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Report from Alexander Hagberg
The 5th round of the ETS series in 2012-2013 was held in Traiskirchen, Austria. This was the same venue which was the host of the ETS final last year. The heat and humidity was again very similar. Even the track layout was the same – but run in the opposite direction. The track is fairly small and with high traction. Most notably, the track is built under roof in an old ice hockey rink. The surface is asphalt, but very flat, and a bit rough. The surface was sugar watered for increased traction. Like every ETS race, this event was highly competitive and saw some 240 entries from all over Europe, including all the top drivers.

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As I had a really good running here last year, I was hoping for a strong result, also after the poor showing in Apeldoorn the previous month. Our team showed up with the need to make an impact. As open practice commenced on the Wednesday morning, traction slowly increased, and we began to fine tune our set-ups. After a few runs, I could come to the conclusion that my basic set-up which I used here last year wasn’t going to work. Instead, it was Martin’s car that was working the best. Martin was running his set-up from last year as well, in fact, he was already running the T4 prototype at last year’s event so he had a very clear idea of what could work. In the end, I decided to completely copy his set-up, which proved to be the right choice as I immediately lowered my laptimes. Some of the biggest changes were the shock set-up, which was harder, and in combination with softer springs. The front arms were in the anti-dive position, and the rear arms were in the pro-squat position. A front diff was the best choice, as was a hard rear diff. The car felt more responsive and had more steering.

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During the heat practice on Friday morning, I made the last few changes to the car. Martin had carefully tested all combinations of shock set-ups, to determine what was the best solution for those current conditions. In the end we both settled for a 4 hole 1.1mm piston, with 450 shock oil in the front, 500 in the rear, and with the progressive 2.5-2.8 spring both in front and rear. The car had a lot of steering and traction now, and we were both on pace with the top runners. Magnus Vässmar, Niclas Nilsson and Tim Wahl posted quick laptimes for our team as well.

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In qualifying, I had a decent first run, however, after driving a bit cautiously, to score a 4th position overall. I continued to post good results on old tires, until I decided to go with a new set in the 4th run of qualifying. I knew that I was perhaps the only one on a new set in that run, which would maximize my possibility to score TQ points in that round. I was fighting for the lead until the 4 minute mark, where my power capacitor in the speed controller mysteriously broke, which caused my car to stop on the track. In Q5 I was 1.6 seconds from the TQ, but it would only mean 5th position overall in that round, as it was very close. I was obviously very disappointed to miss out on those points, as I now had to settle for 6th position on the grid instead. On this technical track, overtaking would be difficult.

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In A1 we witnessed some very difficult conditions leading up to our race, as the rainy weather meant high humidity. For some odd reason, this track just looses all traction once humidity builds up. All cars were just drifting around. I was fighting for the bottom positions of the A-final in the first run as my car was really difficult to drive and hard to keep on the track.

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A2 was going to be a spectacular event for many reasons. I started off quite slow, as I felt that the car was a bit twitchy during the first minute. As the time went on I started to feel more comfortable as I was fighting with Viktor. He then crashed and I was driving alone, without contention from behind, and with a fairly big gap to the front. All of a sudden, everyone started crashing each other at the front to that very extent that I improved from 5th to 1st position within one minute or so. As there was no one really close to me, I could just cruise to the finish line. I was so happy to have this kind of luck in a final. And regarding the driving of the others – I think it’s rather unusual to see so many ‶racing incidents※ all involving pro drivers, just in one final. Nevertheless, my consistency paid off in this case.

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A3 was definitely uneventful in comparison to that A2 final. I passed Fischer early on but could not really challenge the top 4 runners. I decided to retain my position and not take any risks. In the end, my combined points of 1st and 5th position would be enough for 4th position overall, which is not a bad result, and definitely an improvement to the previous ETS event. It is always a shame however, to miss out on the podium.

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I was happy to see Martin and Magnus making the A-final as well. Tim, Niclas and Marco drove incredibly well in the the top of the B-final. Those races were very exciting to watch. It is great to see that our team is full of young and talented drivers, all capable of making the A-final.

The stock class was more exciting than ever in Traiskirchen. I just feel that the level has been stepped up again in this category. Our team driver Marek Cerny was one to watch in qualifying as he took a convincing TQ position, winning three rounds to take maximum points. Behind Marek where the quick Awesomatix drivers Viljami Kutvonen and Dominic Vogl. The dynamic duo of Tobias Vogel and Valentin Hettrich qualified 5th and 6th respectively with their T4 cars after some great driving in the qualifiers.

Marek worked hard during open practice, also with mechanical support of our ‶principale※, Francesco Martini from Italy, who gave his input on the set-up. As qualifying started, it was no doubt that Marek had the best handling car in the field.

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The finals were going to be very close however. Even though Marek won three qualifiers, the margin wasn’t that huge to the others. As the track conditions changed completely for A1, this would benefit some more than others. Martin Hofer had a very fast car in A1 as he passed Cerny to take the win. We were a bit confused what to make of this as we would have to change something in the set-up to cope with these lower traction conditions. Or we could stay cool and wait for sunshine and a drop of humidity again. Luckily the sun came out, and the track went back to its original state. We didn’t have to make any set-up changes as we knew that our cars would work again. Cerny started off A2 in a perfect fashion, and fought back well when Viljami tried to pass. In the end, Viljami made a mistake and it was instead Vogl who would try to challenge for the lead. Marek drove perfectly for the duration of the final to retain his lead until the end. We felt great relief as he passed the finish line to take the win – which put him in a very strong position for the overall win. Only Hofer and Vogl could still win – but Vogl would need to go faster than Marek’s A2 time.

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A3 started with a hard pushing Kutvonen. He eventually passed Cerny to take the lead. A little bit later, Cerny rolled over in the infield which moved Vogl up to 2nd position. After a few laps, Vogl passed Viljami for the lead. Vogl won the final, but was 2 tenths of a second slower than Marek in A2. Cerny had won the race! We were again relieved after those heartstopping closing moments of A3.

In the end we must look back on this race as a successful one for our team. We won the stock category. We had the most cars in the finals in both stock and modified (3 and 4). Our car handled very well in these conditions. Hard works pay off. We are now looking forward very much to the ETS final race at our home – the Hudy Racing arena. See you all there!

Modified final result:
1. Marc Rheinard
2. Ronald Völker
3. Yannic PrĂĽmper
4. Alexander Hagberg - XRAY T4
5. Viktor Wilck
6. Andy Moore
7. Martin Hudy - XRAY T4
8. Marc Fischer
9. Magnus Vässmar - XRAY T4
10.Freddy SĂĽdhoff

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Stock final result:
1. Marek Cerny - XRAY T4
2. Dominic Vogl
3. Martin Hofer
4. Viljami Kutvonen
5. Valetin Hettrich - XRAY T4
6. Henrik Heitsch
7. Jan Asmer
8. David Nemcek - XRAY T4
9. Oliver Franke
10.Tobias Vogel – XRAY T4

Set-up sheet:
Alexander Hagberg
Marek Cerny

Gallery:

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