Euro Touring Series » Announcement

October 29, 2013

Luxembourg replaces Italy on ETS Calendar

ETSLux

The calendar for season #7 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series, which kicks off this weekend in the Czech Republic, will see Luxembourg replace the originally scheduled return of the series to Italy. Making a hugely popular appearance on the 2011/12 ETS calendar when the second round of the series traveled to Scandiano, Italy was set to make a return this season and host the 5th round of the 2013/14 series. Regrettably problems for the host track in getting the necessary support of the local government it required to stage such a large scale international race meant that an alternative had to been found. Thankfully Mini-Circuit â€œVille de Luxembourgâ€, which hosted the 2009 European Championships, has stepped in to host the race which will remain on the same June 6-8 date.

Commenting on the calendar change, ETS organiser Uwe Rheinard said, ‘It is a great shame that after working hard to bring the ETS back to Italy that something outside the control of the host club have left them with no choice but to give up the race. The ETS has lots of friends in Italy who come to all our races and when we went to Scandiano they made everyone feel so welcome with the race having a very special atmosphere. I hope for next season we can finally get Italy back on the calendar. He continued, ‘While drivers will be disappointed that Italy is now off the calendar, I know they really like the Luxembourg track with its Laguna Seca corners so we are really excited that they could accommodate us’.

Round 1 – Czech Republic, 1-3 Nov
Round 2 – Germany, 31 Jan-2 Feb
Round 3 – Gran Canaria, 28 Feb-2 Mar
Round 4 – Austria, 9-11 May
Round 5 – Luxembourg, 6-8 June
Round 6 – Slovakia, TBA

July 16, 2013

Hudy Arena ready for Volker/Rheinard title showdown

Hudy Arena ready for Volker/Rheinard ETS title showdown

The Yokomo Euro Touring Series makes its first visit to Slovakia this week (July 18-21) with the Hudy Racing Arena playing host to the season finaleÂ where two of electric touring car’s greatest rivals Ronald Volker and Marc Rheinard are set for a showdown that will decide which driver becomes the champion of the sixth season of the World famous championship. A new venue on the calendar, the Hudy Racing Arena is the perfect stage for what is set to be the most thrilling climax to an ETS season and in typical Hudy/Xray fashion the track has undergone meticulous preparations as it gets ready to welcome over the coming days the 240 plus drivers who will contest the 33rd race of the ETS.

Chasing a third consecutive title, which would make him the most crowned driver in the series, Team Yokomoâ€™s Ronald Volker goes into the race at the top of the points standings but the margin is such that the German ace canâ€™t afford to focus on anything less than going for his third win of the 2012/13 season. The situation is the same for Tamiya Racing Factoryâ€™s Rheinard, who in terms of race wins is the series most successful driver with 11 victories.Â After a poor start to the season in which he failed to make the podium in the opening three races, the former 3-time World Champion has made a strong recovery winning the last two encounters including Round 5 in Austria where emotions ran high after an incident packed 2nd Leg of the A-Main. Regaining his composure to take Leg 3 and the overall Traiskirchen win, Rheinard forced the title battle to go to Slovakia where if the German is to claim his second ETS Championship he must win, otherwise irrespective of his finishing position Volker will retain his title.

While the attention will firmly surround the Volker/Yokomo versus Rheinard/Tamiya title showdown, with their respective team-mates Yannic Prumper and Viktor Wilck sure to be well briefed on their supporting roles for the event,Â a number of manufacturers will be looking to shine at Hudy Racing Arena not least Team Xray. Located next to the Xray factory the outdoor circuit is where the team conducts the majority of its chassis development so their drivers will have the advantage of track knowledge. Alexander Hagberg heads the teamâ€™s challenge, which will be bolstered this weekend by their American star driver Paul Lemieux, and will be hoping to capitalise on his track experience and give the T4 its first Ride Modified class win of the 2012/13 season.

Having made a huge leap forward in terms of set-up on his HB TCXX during Round 5, former World Champion Andy Moore will be one to watch at the season finale. Following the set-up break through, the British ace was a contender for the win in Austria and having not been on the podium for more than two seasons he will be more than determined to prove a point this weekend.

In the biggest class of the ETS, Xray Pro Stock, four drivers still have a mathematical chance of becoming champion. Xrayâ€™s Marek Cerny heads the standings with 3 wins with Awesomatix pairing Dominic Vogl & Viljami Kutvonen and Schumacherâ€™s former champion Martin Hofer in with an outside chance of denying the Czech driver his first ETS title. Austria Vogl was impressive at his home event losing out on the overall win on a tie break by just 2/10ths of a second but that form and confidence boost has the 16-year-old really fired up for the last race of the season.Â While the Speed Passion Formula Class title was decided at the penultimate round, new champion Jan Asmer will be looking to end on a high for Serpent as he goes for win number 4 of the season.

Round 5 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series officially gets underway on Thursday, the season finale being extended by a day and culminates with triple mains for all drivers on Sunday.Â All the action from the Hudy Race Arena can be followed on RedRC where regular updates and increased video action will be published throughout the weekend.

July 3, 2013

Paul Lemieux confirmed for ETS Season Finale

Xray have confirmed that multiple US National Champion Paul Lemieux will compete at the season finale of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series at the Hudy Arena in Slovakia from the 19th to 21st of July. The Factory Xray driver has made a number of appearances at the World renowned series, his most recent coming last year at the fifth round of the championship in the Netherlands, prior to him winning the Worlds warmup race. Fielding a strong factory team, Xray are looking to put on a good showing at what is the company’s test track, with Paul being joined by ETS regulars Alexander Hagberg, Magnus Vassmar & Martin Hudy and in Pro Stock, Championship leader, Marek Cerny who is looking to wrap up the title. Set to be a spectacular battle on track, the Hudy Arena have been pulling out all the stops to ensure that everything is equally spectacular off track as well, going so far as organising tours of the Xray factory to all racers wishing to get a rare glimpse behind the scenes of this state of the art facility. For those wishing to compete in this the final race of our sixth season, entries are still open here.

June 12, 2013

Austria crucial to Tamiyaâ€™s ETS title hopes

The Yokomo Euro Touring Series reaches a crucial stage this weekend (June 14-16) in terms of the title chase between Yokomo and Tamiya as Traiskirchen in Austria hosts the penultimate round of the World famous electric touring car championship. While defending champion Ronald Volker leads the current Ride Modified standings from Yokomo team-mate Yannic Prumper, a recent upsurge in the performance from the Tamiya Racing Factory team that yielded victories at the last two rounds has put their two drivers back into contention for the prestigious crown. However the pressure is on Marc Rheinard and Viktor Wilck to continue that form this weekend if they want to go to the season finale at the Hudy Arena in Slovakia in July with a chance of the title.

New to the ETS calendar last year when it hosted the 2011/12 season finale, which also ended in a four way drivers battle for the title, Traiskirchen was the venue of Prumperâ€™s first international win as a factory Yokomo driver. The only one of this yearâ€™s title contenders without a win so far this season, the German will be keen to repeat his 2012 performance at the roofed asphalt track where he also collected â‚¬400 for winning the first ever â€˜Dash for Cashâ€™ which has since become part of the schedule at every ETS race weekend. Team-mate Volker, who is chasing a hat trick of ETS titles and is the only driver to make the podium at all 4 rounds so far, with 2 wins & 2 third place finishes, will be determined to get back to his early season winning form as victory on Sunday would put the title beyond the reach of his rivals.

Rheinard, who since winning last monthâ€™s fourth round of the ETS has won the famous Reedy Race of Champions in the USA, appears to be regaining the confidence and pace that we came to expect from him during his reign as 3-time World Champion. The German ace has never been happier with his TRF417 and at Apeldoorn the team clearly showed they have the car to beat on asphalt. Despite a terrible start to the season which saw him miss the cut for the A-Main at Rounds 1 & 2, Wilck has the potential to end the season with the greater points haul of the two Tamiya drivers thanks to his win & second place finishes in the last two outings.

While the main attention will be on the four title contenders, one driver who will be hoping to mix it with them for the Round 5 win is Team Xrayâ€™s Alexander Hagberg. A title contender last year, the Swede finished 2nd in Austria. It hasnâ€™t been a good campaign for Hagberg so far with Apeldoorn a particularly tough event as he and the rest of the team failed to make the A-Main.Â With the season ending at what is his teamâ€™s home track where he did a lot of the development work for the T4, he will be hoping this weekend is the start of a flourishing close to the season.

In the biggest class of the ETS, Xray Pro Stock, Round 4 saw the championship thrown wide open. Having won rounds 2 & 3, the first qualifier in Apeldoorn signaled that Xrayâ€™s Marek Cerny was on target for a hat trick but it would all go wrong for the Czech racer and he would DNF the other 2 qualifiers missing the cut for the main event.Â This played into the hands of reigning champion Zdenko Kunak who after a slow start to his title defence would TQ & win in Apeldoorn to claim maximum points, his first win with Yokomo, and put himself in with a chance of becoming back to back champion.Â In the Speedpassion Formula class, Jan Asmer makes a return to the championship having missed the Dutch round.Â With three wins this season already to his credit, the Serpent team driver is very likely to secure the title of this growing class.

Round 5 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series officially gets underway with controlled practice on Friday and culminates with triple mains for all drivers on Sunday. All the action from Traiskirchen can be followed on RedRC where regular updates and video action will be published throughout the weekend.

May 19, 2013

Video â€“ Modified & Pro Stock A-main Leg 3

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3Lo2Xu8QRE[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxQUCbtRpC4[/youtube]

May 16, 2013

ETS Season 6 resumes at Apeldoorn

After an 11-week break, the Yokomo Euro Touring Series resumes this weekend (May 17-19) in the Netherlands with the beautiful Apeldoorn track getting the second half of the World famous electric touring car championshipâ€™s sixth season underway.Â A hugely popular track with competitors, the fourth round attracting 280 entries, defending champion Ronald Volker heads into the weekend at the top of the championship standings ahead of Yokomo team-mate Yannic Prumper and last yearâ€™s race winner Marc Rheinard. Volker, who has two wins and a third to his credit this season, will be hoping he has much better fortunes than he experienced 12-months ago in Apeldoorn when a difficult qualifying meant he would end up racing in the E-Final.

Having taken his first ETS win in 19-races when he won Round 3 of the championship in Gran Canaria at the beginning of March, Tamiya Racing Factoryâ€™s Viktor Wilck will be looking to build on that result and try & get his title chances on track after the Swede failed to make the A-Main at Rounds 1 & 2.Â Tamiya have won every ETS encounter at Apeldoorn, this being the championshipâ€™s fourth visit to the AMCA track, and the Japanese manufacturer will be keen to maintain that record.Â With the Apeldoorn win the only major success 3-time former World Champion Rheinard currently holds, the German will be determined not to give that up easily as he chases a hat trick of wins at the Dutch track.

Denied his first podium of the season in Gran Canaria where he finished 4th, Team Xrayâ€™s Alexander Hagberg will be hoping this race will be the turning point in a season which, after a great finish to last years championship, has not lived up to expectations.Â While the usual suspects of Kyoshoâ€™s Christopher Krapp, Serpentâ€™s Marc Fisher, Hot Bodiesâ€™ Andy Moore, Team Associated’s Juho Levanen and Awesomatixâ€™ Freddy SÃ¼dhoff will be looking to bring success for their respective manufacturers in the premiere â€˜Rideâ€™ Modified class, this weekend sees the arrival of Team Durango to international touring car competition which is sure to generate plenty of interest.

Making a welcomed return to the series having missed Round 2 & 3 as he waited on the arrival of Durangoâ€™s first touring car, Elliot Harper has already shown the potential of the DETC410 taking it to victory two weeks ago at the opening round of the British National Championships ahead of former World Champion Andy Moore and the reigning champion Olly Jefferies.

In the Xray Pro Stock class, standings leader Marek Cerny heads to the Netherlands chasing his third consecutive win of the season. Based on that form, the Czech Xray team driver is favourite for the ETSâ€™ largest class but defending champion Zdenko KunÃ¡k had his best result in Gran Canaria finishing second to Cerny as his confidence with his new Yokomo team grows.Â The only other race winner this season, winning Round 1, Oliver Franke will be in the hunt as will a host of Dutch drivers including last yearâ€™s winner Vasco Christiaanse.

Round 4 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series officially gets underway with controlled practice on Friday and culminates with triple mains for all drivers on Sunday, weather permitting. All the action from Apeldoorn can be followed on RedRC where regular updates and video action will be published throughout the weekend.

February 27, 2013

Gran Canaria takes ETS season outdoors

This weekend (March 1-3) the Yokomo Euro Touring Series marks its 30th event traveling to the popular Spanish holiday island of Gran Canaria for the first outdoor race of the 2012/13 season. Making its debut on the ETS calendar 12-months ago, the race produced one of the most popular wins of the season when Kyoshoâ€™s Christopher Krapp notched up his first victory in the World famous electric touring car championship.

In contrast the 3rd round of the series would be an event to forget for champion Ronald Volker, the German forced to withdraw from the finals due to issues with his then prototype speed controllers. The winner of the opening two races of this season, Volker will be looking to make it three in a row & rectify last yearâ€™s drama while Krapp will be hoping the event will be the turning point in what has so far been a disappointing start to the 6th season of the Euro Touring Series for the German.

Team Yokomo will have an expanded team this weekend with Volker and 2011/12 season finale winner Yannic PrÃ¼mper being joined by Nitro Touring Car World Champion Meen Vejrak and fellow Thai talent Charlee Phutiyothin. A-Main Finalists at last weekendâ€™s TITC race in Bangkok, of which half the grid have an elusive ETS win to their credit, the pair will be looking
to impress on their debut in the series.

Having secured his best ever ETS result at Round 2 in the Czech Republic where he finished 2nd, the battle for the win going to the third A-Main, factory Serpent driver Marc Fischer will be looking for a repeat performance on his first visit to the Island. Fischer wonâ€™t be the only driver looking to go one better in Gran Canaria. Awesomatixâ€™s Viljami Kutvonen lost out on a podium finish at the second round after a tie break with team-mate Freddy Sudhoff. With Sudhoff unable to attend this weekend, Kutvonen will lead the Russian teamâ€™s challenge and the talented Finn is sure to be one to watch.

With the switch from carpet to asphalt a number of drivers will be hoping the surface change helps bring them more competitive foam. Runner-up to Krapp at the event last year, Team Xrayâ€™s Alexander Hagberg has had a tough beginning to his ETS campaign. A title contender last season, the Swede was only 10th at Round 2 and needs a good result this weekend. Team-mate Adrian Berntsen had terrible luck at Round 2 but there is no doubting the Norwegianâ€™s talent and he should be a podium contender. Also hoping the move to outdoor racing brings improvement is HBâ€™s Andy Moore. Yet to make the A-Main this season, the former World Champion enjoyed his best result of last season in Gran Canaria taking 5th.

Tamiya is enduring a long run of non-podium finishes but Marc Rheinard & Viktor Wilck are confident that on asphalt they have a car that is capable of winning. Former champion Rheinard has a best finish of 4th while Wilck has missed the cut on both occasions ending up in the B-Main. Elsewhere, having made the A-Main with Chris Grainger on the island last year, the factory Schumacher squad make a welcomed return to the premiere RIDE Modified class this weekend.

In the Xray Pro Stock class, Zdenko KunÃ¡k, who did not contest the event last year, will make his ETS debut for the race winners Yokomo. The Slovak driver has made a surprise switch to the Japanese manufacturer having started out the year with Xray, a team for whom he had raced for many years. Marek Cerny who took his & Yokomoâ€™s first win in Gran Canaria has gone the opposite direction switching to Xray for the 2013 season already bagging a win with the Slovak manufacturer at his home round in the Czech Republic. In the Speed Passion Formula class Jan Amser will be chasing his third straight win but faces strong opposition in Marc Rheinard who made his class debut at Round 2 finishing 2nd.

Round 3 of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series officially gets underway with practice on Friday and culminates with triple mains for all drivers on Sunday. All the action from Gran Canaria can be followed on RedRC where regular updates and video action will be published throughout the weekend.

October 8, 2012

Record entry for ETS season opener

This weekend (Oct 12-14) the Yokomo Euro Touring Series descends on Muelheim-Kaerlich in Germany for the opening round of the world famous electric touring car championshipâ€™s sixth season with a record 316 entries signed up for what will be the 28th running of an event in the series created by Uwe Rheinard and Scotty Ernst. With Yokomo as title sponsor for a third consecutive season, it is the Japanese companyâ€™s star driver and reigning back to back champion Ronald Volker who heads the world class entry with all of last seasonâ€™s five winners back to try lay claim to the prestigious title.

The winner of the season opener for the past two seasons, dominating the Muelheim-Kaerlich event 12-months ago from pole position when the venue made its first appearance on the ETS calendar, Volker this year not only faces strong competition from Tamiya, Kyosho and Xray but also from his own team-mate. Having went three years without a win in the series Yannic Prumper took victory at last yearâ€™s season finale giving the 18-year-old a major confidence boost which should see him a contender for the 2012/13 ETS title.

Runner-up for the past two seasons of the ETS and now no longer a reigning World Champion, Marc Rheinard should be more determined than ever to try win back the title he lost to Volker three seasonâ€™s ago. Tamiya are still the most winning manufacturer in the ETS with 15 victories to their credit. Nine of those wins came from Rheinard but last year the German ace could only manage a single victory for the 3-time champions and he will be looking to set that record straight this year. Team-mates Viktor Wilck, who has one ETS win to his credit, and Elliot Harper had disappointing campaignâ€™s last year and will also be hoping to up their game this season.

Having secured their first ETS title last season when Zdenko KunaÌk won the Pro Stock Championship, the biggest class in the series, Team Xray will be hoping they can claim the coveted Ride Tires Modified title this season building on the strong performance of Alexander Hagberg who took the companyâ€™s first win on his way to third overall in last yearâ€™s standings. In addition to Hagberg, the Slovak manufacturer who will attend the opening round armed with thieir all new T4 chassis, will have a second fast Swede in the form of Magnus VaÌˆssmar who on a number of occasions last season showed great speed.

Another team to enjoy their first taste of victory in the premiere class during 2012 was Kyosho. While the smallest of the big four factory teams in terms of driver line-up, they have a great talent in Christopher Krapp. The World Championship finalist and winner of the ETSâ€™ first Gran Canaria encounter, Krapp enjoyed a podium at the season opener last year despite only qualifying sixth. With Kyosho having just signed ETS Pro Stock race winner John Bruins, this should benefit Krapp as they will be able to share set-up ideas and get the TF6 SP dialled in earlier in the event, something that hampered Krapp last season.

Also hoping to add to the mix this year will be previous race winning teams Associated and HB. Although the teams didnâ€™t win during Season No.5 they have very capable drivers in former World Champion Andy Moore and multiple former European Champion Juho Levanen. Levanen who took a win in Season 4 had a trying 2011/12 season failing to make the A-Main and the Finn will be hoping he can return to his previous form. Elsewhere Serpent, who have become an Associated sponsor of the ETS, will be looking to build on some strong showings from Marc Fisher last season who will be joined in the team by David Ehrbar who is a multiple ETS A-Main finalist.

Attracting over 170 entries, the Xray Pro Stock class is set to once again be ultra competitive with a long list of capable drivers ready to battle Zdenko KunaÌk for his title. Running a controlled 13.5T Motor/Speedo combo from Speed Passon, Pro Stock produced five different winners last season and saw KunaÌk, Tony Streit and Oliver Franke end the series tied on points. Introduced to the ETS programme last year at the second round of the series, this will be the first visit for the Speed Passion Formula class to Muelheim-Kaerlich. Continuing to grow with every race defending champion Herbert Weber will face his biggest competition yet with over 30 cars set to take part this weekend. All three classes in the ETS will continue to run on a hand out tyre from Japanese company Ride.

The 2012/13 Yokomo Euro Touring Series will kick off with practice on Friday followed by four rounds of qualifying and triple mains for all competitors. As official media partners of the series, Red RC will be in attendance publishing regular updates throughout the three day event.