Volker Top Qualifier at 18th running of DHI Cup
Ronald Volker is Top Qualifier at the 18th running of the DHI Cup. Chasing an 8th victory at the Danish classic, the Yokomo driver wrapped up pole with a third TQ run in the penultimate round of qualifying. Going on to make it a clean sweep in the fourth & final qualifier and with reigning champion Viljami Kutvanen absent from Odense this year, it looks like it is Volker’s race to lose tomorrow given his form over the last two days. Behind the World Champion, it will be reunited team-mate Yannic Prumper who will start second ahead of Elliott Harper, Marc Rheinard and Markus Hellquist.
Commenting on the final two qualifiers, Volker said, ‘I switched to progressive springs all round for the third one and it felt more similar than expected. I wasn’t sure it was better so for the last one I went back to my Q2 set-up for the last one. It was worse, I had less overall grip so I will go back to the progressive springs again for the Main’.
‘It was super close’, was Prumper’s reaction finishing P2 in the final qualifier having been on the TQ pace for a time. He continued, ‘It came down to the last lap. I had some small mistakes at the beginning but in terms of time they were huge. We were all on the same pace’. Prumper said his improvement came from switching to a Montech body for the final qualifier which made his Yokomo ‘easier to drive’ and he will continue with it for the finals. Admitting, ‘I’m not sure where you can overtake on this track’ he concluded, ‘I hope my set of tyres keep performing (in the finals)’. Drivers have an allocation of just 2-sets of tyres for the entire weekend with no extra allocation for the finals.
Harper was positive about qualifying third managing to survive getting up on 2-wheels on the last lap. With very little between him, Prumper and Rheinard and a fastest lap almost identical to Volker’s, the Schumacher driver said, ‘Yeah, that was really good. We’ve worked hard to develop the setup further and it’s really good to be on pace with everyone again. We saw it at the EWS International before Christmas, but we found it a bit too late there. Now, we started off from the front foot and it’s been good to pace myself with Ronald, Marc, Yannic and Chrissi from the start’.
Summing up his qualifying, Rheinard said, ‘I changed tyre for the last one and it was a little better but there is still no grip’. The Infinity driver continued, ‘anything I change on the car doesn’t change the feeling on the track’. Asked about the finals he replied, ‘I will just drive. I am too slow so I am just going to drive my own race and see what happens’.
In the Super Stock class, Patrick Folman is Top Qualifier after he put in the perfect qualifying to TQ all four rounds. The Dane will lead away the A-Mains from 2016 Champion Tim Benson with Frederik Mikkelsen lining up third.
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