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| Race report by Alex Hagberg |
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The second round of the very popular ETS series was held in the small village of Scandiano, outside Bologna in Italy. The event saw a huge turnout of almost 300 drivers split on three different classes; modified, stock and formula. The European XRAY team was present with their best drivers.
After previously attending the Charity Race in December, which was held in the same city and with similar track conditions to the upcoming ETS race, we felt prepared for the second ETS round which saw a technically challenging track layout, nicely prepared with a new, grey carpet in an exhibition hall in central Scandiano. Just like at the Charity Race, the surface was rather bumpy. The bumps really made the driving more difficult since you had to take great care while driving over the bumps in order to not upset the car too much and have slides, especially when coming onto the straight through the fast chicane. The hairpin after the straight was also a difficult braking point where a lot of corner entry steering was needed. |
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In practice I found myself struggling, as the set-up from the Charity Race clearly did not suit the lower traction conditions very well. After some minor set-up changes, in collaboration with team leader Martin Hudy, resulted in a much easier car. We tried a heavier rear diff oil, higher roll center for the suspension arms, and a front spool instead of a gear diff. We were fairly happy with our cars as we were reseeded into the fastest qualifying heat. The first qualifier also turned out okay as I ended up 4th and Martin 9th. But we were hoping for a stronger finish on Saturday and the remaining rounds of qualifying.
As qualifying progressed with three more rounds on Saturday, it became evident that this would not be our event as we continued to struggle with cars which were a little too difficult to drive. In the end I managed to qualify 4th overall with one 2nd place and one 4th place finish. I was fast but not really on the pace with Ronald and the top runners. I was a bit frustrated to start only 4th overall as of course I had my intentions set higher than that. But since I am always dedicated and a hard worker, I decided to rise early on Sunday morning in order to get some runs done in the open practice, starting at 7 o'clock in the morning. I was eager to find a better set-up in order to be able to fight for the podium positions. Also present during the morning practice was David Ehrbar, who in qualifying had a very fast car and was able to set lap times below 13.0 which was quite impressive. During the practice I had the opportunity to drive his car. I immediately had a good feeling and was able to drive fast and consistent lap times. As a result of this, I took the decision to change my set-up to the set-up of David. It later turned out to be the wrong decision as the car was simply too difficult to drive in the finals. But sometimes you have to take chances in order to win but it means that sometimes you can also lose, which I did this time. |
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In the end it was Martin Hudy, Zdenko Kunak, Magnus Vässmar, the young and promising German driver Marco Kaufmann, David Ehrbar, and new Italian team driver Alessio Menicucci who qualified into the very competitive B-main. In total, XRAY had 7 cars in the top 20 which must be considered as a good result, but of course it was disappointing to have only one driver in the main final.
The finals were not going very well for me. In the first final I lost a screw from my rear suspension which made the car handle very strangely. I had some trouble to keep the car on the track but still managed to finish 6th overall in A1. In A2 I had a good feeling after the start as I followed the other drivers quite closely. On the 2nd lap I had a strange spin on the straight. I later found out that I had hit the tape on the straight which put my car out of contention and I had to try and catch up from the 10th and last position. In A3 I was involved in a big crash in the chicane coming onto the straight which meant that I lost some positions. I was eventually able to finish 6th overall which would award me with an 8th place overall finish which was rather disappointing considering that the Charity Race had gone so well just one month prior. |
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| In the Pro Stock class, our biggest hope was Zdenko Kunak who once again showed great pace in practice and qualifying and was able to win an impressive TQ position in front of some really fast drivers, including recent DHI CUP winner Steffen Leinburger. XRAY was able to put 4 cars in the final, with young German driver Fabian Bucher, and the two Italians Alessio Meniccuci and Francesco Martini also qualifying for the main show. In the end, luck was not on our side as Zdenko wasn't able to defend his TQ position and had to settle for a still strong 2nd place finish. Fabian finished 6th overall after some good finals. Alessio and Francesco didn't improve and finished 9th and 10th overall. |
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It was great to see that XRAY has such as strong position in Italy.
Thank you to all for your support! We are a great team! |
| Modified Top 10: |
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1. Ronald Völker
2. Yannic PrĂĽmper
3. Marc Rheinard
4. Christopher Krapp
5. Eric Dankel
6. Andy Moore
7. Viktor Wilck
8. Alexander Hagberg - XRAY T3'2012
9. Dominik Fleischmann
10. Loic Jasmin |
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| Pro Stock Top 10 |
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1. Steffen Leinburger
2. Zdenko Kunak - XRAY T3'2012
3. Oliver Franke
4. Michal Orlowski
5. Felix Wiessman
6. Fabian Bucher - XRAY T3'2012
7. Ivan Laptev
8. Philip Tschupp
9. Alessio Menicucci - XRAY T3'2012
10. Francesco Martini - XRAY T3'2012 |
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