Groskamp on pole for 2009 Euros
Jilles Groskamp is the 2009 EFRA Electric Touring Car European Championship Top Qualifier after a dramatic final round of qualifying that saw the big surprise of this event, Lucas Urbain (17/5:18.436), TQ the final round of heats. With 30 seconds to run on the clock it looked as though Viktor Wilck (16/5:01.046) was going to claim his first ever Euros pole position but on the final lap the Swede lost the rear of his Tamiya. With his teammate Groskamp, who he passed during the run, right on his bumper the pair made contact allowing Ronald Volker (16/5:00.335) to win the top heat. Luckily for the Tamiya team, Urbain’s time from the previous group was faster than that of Volker allowing Groskamp to retain the top spot on the qualification ranking.
Groskamp said afterwards ‘I owe my pole to Urbain, I will have to buy him a drink’. Happy to claim the overall TQ, the Dutch driver had mixed feeling about the round. Having been caught by his Speedpassion teammate he said he felt it was only right to let him through but afterwards he was able to stick with him and when he lost it in the sweeper he couldn’t avoid hitting him. Wilck said his TRF416WE has been on the edge throughout qualifying but with the power dropping off on the final lap he was unable to correct the car when the rear stepped out. Finishing the round third behind Volker, Wilck’s faster TQ run in Round 4 was enough to give him second on the grid tomorrow, one place ahead of last year’s Top Qualifier.
Having already realised his goal earlier in the day by securing himself a place in the A Main, Urbain’s event just got better as became the fifth driver to TQ a round, an achievement that didn’t go unnoticed as he received a round of applause from the onlooking drivers and their teams. The Frenchman said his GM Racing powered Losi JRSX-R was ‘amazing’ after he loosened the diff and further increased the length of time he applied the tyre additive. Asked if he could create further surprises tomorrow, when he will line up fifth on the grid, the 20-year-old said he is normally rubbish in finals but he hopes he can finish in the Top 5 as this would be a great result for him.
Taking fifth for the round Marc Rheinard said his car felt ‘pretty bad’ as he struggled with corner speed. Unsure as to why the sudden drop of in performance, with a bad batch of tyres the suspected cause, the defending Champion & reigning World Champion has decided to build a new Tamiya for tomorrow’s finals in which he will line up fifth. Completing the Top 6 for the final qualifier was Alexander Hagberg and the Swede will be the sole Xray representative in tomorrow’s big race, starting from seventh.
Making up the rest of the A Main grid are Tamiya off road star Hupo Honigl, who will start his last ever touring car race from sixth, 15-year-old Yannic Pruemper, who becomes the new European Junior Champion, and the factory Kyosho/Team Orion pairing of Steen Graversen and Christopher Krapp. The unenviable BQ honours go to former European Champion Teemu Leino.
The big talking point here as drivers leave for their hotels is the weather. While the sun is still shining the forecast for tomorrow is for rain and lots of it. Our coverage, which is supported here in Luxembourg by Team Orion and LRP, continues in the morning.
Top 10 qualifiers
1. Groskamp Jilles (NL) Tamiya/Speedpassion – 3pts
2. Wilck Viktor (SE) Tamiya/Speedpassion – 3pts
3. Völker Ronald (DE) Yokomo/LRP – 3pts
4. Rheinard Marc (DE) Tamiya/Speedpassion – 4pts
5. Urbain Lucas (F) Losi/GM – 4pts
6. Hönigl Hubert (A) Tamiya/LRP – 10pts
7. Hagberg Alexander (SE) Xray/LRP – 11pts
8. Prümper Yannic (DE) Tamiya/Speedpassion – 11pts
9. Graversen Steen (DK) Kyosho/Team Orion- 12pts
10. Krapp Christopher (DE) Kyosho/Team Orion – 15pts
Full results from the event can be found here.
View our event image gallery here.