Prümper tops EWS International after Saturday
Saturday’s action at the 2018 EWS International concluded with Infinity’s Yannic Prümper atop the ranking lists in the Modified class. The German had started off the day with a second place in the opening qualifier, and backed that up with a TQ run in the evening’s Q3 round. Describing how the whole Infinity team had improved throughout the weekend, the multi-time podium-finisher at the event said that it had “started pretty bad, but we worked together and found pace again”. He won’t make any changes to his IF14 for tomorrow, but will use the free practice round scheduled in the morning to run in his second set of race tyres.
Second in the overnight rankings is former winner Elliott Harper. The recent Xray convert set the pace in the opening round, and then missed out on a second TQ to Yannic in the third round by just one tenth of a second. The former event winner put this down to his “first lap was really bad”. Knowing he needs to change tyre prep for tomorrow, he said that it was “really good to be back racing at the front again”, and noted the “good teamwork around the table” which had allowed him to remain in contention for the overall pole position.
Marc Rheinard is third overall, with the German, runner-up at his debut at the headline UK race last year, noted the same struggles early on as Infinity team-mate Yannic. However, he said that his “car is fast – just a bit difficult to drive”. Kicking off qualifying with a third place, he then took TQ in Round 2, before a mistake in Q3 saw him pull up to save tyres.
Defending race winner Ronald Völker is fourth in the standings, a little disappointed with his results, noting he is “struggling with the car balance”. However, looking to tomorrow, he plans to make full use of the free practice round to try some things on his Yokomo BD9, although he will decide exactly what changes to make later on tonight with a team de-brief – this being one of the first events where the extended team have access to the latest platform. Fifth after Saturday is another former winner of the event, Kyle Branson. The Nitro Vice-World Champion said widening the track width of his car helped in the evening’s round – the Capricorn driver having good one-lap pace earlier but looking for five-minute consistency.
In the Super Stock class, event first-timer Christian Donath heads the standings from Awesomatix team-mate Max Mächler. Donath, who set the pace in both Q2 and Q3 said he was really enjoying the “perfect event”, and with his “car working really good”, will keep it the same for tomorrow. Defending winner Mächler said he was “enjoying the European tour” and highlighting how important he found attending the event for the Awesomatix team in the UK as well, said for his car, the biggest difference was a change to a Protoform D9 bodyshell, which made the car easier to drive. Infinity pilot Dominic Vogl is third, having taken second in all three rounds. Noting he is just “a few tenths off every time”, he will use tomorrow morning to break in his second set of tyres and also test a change to the rear differential on his IF14.
Martin Hofer sits in fourth place, the popular German being rather quiet when asked about his day and just saying that he will focus on “fine tuning the electronics” for tomorrow, after an earlier “change to a stiffer front spring helped a lot” to improving his Yokomo.
Rounding out the top five is British driver Daniel Blake. The Xray driver said his car was “getting better every run”, and now was planning to “push a bit harder” to “make sure I stay in the top five”. Finally, the Amateur Stock class sees Billy Kavanagh set the pace, ahead of Adam Malins (who set the TQ time in Q1) and Jamie Murray.
Source: EWS [ewsevents.co.uk]
