver said he is still searching for more steering especially at the end of the straight.
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Chassis Focus – Jan Ratheisky
Chassis – Xray T4 2015
Motor – Muchmore (handout)
ESC – Muchmore (handout)
Batteries – LRP 5800
Tires – Ride (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/Savox
Bodyshell – MonTech Nazda2
Remarks – Racing here in Mattsee despite still recovering from a shoulder injury, German Xray driver Jan Ratheisky is running graphite c-hubs and wishbones, aluminium steering arms on his T4 2015 as well as a softer top deck meant to maximise the flex of the chassis. Using a standard rear end instead of the ARS, his car is also equipped with an aluminium/titanium Hiro Seiko screw set.
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