All equal as ETS resumes at new Austrian venue
With the opening two races producing different winners and those drivers now sharing the lead at the top of the Volante Modified class standings, the Yokomo Euro Touring Series resumes this weekend after a six week break. Round 3 will present somewhat of a neutral ground for the resumption of the championship battle as the ETS makes its first visit to Wels, Austria. Taking over the date previously filled by the Euro Offroad Series at the Modellbau Wels hobby show, this year over 20,000 vistors will be treated to seeing the World’s best touring car drivers battle it out for glory. The final indoor race of the ETS’ ninth season, Tamiya’s Marc Rheinard and Xray’s Bruno Coelho will be looking to wrap up the first half of the season with a points advantage over their rival.
After kicking off the ninth season of the ETS with a strong win in the Czech Republic, Rheinard couldn’t repeat that performance on his home event. In Germany, the former race winner was no match for the Xrays of Coelho and Alexander Hagberg with Coelho claiming his first carpet victory in Mulheim ahead of 2014 winner of the event Hagberg. The 4-time World Champion will be hoping his TRF team’s latest development of the upcoming 419X release will allow him to take the fight to the very much on form Xray team.
Since the last ETS encounter, Coelho has gone on to take victory at the prestigious TITC race in Thailand and Hagberg travels to Austria on the back of claiming a third consecutive 1:12 European title last weekend. Behind the championship leaders, Hagberg sits equal on points with defending champion Ronald Volker, and having forced Round 2 to be decided in A3 eventually taking second, the Swede will be hoping to go one better come Sunday evening. Rising Xray talent Dionys Stadler will also be looking to build on his impressive double A-main start to the season.
Even by their own admission it has been a difficult start to the defence of their sixth title for Volker and Yokomo. Volker missed out on the podium to Rheinard in Germany and needs to fight back this weekend if he is to stand a chance of going for an unprecedented 7th consecutive title in the sports most competitive championship. Another set back for the Japanese team is the departure of Yannic Prumper, who since Round 2 has made the switch to VBC Racing. The signing of the multiple ETS race winner is a big commitment from VBC and, this the first time he’s the lead driver for a factory effort, the German will be more determined than ever to be in the mix for the win.
Another high profile driver change for Round 3 is the return of Freddy Sudhoff to Awesomatix. After a tough time at HB, Sudhoff will be aiming to revive his ‘Fast Freddy’ title. While it will be the popular German’s first time with the Russian manufacturer’s belt drive A800, Finnish ace Viljami Kutvonen has already shown the potential of the car putting it in the A-Main at the opening two rounds. The Awesomatix team already travel to Austria on a high after Tony Streit took a very popular win in the Xray Pro Stock class in Mulheim where Bernhard Bopp also made the podium.
In Pro Stock it is Czech winner and Round 2 runner-up Jan Ratheisky who holds a strong lead in the standings from Xray team-mate & reigning champion Marek Cerny. Behind them, ARC’s Helge Johannessen completes the current Top 3. Ratheisky also leads the way in the Serpent Formula class from Olivier Bultynck and after TQ & wins in the opening two races will be looking to continue his perfect run.
