Euro Touring Series » Announcement

April 4, 2019

Outdoor season gets underway with ETS Spain

The European outdoor season gets underway this weekend as Spain plays host to the third round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series. With the 12th season of the ETS producing two different winners on carpet in Austria and Germany, Round 3 will makes the change to asphalt with most drivers making no secret to the fact that this is there preferred surface to race on. The third year the championship has travelled to the Asoger RC track near Madrid, the two previous visits have seen it be a happy hunting ground for Xray. Reigning champion Bruno Coelho took the TQ and victory over Marc Rheinard in 2017 and last year team-mate Alexander Hagberg ended a 4-year ETS winning drought with the win over Yokomoâ€™s Christopher Krapp.Â While unwanted weather conditions forecast for the weekend could influence the weekendâ€™s action, all the teams will be looking to conclude the first half of the season with what is viewed as an important win given the rest of the championship will be played out on asphalt.

Xray certainly arrive in Madrid with the best track record. While Coelho didnâ€™t have the best of starts to the defence of his third consecutive title, he made amends last time out taking maximum points with the TQ and win over a very impressive performance from Awesomatixâ€™s Freddy Sudhoff.Â While somewhat unique conditions in terms of humidity and an ever changing track as a result, Hagberg showed the world his asphalt pedigree by winning the recent TITC in Bangkok and comes into this weekend on the high of yet another European 1:12 Championship title.Â Xray also have new 2018/19 season recruit Elliott Harper, the track and forecast weather something which should suit the British driver.

After his strong challenge on Coelho that was rewarded with a very popular second place in Daun, Sudhoff will be aiming to again be the amateur who puts it up to the pro drivers. Not a full time RC racer like his rivals, the German was 5th last year in Madrid but with Awesomatix team manager Max Machler more and more hands on with the preparation of the Russian manufacturers car this combination seems to be working well as was also highlighted at the World Championships last year in South Africa.

Yokomo came so close to the win in Madrid 12-months ago in the hands of Krapp when the final outcome came down to a tiebreak decided on times. With his only ETS win so far coming from his Kyosho days on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria, the German will be aiming for similar success this Sunday.Â Team-mate Volker, who qualified 2nd last year but finished up 7th in the finals, arrives into the weekend as the championship points leader ahead of Coelho thanks to his Round 1 win and somewhat surprise Round 2 podium given how his weekend started off.Â Having made the Spanish podium in 2017, he will be aiming to finish ahead of the reigning World Champion.

Infinity will be looking to lay claim on their for first ever ETS win on asphalt in Spain. Fresh from taking the overall win at the OneTen Series Finale in Hong Kong last weekend, Marc Rheinard leads the Japanese companyâ€™s strong line-up. Rheinard makes no secret of his preference for outdoor racing and knows he needs a good result this weekend after a disappointing home round in Daun which leaves him fourth in the standings.Â This weekend will mark the return of Jilles Groskamp to ETS action and his technical input is always beneficial to the entire team.Â Having made his Infinity debut at the previous round, Worlds podium finisher Viktor Wilck will be looking for a strong showing as will Akio Sobue after he missed the A-Main cut in Germany.

In Pro Stock things couldnâ€™t be any closer at the top of the points table as racing moves outside with Max MÃ¤chler and Simon Lauter sharing the lead.Â With the Awesomatix team-mates having a win each on carpet, MÃ¤chler comes into the weekend having taken the win here last year. Again the ETS will also see racing action for Formula, 40+ Masters and the newly introduced Stock 17.5 class class.

July 12, 2018

ETS concludes 11th season at Hudy Arena

The season finale of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series takes place this weekend (13-15 July) at the Hudy Arena in Slovakia.Â Â Having hosted the penultimate round of the championship last year, the World famous facility has returned to its traditional date of being not just the sixth and final round but also doubling up as the perfect venue for all the ETSâ€™ end of season awards presentations. With 3 of the four titles already settled when the previous round saw the return of Apeldoorn in the Netherlands to the schedule, the final round will very much be an important form guide ahead of the upcoming World Championships in South Africa. Having successfully defended his ETS Modified title, Bruno Coelho will be looking to remain undefeated at his Xray teamâ€™s home track.Â Â

Winning every year since bursting onto the international scene at the end of 2014 at the World Championships in Florida, Coelho will go for his fourth consecutive â€˜homeâ€™ win and fourth win of the season.Â Â With home advantage, Xray has enjoyed a 1-2 for the last three years thanks to Alexander Hagberg and the Swede is very much finding his form ahead of the World Championships and would love nothing more than to add win No.2 of the season at Hudy Arena.

The last non Xray driver to win at Hudy Arena was Marc Rheinard, when he led a Tamiya 1-2 from Viktor Wilck back in 2014 with Ronald Volker completing the podium.Â Â Rheinard comes into the weekend holding second in the points standings but the Infinity driver needs to protect his position from both Volker and Hagberg. Winner of the season opener, Rheinard has struggled to match that form of late, however he was to be the last remaining challenger to Coelho in the title race but 5th in Apeldoorn ended his chances of taking the fight to Slovakia.Â

Volker has recently found great form being the only one to challenge Coelho in Apeldoorn and has subsequently been crowned European Champion ahead of Hagberg with Coelho third.Â Â The Yokomo driver will also be highly motivated to ensure he doesnâ€™t end the season without a victory.Â Â The 5-time champion has won a race every season since joining the championship and would like to continue that statistic by getting his first Hudy Arena win. Such a result would also do no harm at all to boost his confidence as he sets out to defend his World title.Â Â

With Jan Ratheisky wrapping up the Pro Stock and Formula titles at Apeldoorn, and the overall season podium decided, the title attention will be on the 40+ Masters class which was an new addition to ETS this season.Â Â Each race has produced a different winner so far but it is Thomas Oehler would comes in the final round leading the standings albeit by a single point.Â Â Winner in Spain, Christian DrieÃŸle is second ahead of the most recent winner Beni Stutz who took the TQ and his first ever ETS win in the Netherlands.Â Â All three drivers will battle it out to become the inaugural champion.

June 21, 2018

ETS returns to Apeldoorn for decisive Round 5

For the second time this season the Yokomo Euro Touring Series revisits one of the tracks from the past with Apeldoorn in the Netherlands the destination for drivers for Round 5 this weekend (22-24 June). Last on the ETS calendar in 2013, the track is a contrast to the previous round when the championship returned to the tight & technical Andernach track in Germany last month.Â Having previously hosted the ETS four times, it is Marc Rheinard who comes into the penultimate round with the best record taking 3 wins there. The other winner is then Tamiya and now Infinity team-mate Jilles Groskamp who won on the first visit in 2009.Â A track layout that is highly regarded by drivers, the weekend is an important one in terms of the championship as drivers look to force the championship to do down to the final round.

Having never been to Andernach before, while it took him time to get used to the tight layout, it didnâ€™t prevent Bruno Coelho from becoming the seasonâ€™s first double winner.Â The Xray driver hadnâ€™t yet burst onto the international touring car scene when the ETS last travelled to Apeldoorn but the reigning champion could mark his first visit by wrapping up early his third title in a row. Coming into the weekend with a healthy 8-point lead over Rheinard, the Portuguese driver has just two remaining rivals for the title.Â Rheinard, who won the season opener, and the only other race winner of Season #11 Alexander Hagberg must win come Sunday evening to stay in contention.

While his title hopes ended in Andernach when he could only manage 6th from 9th on the grid, Ronald Volker will be determined to put in a strong finish to the season.Â Since joining the ETS, the 5-time champion has never gone a season without registering a win and with the World Champion facing into the defence of that title in South Africa in August a win this weekend would be a huge boost for the Yokomo driver. His previous best finish at the Dutch track came on the last visit when he made the podium for the first time finishing 3rd behind winner Rheinard and second place Viktor Wilck.

Having come so close to his first ever ETS win last month, only to lose out to Coelho on the tie breaker, Naoto Matsukura will be hoping he can back up his first championship outing of the 2017/18 season and again challenging for the win in Apeldoorn. The Infinity driverâ€™s last three ETS appearances have all netted the former World Champion podium finishes but so far the top step has eluded him and thatâ€™s a statistic the current 1:12 World Campion wants to rectify.Â Team-mate Jilles Groskamp may give his age as an excuse as to why adding a second Apeldoorn victory to his CV will be difficult. The Thai based Dutchman however took advantage of a very supportive Dutch crowd at the Euro Nitro Series season opener in Rucphen in May to claim his first ever win in the championship and the former World Champion will have their full support again this weekend.

Having enjoyed his best result of the season last time out, taking the win in A3 but losing out on 3rd overall on tie break with Rheinard, Viktor Wilck has a good record at Apeldoorn having finished runner-up there twice. The Serpent driver will be hoping he can mix it with the big three manufacturers as will Awesomatixâ€™s Freddy Sudhoff, who like Wilck has shown the pace on asphalt to challenge for a podium finish. While Andernach didnâ€™t go his way, Christopher Krapp produced good form on the asphalt in Madrid and he would like to finish out his first ETS season with Yokomo with further podiums to add to that he took in Spain. Making his first asphalt outing of 2018, Schumacher Racingâ€™s Elliott Harper has the potential to mix it at the front like he did last season in Italy.

In Pro Stock and Formula, the weekend is also a decisive one. Awesomatixâ€™s Max MÃ¤chler needs to win to keep alive his hopes of the title against Xrayâ€™s Jan Ratheisky who looks on target to get back the title. In the Scorpion Power System Formula class, it is also Ratheisky at the top of the points table but both Olivier Bultynck and reigning champion David Ehrbar can deny him his fifth Formula class crown.Â New for Season #11, the Infinity 40+ Masters class has produced a different winner each round but it is Round 4 winner Thomas Oehler who leads from Round 3 winner Christian DrieÃŸle with Beni Stutz holding third but only DrieÃŸle can challenge Oehler for the inaugural title.

May 10, 2018

ETS returns to Andernach

This weekend (11-13 May), the Yokomo Euro Touring Series will return to Andernach in Germany, the track having last hosted the championship seven years ago. The fourth & final round of the inaugural ETS season, with the 2008 victory going to Atsushi Hara, the event was famed for itâ€™s party atmosphere due to Andernach being the hometown of 4-time World Champion Marc Rheinard and ETS organisers Uwe Rheinard. After four years of being the season finale, the ETS expanding to 5 races in the second season and to its current six rounds in Season #3, the track was dropped from the calendar. On that last visit, the race would see Ronald Volker claim the first of his record 5 consecutive ETS titles. Rheinard won the race but second was enough for Volker to wrap up the overall championship. Following the unfortunate news of the closure of the Mulhouse track in France, Andernach was a late addition to the Season #11 calendar with another of the townâ€™s famed names of RC racing Tonisport putting all hands on deck to prepare the track for its ETS return.

The fourth round of the 2017/18 season, the weekend marks the start of the second half of a season that has so far produce three different winners. With the previous round in Madrid the first outdoor encounter it was Alexander Hagberg who took advantage of a clash between reigning champion Bruno Coelho and Ronald Volker. Only Hagbergâ€™s 3rd ETS career win, the Xray driver took the win on tie-break from Yokomoâ€™s Christopher Krapp with Coelho completing the podium to maintain his lead in the standings. The last time the ETS was in Andernach, Coelho had yet to make his burst onto the international racing scene so this will be the Round 2 winnerâ€™s first time to the track.

Winner of the season opener but not having a good first run on asphalt in Spain where he finished 6th, for Rheinard this is technically his â€˜home trackâ€™ but the Infinity driver is not a fan of the track and despite its proximity to his house has actually completed little or no testing there. Four points down on Coelho in the standings, he will be aiming to get his title hopes back on track this weekend on the parking lot style track.

Another for whom the Madrid result was a disappointment, Volker will be extra determined to register his first win of the season. Dropping to fourth in the standings behind Hagberg as a result of his 7th place finish despite qualifying second to Coelho, the Yokomo driver was more than unhappy with Coelhoâ€™s actions.Â A track where he made his ETS debut before becoming one of the championship most decorated drivers, the World Champion know its all or nothing this weekend in terms of having a chance at the overall title this season.

On the podium the last time the ETS was in Andernach, Yannic Prumper has just missed out on the Top 3 at the previous two rounds. Holding fifth in the standings in between Yokomo team-mates Volker and Krapp, the German was another driver to come to international attention when making his ETS debut at Andernach. With Yokomo working particularly well as a team unit of late under the guidance of Volker we may finally see the first Yokomo win in more than 7-races.Â Another who will be looking to build on a competitive outing in Madrid is Freddy Sudhoff. At the third round, it was great to see the Awesomatix driver back in the mix with his best result in more than a season.

In Pro Stock, Jan Ratheisky suffered his first defeat of the season in Madrid with Max MÃ¤chler taking the win. It would be an Awesomatix 1-2 on the switch from carpet to asphalt with Olivier Bultynck taking second.Â With Ratheiskyâ€™s Xray completing the podium, and MÃ¤chler also taking the bonus point for the TQ, the Germans are now separated by 6 points.Â In Formula, Madrid saw a second consecutive win put Bultynck in front by a single point from Ratheisky with a difficult race pushing reigning champion David Erhbar back to 3rd, a further 3 points down.Â In the new +40 Masters class, Christian DrieÃŸle claimed a photo finish victory over Beni Stutz but it is Mr. Consistent Thomas Oehler who leads the way with three 3rd place finishes clocked up.Â Will Andernach be the place he finally takes that first win?

April 13, 2018

Rheinard & Coelho share lead as ETS moves outdoors in Spain

With the two carpet races on this yearâ€™s Yokomo Euro Touring Series leaving Marc Rheinard and Bruno Coelho sharing the lead in the points table, the championship moves to Spain this weekend (13-15 April) for Europeâ€™s first major international outdoor race of 2018. With the large Asoger track having made a popular debut on the ETS calendar 12-months ago, it was to be Coelho who would go down as the first winner in Madrid enroute to the successful defence of his championship title. Like last season, the Xray driver again starts off the switch to asphalt at the top of the points but this time he shares it with Rheinard. The Infinity driver won the season opener in Austria ahead of Coelho with the duo swapping positions at Round 2 and now they each want to leave Spain with a second win and break clear of their rivals.

It is Ronald Volker who sits third in the standings, five points adrift, having put his Yokomo on the final step of the podium at the opening two rounds. However, the World Champion knows he needs to find something big this weekend if he is to remain in the hunt for the title he held for so long before losing it to Coelho. 2018 has seen a lot of change at Yokomo, and that clearly has had an effect. Failing to make the A-Main at the TITC earlier this year, the German is working his way through the restructering of the team and with the ETSâ€™ switch of surface will want to re-establish himself as a contender for race wins. Rejoining Yokomo for 2018 after a number of disappointing seasons at VBC Racing, Yannic Prumper showed on his first outing back with the team in Daun that he hasnâ€™t lost his raw speed. Finishing fourth behind his team-mate, the former ETS race winner is certain to one to watch this weekend.

Another potential winner this weekend is Akio Sobue. Fourth at the race last year, the Japanese Infinity driver returns to Europe off the back of claiming his first major international title having won the TITC in Bangkok last month. Infinity will be in Spain with its biggest line-up of the season so far with Jilles Groskamp making his first ETS outing of Season #11. Fifth at the race last year, the former World Champion will boost the teamâ€™s potential to gather set-up information throughout practice and qualifying which could prove vital due to the weather looking changeable.

Fresh from wrapping up yet another 1:12 European Championship victory last weekend in the Netherlands, Alexander Hagberg comes into Round 3 fourth in the standings. The Swede had a tough time in Spain last year ending up 8th but with Xray designer Martin Hudy now looking after the multiple ETS race winner expect much better things this time round.

Outside the big three teams, this weekend marks the debut for two new drivers signings at Awesomatix. Top French drivers Loic Jasmin and Lucas Urbain have both joined the Russian manufacturer which lost its star driver Viljami Kutvonen. Both Jasmin and Urbain will be looking to Awesomatix frontman Freddy Sudhoff to help get them up to speed with the unique car given especially Urbain, whose deal was only announced this week. For Kutvonen, Spain marks his debut with Mugen where he joins 1:10 nitro ace Erik Dankel to boost the Japanese companyâ€™s foray into Electric Touring cars.

In Pro Stock and Formula both of last yearâ€™s Spanish winners will be out for repeat wins.Â Alexander Duchet had a difficult season opener and was absent from Round 2 so he really needs to hit the top this weekend. Xray team-mate Jan Ratheisky has had the perfect start to his campaign with with the TQ and win at the first two rounds to lead the points from Awesomatixâ€™s Max MÃ¤chler and Xrayâ€™s Mustafa Alp. Ratheisky also leads the Formula standings with a one point advantage over the Serpent of reigning champion David Ehrbar for whom Spain was his worst result of last season when he finished 8th. Winner last time out from 3rd on the grid, Shepherd driver Olivier Bultynck sits 3rd in the standings. Having taken the TQ in Madrid last year but beaten in the finals by Ratheisky, the Belgian will be looking to complete the perfect weekend this time round.

February 1, 2018

Rheinard aims to extend lead with home win at ETS Daun

Having celebrated his first calendar year as an Infinity driver by claiming the electric touring car newcomersâ€™ first ETS victory at the season opener in Austria, Marc Rheinard will be looking to extend his lead in the championship on home soil this weekend (2-4 Feb) in Daun, Germany.Â A brand new venue on the calendar, the holiday resort having successfully played host to the second round of Euro Offroad Series last weekend, Rheinard will be aiming to make it back to back victories at his home race. Winning Round 1 ahead of reigning ETS Champion Bruno Coelho and Ronald Volker, the championshipâ€™s most winning driver ended a two year drought of wins and also taking the TQ in Vienna came away with maximum points. That is how he wants to leave DaunÂ on SundayÂ evening. Rheinard will be joined at the race by Infinity team-mate Akio Sobue, the Japanese diver aiming for a better performance than his 8th last time out.

Qualifying only 4th in Vienna, low by his winning standards, Coelho made the most of the situation to salvage a second after never getting on terms with Rheinardâ€™s pace. Having won 5 of the 6 races last season however, the Xray driver will be determined to get himself back at the top after the 3-month break. Taking a podium in 4WD at the EOS, the Portuguese driver has remained in Germany for the week travelling to the nearby Arena 33 in preparation for the switch back to touring car. Team-mate Alexander Hagberg also joined him in testing and just missing the podium at the first round the Swede has his own point to prove this weekend. Interestingly Xray could have a third challenger for the win this weekend in the form of Viljami Kutvonen. The Awesomatix driver qualified 2nd in Austria but struggled in the finals and just recently announced that for 2018 he has departed the Russian manufacturer. The Finn for now is running under the EuroRC banner opting to run an Xray chassis this weekend.

With the most ETS titleâ€™s to its credit, Yokomo has gone through significant changes since Round 1 with the most significant being the departure of engineer Yukijiro Umino. Volkerâ€™s personal mechanic, the duo had enjoyed huge success including five ETS titles and the ultimate prize – becoming World Champions.Â Volker successfully ran himself at the DHI Cup and took the win, albeit with a number of key team drivers absent from the Danish event. The German also faces new opposition from within the team from a returning Yannic Prumper. The multiple race winner ran as a privateer at Round 1 using an Infinity but has since signed for Yokomo.Â Showing good speed on his debut at the DHI Cup finishing on the podium, a rejuvenated Prumper would go on to the win GP3F in France ahead of Volker and Rheinard and will want to prove he is back this weekend in Daun.

In Pro Stock and Formula the season opener saw Jan Rathiesky back in business with the former multiple champion taking the win and TQ in both classes.Â Team-mate and reigning Champion of the Xray Pro Stock class, Alexander Duchet didnâ€™t have the best of starts to his title defence just making it into the A-Main by qualifying 10th from where he worked his way through to fifth. The Frenchman will be aiming for a lot better this time round.Â In Formula, reigning champion David Ehrbar had to settle for second behind Rathiesky so he will want to reverse his 3-points deficit this weekend.

Introduced at the season opener, the Infinity 40+ Masters class was brilliantly received and that is highlighted by the fact over 60 drivers have signed up for the Pro-Stock based class in Daun. Miko Peter took the first win ahead of Top Qualifier Christian DrieÃŸle and both are in action again this weekend.Â The new class for drivers aged 40 or more has even attracted ETS organiser Uwe Rheinard to get back behind the controls for the weekend.

October 26, 2017

ETS enters new decade in Vienna

After celebrating the completion of 10 seasons of world class racing back in July, the Yokomo Euro Touring Series is set to enter into a second decade of high profile competition as Vienna hosts the opening round of Season #11 this weekend (27-29 October). Taking place as part of the â€˜Modellbau 2017â€™ model show in the Austrian Capital, the 58th race of the ETS also marks the 8th consecutive season of Yokomo being the title sponsor of the Uwe Rheinard and Scotty Ernst created championship with the Japanese manufacturer one of a number of teams looking to take on the domination of a certain Bruno Coelho. As back to back champion, Coelho enters into only his fourth season of the ETS as the pre-season favourite. Also champion of the Euro Offroad Series and the Euro Nitro Series, last season the Xray driver claimed a record 5 wins from 6 races and getting fed up of being in the shadow of the Portuguese driver his rivals are more determined than ever to change this over the coming season.

Having had his 5-year reign as the ETS master brought to an end by Coelho, Yokomoâ€™s Ronald Volker wants his title back as the 2017/18 championship will lead the drivers into the World Championships in South Africa.Â As the reigning World Champion, Volker was the only driver last year to beat Coelho when he won Round 2 in Germany – a carpet race. Overall Season #10 was a difficult one for Volker, the German having struggled to get to terms with Yokomoâ€™s latest offering but armed with a new car there are high hopes he will be able to take the title fight to Coelho. Backing up Volker, Yokomoâ€™s protege Naoki Akiyama is back for another ETS campaign.

Last seasonâ€™s opening race marked the end of one of the longest standing driver deals of our sport as Marc Rheinard drove his final race for Tamiya in the Czech Republic. Going on to join newcomers Infinity from Round 2, marking the occasion with a podium finish, the 4-time World Champion went on to settle in well with his new team. Sharing the honour of the most career wins in the ETS with Volker, the German will be looking to take that honour back exclusively for himself by claiming a 15th ETS victory and his first not driving a Tamiya. Having become 1:8 Onroad World Champions in the ETS off season, the Japanese manufacturer also have strength in Akio Sobue. The Japanese National Champion has shown great form over the Summer and will be looking to carry that into his ETS campaign. While not an official team driver, multiple race winner Yannic Prumper will also drive an Infinity this weekend and having the German back in the mix for a race win would be an exciting prospect for the championship.

Elsewhere in the Volante Modified class, Awesomatix and Schumacher will strive to take on the big three. Russian outfit Awesomatix will again be led by Viljami Kutvonen and Freddy Sudhoff. Kicking off his campaign with a podium finish, Kutvonen went on to enjoy his best championship finish last season ending up fourth overall behind Coelho, Volker and Rheinard and ahead of Alexander Hagberg and Sobue.Â Schumacher also enjoyed a podium finish last season with 3rd place in Italy thanks to Elliott Harper and once again the British company will count on home grow talent to lead the team.Â One to watch this season should be Tim Wahl.Â The Xray driver was the star of the season finale at Ettlingen with his efforts over the years rewarded with his first podium finish. Huge motivation for the German, he will be looking to open the new season just as strongly.

In Pro Stock, a driver who was little known last season enters into his second ETS campaign as the defending champion. Making his ETS debut at the season opener in the Czech Republic, Alexandre Duchet went on to win that event adding a further win enroute to becoming champion.Â The Frenchman didnâ€™t have it easy with former champion Jan Ratheisky, Tamiya driver Christian Donath and Awesomatixâ€™ Olivier Bultynck taking the title fight to the final round. In Formula, Serpentâ€™s David Ehrbar lifted his first ETS title with the Serpent driver also denying Ratheisky and Bultynck.

July 27, 2017

ETS waves chequered flag on 10th season with first visit to Ettlingen

The chequered flag will be waved on the 10th season of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series this weekend (28-30 July) as the championship travels for the first time to the Ettlingen track in Germany. A regular host venue of the Euro Nitro Series, Ettlingen will become the 10th different outdoor circuit to feature on the ETS calendar over its hugely successful 10 seasons of existence. The 57th race to be put on by Uwe Rheinard and Scotty Ernst since creating the championship in 2007, the Ettlingen entry includes all four of the drivers who have lifted the prestigious ETS title in that period. While Bruno Coelho already wrapped up his second consecutive Volante Modified title last month at the Hudy Arena, the racing will be no less competitive with teams looking to end their campaigns on a high note.

Coelho comes into the event with a mileage advantage over his rivals as does inaugural champion Jilles Groskamp with both drivers having raced at the ENS encounter at the start of the month. Taking the TQ in 1:10 and finishing 2nd in 1:8, Coelho would appear to be very at home on its unique ultra fine asphalt surface. Having won 4 of the 5 races so far, the Xray driver will be looking to extend his record for the most number of wins in a single season.

The only other driver to make it on to the top step of the podium, Ronald Volker comes into the season finale fresh from retaining his European Championship title. As a 5-time consecutive ETS Champion, the Yokomo driver will want to close off what has been a challenging ETS season and put himself clear as the championshipâ€™s most winning driver.

Sharing the title of most ETS career wins, 14-time winner Marc Rheinard made the biggest change of his R/C career when after 22-years with Tamiya he joined class newcomers Infinity. The former champion has had some strong showings, most notably Round 3 in Madrid, and he will be determined to go one better at Ettlingen and having given the Japanese brand its first major title with victory at the Reedy Race of Champions he is determined to try and deliver their first ETS win as a manufacturer. Infinity team-mate Jilles Groskamp completes the line-up of champions competing in the season finale as he makes only his second outing of the season.

While the champions look to add to their tallies, a number of drivers will be out to prove their own points. Alexander Hagberg made it an Xray 1-2 last time out and would love nothing more than to finally beat his team-mate. Naoto Matsukura claimed his first ever ETS podium at the Hudy Arena, a result he will be looking to repeat if not better. Infinity team-mate Akio Sobue travels to Germany fresh from being crowned Japanese National Champion ahead of Matsukura and World Champion Volker and has regularly shown the speed to challenge for his first ETS win this season. ETS Italy podium finisher Elliott Harper will be aiming to capitalise on the trackâ€™s unique surface and add to Schumacherâ€™s maiden podium finish.

While the Modified title is decided it is still all to play for in Pro Stock and Formula. Lifelong Tamiya driver Christian Donath leads the Xray Pro Stock standings having claimed his first ever win last time out. The German however has three challengers in the form of ETS rookie Alexandre Duchet, reigning champion & Xray team-mate Jan Ratheisky and Awesomatixâ€™ Olivier Bultynck. In the Scorpion Power Formula class, it is a three way title battle. Serpentâ€™s David Ehrbar leads from defending champion Ratheisky, both with two wins each, with Shepherdâ€™s Bultynck joining the hunt with victory at the Hudy Arena.