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| Race report: Alexander Hagberg |
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The second round of the extremely popular Euro Touring Series was held in the small village of Hrotovice in Czech Republic. The race saw some 330 entries divided in three classes; Modified, Pro Stock and Formula.
The XRAY team was in attendance with full force, with all its European team drivers. We were hoping for good results in both touring car categories. Judging from the latest events and pre-event practice, our form was looking strong. Adrian Berntsen came fresh off a win at the DHI CUP, Alexander Hagberg and Magnus Vässmar from Sweden were both looking for top positions, as were the German drivers Marco Kaufmann and Tim Wahl. Our Italian team driver Francesco Martini was present as well as Czech and Slovak drivers Marek ČernĂ˝, Martin Bayer and Zdenko Kunák. Last but not least our team leader Martin Hudy was ready to perform well and to support the whole team, in order to get the best possible results.
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| The organizer had put together a fast yet narrow layout with many 180 corners but not many sweeping corners. This required a bit of re-thinking in terms of set-up as the car would need a lot of initial turn-in without traction rolling at the sharp corners. Braking points were very important too and the track required a lot from the driver. |
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| As practice progressed we soon started to figure out what set-up to use. Many drivers felt that a slightly softer rear diff was a better choice for this track, as was the linear 2.5 springs, both in front and rear. At the end of practice, we had 6 drivers in the top 20 positions which were re-seeded into the top two heats. The extremely high competition of the ETS this days put serious pressure on drivers already in practice as a too slow pace will mean a lower seeding position for qualifying. |
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| Qualifying soon started and it was the usual suspects who set the pace. Unfortunately our top runner Adrian Berntsen was struck by technical problems in two of his runs which put him out of contention for an A-main final position. In the end it was the young Marco Kaufmann from Germany along with Alexander Hagberg who managed to qualify into the A-main for XRAY. Team leader Martin Hudy was again unlucky with technical failures and finished in the end at the much impopular 11th position in qualifying, tied on the same points with the 10th finisher. Magnus Vässmar and Zdenko Kunák joined him in the B-final. |
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| In the main finals, Kaufmann and Hagberg both had a hard time to pass on the narrow and diffcult track, which meant they couldn't improve from their qualifying positions. Even though when the pace of especially Kaufmann was good enough for a higher finish. After a poor result like this we are even more motivated to perform better at the next races. We just need more luck and a little more knowledge about specific set-up areas of the T4. |
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In the Stock class it was the new team driver Marek ČernĂ˝ from the Czech Republic who dominated qualifying to take the TQ position, with a very well handling car. Zdenko Kunák also had a strong performance in qualifying which awarded him the 3rd overall position. Martin Lissau from Denmark was 4th overall with his T4 car, again showing great speed just like the previous weekend at the DHI CUP in Denmark.
ČernĂ˝ stayed calm in the finals to drive perfectly from start to finish, to take the win in both A1 and A2, which gave him the overall win. XRAY continues to dominate the Stock category. In the end, Martin Lissau managed to finish 3rd overall. XRAY had 3 out of 4 cars in the top 4, with Kunák on the 4th position.
With a strong result in the Stock category, and two cars in the final in Modified, with the potential for a lot more, we have to be fairly happy with the result at the second round of the ETS. The series have become extremely competitive and it is clear that all teams are working extra hard in order to perform well at these events. But the higher the level, the higher the satisfaction from a good result. We are looking forward to the next events. Thank you all team drivers and customers for your support! |
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Ride Modified A-Main Overall Result
1. Ronald Volker (DE)
2. Marc Fischer (DE)
3. Freddy Sudhoff (DE)
4. Viljami Kutvonen (FI)
5. Yannic Prumper (DE)
6. Dominik Fleischmann (DE)
7. Marc Rheinard (DE)
8. Eric Dankel (DE)
9. Marco Kaufmann (DE) â“ XRAY T4
10.Alexander Hagberg (SE) â“ XRAY T4
XRAY Pro Stock Overall 3 Result
1. Marek Cerny (CZ) â“ XRAY T4
2. Viljami Kutvonen (FI)
3. Martin Lissau (DK) â“ XRAY T4
4. Zdenko Kunak (SK) â“ XRAY T4
5. Dominic Vogl (AT)
6. Steffen Leinburger (DE)
7. Oliver Franke (DE)
8. Jan Asmer (DE)
9. Morten Iversen (DK)
10.Philipp Neudinger (AT) |
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