Volker & Hofer crowned ETS Champions
Ronald Volker and Martin Hofer have been officially crowned champions of the 2010/11 Yokomo Euro Touring Series with the two Germans being presented with their winning trophies at a ceremony at the season finale at Andernach, Germany.
Slightly disappointed not to end his ultra successful campaign with win number 4, Volker had to be content with second overall for the sixth round behind Marc Rheinard but did get to close off the fourth season of the ETS with a Yokomo 1-2, a result that would secure third in the overall standings for team-mate Yannic Prumper. Winning three of the six events on the calendar, four of which he started from pole, Volker was delighted with the outcome of his first full ETS campaign saying it always felt good to beat his great rival Rheinard, the man from whom he takes away the title. Summing up his campaign the reigning European Champion paid tribute to the support and efforts of his Japanese Yokomo team in particular his engineer Umino. Dominating the indoor races Volker said this was key to securing the overall title which ends Tamiya’s reign of the premiere class since the creation of the ETS back in 2007.
Able to sit out the third A-Main having secured his second win of the season earlier in the day, Rheinard said it was good to end the season with back to back wins as it showed the Tamiya team had made good progress with the TRF417. Runner-up in the ETS standings, the World Champion said they still have work to do in getting the car right on carpet but is already realising the challenge of going head to head with Volker and Yokomo in the 2011/12 series.
Although he endured one of his toughest races of the season in Andernach, finishing up 7th overall, new Pro Stock Champion Hofer said he had achieved his overall goal. Joining Schumacher from the second round of the series, which he duly TQ’d and won, he said it was great to repay the British company and his long time sponsor GM Racing with the title. The first full season of running spec Speed Passion speedos and motors, Hofer endorsed the move by the ETS organisers saying it had made for really close racing and he thoroughly enjoyed his campaign.
For Ivan Laptev today’s racing will be moment he is going to remember for a long time as he secured his biggest ever victory. Winning the third leg of the Xray Pro Stock A-main the Russian driver secured his first ETS win and the first international success for the unique Awesomatix chassis. The result helped Laptev to finish runner-up in the championship and having finished third last season he said next year his aim must be the title. Having come close to winning in Poland, the win here was made all the more special by the fact his father, a popular figure in the pits, was on hand to see his son win as was the designer of the A700 Oleg Babich for whom this was a very special moment for the small new company.
The smaller of the three classes that make up the ETS, but a very important one especially for the nurturing of the future Volkers and Hofers of the sport, the Hobby Class also crowned a deserving champion today with Oliver Günther making it a great year for Germany. The force of touring car racing in Europe winning all three titles.
The 2010/11 Euro Touring Series has come to a close with a record entry of 251 drivers from 28 countries around the World being part of the season finale. Now 21 races old, the fourth season further endorses the ETS’ status as the world largest touring car championship with a total of 644 drivers taking part this season. The creators of the series, Scotty Ernst and Uwe Rheinard, have asked us to thank all the drivers and their families who have been a part of making the ETS as big as it is. They wanted to also thank all the clubs who hosted races this season and the sponsors in particular Yokomo, Xray, Xenon, Speed Passion and Hudy, who showed faith in their vision for the series.
Xenon Modified A-main Leg 3 result
1. Ronald Völker – Yokomo – 18L 5:10.067
2. Yannic Prümper – Yokomo – 18L 5:11.099
3. Jilles Groskamp – Tamiya – 18L 5:12.994
4. Atsushi Hara – Hot Bodies – 18L – 5:14.117
5. Christopher Krapp – Kyosho – 18L 5:17.120
6. Andy Moore – Hot Bodies – 17L 5:00.254
7. Viktor Wilck – Tamiya – 17L 5:00.379
8. Steen Graversen – Awesomatix – 17L 5:02.859
9. Eric Dankel – Xray – 17L 5:04.720
10.Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – DNS
Xray Pro Stock A-main Leg 3 result
1. Ivan Laptev – Awesomatix – 17L 5:14.941
2. Tony Streit – Xray – 17L 5:18.254
3. René Klöckner – Tamiya – 16L 5:00.291
4. Martin Hofer – Schumacher – 16L 5:02.876
5. Daniel Wohlgemuth – Tamiya – 16L 5:03.497
6. Michael Spiering – TOP – 16L 5:03.497
7. Michael Kiesewetter – Xray – 16L 5:04.814
8. John Bruins – Tamiya – 16L 5:05.056
9. Andre Schäfer – Serpent – 16L 5:12.349
10.Steffen Leinburger – Xray – 12L 3:50.137
Xenon Modified Overall result
1.(1) Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 2 pts
2.(2) Ronald Völker – Yokomo – 3
3.(4) Yannic Prümper – Yokomo – 4
4.(5) Viktor Wilck – Tamiya – 7
5.(3) Jilles Groskamp – Tamiya – 8
6.(6) Andy Moore – Hot Bodies – 10
7.(7) Christopher Krapp – Kyosho – 12
8.(8) Steen Graversen – Awesomatix – 13
9.(9) Atsushi Hara – Hot Bodies – 14
10.(10)Eric Dankel – Xray – 15
Xray Pro Stock Overall result
1.(1) Ivan Laptev – Awesomatix – 2 pts
2.(2) Tony Streit – Xray – 3
3.(6) René Klöckner – Tamiya – 6
4.(8) John Bruins – Tamiya – 8
5.(9) Steffen Leinburger – Xray – 9
6.(4) Daniel Wohlgemuth – Tamiya – 11
7.(7) Martin Hofer – Schumacher – 12
8.(3) Michael Spiering – TOP – 12
9.(5) Michael Kiesewetter – Xray – 14
10.(10)Andre Schäfer – Serpent – 16
View complete event results here.
View our event image gallery here.
