Error brings Rheinard’s quest to an end

Marc Rheinard’s quest for a third consecutive World title is over after the German, who sat out the opening A-Main to save tyres, rolled his Tamiya on the first run through the chicane dropping him to the tail of the field from where he could only recover to finish 6th.  With Rheinard, the clear favourite to take the win for the Leg due to having fresh tyres, out of contention it was Ronald Volker who took the win ahead of Yokomo team-mate Naoto Matsukura with Viktor Wilck again finishing 3rd.

With his car ending up on its roof on the exit of the chicane Rheinard, whose 4-year reign will come to an end shortly after 5pm local time, said the roll was his ‘own fault’ as he steered too early in the middle of the chicane, the curb sending the car up on two wheels.  Rheinard, who has held the World title three times, said while the race was over for him there was still plenty to play for in the final leg as his Tamiya Racing Factory team still had ‘two horses’ in the race. Those being Leg 1 winner Jilles Groskamp and Wilck.

After the disappointment of Leg 1, when contact with Hara ended his chances of a win,  Volker drove a very patient second A-Main.  Having more pace than Top Qualifier Hara, the ETS Champion said this bunched up the pack but he knew he needed to make a clean pass on the Team HB driver.  Aware that Rheinard’s challenge was over he said he was conscious of his own team-mate Matsukura, who also started the race with fresh tyres, and as the 1:12 World Champion joined the lead battle he knew had to get out front.  Once out front he said he knew if he could hold off Matsukura for a few laps then the 18-year-old’s tyre advantage would drop off and on equal tyres he knew he could keep him at bay which is what he did til the end to win by half a second with Wilck a distant third almost 4 seconds adrift.

Hara said he ran too soft a set-up for the race and after a coming together with the recovering Rheinard he was pleased to to take fourth for the Leg.  Planning to go back to a set-up he ran yesterday in qualifying for the final Leg the former Touring Car and 1:8 Offroad World Champion is expecting a ‘really big fight’ with five drivers still in with a chance of being crowned the Electric Touring Car World Champion, he being the only previous holder of the title.

The clear favourite of the large crowd of onlookers who have turned out at the MACH, Groskamp saw his challenge for a top result grabbed from him in the exact same spot as team-mate Wilck lost his challenge for the win in Leg 1.  Through the Omega sweeper the Dutch driver ran a tight line over the curb only to also get pulled into the grass on lap 8 resulting in his TRF417 needing to be marshaled. Pulling up on the next lap the former European Champion is confident about his chances in the final Leg as he has shown throughout the event his car is very good on used tyres.

Leg 2 A-Main Result
1.(2) Ronald Völker (DE) – Yokomo/LRP – 18/5:01.535
2.(6) Naoto Matsukura (JP) – Yokomo/Nosram – 18/5:02.110
3.(5) Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya/Thunder Power – 18/5:05.392
4.(1) Atsushi Hara (JP) – HB/Reedy – 18/5:07.988
5.(10)Chris Grainger (GB) – Schumacher/GM – 18/5:10.005
6.(4) Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya/Speedpassion – 18/5:10.923
7.(7) Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho/Orion – 18/5:13.597
8.(8) Loïc Jasmin (FR) – Yokomo/LRP – 18/5:13.872
9.(9) Andy Moore (GB) – HB/Hobbywing – 14/3:57.640
10.(3)Jilles Groskamp (NL) – Tamiya/Orion – 9/2:31.004

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Groskamp wins thrilling first A-Main

Jilles Groskamp took one of the biggest gambles of his life to win the opening A-Main at the Electric Touring Car World Championships to deny Top Qualifier Atsushi Hara by 14/100ths of a second as he threw his Tamiya across the finish line as Hara slowed his car to make the hairpin, thinking the race would go one more lap.  Viktor Wilck, who challenged Hara for the lead in the middle of the race finished 3rd ahead of Ronald Volker.

His home track, Groskamp was ecstatic with the result admitting afterwards having heard the announcement that there was four seconds to go that his move was a risk but looking at the finishing time of 5:00.282 it was actually a huge gamble he took.  Having got passed Hara earlier in the race, only to get the chicane wrong allowing the 2000 World Champion to get the drive on him down the straight, Groskamp said coming to the end of the race he was very conscious of team-mate Wilck and Yokomo’s Ronald Volker behind him and so didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks with trying a move on Hara.  Still unable to break into a 16 second lap around the MACH track, where his interest in r/c racing start 20 years ago, the Dutch ace only set the fifth fastest lap of the race but is confident that on used tyres his Orion powered Tamiya doesn’t drop off on pace as much as his rivals.  An overcast morning in Heemstede, just after A-Main Leg 1 the sun started to break cover something Groskamp said should further play in to his hand for the remaining two legs.

Hara was clearly disappointed at being denied the win having seen off challenges from Volker, Wilck and Groskamp.  Based on the announcement that 4 seconds remained in the race, Hara said he was sure the race would go one more lap but it didn’t and he added Groskamp ‘won the gamble’.  Hara said he was not as happy with his TCX as he was yesterday as it suffered from slight understeer which could be seen when he ran wide through the Omega corner giving Wilck a chance at the lead.  Hara said the next leg is going to be tough as the drivers who pulled up to save their tyres are going to have a substantial performance advantage, but he will give his best adding that with a few crashes anything could happen.

Swapping stickers with Hara as the pair to battle it out on lap 10, Wilck looked set to take lead at the end of the lap when the No.1 car ran wide but on the inside of the Omega and up on the curb the back end of Reedy Race Champion’s Tamiya stepped out and ended up on the grass. Needing to be marshaled he lost 3 seconds promoting Groskamp to second.

Starting second on the grid, Euro Touring Series Champion Volker was the first driver to try a pass on Hara his LRP powered BD7 getting a run on the HB down the straight on lap 9 but the two touched and the German’s car went airborne ending up on the grass and needing to be marshaled.  After the race Volker was clearly upset by the incident saying he had ‘no comment’ to make.

A World Championships that been dominated by tyre tactics the finals have not escaped the game playing with defending World Champion Marc Rheinard pulling up at the first full lap of the track to save his tyres for Leg 2.  The German, who lines up 4th on the grid, said he ran the first lap in case there was any crashes but it was always his plan to save his tyres for Leg 2. 10th place starter Chris Grainger also pulled up on lap 2.  With their cars sitting in the pitlane, their mechanics not allowed to touch the cars before they were post race tech-ed, they where soon joined by 1:12 World Champion Naoto Matsukura who rolled his Yokomo on lap 3 and the 2006 World Champion Andy Moore after 5 laps.

Leg 1 A-Main Result
1.(3) Jilles Groskamp (NL) – Tamiya/Orion – 18/5:00.282
2.(1) Atsushi Hara (JP) – HB/Reedy – 18/5:00.421
3.(5) Viktor Wilck (SE) – Tamiya/Thunder Power – 18/5:01.137
4.(2) Ronald Völker (DE) – Yokomo/LRP – 18/5:01.888
5.(7) Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho/Orion – 18/5:05.744
6.(8) Loïc Jasmin (FR) – Yokomo/LRP – 18/5:07.783
7.(9) Andy Moore (GB) – HB/Hobbywing – 5/1:27.544
8.(6) Naoto Matsukura (JP) – Yokomo/Nosram – 3/0:47.844
9.(4) Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya/Speedpassion – 2/0:22.414
10.(10)Chris Grainger (GB) – Schumacher/GM – 2/0:25.791

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Hara is Top Qualifier in the Netherlands

Team HB’s Atsushi Hara is Top Qualifier for the 2012 Electric Touring Car World Championship after the Japanese ace posted a TQ run in a controversial final round of qualifying this evening at the MACH in the Netherlands. With rain arriving during Q5, the round was stopped and subsequently cancelled following a meeting of IFMAR’s international jury.  With the track wet, the sixth & final round of was officially declared wet and the controlled wet tyre for the event was issued to drivers. With the rain having stopped the track started to dry over the course of the round and in the second heat from the top the majority of drivers, including Hara, were able to run dry tyres.  With just the top heat remaining the rain returned just as the cars where placed on the grid and persevering with the slippery condition using his second set of dry tyres it was Xray’s Paul Lemieux topped the group but with a time that was 2 laps off Hara’s time from 8 minutes earlier.

Immediately after the round had finished the result was protested with IFMAR receiving six written protests to have the round cancelled on the grounds of the changes of conditions during its running.  After some lengthy meetings the protests were rejected and it was declared that round six was to stand with the best three counting, giving Hara the TQ ahead of Ronald Volker, who’s team lodged a protest to have Q6 dropped and the best 2 of 4 to count.

Delighted to be Top Qualifier, Hara was quick to admit it was a lucky result but said he did give 110% in his final heat as he wasn’t to know that it would rain during the top group’s run.  Expecting a tough race he said he his plan is just to give his best and see what the outcome is.  The winner of the first ever Electric Touring Car World Championships in 2000, Hara is one of the greatest ambassadors of the sport and a victory tomorrow 12 years on from having won the World title would be hugely popular.

For defending champion Marc Rheinard, who has been very vocal during these championships over the running of the event, said while he would start fourth on the grid whether they counted 2 or 3 rounds he disagreed with the decision to let Q6 count.  Admitting he will have his work cut out tomorrow to try and claim a third consecutive title he thinks it could all come down to tyres with drivers getting one new set of tyres which must be used in all three legs.  Of the three World Champions competing at this the 7th running of the Worlds, the only other winner Surikarn Chaidajsuriya absent to the pending arrival of a new baby, all three have made the final with Andy Moore, who like Hara missed the cut 2-years ago in Germany, lining up ninth.

Top 10 qualifiers
1. Atsushi Hara (JP) – 460 (HB/Reedy)
2. Ronald Völker (DE) – 459 (Yokomo/LRP)
3. Jilles Groskamp (NL) – 458 (Tamiya/Orion)
4. Marc Rheinard (DE) – 449 (Tamiya/Speedpassion)
5. Viktor Wilck (SE) – 449 (Tamiya/Thunder Power)
6. Naoto Matsukura (JP) – 447 (Yokomo/Nosram)
7. Christopher Krapp (DE) – 445 (Kyosho/Orion)
8. Loïc Jasmin (FR) – 444 (Yokomo/LRP)
9. Andy Moore (GB) – 443 (HB/Hobbywing)
10.Chris Grainger (GB) – 443 (Schumacher/GM)

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