Video – Modified, Pro Stock & Formula A3
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Coelho endorses huge following with first ETS win
Bruno Coelho has won the fifth round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Luxembourg, a fourth place in the final A-Main enough for the A2 winner to secure his first overall win in the world famous electric touring car championship. An event that would see four drivers go into A3 with a chance of the overall win, the new star of touring cars Coelho would become only the 11th different winner of the ETS’ premiere class helped by Xray team-mate Alexander Hagberg taking the win ahead of Marc Rheinard. Again briefly taking the lead only to again roll his HB Jilles Groskamp would complete the podium at the unique Mini Circuit “Ville de Luxembourg†track. For reigning champion Ronald Volker his chance to secure a fifth consecutive title will have to wait until the season finale at the Hudy Arena after he put his Yokomo on the grass while leading, leaving him to end the event 5th overall. Rheinard’s second today means the Tamiya driver still has a very slim chance of the title.
A driver who burst onto the international scene when he finished runner-up at the World Championships in Florida last October, Coelho said it was ‘super good to finally get an ETS win’. Still in his first year as a full time factory driver the win is a breakthrough in terms of lifting the huge expectations that had fallen on the soon to turn 22-year-old. With his spectacular driving style and fighting spirit gaining the Portuguese driver a huge following around the world today’s victory proves that his true talent is substantiated. Looking back on his first season of ETS, he said bad results at the opening two rounds where a combination of carpet being a totally new experience for him and nerves having got the better of him adding the poor performances where fully down to him and not his equipment. Once the championship moved outdoors on to asphalt, familiar territory for the long time nitro racer, his speed became apparent but clashes between himself and Volker denied him from harnassing that pace but today that all changed. ‘All the problems between me and Volker are now behind us, we talked it over at the start of this weekend. I think you just have to look at the great racing we had in A2 to see that’.
Commenting on this third final, he said it was a difficult race as his T4 would be ‘super good’ and then become completely loose as if something was broken. On passing the stranded car of Groskamp on lap 2 he said the car without warning just did a donut dropping him back to 7th. Recovering to fourth behind Serpent’s Marc Fischer, he said while he could catch them the car kept randomly breaking loose dropping him back again an issue he could only put down to the wind. Complimenting Hagberg on his ‘perfect drive’ to take the A3 win he said it turned out to be a pretty important win for him by the Swede. With the next round of the ETS at his Xray team’s home track he said while racing always brings pressure today’s win means he can go there with less pressure.
Claiming only his second podium finish of the season, Rheinard said ‘from 6th on the grid to finish 2nd is good but I wanted more’. The Tamiya driver, whose only other podium finish was when he won Round 2 in Germany, said when he saw Volker crash he thought I have to go for the win. He said after being able to catch Hagberg his car ‘suddenly had no pace anymore’ and towards the end it ‘started to push more and more to the left’ ending his challenge for what could have been a very significant win for the ETS’ most winning driver. While the result gives him a really small chance of the regaining the title he lost to Volker four years ago, he said realistically the title is decided as he needs the perfect weekend and for Volker to finish 3rd or lower.
‘I had it in the bag and I threw it away again’, was how Groskamp summed up A3. Despite having been so close to a first ETS win for a number of seasons, the 2012 World Champion said ‘I got too excited at the car being amazing and at being back again mixing it for the win. Now that we have the car so good I just need to get the driver good again’. His first podium for his new HB team whom he only joined in March, he said the weekend was a huge step forward and he is really excited for the season finale. Feeling he had the best car in the finals, his PRO5 posting the fastest lap time of A3, he said he wouldn’t touch the car for the Hudy Arena and ‘will just put it on the track there as it is working so good’.
Having struggled in the opening two mains, Hagberg would discover this was related to an electrics problem that was effecting how the car drove. Fitting a new speedo and motor for A3 the nitro touring car World Champion said it worked fine again but unfortunately the problem was discovered too late. While ‘a shame to miss the podium’, losing out on the tie break for third with Groskamp, he said the win was an important one for his Xray team as it helped Coelho secure the win, the Slovakian manufacturers fourth ETS win.
‘A massive massive disappointment’ was how Volker summed up how his day had gone. Having had a somewhat below par Day 1 at the event, Day 2 was t a perfect day with three TQ runs that netted him an 18th overall TQ. Today however he would again struggle. While ‘big time annoyed with the tyre situation’, many drivers having issues with quality consistency between sets, he said this time however it was his own fault that he threw away the opportunity to win. Having opened up twice so as to avoid contact, opening up in A2 to Groskamp & Coelho and then Groskamp again in A3, he said he was very disappointed that he ‘messed up in the sweeper’ by putting a wheel on the paint which put his car into the grass while leading. Having had become somewhat of a sparring partner for Coelho at the last two rounds of the championship Volker paid compliments to Coelho on what he said was a ‘deserved first victory’.
In Formula, with Olivier Bultynck sitting out A3 having wrapped up his first victory of the season with wins in the opening two encounters, it was David Ehrbar who would take the win ahead of Jacques Libar to secure second overall. Finishing third, Jan Ratheisky would complete the podium in Luxembourg and with it become the first ETS Season #8 champion securing his third consecutive title in Formula.
With two different winners in the opening two mains, the Xray Pro Stock class would be decided in A3. Starting from pole position defending champion Marek Cerny, winner of A2, would lead away from A1 winner Lars Hoppe but on lap 8 the title contenders would clash in the sweeper. While Hoppe would get a Stop & Go, Cerny would retire his Xray. This left Serpent’s Julian Borowski go to the lead which he would hold to the end followed by Schumacher driver Nicolai Lindegaard. The win would give Borowski his first overall ETS victory and he would be joined on the podium by Lindegaard and Hoppe.
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Chassis Focus – Henrik Heitsch
Chassis – ARC R10 2015 ATS
Motor – Muchmore (handout)
ESC – Muchmore (handout)
Batteries – LRP 7500 mah
Tires – Ride (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/Savox
Bodyshell – Blitz LSF
Remarks – Head of the ARC Team here at the ETS, German driver Henrik Heitsch is running an interesting version of the R10 2015 ATS. The car is equipped with a new pre-production floating steering system that is meant to increase mid-corner steering and will be available in four weeks. He is also using the new LSF Blitz bodyshell.
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Euro Touring Series Rd4 – Sunday Action
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Live results from be found on MyRCM here.
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Video – Modified, Pro Stock & Formula A2
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Coelho gets much anticipated first win in exciting A2
A driver who has injected renewed interest & excitement into electric touring cars with his raw speed, Bruno Coelho has finally delivered the long awaited first win by taking an exciting A2 at ETS Luxembourg. After a spectacular drive in A1 to recover to third from a Stop & Go penalty, the Portuguese star would second time of asking get to have a straight up battle with Top Qualifier Ronald Volker and A1 winner Jilles Groskamp snatching a last lap win in a great display of World class driving by the trio. While Volker led for the majority of the race, Jilles Groskamp would for a very brief moment go to the front getting by the Yokomo with 3-laps to go only to roll his HB at the very next corner. With this allowing Marc Rheinard to snatch third, Coelho was next to attack Volker with the 21-year-old getting by the German at the same section of the track, the only difference being he made his pass stick to take the anticipated win.
‘No mistake, no Stop & Go, it was perfect’, that was Coelho’s reaction to the race. Starting from fourth on the grid, he said after a lap behind his team-mate Alexander Hagberg who struggling again for traction opened up to allow him through he was able to catch Volker and Groskamp. Sitting behind them waiting for a mistake, he said when Groskamp flipped he knew he had to attack Volker for the win aware there was only 30-seconds left on the clock. Noticing Volker touched the curb a little he said he knew this was the opportunity he had been waiting for and he went for it. Describing his LRP powered T4 as ‘super good’, again posting the fastest lap of the race, and now one of four drivers in the mix for the overall win of the event he said the plan for A3 was to repeat A2.
A pairing that has not enjoyed the best of relationships as they clashed in the previous two rounds of the ETS, Volker was quick to praise Coelho offering ‘Compliments to Bruno on a great drive for the win’. Having struggled with a lack of rear traction in A1 in which he finished only 8th, the ETS champion said he was more confident for the start of A2 having felt on his warm-up laps conditions were better. ‘Able to open a small gap over (Groskamp)’ in the early part after 2-minutes his LRP powered DB7 started to lose overall traction. With Groskamp and Coelho closing he said they were soon ‘both on (his) ass and I couldn’t really fight them off’. Surviving the Groskamp pass having given him space he said when Coelho gave him a little tap he said he knew he was too going to attack. With a bad A1 result, he gave Coelho enough room to execute the move adding it was better to accept a P2 than risking clashing and losing out on a podium he said, adding he is looking to at least secure a podium finish, which could be enough to secure him a fifth consecutive ETS title.
Rheinard said ‘to get a 2 and 3 from 6th on the grid is not too bad’. While his Much More powered TRF419 had good pace the newly crowned Reedy Race Champion said it took him too long to get to pass the cars in front of him by which time the leader is ‘too far away’. Still with a chance of the overall win today he said the battle up front could work to his favour as if they get stuck one into another he might be in the best position to go through for the win.
Despite having thrown away the chance to secure his first overall ETS win with HB, Groskamp was not down about his roll saying ‘I’m happy for the fact I was able to battle for the win’. Describing it as ‘a nice clean race’ and complimenting Coelho who ‘drove a super clean race’, he said Volker was backing them up and he had to back off a few times to avoid contact. Getting by in the Laguna Seca section he said ‘I got too excited and was a centimetre too short (at the next corner) and rolled it’. With the marshal hesitating on recovering his car which was landed wheels down but was facing the grass, the Dutch ace said it was a shame he lost out on 3rd because of that.
In the Xray Pro Stock class, having had a tough A1 Marek Cerny would take the win ahead of the Team Magic of Patrick Gassauer and Schumacher of Nicolai Lindegaard who had a close battle for second. It was not a good race for A1 winner Lars Hoppe or second placed Nico Catelani as incidents left them to finish 7th & 8th respectively. In Formula VBC Racing’s Olivier Bultynck would back up his A1 win to take a dominant A2 win and wrap up his first overall win of the season.
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Video – Modified, Pro Stock & Formula A1
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First HB win for Groskamp in A1 at ETS Luxembourg
Jilles Groskamp has won the opening A-Main at the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Luxembourg, the HB driver benefiting from an early mistake from Top Qualifier Ronald Volker. Starting from second on the grid, the Dutch driver toook just two laps to get his PRO5 to the front getting by Alexander Hagberg early in the opening lap and then passing Volker in the same section of track on the second run through when the Yokomo driver lost rear traction and got out of shape. While Groskamp took control of things up front it was Bruno Coelho who provided all the entertainment, the Xray driver recovering from a Stop & Go to finish 3rd ahead of team-mate Alexander Hagberg and Serpent’s Viktor Wilck.
Enjoying his most competitive outing with his new HB/HPI Racing team this weekend, Groskamp was clearly pleased to record his first A-Main win especially as it was in front of former Tamiya team-mate Marc Rheinard. Commenting on the race, the 2012 World Champion said ‘I had a feeling lining-up up for the start that Hagberg was having problem with traction so I knew I had to pass him early to try to stay with Ronald’. Managing to execute the pass on the number 2 starting Xray he said the lead came easier than expected as Volker spun out on the next lap. With Rheinard working his way up to second by lap 8 of 17, Groskamp said he ‘could see Marc coming slowly’ but with 2-minutes to go he knew he had a big enough advantage to cruise to the finish and while the final margin was ‘only half a second it’s still a win’. Very happy with his car, which he said ‘is getting better all the time’ he said other than refresh the shocks he would run it the same for A2.
Commenting on his race Volker, while admitting to be struggling with rear traction was clear to point out his 8th place finish was a result of being ‘completely run over from behind’ by his long time rival Rheinard. Another cold morning at the track, the German said he knew he would have needed to be patient at the beginning as the track would not be great, but struggling with a lack of rear traction he lost the car in the sweeper. Recovering to rejoin third with ‘Marc on (his) tail’ he said the TRF driver ‘knew he should have waited’ and because the referee didn’t know which white body was that, Rheinard & Coelho both running white shells, no penalty was given. He said as a result ‘Marc got away with an unfair second place finish’. Pushed back to 9th following the contact Volker said a lack of rear traction and overall grip meant he could only finish 8th and he ‘can only blame tyres’ for his lack of pace. With the chance of securing a 5th consecutive title later today Volker is hoping conditions will be warmer for A2 so he can run a ‘normal race’.
Having qualified only 6th, Rheinard said his TRRF419 was better today helped by better tyres and improved track conditions due to there being less wind. Commenting on his incident with Volker, the 4-time World Champion said the pass was ‘not 100% perfect’ but as Volker was wide it was 50/50 on who was a fault. Catching Hagberg he managing getting by for second when he spun, he said while he was also catching Groskamp and had a faster car he ‘ran out of time’. Looking to A2 he said ‘I hope I can repeat the result again in the next one’.
Impressing onlookers with his on the limit driving style, Coelho felt his Stop & Go penalty was unjust. Lining up fourth on the grid, the 21-year-old said he touched the throttle and moved slightly but his car remained behind the line. Waiting for the car behind, Loic Jasmin, to pass him at the start so as to avoid a penalty for moving on the grid he said ‘there was no need to give another penalty’. Describing his LRP powered T4 as ‘super fast’, it posting the fastest lap of the race, his recovery from 7th after the Stop & Go was impressive. Getting past both Hagberg and Wilck, him having great drive onto the main straight, he would have to do the passes twice after an error coming down the hill allowed the two Swede to pass back. While Coelho had a car that was ‘amazing all the final’, Hagberg said his was ‘terrible’. With ‘no traction’ he had ‘no chance to fight with anybody’. Asked if it was tyres he replied ‘it felt strange and I don’t really know why’.
Starting from 8th behind Serpent team-mate Marc Fischer, Wilck said his race was ‘ok’.  With Fischer letting him by on lap 4, two laps later he was able to get passed Jasmin’s Yokomo with Hagberg his next target. With Coelho coming through he said he was ‘scared to block Bruno’ and ‘thought if I let him through he might take out Hagberg but that didn’t happen’. Looking to A2 he said his S411 ‘felt ok’, only Coelho and Rheinard posting faster lap times, but ‘from a bad starting position a good result is always going to be difficult’.
In Pro Stock and Formula the opening A-Mains would also see mistakes from both Top Qualifiers. In the Xray Pro Stock class champion Marek Cerny would take a tight line through the sweeper with his Xray ending up on the grass. This would allow Yokomo driver Nico Catelani to go to the front as the entire field passed Cerny. The Italian would lead for 10 laps under pressure from Lars Hoppe, but catching the curbing coming onto the main straight the 20-year-old would get out of shape allowing the ARC to get a run on him and go to the front where the Round 1 & 4 ETS race winner would remain to the finish. In Formula Jan Ratheisky would lose the rear of his Xray allowing Olivier Bultynck to the front with David Ehrbar third. On lap 5 however entering the track famous downhill chicane Ratheisky would send his car into a roll leaving the car dead when it finally came to rest. This left Bultynck and Ehrbar to battle it out. With Ebrbar finding a way passed the Belgian, the latter would not give up retaking the lead with a great pass around the outside through the Laguna Seca corner for the win.
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