New Champion Rheinard takes victory at ETS season finale
As the podium presentations get underway here in Andernach, Germany, and the curtain comes down on a third successful Euro Touring Series season the big question being asked is can anyone beat Marc Rheinard. The German dominated the World Championships 2-weeks ago lifting his third World title and here at the sixth & final round of the Xenon Racing backed ETS the Tamiya star continued his rule over electric Touring Cars. Winning the third leg of the final from pole, Rheinard claimed his fourth win of the 2009/10 series and adds the overall title for the first time to his already enviable CV. Benefiting from being the only driver on fresh rubber, Rheinard took a relatively easy win over Ronald Volker and Atsushi Hara who joined him on the podium but in the opposite order.
Finishing second to his great rival and friend, Hara was content with the result but admitted he was no match for Rheinard who he has in the past openly said is the greatest driver in the World. Having won Leg 2 of the final thanks to Viktor Wilck coming together with his Tamiya team-mate, Hara forced the result to go to the third leg but the former World Champion never posed a real threat to Rheinard repeating his win here 12 months ago. Making it three different brands of car on the podium, Volker was very happy with third overall. Starting 5th on the grid the factory Yokomo driver said his BD5 got better and better each final allowing him to record the fastest lap of the third leg.
Wilck, the only driver to seriously challenge Rheinard for the ETS title, was disappointed to miss out on the podium in Andernach but was pleased to take his best placing in the championship and help the TRF squad to claim their third 1-2 finish in succession in the high profile championship. Finishing behind the Swede in today’s result, Yannic Prumper completed the Top 3 for the championship equalling his ranking from last year. Placing behind his former Tamiya team-mates, the 17-year-old who won a race last season said he was very happy with third saying the level of competition had gone up massively this season.
In Pro-Stock it took a tie break to decide the round six winner. Leg 3 produced the third different victor as Daniel Wohlgemuth won a very exciting race from local talent Michael Kiesewetter and Top Qualifier Alexander Stocker. Having won Leg 2 in a faster time the 21 year-old took a very popular overall win. Having finished 10th at his home race 12 months ago, Kiesewetter who was running an Xray T2 ‘009 has vowed now to contest the full 2010/11 series.
Although he made a bad set-up choice for the third leg of the final, Stocker was delighted to retake the Pro Stock title having become the inaugural ETS Champion here two years ago. For the second year Wohlgemuth, who won the Czech ETS round, had to do with being crowned Vice Champion but the German says he is now more determined than ever to lift the title and is already looking forward to season four which kicks off in Kastellaun on October 15-17. Completing the Top 3 in the standings after very calculated drives in Leg 1 & 2 of today’s final, Ivan Laptev was thrilled with his first full season of ETS competition. The Russian Tamiya driver said with his championship goal secured after A-Main number 2 he was really able to enjoy the final race of the day getting right in the thick of the action and challenging for the lead before eventually crossing the line in fourth.
This season saw the introduction of the Hobby class to the Euro Touring Series calendar. Created to encourage the development of young drivers in the sport it has achieved exactly that with 8-year-old Michal Orlowski from Poland becoming the inaugural champion showing he is a true natural. Becoming the Vice-Champion, young German driver Lucas Fischer also showed he is one to watch for the future.
With the third edition of the Euro Touring Series complete the numbers do the talking for how successful the Scotty Ernst and Uwe Rheinard creation has been. The six races run in 5 different countries that made up the 2009/10 series attracted over 500 drivers and the season ended on a high attracting the biggest entry of all the 15 ETS races that have been run since its inception. Our hosts here in Andernach put on a first class show and the end of season party on Saturday and will be talked about for many months to come. Having had the privilige to cover every single ETS race, Red RC would to thank all the drivers for their support & friendship this season. A special thanks to the many companies who believed in the championship in particular the main sponsors Xenon Racing and Speed Passion. Roll on season number 4.
Modified Final result
1. Rheinard Marc (DE) – 2pts (Tamiya/Speed Passion)
2. Hara Atsushi (JP) – 4pts (Hot Bodies/Speed Passion)
3. Völker Ronald (DE) – 4pts (Yokomo/LRP)
4. Wilck Viktor (SE) – 7pts (Tamiya/Speed Passion
5. Prümper Yannic (DE) – 9pts (Yokomo/Speed Passion)
6. Krapp Christopher (DE) – 12pts (Kyosho/Team Orion)
7. Moore Andy (GB) – 12pts (Hot Bodies/Nosram)
8. Pumpler Thomas (AT) – 15pts (Tamiya/Speed Passion)
9. Hamak Zdenek (CZ) – 15pts (Xray/LRP)
10.Hofer Martin (DE) – 15pts (Yokomo/GM)
Pro Stock Final result
1. Kiesewetter Michael (DE) – 3pts (Xray)
2. Wohlgemuth Daniel (DE) – 3pts (Xray)
3. Stocker Alexander (DE) – 4pts (Yokomo)
4. Laptev Ivan (RU) – 7pts (Tamiya)
5. Streit Tony (DE) – 9pts (Hot Bodies)
6. Janssen Rob (NL) – 10pts (Corally)
7. Still Steffen (DE) – 12pts (Xray)
8. Tschupp Philip (CH) – 16pts (TOP)
9. Larsen Thomas (DK) – 17pts (Tamiya)
10.Klöckner René (DE) – 18pts (Tamiya)
Hobby class Final result
1. Orlowski Michal (PL) – 2pts
2. Günther Oliver (DE) – 4pts
3. Gattke Dirk (DE) – 4pts
4. Knudsen Peter (DK) – 7pts
5. Fischer Lucas (DE) – 7pts]
6. Mulder Eric (NL) – 9pts
7. Heinsbroek Frans (NL) – 12pts
8. Chlodzinski Blazej (PL) – 13pts
9. Rozycki Andrzej (PL) – 16pts
10. Bickendorf Markus (DE) – 17pts
11. Hummel Andreas (DE) – 17pts
12. Hummel Elena (DE) – 19pts
Full results can be found here.
View the event image gallery here. Full videos from all A-mains to follow
