Red RC » Oisin O’Briain

June 23, 2018

Volker TQs 2nd qualifier as Coelho suffers early error

Ronald Volker has TQ’d the second round of qualifying at the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in the Netherlands. The Yokomo driver topped the times after a close fight with Freddy Südhoff, the two Germans separated by 4/10ths of a second. Having taken Q1 in convincing style, it was again Bruno Coelho who set the early pace but on his third lap he suffered an error on the curbing that cost him 4 & a half seconds that would leave him with a P10 at the end of the 5-minutes. While Coelho had a bad round, for team-mate Alexander Hagberg Q2 would be a turning moment for the Swede as he completed the Top 3 from the second fastest heat. With Yannic Prumper, 3rd in Q1, another to make an error when he rolled coming onto the front straight, it was Christopher Krapp who was the next best Yokomo with the fourth fastest time but his pace was over a second off that of his team-mate’s TQ pace. Behind him ETS Andernach runner-up Naoto Matsukura was another big improvement coming in as the fastest Infinity for the round in P5 ahead of Nicholas Lee.

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June 21, 2018

ETS returns to Apeldoorn for decisive Round 5

For the second time this season the Yokomo Euro Touring Series revisits one of the tracks from the past with Apeldoorn in the Netherlands the destination for drivers for Round 5 this weekend (22-24 June). Last on the ETS calendar in 2013, the track is a contrast to the previous round when the championship returned to the tight & technical Andernach track in Germany last month. Having previously hosted the ETS four times, it is Marc Rheinard who comes into the penultimate round with the best record taking 3 wins there. The other winner is then Tamiya and now Infinity team-mate Jilles Groskamp who won on the first visit in 2009. A track layout that is highly regarded by drivers, the weekend is an important one in terms of the championship as drivers look to force the championship to do down to the final round.

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June 8, 2018

Intense 1:10 battle expected at ENS Germany

After a successful opening round to the 2018 Infinity Euro Nitro Series in the Netherlands last month, Round 2 of the high profile Onroad Nitro Championship is back on familiar asphalt as the world’s best drivers descend on the Minidrom Ettlingen track in Germany this weekend (8-10 June). With the championship’s debut in Rucphen adding two new winner’s names to the ENS roll of honour, Jilles Groskamp taking 1:10 and Robin D’hondt winning 1:8, Ettlingen is a track which presents its own unique challenges. The fourth year of inclusion on the ENS calendar, the track has a traditional nitro layout but has one particularly distinct characteristic, a very fine asphalt from the 2014 resurfacing of the track. In terms of winners, in 1:10, the class proving ultra competitive given it is a World Championship year for touring cars, the track has produced a different winner each visit. In 1:8, Simon Kurzbuch has won on the previous two visits with Dario Balestri winning on the track’s first appearance on the ENS calendar in 2015, but with the championship’s 17th race attracting over 110 entries the battle for victory will be as intense as ever.

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May 12, 2018

Coelho Top Qualifier at ETS as Wilck takes final qualifier

Bruno Coelho has claimed his 3rd consecutive TQ of the ETS season, the Xray driver securing pole position thanks to his two TQ runs yesterday at the Motodrom Andernach track in Germany. With Naoto Matsukura taking Q3 this morning, but the time no match for last night’s Q2 time, it was only the Japanese driver who had the possibility to deny Coelho the No.1 spot. With the track at its hottest and with only used tyres for Q4, the odds were stacked against Matsukura but a mistake on the first lap confirmed things. Now the attention was on how they would line up behind the reigning series champion. Marc Rheinard took up the pace but with 4-laps to go had a mistake, briefly moving Alexander Hagberg to the top, but Wilck would finish strong to take the round from Freddy Sudhoff and Hagberg. The result meant Matsukura held onto his P2 starting position while Wilck moved ahead of Rheinard to secure third with Sudhoff completing the top half of the grid.

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May 12, 2018

Matsukura leads Infinity 1-2 in Q3 at ETS Andernach

Naoto Matsukura led an Infinity 1-2 in the third & penultimate round of qualifying at the Yokomo Euro Touring Series this morning in Andernach, Germany. Having missed out on the TQ last night in Q2 by 5/100ths of a second after touching the curbing on the last lap, Matsukura would claim his first ever TQ run of the ETS ahead of team-mate Marc Rheinard. Despite being 3.6-seconds faster than Rheinard, the time was slower than that of Coelho’s Q2 time. While Coelho would make a mistake on the opening lap and opted to pull in after the next lap, it is looking increasingly likely the championship leader is on target for the overall TQ. With temperatures rising the track is expected to be slower for the final round with the only challenger Matsukura having now used all 3 of his allocated sets of tyres. Behind Matsukura and Rheinard, Viktor Wilck backed up his Q2 result by again completing the Top 3 while Lucas Urbain put in a strong drive from the second fastest heat to post the fourth fastest time.

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May 10, 2018

ETS returns to Andernach

This weekend (11-13 May), the Yokomo Euro Touring Series will return to Andernach in Germany, the track having last hosted the championship seven years ago. The fourth & final round of the inaugural ETS season, with the 2008 victory going to Atsushi Hara, the event was famed for it’s party atmosphere due to Andernach being the hometown of 4-time World Champion Marc Rheinard and ETS organisers Uwe Rheinard. After four years of being the season finale, the ETS expanding to 5 races in the second season and to its current six rounds in Season #3, the track was dropped from the calendar. On that last visit, the race would see Ronald Volker claim the first of his record 5 consecutive ETS titles. Rheinard won the race but second was enough for Volker to wrap up the overall championship. Following the unfortunate news of the closure of the Mulhouse track in France, Andernach was a late addition to the Season #11 calendar with another of the town’s famed names of RC racing Tonisport putting all hands on deck to prepare the track for its ETS return.

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May 5, 2018

Mazzeo claims first TQ at Dutch ENS

Alessio Mazzeo has claimed his first ever TQ start of the ENS. The Xray driver secured pole position for tomorrow’s season opener by taking two of the four rounds of qualifying in the Netherlands today. He will start ahead of the day’s other two TQ runners, Jilles Groskamp and Teemu Leino. With Mazzeo backing up his ‘rocket round’ Q1 TQ with another fastest time in Q3, it was then only Groskamp who could challenge him for the top spot in the final qualifier. A slower track however prevented this and while Groskamp would finish ahead of Mazzeo it was Leino who would register the TQ time, albeit it the slowest of the day. This would secure Leino third on the grid ahead of Shepherd’s Eduardo Escandon. For title favourite Dominic Greiner, an unlucky day will see him line up 5th but given how closely matched everyone is, the Serpent driver knows it is still all to play for for the win.

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May 5, 2018

Kurzbuch to start title defence from the TQ at Dutch ENS

Simon Kurzbuch is set to start the defence of his Infinity Euro Nitro Series title from the TQ. The Shepherd driver claimed the first championship point of Season #5 by posting a third TQ run in as many qualifiers on the championship’s first visit to the Netherlands. Opening the day with a TQ run over rival Dario Balestri, he would continue to reign over proceedings in Q2 and 3 to secure his ninth ENS career TQ. Fastest from Dutch surprise Jeffrey Rietveld in the second qualifier, it would be fellow countryman Silvio Hächler who get P2 in the penultimate qualifier with the ARC driver now looking to make it a Swiss 1-2 on the grid in the final qualifier.

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