Volker is Top Qualifier in France

Team Yokomo’s Ronald Volker will start the 2010 European Championship finals tomorrow from pole position after he topped the penultimate round of qualifying here at the Circuit Léo Lagrange securing himself the overall Top Qualifier honours.  The winner of the European Indoor Championship, a title he won earlier in the year from pole, the German said he was very happy to secure the number 1 starting position on a track which is going to prove difficult to pass on.  Talking about Q5, the 2007 Champion said the run was more difficult as the track was very dirty due to the wind that has picked up and brought with it the forecasted rain which just started to fall as the final round of qualifying got underway.  Volker was happy with his car despite the track conditions and that was reflected in his time as he became the only driver to post a second 16-lap run.

Marc Rheinard said he did not drive well but the German still managed to set the second fastest time moving himself up the fifth overall in the qualification ranking.  Describing the track as ‘maximum dusty’, the Tamiya driver posted the fastest lap for the round but this has done little to improve the three time World Champions view of the circuit. Over a second & a half adrift of Rheinard was defending Champion Jilles Groskamp but the Tamiya/Orion team driver said third for the round was only due to the fact that faster drivers crashed.  Switching to a larger spur and pinion so as he could move the motor more forward in his TRF416, Groskamp said it did not give him the desired change of making the car more balance but instead produced understeer.  Having TQ’d the penultimate round of qualifying Viktor Wilck was unable to repeat that performance.  With the battery in each car being checked before each heat the Swede’s voltage was found to be too high.  Discharging it to below the permitted maximum he was late to the starting grid and had to start from the 10 position.  Trying to pass a slower on the opening lap they touched ending any chance of a repeat TQ run.

Teenagers Yannick Prumper and Elliot Harper set the 5th & 6th times respectively but neither were happy with their run.  Prumper ended his run on his roof and his Yokomo was collected by the car of Olivier Bultynck, but luckily nothing broke but the German is busy checking if it is tweaked.  Despite reverting to the Speed 6 body, Harper said his Tamiya had a complete lack of traction and is at a loss as to why this is.

Team Associated’s Juho Levanen posted his best run with 8th, the Finn saying he is finally starting to get to grips with the track.  Admitting he made a mistake of running old tyres in Q4, he said new tyres had made his TC6 good again and the run could have been faster but he got held up by a slower driver.  The Top 10 was completed by the Tamiya of Thomas Pumpler, Belgian National Champion Olivier Bultynck driving a Corally and former Euros Top Qualifier Steven Weiss.

Qualifying standings after 5 rounds
1. Ronald Volker (DE) – 0pts (Yokomo/LRP)
2. Victor Wilck (SE) – 6pts (Tamiya/Speed Passion)
3. Jilles Groskamp (NL) – 8pts (Tamiya/Team Orion)
4. Elliott Harper (GB) – 8pts (Tamiya/Speed Passion)
5. Marc Rheinard (DE) – 11pts (Tamiya/Speed Passion)
6. Andy Moore (GB) – 11pts (Hot Bodies/Nosram)
7. Yannick Pruemper (DE) – 14pts (Yokomo/Speed Passion)
8. Loïc Jasmin (FR) – 21pts (Tamiya/Team Orion)
9. Marc Fischer (DE) – 27pts (Corally/GM)
10.Steven Weiss (DE) – 27pts (Yokomo/LRP)

Full results can be found here.

View our event image gallery here.