World class conclusion to ETS #7
The conclusion of Season #7 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series this weekend (4-6th July) will have a truly World class affair as the sixth & final round of the championship travels to the amazing Hudy Arena in Slovakia where the 260 strong entry will include no less than 6 World Champions. Joining championship regulars Marc Rheinard and Andy Moore, current World Champions Jilles Groskamp and Meen Vejrak along with all round legends of the sport Atsushi Hara and Lamberto Collari will all race at the track for the first time, this being only the ETS’ second to the race facility that is located next to the Xray factory.
With Ronald Volker having already wrapped up his fourth consecutive Ride Modified title last month in Luxembourg at Round 5, in the premiere class the big championship focus is on who will finish runner to the Yokomo ace. That battle is set to between Rheinard, the Tamiya driver currently second in the standings, and Team Xray’s Alexander Hagberg. Unlike Rheinard, Hagberg has been a race winner this season and the Swede would love nothing better than to make that two at his team’s home track. Rheinard has never went a full season of ETS without a win and with Tamiya really upping their support of the 3-time World Champion in this world championship year he will be more determined than ever to get the job done this weekend.
Having made a popular return to the ETS at Luxembourg after over a season’s absence and claiming a podium finish, Groskamp will be relishing the opportunity to build on that result. The Tamiya Racing Factory driver remains the championship’s 3rd most winning driver behind Volker & Rheinard and would like to add to his tally of wins on his first visit to what is widely recognised as the world’s greatest RC facility.
While this will be Hara’s first time to race at the Hudy Racing Arena, it is not his first visit. The former Electric Touring Car & 1:8 Buggy World Champion, travelled last year to the event with the championship’s official tyre supplier Ride in a development role. Only arriving on the Saturday he was unable to compete himself but to the delight of all competitors they did get to see him drive albeit only a few laps in the reverse direction of the track. A late addition to the A-Main ‘Dash for Cash’ event, he borrowed Xray designer Martin Hudy’s car for the run. This year Hara’s track time will be of much more importance as he forms part of Yokomo’s factory line-up.
Reigning 1:10 Nitro Touring Car World Champion Vejrak and 9-time 1:8 Onroad World Champion Collari both make only their second ever ETS appearance. Vejrak made his championship debut last season when he travelled to Gran Canaria while Collari had his first real go at electric touring car racing in 2012 when the championship travelled to the Italian’s home country. Having just missed out on making the A-Main, ending up BQ, Vejrak will be targeting an A-Main performance for Team Yokomo, while for nitro specialist Collari the event is more about enjoying the atmosphere for which the ETS has become World famous.
While the Ride Modified and Formula titles have already been decided, in the championships biggest class, the Xray Pro-Stock class, things still have to be decided. Thanks to his win and TQ at Round 5 defending champion Marek Cerny put himself back in contention to successfully defend his title. The factory Xray driver has just one title rival and that is his team-mate Jan Ratheisky with both drivers tied on 619 points going into the season finale. Having successfully defended his Formula title this season, Ratheisky has 3 wins compared to Cerny’s two meaning the Czech driver needs to pull off the perfect win to deny the German his first Pro-Stock title, something which would be a first for the ETS – a champion of two classes in one season.
