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| Report from Alex Hagberg |
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| The last and deciding race of the now very competitive European Touring Series was held in Traiskirchen, just outside of Vienna, in Austria. The venue had already been used for the 2011 European Championships in the same class, so many drivers were already familiar with the facilities there. For this event, the organizer had done a great job, preparing a fast yet technical track, with very high traction, as it was sprayed with some sort of syrup during the first days of practice. The track conditions would change very rapidly though, as the sticky surface from the first days would wear off rather quickly. |
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| During the first days of practice, I almost immediately had a good feeling for the car as my starting set-up was working decently. As all other drivers, I was struggling a bit with the inconsistency of the corners, as the sugar was not completely evenly sprayed across the asphalt surface. I was using my set-up from the ETS race in Gran Canaria a few months prior. This setting seemed to work alright, however, as always, a few fine tuning were needed to make it handle the way I wanted for this particular race course. First of all I decided to try a stiffer front spring, the 2.8 instead of the 2.6. It made the car turn in better, especially in the high speed corner after the straight, and it also helped for quicker direction change. I played around a bit with rollcenter, finally settling for a straighter upper link, both front and rear, to take away some low speed steering. It made the car less prone to traction rolling, as well as making it stop less overall. I could now push very hard everywhere and was very comfortable driving it. |
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For the next day, I decided to put this "good car" aside and instead tried to get my 2nd car or "backup car" to work. It did not come as a surprise that I ended up with almost the same set-up in both cars, as clearly the set-up from the previous day was working very well in both cars. The only differences between those two cars was the chassis which was 2.5 in the backup car, and the optional 2mm in the race car.
As controlled practice started, it was now clear that the track had changed somewhat from the day before, as traction levels were slightly lower. This meant that the first run on the tires was again quicker than the 2nd run as it gave more forward traction, as well as tire warmers again being a good option, which also increased overall traction. Some teams had even tried to run without warmers since they felt that it gave less traction roll problems. I did not have those problems so I settled with warmers, it gave the best balance for my car. |
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In practice, as a result of some back and forth testing, I found myself slightly off the pace, but however, I managed to qualifiy into the top heat, which is the most important thing in these practice rounds which are used for re-seeding. I always stayed calm though, since I know that the pace over the 3 quickest consecutive laps is usually different to when the whole 5 minute run is counted. I am usually a very consistent driver, and not always fast over those 3 "hot laps". Magnus also found himself in the last, top group of qualifying which was a great start of the race for him.
As qualifying started, the first round was run on Friday evening. Heavy rain showers during the afternoon led to increased humidity at the track. Traction levels were extremely high for the first run, and thus, the number one plan was to be very cautious not to traction roll the car in the first run on new tires. As the car became slightly too edgy to drive in these conditions, I was not fully comfortable in driving it. I simply tried to put in a safe run, which put me 4th overall. Already in Q1, it was clear that Yannic PrĂĽmper from Germany had a very strong package at this race as he took an convincing TQ. |
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| For Saturday, the question was when and how to use the 2nd set of race tires. It was not clear to me until later that day, that the organizer had decided to change the tire rule from the previous ETS rounds of asphalt. This meant that the A-main drivers would not receive a third set of race tires for the A-finals. As I had already used my two sets in the first two rounds of qualifying, it may seem like I had the wrong strategy. It would show later however, that it may have been the right one, as I qualified 2nd overall with some very strong rounds, only a few 100's of a second short of the TQ. I would start behind Yannic, and in front of Andy Moore, at the front row of the grid for the Sunday's A-finals. My best run in qualifying was probably Q3 where I held the lead for a long time until Yannic finally pulled away slightly in the end to take back the lead. It was clear that many of the top runners were struggling with traction rolling and edgy cars as they all made many mistakes and had some DNF runs. Most particulary, drivers like Atsushi Hara and Hayato Matzusaki failed to make the A-final after some poor runs. In the end, were were very happy with our team's results as myself, Magnus and Martin Hudy all made the A-final in the Modified class. Not a bad result at all, at one of the most competitive races in the world! |
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The finals were going to be very close, like at every ETS race these days. Unfortunately, I could not have had a worse start to my finals as A1 ended for me already in the first lap. As Andy Moore was very quick off the line, he tried an aggressive move coming into the first turn, which sent both our cars into the wall. Since my right rear tire was destroyed in the crash, I had no other choice than to retire from A1. What was really unfortunate too was that I had now destroyed one tire out of my least used set. So I had to put on the older, more worn, set of tires for the remaining two finals, which clearly was a disadvantage as I was sliding around a lot in the following finals. However, at this point I had no other choice than to try to drive my absolute best and hope for some more luck. A2 was much better as I got off the line better. Andy was really fast as he was one of the drivers who still had a new set of tires. So he passed me already in the 2nd lap. As he pulled away and tried to chase down Yannic, I stayed patient behind them.
When they crashed together a few laps later, I could take the lead, and from this point, never look back. As the others soon closed behind me in a small train of cars, I just had to stay focused and on the line for the rest of the final. As Marc also was on new tires, he was clearly quicker than Ronald behind me and eventually overtook him. On the very last lap, Marc crashed and broke his car which finally gave me some breathing room, and I could cruise to victory in A2. In A3 I also had a clean start. Unfortunately Yannic drove a perfect run without mistakes and I could never really close the gap. At one point I was catching him but then I hit a curb which made me loose a second or so. In the closing stages of the final, it was again very close and I had to stay really focused in order to not let anyone by. A big pileup of cars came together once again on the last lap, which meant that I could secure a 2nd place in the final and the runner-up spot for the race. |
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In the Stock class, it was Tony Streit with his XRAY who took a convincing TQ, after having a hard time in the controlled practice, which meant that he had to start from the 2nd fastest qualifying heat. In the finals, he converted his TQ into a win by staying cool and not making any mistakes. Even if the 2nd qualified Franke took the win in A3, it was enough for Tony to finish 2nd as his points and time from A1 was unbeatable. As Streit now had one victory, it would award him the 2nd place in the series, just behind the ETS 2011/2012 Stock Champion Zdenko Kunak, also running for XRAY! It was a great day for XRAY in the Stock class.
With one win, two second places, and one fourth place, I was awarded the 3rd overall position in the ETS series in 2011/2012. This was the first time that I ran the entire series, which have become increasingly important with all the top drivers from Europe and the world, attending each round. There has been some ups and downs as always but the highlight must have been the win in Poland of course, and the two 2nd place finishes in Gran Canaria and Traiskirchen as some memorable moments too, especially since I was so close to winning those both races as well. Electric touring car racing is extremely competitive these days and one has to put down a lot of hard work in order to do well. I think that it has been a good year so far. I am in a great team which has given me great opportunities to evolve and most of all there are some really nice individuals who are representing Team XRAY. I am really looking forward to the next season of the ETS. |
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| Modified A-Main Result |
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1. Yannic PrĂĽmper (DE)
2. Alexander Hagberg (SE) â“ Xray T3â 12
3. Ronald Volker (DE)
4. Marc Rheinard (DE)
5. Christopher Krapp (DE)
6. Vitkor Wilck (SE8
7. Andy Moore (GB)
8. Freddy Sudhoff (DE)
9. Martin Hudy (SK) â“ Xray T3â 12
10.Magnus Vässmar (SE) â“ Xray T3â 12 |
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| Xray Pro-Stock A-Main Result |
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1. Tony Streit (DE) â“ Xray T3â 12
2. Martin Hofer (DE)
3. Oliver Franke (DE)
4. Philipp Neudinger (AT)
5. Dominic Vogl (AT)
6. Ivan Laptev (RU)
7. Bernhard Bopp (DE)
8. Zdenko Kunak (SK) â“ Xray T3'12
9. Marek Cerny (CZ)
10.Morten Iversen (DK)
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| Overall 2012 ETS Pro-Stock results: |
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1. Zdenko Kunak (SK) - Xray T3'12
2. Tony Streit (DE) â“ Xray T3'12
3. Oliver Franke (DE) |
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| Overall 2012 ETS Modified results: |
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1. Ronald Volker DE)
2. Marc Rheinard (DE)
3. Alexander Hagberg (SE) â“ Xray T3â 12
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