Team Yokomo driver Ronald Völker secured the overall Top Qualifying position in the final round of action at the ETS in Daun. Reflecting on his run, the German former ETS champion was clearly happy to start up front following a lot of work developing the team’s new BD10 chassis over the winter. Asked about any changes for the last round, Volker responded that he “changed the tyre prep slightly – and that was the best for the car right now”. Looking to the triple finals, he said to end qualifying with another TQ run was “for sure a boost going into A1. But I know Marc will try everything for the win”.
Marc Rheinard RC will line up second on the grid. Taking third in Q4, the German, who was let go from former team Creation Model Ltd./Infinity over the Christmas break in the ETS schedule, continues to be pleased with the speed he has found with his TONISPORT-backed Awesomatix chassis. Knows as one of the best head-to-head racers on the planet, spectators are likely to be treated to some close racing with Rheinard so evenly matched on pace with Volker this weekend. Rheinard’s Tonisport team-mate, also running an Awesomatix this weekend, Yannic Prümper took fourth in the round and will line up third overall. The big improvement in the round was Bruno Coelho, the XRAY driver second on the track to move into fourth in the final qualifying rankings. This pushes Yokomo’s Christopher Krapp down to fifth on the grid.
In Pro Stock, Jan Ratheisky’s hold over the class came to an end, as Olivier Bultynck took the final qualifier for Awesomatix. Noting it was a “good feeling – finally the driver was awake”, the popular Belgian put his result down to “just driving better”. The result means he will start second on the grid behind Ratheisky, with Alexandre Duchet’s Xray set to line up third. The Frenchman, who took third in Q4, reflected that his car was “really good. A little difficult in the first minute but overall good”. Not planning on any changes for the finals, he hopes to take his car, which is being prepared for him by Xray T4 designer Martin Hudy, onto the podium. Taking second on the round and fourth overall, Simon Lauter said he was “not super happy, you don’t come to an ETS to finish P4”. Cheering up a little, he said the team was working well together, and that “Ollie has the best car right now, but we are getting there with mine and I will see if I can learn anything else from him to help me for the finals”.
The first leg of the finals will take place on Saturday evening, with the results to be decided after legs two and three on Sunday.
