ETS resumes at Porsche Museum
The Yokomo Euro Touring Series resumes this weekend (9-11 May) following a 2-month break with the fahr(T)raum Museum, a homage to Austrian automotive pioneer Ferdinand Porsche, playing host to the start of the second half of what has been the most competitive start to the championship in its 7-seasons of existence. Situated in the Austrian town of Mattsee, the museum is home to unique automobiles from the 1900s and provides insights into the earliest days of automobile construction but this weekend it welcomes for the very first time some of the best drivers from the high tech r/c world of electric touring car racing for Round 4 of the World famous championship. With the opening three rounds, all run on venues familiar to ETS regulars, producing three different winners, the asphalt event is all new territory for the 270 plus entries.
The previous round of the championship saw Norway’s Adrian Berntsen join the ETS’ elusive list of race winners as he took his biggest international race win to date continuing what has been a very strong 2014 ETS campaign for Team Xray. Having just one previous win in the championship’s premiere class, the reigning back to back Pro-Stock class champions, have already notched up two wins this season with Alexander Hagberg winning round 2 and backing that up by joining Berntsen on the Gran Canaria podium. Sitting second in the championship standings, Hagberg will be looking to maintain his form while after a difficult start to the championship failing to make the A-Main at the opening two rounds Berntsen will be looking to continue where he left off in Round 3.
Winner of the season opener, 3-time consecutive defending champion Ronald Volker has had his least winning start to an ETS campaign but having not finished off the podium in 10 races, the Yokomo driver travels to the championship’s 37th race top of the points standings. The German was the Top Qualifier at the first asphalt race of the season in Gran Canaria but couldn’t keep Berntsen at bay, something he will be looking to rectify this weekend as he looks to take his winning tally into double digits. The driver with the most TQ’s in the series, with 13, with 9 wins he is just two off equalling the most winning driver Marc Rheinard. Starting the season with a podium Rheinard’s season has gone slightly downhill since and the Tamiya driver & former Champion really needs to turn things around this weekend if he is to have any chance of a second ETS title.
Missing Round 3 of the championship, Matsee will see the return of Round 1 podium finisher Freddy Sudhoff and Round 2 runner-up Yannic Prumper. Awesomatix team-leader Sudhoff is probably the most likely driver to become only the championship’s 11th Modified class race winner getting closer & closer to a much overdue first win for both himself and his Russian designed car. One of the championship’s consistently fastest drivers, Prumper has gone 9 races without a win and will be looking to come out from the shadow of his Yokomo team-mate and put that right this weekend.
Notching up his second Xray Pro-Stock win of the season at Round 3, Jan Ratheisky heads to Austria with a 2-point lead over Xray team-mate & defending champion who secured his maiden ETS victory on the first visit to Gran Canaria, reigning Xray Pro Stock Champion Marek Cerny. Equaling the status of most TQs in Pro-Stock in Gran Canaria, Cerny will be hoping to also equal Alexander Stocker’s record of 6 wins this weekend but Ratheisky is proving a real challenger for the Czech driver this season. Having won the opening three rounds of the Formula class a win this weekend by Ratheisky would see the German successfully defend his title in the growing category.
