Hara rejoins ETS with Yokomo deal
RC racing legend Atsushi Hara will make a return to the Yokomo Euro Touring Series after concluding a deal with reigning champions Yokomo to contest this weekend’s (31st Jan – 2nd Feb) second round in Germany. A two time ETS race winner, Hara has signed with the Japanese manufacturer to also contest Round 3 of the world famous touring car championship which takes place on the Spanish holiday Island of Gran Canaria in March. Teaming up with three time series champion & Round 1 winner Ronald Volker and race winner Yannic Prumper, this will be the 2006 World Champions first competitive ETS outing since Apeldoorn in 2012. One of world’s most popular racers, as highlighted by the reaction when he drove in the ‘Dash for Cash’ in the season finale last year at the Hudy Arena, ETS Round 2 will be Hara’s first international touring car event since his departure from HB/HPI Racing last August. Also joining Hara for the weekend at Yokomo will be 1:8 offroad rival and reigning World Champion Robert Batlle who will make his touring car debut at the Muelheim-Kaerlich event.
While the signing of Hara to the team is a big coup for Yokomo, for lead driver Volker the weekend will be all about trying to repeat the dominant performance he put in at the season opener in the Czech Republic. Top Qualifier for that November race, the German ace already sits 3 points clear of arch rival Marc Rheinard at the top of the Ride Modified points standings and having taken an easy win at the recent DHI Cup in Denmark on his first European outing with the new BD7 2014 he is still clearly the man to beat.
Volker’s biggest competition at the weekend is as usual expected to come from fellow countryman Rheinard but also from Freddy Sudhoff. Expected to have a new chassis for his Tamiya TRF418 this weekend, Rheinard will be hoping this will help him to close the gap to the back to back champion and give him the extra pace needed to be in with a fighting chance of his 12th ETS victory. Joining Volker & Rheinard on the podium at the season opener, Team Awesomatix lead driver Sudhoff and his unique Russian designed chassis are a continually improving package with ‘Fast Freddy’ more motivated than ever in his quest for that first ETS victory.
The third year that Muelheim-Kaerlich has hosted a round of the ETS, this year’s event has attracted the series’ biggest ever field with over 360 entries. The Xray Pro Stock class is again the largest class with 201 drivers while Formula continues its impressive growth with 68 cars. Round 1 saw Jan Ratheisky, then Jan Asmer, take the win in both classes becoming the only driver to take two wins over the same weekend. Missing out on a podium finish at Round 1 and having just announced his continuation as an Xray factory driver for 2014, defending Pro Stock Champion Marek Cerny will be looking to get his title defence back on track this weekend. Another driver who should be in the mix is 2-time race winner Oliver Franke. The German has switched to Awesomatix for 2014 and got his relationship with the team off to the perfect start when he won the recent DHI Cup ahead of Cerny and Ratheisky.
