Track Focus – Muelheim-Kaerlich
Host – ETS
Country – Germany
Location – Muelheim-Kaerlich
Venue – Philipp-Heift Halle
Track type – Temporary
Surface – Carpet
Direction – Anti-Clockwise
Previous ETS races hosted – 5
The German round of the Euro Touring Series makes its sixth visit to Muelheim-Kaerlich, the race remaining the biggest on the six round ETS calendar with this year attracting over 350 entries. Held in the Philipp-Heift Halle, the biggest change to previous years is not visual but organisational with the schedule split to accommodate the large entry. Traditionally each round of practice, qualifying and Mains includes all three classes of the ETS but to make days shorter for racers, these classes have been separated. This means the first half of the opening day is now dedicated to the biggest class, the Xray Pro Stock class, who will run their practice rounds and opening qualifier before the action switches over to the Scorpion Formula class and ending with the Volante Modified action.
On closer inspection of the fast flowing track, the shade of the black ETS carpet, which while the manufacturer says its the same material, is a lighter colour. With the carpet coming in the same batch as that used for the nearby Arena 33, where the new indoor facility has been a hive of activity all week with drivers testing ahead of the ETS weekend, the colour difference appears to have little effect the characteristics of the carpet. In terms of the track size, it again covers the same 20m X 34m area but gone are the plastic lane dividers which have been replaced with wood.
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