Ratheisky TQs Formula at ETS, Masami to start 5th
Reigning 3-time Formula Champion Jan Ratheisky has secured his second overall TQ of Season #9 of the Euro Touring Series. Topping three of the four qualifiers at the second round of the championship in Germany, the Round 1 winner will start on pole position ahead of Q1 pace setter, the Serpent of David Ehrbar with Xray team-mate Francesco Martini lining up third. Attracting a record 120 entries, a big coup for the class was the entry of 14-time World Champion Masami Hirosaka who having come out of retirement to make his ETS debut will start 5th in the A-Main.
The benchmark for Formula, Ratheisky said it was a very good day for him and very happy with his X1 ’16 he said the only thing he would be doing to it for tomorrow would be to ‘charge the batteries’. In terms of competition in the final the German said ‘I think I have the pace to handle David (Erbhar) and I will just try to drive safe races’. Asked about racing against Hirosaka he replied ‘I am so proud to be able to say I drove on the same rostrum as Masami’. As a child I saw him race with his feet and in ’94 I got a bodyshell signed by him so it is really special to be racing him. Starting behind the legend of the sport in the second qualifier he said ‘overtaking him in Q2 was so amazing’.
Arriving a day later than his rivals due to passport issues, Masami described his qualifying as ‘so so’. A 5-time 1:12 World Champion, the Yokomo driver said Formula on rubber tyres requires a very different style to other pan cars and he ultimately needs more track time. Getting a very impressive P2 in the opening qualifier, he said while his YR-10F feels very good he doesn’t have enough knowledge of it to know what set-up changes he should be making to get it to do a certain thing. ‘Really enjoying’ his return to racing he said the ETS is ‘a very nice race’ and he is ‘looking forward to the finals’. Having lost none of his competitive instinct, he said he will change a few things for A1 adding he has ‘three more goes to beat them’.
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