Euro Touring Series » Announcement

November 28, 2014

Xray primary sponsor of ETS 2015

Xray have announced that they will once again partner with Uwe Rheinard & Scotty Ernst as a primary sponsor of the European Touring Series (ETS) for the 2014-2015 season. The Xray factory team with Juraj Hudy, Martin Hudy, Alexander Hagberg, Bruno Coelho, Marek Cerny, Francesco Martini, Alessio Menicucci, Jan Ratheisky, Mike Gosvig, Tim Wahl and others will be available during the entire season at all the races to provide the technical and set-up support. The spare parts availability and service will be arranged and secured like in the previous years at every event by the national distributor just look for the Xray service centre under the Xray tent trackside which is fully loaded with all necessary spare parts. Once again the famous Xray Promo Packages will be given out for FREE to all Xray drivers, so don’t forget to get yours.

October 24, 2014

Hudy to supply official tire additive for ETS 2014/15

Hudy official handout additive for ETS 2014/15

Hudy Tire Additive (#106260) has been chosen by the ETS organisation as the official tire additive for the 2014/2015 season. The additive, which will be coloured for each round, comes supplied in a special ETS specific 30ml see-through bottle and will be handed out to all racers at the start of each event.

July 2, 2014

World class conclusion to ETS #7

The conclusion of Season #7 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series this weekend (4-6th July) will have a truly World class affair as the sixth & final round of the championship travels to the amazing Hudy Arena in Slovakia where the 260 strong entry will include no less than 6 World Champions. Joining championship regulars Marc Rheinard and Andy Moore, current World Champions Jilles Groskamp and Meen Vejrak along with all round legends of the sport Atsushi Hara and Lamberto Collari will all race at the track for the first time, this being only the ETS’ second to the race facility that is located next to the Xray factory.

With Ronald Volker having already wrapped up his fourth consecutive Ride Modified title last month in Luxembourg at Round 5, in the premiere class the big championship focus is on who will finish runner to the Yokomo ace. That battle is set to between Rheinard, the Tamiya driver currently second in the standings, and Team Xray’s Alexander Hagberg. Unlike Rheinard, Hagberg has been a race winner this season and the Swede would love nothing better than to make that two at his team’s home track. Rheinard has never went a full season of ETS without a win and with Tamiya really upping their support of the 3-time World Champion in this world championship year he will be more determined than ever to get the job done this weekend.

Having made a popular return to the ETS at Luxembourg after over a season’s absence and claiming a podium finish, Groskamp will be relishing the opportunity to build on that result. The Tamiya Racing Factory driver remains the championship’s 3rd most winning driver behind Volker & Rheinard and would like to add to his tally of wins on his first visit to what is widely recognised as the world’s greatest RC facility.

While this will be Hara’s first time to race at the Hudy Racing Arena, it is not his first visit. The former Electric Touring Car & 1:8 Buggy World Champion, travelled last year to the event with the championship’s official tyre supplier Ride in a development role. Only arriving on the Saturday he was unable to compete himself but to the delight of all competitors they did get to see him drive albeit only a few laps in the reverse direction of the track. A late addition to the A-Main ‘Dash for Cash’ event, he borrowed Xray designer Martin Hudy’s car for the run. This year Hara’s track time will be of much more importance as he forms part of Yokomo’s factory line-up.

Reigning 1:10 Nitro Touring Car World Champion Vejrak and 9-time 1:8 Onroad World Champion Collari both make only their second ever ETS appearance. Vejrak made his championship debut last season when he travelled to Gran Canaria while Collari had his first real go at electric touring car racing in 2012 when the championship travelled to the Italian’s home country. Having just missed out on making the A-Main, ending up BQ, Vejrak will be targeting an A-Main performance for Team Yokomo, while for nitro specialist Collari the event is more about enjoying the atmosphere for which the ETS has become World famous.

While the Ride Modified and Formula titles have already been decided, in the championships biggest class, the Xray Pro-Stock class, things still have to be decided. Thanks to his win and TQ at Round 5 defending champion Marek Cerny put himself back in contention to successfully defend his title. The factory Xray driver has just one title rival and that is his team-mate Jan Ratheisky with both drivers tied on 619 points going into the season finale. Having successfully defended his Formula title this season, Ratheisky has 3 wins compared to Cerny’s two meaning the Czech driver needs to pull off the perfect win to deny the German his first Pro-Stock title, something which would be a first for the ETS – a champion of two classes in one season.

June 4, 2014

World Champion returns as ETS makes first visit to Luxembourg

In contrast to the tight boards style track of Round 4 held at the fahr(T)raum Museum in Mattsee, Austria, the Yokomo Euro Touring Series travels for the first time to Luxembourg this weekend (6-8th June) to what is rated by many drivers as one of the greatest outdoor tracks in Europe – Mini Circuit “Ville de Luxembourg”. The penultimate round of the championship, the event marks the return of former champion Jilles Groskamp, the reigning World Champion having some great memories of the track as it was where the Tamiya Racing Factory driver won his first major title back in 2009. Another significant name on the 240 plus entry list is that of r/c racing legend David Spashett who despite many years of being involved in the championship as a sponsor will make his first race outing. Amassing an impressive 4 World Championship titles and 13 European crowns, Spashett will go up against the biggest current day names of the sport including Groskamp having entered the Ride Modified class in which he will be driving an ARC R10.

While there will be much interest in how both Groskamp and Spashett get on, in terms of the overall championship the weekend is set to focus on Team Yokomo’s Ronald Volker who could secure his fourth consecutive ETS title come Sunday evening. Winner of Round 2 of the championship, only Xray’s Alexander Hagberg can deny the German ace from wrapping things up before the season finale at the Hudy Arena in Slovakia next month.

A two time champion of the ETS, winning the first two seasons, Groskamp returns the championship for the first time since 2012 when he made his last appearance during Season #5 at Apeldoorn where he was part of an all Tamiya podium. A staunch early supporter of the ETS concept and still the championship’s third most winning driver, last season was the first time the now Thailand based Dutch ace missed a complete season, but his return comes at a track he relishes. The venue of his 2009 European Championship title when he beat Marc Rheinard and Volker, the only two drivers who have more ETS race wins to their names, he will be hoping he can repeat that success again this weekend.

A season that has produced three winners from four races, Volker’s win at fahr(t)raum making him the first double winner, the large Mini Circuit “Ville de Luxembourg” should make for super close racing. Most famous for its Laguna Seca corkscrew style corner, it is the perfect stage for producing winner number 4 of Season #7. Yannic Prumper put in one of the drives of the season in A2 at Round 4 putting his Yokomo team-mate Volker under immense pressure. In A3 the 20-year-old then saw off a strong challenge from 3-time World Champion Rheinard. Both drivers are hungry for their first win of the season and having nothing to lose in terms of the championship can go all out to achieve it.

Rheinard was much improved in Austria, despite losing his way a little in qualifying, and this weekend he will again have the support of TRF418 designer Kiyo Suzuki and top Japanese racer/Tamiya employee Takayuki Kono. He should also benefit from Groskamp’s presence, his team-mate known for technical input. Serpent’s Marc Fischer, still in search of that first Modified win for both himself and his team, has shown he has the speed finishing fourth in Mattsee and the German will be one to watch. Although he didn’t have a good return to the series at Round 4, Freddy Sudhoff should be another to watch as Awesomatix continue to improve their car on asphalt.

May 7, 2014

ETS resumes at Porsche Museum

The Yokomo Euro Touring Series resumes this weekend (9-11 May) following a 2-month break with the fahr(T)raum Museum, a homage to Austrian automotive pioneer Ferdinand Porsche, playing host to the start of the second half of what has been the most competitive start to the championship in its 7-seasons of existence. Situated in the Austrian town of Mattsee, the museum is home to unique automobiles from the 1900s and provides insights into the earliest days of automobile construction but this weekend it welcomes for the very first time some of the best drivers from the high tech r/c world of electric touring car racing for Round 4 of the World famous championship. With the opening three rounds, all run on venues familiar to ETS regulars, producing three different winners, the asphalt event is all new territory for the 270 plus entries.

The previous round of the championship saw Norway’s Adrian Berntsen join the ETS’ elusive list of race winners as he took his biggest international race win to date continuing what has been a very strong 2014 ETS campaign for Team Xray. Having just one previous win in the championship’s premiere class, the reigning back to back Pro-Stock class champions, have already notched up two wins this season with Alexander Hagberg winning round 2 and backing that up by joining Berntsen on the Gran Canaria podium. Sitting second in the championship standings, Hagberg will be looking to maintain his form while after a difficult start to the championship failing to make the A-Main at the opening two rounds Berntsen will be looking to continue where he left off in Round 3.

Winner of the season opener, 3-time consecutive defending champion Ronald Volker has had his least winning start to an ETS campaign but having not finished off the podium in 10 races, the Yokomo driver travels to the championship’s 37th race top of the points standings. The German was the Top Qualifier at the first asphalt race of the season in Gran Canaria but couldn’t keep Berntsen at bay, something he will be looking to rectify this weekend as he looks to take his winning tally into double digits. The driver with the most TQ’s in the series, with 13, with 9 wins he is just two off equalling the most winning driver Marc Rheinard. Starting the season with a podium Rheinard’s season has gone slightly downhill since and the Tamiya driver & former Champion really needs to turn things around this weekend if he is to have any chance of a second ETS title.

Missing Round 3 of the championship, Matsee will see the return of Round 1 podium finisher Freddy Sudhoff and Round 2 runner-up Yannic Prumper. Awesomatix team-leader Sudhoff is probably the most likely driver to become only the championship’s 11th Modified class race winner getting closer & closer to a much overdue first win for both himself and his Russian designed car. One of the championship’s consistently fastest drivers, Prumper has gone 9 races without a win and will be looking to come out from the shadow of his Yokomo team-mate and put that right this weekend.

Notching up his second Xray Pro-Stock win of the season at Round 3, Jan Ratheisky heads to Austria with a 2-point lead over Xray team-mate & defending champion who secured his maiden ETS victory on the first visit to Gran Canaria, reigning Xray Pro Stock Champion Marek Cerny. Equaling the status of most TQs in Pro-Stock in Gran Canaria, Cerny will be hoping to also equal Alexander Stocker’s record of 6 wins this weekend but Ratheisky is proving a real challenger for the Czech driver this season. Having won the opening three rounds of the Formula class a win this weekend by Ratheisky would see the German successfully defend his title in the growing category.

February 26, 2014

New surface awaits ETS in Gran Canaria

This weekend (28 Feb-2 March) the Yokomo Euro Touring Series heads to Gran Canaria where a freshly resurfaced track awaits competitors travelling to the Spanish holiday island for the third round of the championship. The third year for the ETS to visit the Circuito Automodelismo El Hornillo track, the event marks the welcomed switch from a winter of indoor carpet racing to outdoor asphalt and previous encounters have turned up unexpected race winners. Last year the event saw Tamiya’s Viktor Wilck take his first ETS win in 19-races while on the first visit to the island Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp took his maiden victory, both drivers ending the dominant start by Yokomo’s Ronald Volker to the past two seasons.

Although he travels to Cran Canaria as the 2013/14 championship points leader, just as he did the last two occasions, Volker has just one victory on his Season #7 score sheet after Team Xray’s Alexander Hagberg’s impressive performance at Round 2 saw him bag his second ever ETS victory in style. Traditionally Volker has been untouchable on carpet with asphalt racing proving to be the only weak link in his all conquering partnership with Yokomo engineer Yukijiro Umino. With the majority of ETS front runners contesting last weekend’s TITC race in Thailand, it would appear that Volker and his BD7 2014 chassis has found its edge on asphalt as the 3 -time back to back ETS champion took the win ahead of team-mate Naoto Matsukura. Having skipped Round 2, reigning 1:12 World Champion Matsukura returns to the series this weekend. Despite having been scheduled to travel to Gran Canaria, unfortunately new Yokomo touring car signing Atsushi Hara will not race this weekend due to new 1:8 Buggy commitments. The former World Champion will however return for Round 4 in Austria.

Although he finished only 7th at TITC, Hagberg will be hoping he can continue where he left off in Muelheim-Kaerlich a month ago. The Swede has always been fast and a strong contender in Gran Canaria finishing runner-up in 2012 and just missing out on the podium last year to Volker on a tie break. The Xray line-up in the Ride Modified class will be bolstered this weekend by Steven Weiss, the former European Champion Top Qualifier & runner-up having just been announced as returning to the Slovakian manufacturer after a stint with TOP Racing.

Having openly aired his dislike of racing on carpet and having struggled to be competitive at the first two races of the season, Tamiya Racing Factory’s Marc Rheinard will be hoping that he can get his ETS title aspirations back on track with the move to outdoor action. Based on his first asphalt encounter of 2014 at the TITC, where he was 4th behind the all Yokomo podium, the series’ most winning driver looks like he is going to have his work cut out if he is to notch up his first win on the island.

One driver making his return to the championship is 2012 event winner. While Krapp has experienced the joy of standing on the top step of the podium, it is now a distant memory for the German and making his first ETS of the season he will be looking to make a strong impression on his return in this World Championship year. Having missed Round 2 due to racing commitments in the USA, Marc Fischer will be hoping he can master the new asphalt in Gran Canaria as he & his Serpent team search for that first win.

Having secured his maiden ETS victory on the first visit to Gran Canaria, reigning Xray Pro Stock Champion Marek Cerny is chasing a hat trick of wins on the island. The biggest challenger to the factory Xray driver for the win will be own team-mate Jan Ratheisky, winner of Round 1, and Yokomo’s former Champion Zdenko Kunak. In the Formula class Ratheisky is the clear favourite as the defending champion goes for a fourth win in a row.

January 29, 2014

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.

October 30, 2013

ETS descends on Czech Republic for start of Season #7

The World’s top electric touring car racers and teams will descend on the Czech Republic this weekend (1-3 Nov) for the opening round of Season #7 of the Euro Touring Series. Once again defending champions Yokomo are to be title sponsors of the world famous championship and the Japanese manufacturer will be looking to get the start of their title defense off to the perfect start just as they have done by winning the opening race of the last three seasons. With Ronald Volker chasing a fourth consecutive ETS title, in addition to ETS race winner Yannic Prumper Yokomo have bolstered their team for Round 1 by entering their reigning 3-time 1:12 World Champion Naoto Matsukura. However once again Volker’s biggest challenger is set to be fellow German Marc Rheinard, Tamiya’s 3-time former World Champion having finished runner up for the past three seasons having been champion of the 2009/10 season.

Despite being the most winning driver in the ETS with 11 victories to his credit with Volker next with 8 wins, Rheinard has in previous seasons always been left to play catch-up over the season such is Volker’s pace on carpet. Both drivers, together with Serpent’s Marc Fischer, attended a recent round of Michal Bok’s MIBO Cup at the Sport-V-Hotel complex as preparation for the ETS season opener but Rheinard struggled to match his arch rival finishing third behind him and Fischer. A driver not normally known for his pre-event testing efforts, the lack of competitiveness at the MIBO Cup has pushed Rheinard to travel to the Hudy Racing Arena in Slovakia where he is currently testing alongside the Xray team trying to better get to terms with his new TRF418 on carpet.

The big surprise of last year’s Czech encounter when he pushed Volker very hard for the overall win forcing the event to be decided in Leg 3 of the A-Main, Fischer will be one to watch this weekend. The event marked his and Serpent’s first ETS podium finish and having been unable to repeat the result since, the German will be extra determined to get the small team’s new season campaign off to a strong start by putting his S411 back on the podium. Also claiming his only podium finish of last season in Hrotovice, Awesomatix lead driver Freddy Sudhoff will be looking to put the Russian company’s new A700L Evo in the mix over the three day event.

The only driver apart from Volker & Rheinard to take to the top step of the podium last season when he won in Gran Canaria, Tamiya’s Viktor Wilck will be hoping he can avoid the same result as last year when he found himself in the B Final for the first two races of the season. HB’s Andy Moore suffered a similar start to his campaign, but the former World Champion ended the season strongly and will be hoping to carry that form through to this weekend. After a disappointing 2012/13 campaign, former race winner Alexander Hagberg will be hoping he & Xray can return to the form that made them a title contender for the Ride Modified class during Season #5 of the ETS.

One interesting entry for Round 1 is Kyosho’s David Ronnefalk. With lead touring car driver and former ETS race winner Christopher Krapp unable to attend the season opener, Kyosho are sending their Swedish offroad star. The reigning 1:8 Offroad European Champion and Euro Offroad Series frontrunner has very little previous touring car experience but said he is excited about making his ETS debut and seeing how he gets on against the world of onroad racing’s best drivers.

With the Xray Pro Stock class making up 150 of the close on 300 entries for Round 1, the biggest class of the ETS undergoes a big change for the new season with Muchmore the new supplier of the classes handout electrics. Racers will use Muchmore’s FLETA EURO ESC in combination with the FLETA ZX 13.5T motor with Xray’s reigning Champion Marek Cerny heading the entry. The Czech driver won his home event last year on the way to his first title and is highly motivated to get his title defense off to the perfect start spending the lead up to the event testing at the Hudy Racing Arena.

Continuing it successfully growth, the Formula class will also undergo an electrics change for its third season on the ETS schedule. Attracting an impressive 43 entries for the season opener which will be headed by defending Champion Jan Amser, the growing variety of different chassis being used will all feature the same handout electrics from new partner Hobbywing.