Euro Touring Series » ETS 17/18 Rd2 Daun Germany

February 3, 2018

Chassis Focus – Marc Rheinard

Chassis – Infinity IF14
Motor – Muchmore ZX V2 5.0T
ESC – Muchmore Fleta Pro V2
Batteries – Muchmore Impact 6400mAh
Tires – Volante (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/Xpert
Bodyshell – Protoform Type S

Winner of the season opener in Vienna, here in Daun at Round 2 Marc Rheinard is running a number of new parts on his IF14. At the front of the car there are new spool outdrives made from a more durable material along with more durable blades. At the rear he is using updated drive shafts and new, lower, hinge pin mountings allow for greater roll centre adjustments.

Image gallery

February 3, 2018

Ratheisky takes charge in Pro Stock qualifying

Having thrown away the TQ with a mistake last night in the opening round of qualifying, ETS Pro Stock Championship leader Jan Ratheisky has taken charge of proceedings this morning in Daun, the Xray driver posting TQ runs in the 2nd & 3rd rounds of qualifying. Ending up third quickest in Q1 behind winner Max Mächler and top seed Mustafa Alp, the German took Q2 by almost 2-seconds over Alp with Mächler third. In the third round Ratheisky’s advantage would be even more with him posting the fastest time of the weekend ahead of Norwegian Helge Johannessen. For Alp, a crash would see him break, while Mächler crashed in the middle of the heat and dropped to P6. Going into the fourth & final qualifier, only Mächler can deny Ratheisky his second TQ start of the season.

In the Scorpion Power System Formula class, reigning Champion David Ehrbar made a mess of Q2 but redeemed himself in Q3 for his second TQ run of the weekend. With Q2 going to Shepherd’s Olivier Bultynck ahead of British pairing Luke Lee and Ben Cosgrove, the third round would see a close fight for the TQ between between Ehrbar and Ratheisky. Ehrbar would take it by 6/10th but the heat signified Ratheisky seems to have found his way after two tough qualifiers yesterday.

View complete event results here.

View the event image gallery here.

February 3, 2018

Volker snatches Q2 from Coelho

Ronald Volker has kicked off Day 2 of the Euro Touring Series in Daun with a TQ run, the Yokomo driver snatching the the second round of qualifying from Bruno Coelho. Clearly the quickest man on track, Coelho would have two mistakes of his own doing but it was the flying car of Akio Sobue that ultimately cost him the TQ allowing Volker to top the times by 2/10th. With a fastest lap almost 3/10th quicker than the rest of the field, Coelho looked set to make it two out of two but coming into the sweeper at the end of the straight, the Xray driver was greeted by Sobue’s car flying through the air from the infield. While no contact was made, the T4 somehow just finding its way under the landing IF14, Coelho was forced off the racing line losing him 8/10th allowing Volker to go to the top. Pulling back 2/10ths a lap Coelho would run out of time and with Volker laying down his fastest lap on the last lap it was the German who got the TQ. Behind Yannic Prumper would set the third fastest time ahead Marc Rheinard and Naoki Akiyama, the Top 5 all managing 19-laps this morning.

‘Its great to get Q2 as my minimum goal of second on the grid is becoming more safe’, was Volker’s reaction to his first TQ run in four races, his last being in Italy last season. The World Champion continued, ‘I made a shock set-up change front and rear and a different tyre prep and I felt more comfortable with the car. It had more steering like I wanted but I still need more without losing corner speed. Pace wise I was now closer to Bruno. He’s still quicker but the gap is less’. Having a clean run compared to Coelho, he said one issue he did have was his view of the straight with radios in his view, something he said he will try to adapt to by leaning out more in Q3.

‘It was a strange qualifier’ was how Coelho summed up the first of the day’s three scheduled qualifiers. The reigning champion added, ‘I started easy so as to make no mistake and then started to push but touched the board and flipped, Luckily it landed on its wheels. I forced to get back to the point and once back on point I drove smooth again but then I had a lot of traffic and a second mistake at the chicane. Overall I had many mistakes and much traffic’. On his car, it still not to his liking at the beginning of the 5-minutes he said, ‘Its still not perfect yet and we will work on it for sure for the next one’.

Improving on his P6 from Q1, Prumper said, ‘I had large drops in my lap times. I think I just need to improve my driving to be more consistent’. Suffering one moment when he ‘kissed the board one time’, the Yokomo driver added, ‘I was in the lead at the beginning but then dropped off. I’m happy with third but I can do better in my driving, the car is good’.

Again finding himself 4th fastest, Rheinard was happier with his car saying it was ‘better’ but like Prumper felt his driving was the issue saying, ‘I just didn’t drive well’. The championship leader continued, ‘Bruno is still a little faster and while its on the limit we got closer to the pace that time’. Making a number of changes to his IF14 including standing up the front shocks, he plans to ‘make the rear wider’ for Q3.

Running in the second fastest heat, Akiyama was very happy with his P5 run. The Japanese Yokomo driver had many mistakes in Q1 but produced a ‘clean’ run in Q2. Having run a standard weight bodyshell in yesterday evening’s opening qualifier, he switched to a lightweight body this morning saying it made a big improvement to his car’s performance. He will run an unchanged car in Q3 to get another solid result on the board and drop his P13 from Q1. Also running in the second fastest heat, Schumacher’s Elliott Harper completed the Top 6 times and sits 6th overall after two rounds.

View complete event results here.

View the event image gallery here.

February 2, 2018

Mächler TQ’s opening Pro Stock qualifier at ETS Daun

Max Mächler took a close opening Xray Pro Stock class qualifier at the Euro Touring Series second round in Daun, Germany. The Awesomatix driver went up against Xray pairing Mustafa Alp and Jan Ratheisky, all three taking turns at setting the TQ pace. Securing his first ETS win last season in Italy, Mächler would recover from an early mistake stop the clock with a 2/10ths of a second advantage over top seed Alp helped by the fact reigning champion & fastest man on the track Ratheisky also suffered an costly mistake on his 4th lap.

In the Scorpion Power System Formula class it was reigning champion David Ehrbar who would take the opening TQ. Third fastest in practice, the Serpent driver took Q1 by over 2-seconds from top seed Ben Cosgrove with Olivier Bultynck completing the Top 3. Having dominated the season opener, taking the win ahead of Ehrbar, Ratheisky isn’t having as good a start to his home round with him only 8th fastest in seeding and not improving much in the qualifier ending up 6th. With the entry for the new Infinity 40+ class more than double what it was in Vienna, Ozer Yürüm took the first of the four qualifiers ahead of Michael Spiering with Round 1 winner Miko Peter fourth quickest.

View complete event results here.

View the event image gallery here.

February 2, 2018

Coelho takes opening qualifier

Despite getting quite out of shape on his third lap, Bruno Coelho has taken the opening round of qualifying at Round 2 of the Euro Touring Series in Germany. The Xray driver would recover to be the only one to make 19-laps, topping the times from top seed Ronald Volker who would have to open up to let his rival through. Behind, Alexander Hagberg would put in a strong second half to the 5-minute qualifier to complete the Top 3 ahead of Marc Rheinard. Making it a good start to the weekend in Daun for Xray, Marc Kaufmann took his example to the fifth fastest time ahead of a quick, but making too many mistakes, Yannic Prümper.

Summing up his TQ run, Coelho said, ‘I was lucky to stay in the race. I lost the rear at the end of the straight and touched the board. Luckily it was only a little touch so I could keep going. The car then got better and better and I forced a lot to catch Volker.’ The reigning champion explained, ‘the car is really good for 5-minutes but only in the beginning is not so good the first 4 or 5 laps its a little difficult but then its really good. We will play with the additive for tomorrow to get it better for the start of the run. The car is really good so we don’t need to change that’.

Leading away the opening heat, Volker said, ‘It started off good but then the car started to develop understeer more and more and I was not able to stay on top. I will make a set-up change to get more steering for Q2. I want the car a little more difficult to drive’. With many drivers suffering errors, the Yokomo driver said he had a clean run but added, ‘I had to open for Bruno and that lost me some time’.

Hagberg described his qualifier as ‘pretty good’. The Swede said, ‘It was a good clean run but the car took some time to come in but by the end it was very good’. Confident the car is up to the job, he will focus on tyres for tomorrow’s second qualifier saying ‘we need to work on the additive timing and then I think we will have a good car for all the 5-minutes’.

‘Not too good’ was how Rheinard summed up his P4. The Infinity driver continued, ‘like I said before I have no steering and no corner speed. It didn’t help that I also had 1 or 2 mistakes and lost a second but the main problem is the car is still too slow’. Asked what changes he might make to improve the car for Q2, he said, ‘maybe I will try a harder diff and also maybe a body mount more forward’.

‘My goal is to make the A-Main and this is good first step to that’, said a very happy Kaufmann on setting the fifth fastest time. Enjoying his best ever ETS qualifying at the season opener when he lined up 3rd for the Austrian round, the German said his car had ‘a bit of understeer’ but felt that was to his advantage. ‘I think maybe this was better because this is super difficult track and my car was easy to drive so I had no mistakes’.

Prumper said, ‘my car was quite good but I had too many mistakes’. He continued, ‘On the second lap I hit the barrier at the end of the straight and over the run lost about 6-seconds in mistakes. I think without this I would have been similar pace to Bruno’. He concluded, ‘the car is super good over 5-minutes, I just need to make no mistakes tomorrow’. Behind Prumper, Serpent’s Viktor Wilck topped the second fastest heat to get a P7 for the round.

View complete event results here.

View the event image gallery here.

February 2, 2018

Video – Modified Qualifying Rd1

February 2, 2018

Volker top seed at ETS Daun

Ronald Volker is the top seed for qualifying at the Euro Touring Series in Daun, Germany, the Yokomo driver pipping early pace setter Bruno Coelho in the second of the two timed practices. Only sixth fastest in the first timed round, almost 6/10th off Coelho on two laps of the unique track layout, Volker would surprise even himself with his improvement turning things around to a 3/10th advantage over the reigning champion. With the track over a second faster over 2-laps, Yannick Prumper maintained his Top 3 pace, outpacing Marc Rheinard who was second quickest in the the first one. Behind Rheinard, Christopher Krapp would post the fastest time with Rheinard’s Infinity team-mate Akio Sobue completing the Top 6.

‘Actually I’m a little surprised at how much the car improved from the first one’, said Volker. The 5-time ETS Champion added, ‘I knew the car would be better but not by this much’. Changing to a harder diff and benefiting from tyres being on their second run he said, this ‘improved the balance and the grip a lot’. He continued, ‘I was only 6th or 7th in the previous practice but now I am pretty confident for the qualifiers. I will keep it the same for Q1. It was a good team effort with 1st, 3rd and 5th and Naoki (Akiyama) has better speed than 11th’.

Despite dropping off the top spot, Coelho declared his second run as ‘very good’. The Xray driver said, ‘on 5-minutes the car is very good so it is looking good. I’m confident for qualifying’. Asked about track conditions, he replied, ‘there was more grip mainly from the tyres but I think the track improved a little too but I feel it is getting more and more bumpy at the end of the straight and on the section you drive away from yourself. It’s difficult’. Running a new prototype motor from Hobbywing in his T4 and working on speedo set-ups to suit, he said they opted for the same speedo set-up as the previous run with him ‘happy’ with the feeling of the motor on the challenging track layout.

‘My car was too easy to drive’ was Prumper’s reaction after the final practice. The Yokomo driver continued, ‘It is good for 5-minute but I could push everywhere with no risk of crashing which is not great for a hero lap’. Planning to air on the side of safety for Q1, the multiple ETS race winner will make just a small change for qualifying to make the car slightly more aggressive. With his BD8 ‘still overweight’ he will remove weight from the car which by his own admission wont be a big change but should be a slight improvement.

Rheinard said the change in traction didn’t particularly suit his car. Describing his car as ‘starting to push too much’ and having also ‘lost some of its corner speed’. The German said, ‘between the first and the second run on the tyres their is a big difference in traction’. Putting most of the extra traction down to tyre, he added , ‘I think the track was much the same as before’. Looking to the first of the four qualifiers, Q1 taking place this evening, he said, ‘I will keep the car the same for Q1 and go for a good Top 10 result’.

‘Surprisingly high traction’ was Krapp’s summary of the final practice. The Yokomo driver continued, ‘It was not really better for me, the car pushed a lot. I didn’t want touch the set-up of the car but now I need to find more steering’. He concluded, ‘every run I feel I am better learning the track so I think everything should be good for qualifying’.

View the event image gallery here.

February 2, 2018

Coelho fastest from Rheinard in first timed practice at ETS

Bruno Coelho was fastest in the first of the two timed practice at Round 2 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Daun, Germany, this morning. The Xray driver topped the times from Round 1 winner Marc Rheinard having a 2/10ths of a second advantage over his arch rival. Behind, Yannic Prumper laid down his intentions early to complete the Top 3 on the uniquely shaped track with the margin a similar 2/10ths. Such is the size of the high speed layout at the holiday resort venue, seeding this weekend is being based on a driver’s best 2-consecutive laps rather than the traditional 3.

On his second weekend in Daun, having competed at the EOS at the same venue last weekend, Coelho summed up his first seeding run as ‘very good’. Coming into the weekend 3-points off Rheinard in the standings, he said, ‘The car was a little difficult to drive in the free practice but we were able to improve it.’ Running a prototype of Hobbywing’s upcoming 5 turn motor release, the Portuguese driver added, ‘we are working on the best speedo setting to use for the motor but the 5-turn is very nice for carpet. We will make a few more speedo changes for the next one’. Asked how traction is coming up he replied, ‘the traction is still strange and the track is a little bumpy but the biggest challenge is the layout for sure. I’m still finding it hard. It very challenging’.

‘Not too bad’, was how Rheinard summed up his performance. The Infinity driver continued, ‘the feeling of the car is good. My lap times are ok and consistent and my 2-laps that counted were not perfect so I think we are looking pretty good’. Running ‘pretty much the same set-up as ETS Round 1’ he has no plans to change anything for now adding, ‘the layout is the challenge and the important thing is to drive with no mistake’. With the majority of drivers using the second of their allocated Volante handout tyres in the first timed practice, having used the first set in the single round of free practice, he said the final timed practice would be a good idea indication of the field’s pace on used tyres.

Prumper described his practice pace as ‘quite good’ but added, ‘I just need to improve my driving’. Returning to Yokomo for the 2018 season after a lean 2017 season with VBC, the German continued, ‘the pace is there. The car is quite good, its easy and relaxed to drive so I will just refresh everything for the next one’. Like his rivals he said while happy with his car it was the track that was the biggest challenge this weekend concluding, ‘to go fast you have to take big risks. Its challenging’.

Posting the fourth fastest time, Alexander Hagberg summed up timed practice as ‘a lot better’ due to the grip having come up. Calling the track, ‘very challenging’ he said ‘you must drive clean’. The Xray driver continued, ‘the car is on the pace, I need to drive it better’. Working off the same set-up as the previous ETS encounter, the Swede concluded, ‘we will fine tune from there’.

Fastest in the free practice and just 0.017 off Hagberg, Christopher Krapp said the timed practice went ‘pretty well’. The Yokomo driver added, ‘All our cars except maybe Ronald’s are working well on our pretty standard set-up’. A former race winner, he continued, ‘there is not much time to adjust to this layout so I had a few driver errors and I will try to improve this. You take a lot of risks each lap, its more high speed than what you usually race. You need to be calm which I am good at, and this is what will get you good runs’.

Ronald Volker would complete the Top 6. Working on his own car this weekend following engineer Yukijiro Umino’s departure from Yokomo, he said, ‘I was breaking in my second set of tyres like most others but I didn’t feel as comfortable as on the first set’. Planning a tyre change for his second timed practice, he will also try running a slightly harder diff. He concluded, ‘We should be fine later when the grip comes up because that’s how its been before’.

View the event image gallery here.