Carpet issues force track rebuild at ETS
Having attracted a record 440 plus entries made up of some 360 drivers from around the World, Round 2 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series threw up an unexpected drama this morning during practice as the copy of the 2015 layout through up a hidden problem. Ordering their renowned ‘Black ETS Carpet’, as is done every round, it would transpire that in error a different carpet was delivered to the Muelheim-Kaerlich venue. With the carpet fluffing up and having low traction, the record Formula entry in particular struggling to get their cars to work, the ETS organisers have made the decision to resurface the track with the correct carpet.
With the only hint during the build that there was to be an issue was that once rolled out the carpet had a plastic protective sheeting which was removed. A massive under taking to rebuild the track during the World biggest race, on announcing the decision drivers gave a round of applause. With the supplier a three hour drive away, practice will continue on the old carpet, until the carpet arrives after which a track crew of around 20 staff will set about doing a full track rebuild. This is expected to take around 2-3 hours. With the surface change and new carpet needing to be broken in, once the rebuild is complete, the layout staying the same, drivers will get a 2-minute practice round before qualifying getting underway, Formula 1 now the only class that will run a qualifier today due to the revised schedule.
Another , but somewhat smaller issue to face the organisers this morning was the highly anticipated ETS debut of Masami Hirosaka. Set to run in Formula this morning, it turns out the 14-time World Champion is still on his travels from Japan after his passport expiry date was found to be too short to meet European entry requirements. Having to leave Narita airport and go get an emergency passport issued, he is now on his way but will now not land in Germany until tonight. Coming out of retirement for the race, the announcement of his entry generating a huge reaction, Masami will now go in at the deep end with his first lap of the track set to be in the second round of qualifying.
