Red RC - RC Car News

Coelho caps off ETS title winning weekend with record equalling 4th win

Posted: 18 Jun 2017 09:52 AM PDT

Bruno Coelho has capped off his Euro Touring Series title weekend in Slovakia with a record equaling fourth win of the season. The Xray driver joined Marc Rheinard as the only driver to win four races in a single season when he again cruised to A2 victory at the Hudy Arena to wrap up Round 5, the organisers to be complimented for completing the event after effectively losing two days of running due to rain. Able to sit out A3, Coelho’s win means he maintains his unbeaten run of victories at his team’s home track since making his ETS debut three seasons ago. Behind, team-mate Alexander Hagberg continued the 1-2 enjoyed by Xray as he won A3 after seeing off a rejuvenated Naoto Matsukura, the former World Champion claiming his first ever ETS podium finish.

Continue reading this report here or view our complete event coverage here.

Coelho caps off ETS title winning weekend with record equalling 4th win

Posted: 18 Jun 2017 09:52 AM PDT

Bruno Coelho has capped off his Euro Touring Series title weekend in Slovakia with a record equaling fourth win of the season. The Xray driver joined Marc Rheinard as the only driver to win four races in a single season when he again cruised to A2 victory at the Hudy Arena to wrap up Round 5, the organisers to be complimented for completing the event after effectively losing two days of running due to rain. Able to sit out A3, Coelho’s win means he maintains his unbeaten run of victories at his team’s home track since making his ETS debut three seasons ago. Behind, team-mate Alexander Hagberg continued the 1-2 enjoyed by Xray as he won A3 after seeing off a rejuvenated Naoto Matsukura, the former World Champion claiming his first ever ETS podium finish.

Reflecting on his 9th ETS career win, the season finale next month in Germany an opportunity for him to make it five wins in a season, Coelho said, ‘I don’t think about these things, I’m here to win every race and when I finish 2nd I lose. My job is to develop the car to help our customers. This year has been really good in terms of the car working pretty well, we didn’t change too much on it over the year’. He continued, ‘It is also rewarding to work with brands that were nothing 2-years ago like Hobbywing and MonTech but are now at the top’. With Francesco Martini a key contributor to harnessing his natural abundance of driving talent, Coelho continued, ‘We reached our goal with the ETS title and next we will go to the European Championships. Everything is looking good but these are not conditions & tyres we have practiced for so we will see how it goes’.

Clearly meaning a lot to him to win A3, Hagberg said, ‘An Xray 1-2 is what people expect here but the competition have caught up so it was tougher to get the 1-2 this year’. Having struggled in A1 with Matsukura eventually passing him for second, he continued, ‘I got my car a lot better after we changed a few things on the set-up so I was not having to drive as defensively as before’. Setting the fastest lap of the race weekend in A3 with a 17.345, he continued, ‘setting the fastest lap showed we got a good set-up at the end’. Having endured a tough season, Round 4 in Italy a particular low point, he concluded, ‘for sure it is good to be back at the front and I’m really looking forward to the final round’.

‘First time on the podium, I’m so happy’, was the reaction of a very pleased looking Matsukura. He added, ‘I had good places in A1, A2 and A3 so I think I can say I am back’. Joining Infinity at the start of the year, the said, ‘everything is coming good again and part of this is that the team is good. My car worked good here because I had Fujiwara san for my mechanic this weekend. Now I will go testing in Japan for next ETS because I want to win that one’.

Finish 4th having set the pace in Thursday practice before rain hampered the next two days of action, Marc Rheinard said, ‘I think we lost the race in qualifying’. The Infinity driver was referring to the 5/100ths by which Hagberg out qualified both himself and Matsukura, saying ‘Hagberg was really slow in A1 and if Naoto had of been second and Alex fourth it would have been a different story. The next time’. The German concluded, ‘This is Xray’s home town so I think we were closer than it looked in the final so I think we can give them a run for their money in Ettlingen’.

In both the Pro Stock and Formula A Mains, the winners wouldn’t be decided until A3. In Formula, having won A1, in A2 Top Qualifier Olivier Bultynck put his Shepherd on the grass while leading which let David Ehrbar through for the win ahead of Jan Ratheisky. In A3 however Bultynck would have no such problems and after an early mistake by Ratheisky and then Ehrbar he could cruise to the A3 win ahead of Toni Rheinard to claim his second Formula win of the season. Ratheisky and Ehrbar completed the Round 5 podium with the title set to be decided at the season final in Germany next month.

The Xray Pro Stock final was similar to Formula with a mistake on the opening lap of A2 by A1 winner Christian Donath giving Jan Ratheisky the win from Alexandre Duchet forcing the race to go to A3. This time the pole sitter made sure to put in the perfect race taking his Tamiya to a 3.6 second winning margin over Duchet and Martin Hofer. The German’s first ETS win he was joined on the podium by Ratheisky in second and Duchet in third with the champion going to be decided in Ettlingen.

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

Video – Modified A-main Leg 3

Posted: 18 Jun 2017 09:00 AM PDT

Video – Pro Stock A-main Leg 3

Posted: 18 Jun 2017 08:48 AM PDT

Video – Formula A-main Leg 3

Posted: 18 Jun 2017 08:46 AM PDT

Chassis Focus – Martin Hofer

Posted: 18 Jun 2017 07:45 AM PDT

Chassis – Yokomo BD8 SV
Motor – Muchmore (handout)
ESC – Muchmore (handout)
Batteries – Muchmore Impact 6000mAh
Tires – Volante (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/Xpert
Bodyshell – Protoform Speed 6
Remarks – Former ETS Pro Stock Champion Martin Hofer is running the newly released BD8 Stock Version from Yokomo. Having been racing the new car in prototype form since the 3rd round of the series in Spain, the new car is specifically made for the ultra competitive stock class. Featuring a bigger pulley drivetrain, the new design helps free up the drivetrain while the higher mounted front and rear axles allow the car to roll more giving the car better cornering speed and more roll in the corners. Other new changes include new shock towers to accommodate the new drivetrain as well as a new stiffer top deck and a new PCS motor mount.

Image Gallery

Video – Modified A-main Leg 2

Posted: 18 Jun 2017 07:17 AM PDT

Video – Pro Stock A-main Leg 2

Posted: 18 Jun 2017 07:12 AM PDT

Video – Formula A-main Leg 2

Posted: 18 Jun 2017 07:11 AM PDT

Coelho cruises to A1 win as Matsukura snatches 2nd

Posted: 18 Jun 2017 05:20 AM PDT

Having wrapped up his second consecutive Euro Touring Series title by taking the TQ in Slovakia this morning, Bruno Coelho made light work of his opposition to cruise to the win in A1. Almost immediately the Xray driver would establish a lead while the rest of the field backed up behind team-mate Alexander Hagberg. Spinning out on the curbing at the one & a half minute mark would end Marc Rheinard’s race as he got collected by Infinity team-mate Akio Sobue resulting in the front left corner being pulling off the German’s car. This would take the pressure from behind off Matsukura allowing him to focus on finding his way passed Hagberg, the Japanese driver forcing a mistake from the Swede on the penultimate lap to get passed for second. Despite setting the slowest fastest lap of the race, Ronald Volker would finish 4th behind Hagberg, the World Champion clearly having to dig deep to make up for his car’s lack of pace.

Continue reading this report here or view our complete event coverage here.

Coelho cruises to A1 win as Matsukura snatches 2nd

Posted: 18 Jun 2017 05:17 AM PDT

Having wrapped up his second consecutive Euro Touring Series title by taking the TQ in Slovakia this morning, Bruno Coelho made light work of his opposition to cruise to the win in A1. Almost immediately the Xray driver would establish a lead while the rest of the field backed up behind team-mate Alexander Hagberg. Spinning out on the curbing at the one & a half minute mark would end Marc Rheinard’s race as he got collected by Infinity team-mate Akio Sobue resulting in the front left corner being pulling off the German’s car. This would take the pressure from behind off Matsukura allowing him to focus on finding his way passed Hagberg, the Japanese driver forcing a mistake from the Swede on the penultimate lap to get passed for second. Despite setting the slowest fastest lap of the race, Ronald Volker would finish 4th behind Hagberg, the World Champion clearly having to dig deep to make up for his car’s lack of pace.

With his season’s goal achieved this morning and the race now an opportunity to add to his ETS career statistics, Coelho said after his easy A1 win, ‘it was pretty good’. The Portuguese ace added, ‘I forced from the start but at 2-minutes lost the rear in the middle of the track. Maybe I overheated the tyres but after this I took it easy and controlled the race to the end. Alex & Naoto fighting gave me more space’. On target for his fourth win of the season, a feat only Rheinard has achieved when he won his only ETS title in 2009/10, Coelho used A1 to ‘try different things’ on his Hobbywing powered T4 and happy with them he said he plans to use A2 for further testing.

A driver clearly enjoying being back at the front, Matsukura was delighted with his pass on Hagberg but also slightly frustrated at being held up by the former Nitro Touring Car World Champion. He said, ‘I changed back to yesterday’s set-up and my car was pretty good now but Alex was a little slow so I had no chance to try race with Bruno’. He added ‘I kept the pressure on Alex and he made a little mistake and I could go on his inside for the pass but for the next one I need to take him at the beginning, I really want to try to take the fight to Bruno’. In terms of his also Hobbywing powered IF14, he said, ‘the car is good so I will keep it the same and just fit new tyres’.

‘Not good’ was Hagberg’s reaction after A1. He continued, ‘I was struggling with the car. It was too difficult to drive and that’s why I couldn’t defend my position’. Describing the car as ‘loose’, he said, ‘we need to change the set-up for the next one so I can actually race’.

In the opening Xray Pro Stock encounter, Top Qualifier Christian Donath managed with a minute to go to get back the lead he lost 5-laps early to Jan Ratheisky for a very popular win. Very closely bunched at the front, Martin Hofer would also finish where he started after seeing off the attentions of fifth place starter Tom Krägefski. In Formula it was also a win for the Top Qualifier with Olivier Bultynck keeping champion Ratheisky at bay with Helge Johannessen coming from 9th on the grid to complete the Top 3.

View complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

Video – Modified A-main Leg 1

Posted: 18 Jun 2017 05:04 AM PDT

Coelho wraps up title with TQ at ETS Slovakia

Posted: 18 Jun 2017 03:01 AM PDT

Bruno Coelho has wrapped up his second Euro Touring Series title after the Xray driver claimed the overall TQ this morning in Slovakia. The reigning champion secured his fourth TQ of the season when he again topped the times in the second of the qualifiers at the rain effected 5th round with the bonus championship for the TQ putting amends to his only remaining title rival coming into the weekend, Ronald Volker. Behind Coelho, Alexander Hagberg made it an Xray 1-2 line up for the triple A-Mains as he managed to better the Q1 time of Naoto Matsukura to move ahead of the Infinity driver. Behind Matsukura, team-mate Marc Rheinard will line up 4th with Volker completing the top half of the grid.

Continue reading this report here or view our complete event coverage here.