Euro Touring Series

October 16, 2009

New Xray sets early pace in Kastellaun

Alexander Hagberg

Xray’s new T3 chassis is setting the early pace here in Kastellaun at the opening round of the Xenon Racing Euro Touring Series with the new car holding the Top 4 placings after 3 of the 5 practice runs. Over 5-minutes it is Alexander Hagberg who posted the fastest run putting with 25 laps in 5:08.422. In terms of lap times it is again Xray on top with lead factory driver Teemu Leino producing a best time of 11.751 with the next best time coming from fellow countryman Juho Levanen at the controls of his Associated TC5.

Hagberg who was running the basic kit set-up on his T3 said the car felt really good. Running a 5.5 motor this is Hagberg’s first LiPo race and he is enjoying the reduced work load the new batteries offer. With the traction continuing to increase the Swede plans to make some small set-up adjustments for the final two practice runs. Less than a second adrift of Hagberg, Martin Hudy is very happy with both his early pace and that of the new car. Only his second outing in the ETS, Hudy featured strongly on his series debut in Budapest last season finishing on the podium and describing the track as ‘great’ he should feature in Sunday’s A-Main. Finishing on the podium here last year, Freddy Sudhoff was next up ahead of British team-mate Elliot Harper. Sudhoff is finding the new car so much easier to drive and is confident of being back on the podium on Sunday.

Fastest non Xray driver at the moment in fifth spot is Tamiya Racing Factory driver Viktor Wilck. The Swede said his 416WE feels ‘so, so’ and he plans to try heavier shock oil next time out. Asking last year’s Kastellaun winner Marc Rheinard how he was getting on, his response was straight to the point, ‘I’m not driving good’. Pitting next to the Tamiya pairing is Hot Bodies lead driver Andy Moore. Asked about his third run the former World Champion replied, ‘I know now what not to try’, referring to set-up changes he made that resulted in his car traction rolling.

Martin Hofer

In Pro Stock it is last year’s winner & former Champion Alexander Stocker who sets the pace from Martin Hofer. Hofer is normally found mixing it in Modified but the Team Yokomo driver was talked into switching by Stocker and another of Pro Stock’s leading driver Daniel Wohlgemuth at the 2008/09 ETS Finale in Andernach back in July. Slovak driver Zdenko Kunak, who is competing in both Modified and Pro Stock, was third fastest ahead of ETS race winner Matthias Lang.

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October 16, 2009

3rd edition of ETS underway

The third season of the Euro Touring Series is underway with over 200 drivers here is Kastellaun, Germany for the opening race of the six round Xenon Racing backed 2009/10 Series. One of the biggest changes to this season’s ETS is the switch to LiPo batteries and walking through the pits driver’s tables are a lot less cluttered with chargers and dischargers than normal.

3rd edition of ETS underway

The switch to LiPo has seen most of the top drivers using the opening practice rounds to play around with motor choice with everything from 4.0 to 6.5 being tried by the leading competitors. Current World Champion Marc Rheinard, the winner of this event 12 months ago, tried a 4.5 Speed Passion in his new Tamiya 416X but said the choice of gearing he ran meant he had too much power and he wants to play around with different ratios. This is his first touring car race since finishing runner up at the European Championships in Luxembourg, although the German has been busy winning the 1:10 4WD European Championships between races. Tamiya team-mate Viktor Wilck, who is running the 416WE, has started out with a 4.0 motor with the curve on his Speedpassion speedo set to the lowest setting. The Swede said it felt ok but plans to try a 4.5 later.

3rd edition of ETS underway

2007 Kastellaun winner Juho Levanen, who has plenty of LiPo experience having used them at the Reedy and IIC races over in the US, is using a 5.0 LRP motor in his factory Associated TC5. The Finnish driver, who will be doing all six rounds of 2009/10 ETS, is hopeful of repeating the win he claimed here three years ago but said the quality of the entry this weekend is going to make it a difficult challenge. That quality entry includes 2006 World Champion Andy Moore. With the British National Championship introducing LiPo batteries this year and a 6.5 motor limit the factory Hot Bodies driver has plenty of experience outdoor with LiPo but said it will be interesting working with the lower 1350 gram weight limit here on carpet. Moore has started out with what he knows best, running a 6.5 Team Orion motor in his Cyclone TC.

3rd edition of ETS underway

The Xray team have a strong line up here this weekend with their team drivers running the soon to be released T3 chassis. Team leader Teemu Leino was responsible for much of the development work on the new car and said the new platform is easier to driver and has a lot better traction than the T2. The Finn who hasn’t raced since the European Championship in August as he was busy getting married said he is confident his wedding ring won’t slow him too much! Leino is running a 5.5 motor which he said is plenty for indoor.

Making his ETS debut, Elliot Harper is another with the new T3 chassis. The young British talent has done a lot of testing with the new Juraj Hudy creation and last weekend gave the Slovakian made car its debut win after taking victory at Round 1 of the RugRacers Series in England. Harper says the new car is a big improvement having tested it at two different tracks in preparation for this event.

Heading the Yokomo challenge Ronald Volker is feeling a bit secondhand this weekend after injuring his back during the week while playing badminton. The former European Champion, who has been excused from marshalling duties by race director Scotty Ernst, has done a lot of LiPo testing with the BD5 and is much happier with the overall balance of the car now. Fresh from winning the German Outdoor Nationals last month Christopher Krapp represents Kyosho hopes. The ultra professional teenager is playing around with the positioning of the weight he must carry on his car following the switch to LiPo and is also working on tyre preparation as he becomes familiar with the new ETS control tyre from Xenon Racing.

Dirk Wischnewski

Interestingly there are a number of big name nitro drivers competing here. Current 200mm European Champion Dirk Wischnewski is competing in the modified as is top Italian racer Michelle Romangnoli. A former Italian EP champion Romangnoli has switched to Tamiya for this event having collected on his arrival to Germany a brand new 416WE which was built for him by Toni Rheinard. Better known for racing 1:8 Oroad racing in which he is a factory driver for Shepherd, Eric Dankel is competing in Pro Stock driving an Xray and earlier this year won the German Indoor Nationals in the class so we can expect to see him feature strongly against the regular ETS frontrunners like Alexander Stocker, Matthias Lang and Daniel Wohlgemuth.

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October 13, 2009

Capacity entry for Xenon Racing Euro Touring Series opener

The third season of the Euro Touring Series kicks off this weekend when a capacity entry from 17 different countries will descend on the town of Kastellaun in Germany for the opening leg of an expanded six round 2009/10 race program. Welcoming a new title sponsor in Xenon Racing Products, who also become the official controlled tyre supplier of the series, the growing popularity of the ETS is reflected in the star line-up that will battle it out for this season’s title honours. Due to his recent relocation to Asia, defending champion Jilles Groskamp will not be going for a hat trick of titles. Despite his absence the title battle, which ended in a tie break last season between Groskamp and current World Champion Marc Rheinard, is expected to be even more closely fought than ever with many of electric touring car’s biggest names entered for Round 1.

Heading the entry for the top flight Modified class, which will adapt the recently passed IFMAR World Championship ruling on LiPo batteries, is two time World Champion Marc Rheinard. The German, who took the win in Kastellaun last year, faces a quality line up of rival factory drivers including his own Tamiya team-mates Viktor Wilck and last year’s Warsaw race winner Yannic Prumper. Hot Bodies will be present with 2006 World Champion Andy Moore, Yokomo will have the super fast Ronald Volker, flying Finn Teemu Leino and British young gun Elliot Harper front the Xray challenge, Associated are armed with Juho Levanen, a previous winner in Kastellaun, while German Champion Christopher Krapp heads up the Kyosho assault.

Biggest of the three classes that make up this season’s ETS is Pro-Stock with 125 drivers booked in for Round 1. Also switching to LiPo power, the class will run a 13.5 turn motor supplied by Speedpassion. Having taken victory at the previous two season openers in Kastellaun, Alexander Stocker heads the entry looking to make it a hat trick of Pro Stock wins but faces huge competition in the category that produced 5 different winners last season. Joining the schedule on a permanent basis after a number of successful experimental appearances during the 2008/09 Series is the Hobby class. Open to Tamiya TT 01, LRP Maverick Strada and HPI E10 Touring cars, the class is an important breeding ground for the future stars of the sport allowing them to hone their driving skills on the international stage.

Commenting on the upcoming 2009/10 Xenon Racing Euro Touring Series, race director Scotty Ernst, who together with Uwe Rheinard is responsible for bringing the ETS across Europe, said, ‘I can’t believe we are about to embark on our third season of the Euro Touring Series. It feels like my conversation with Uwe that led to us creating the ETS was just last week. The capacity entry we have for Kastellaun is a great endorsement for what we are doing and looking down through the names on the entry list we have all the ingredients for producing some awesome racing.’

The opening round of the Xenon Racing Euro Touring Series, which is also supported by Speedpassion, will kick off with practice on Friday and the event can be followed throughout the weekend on RedRC.net who will be in Kastellaun to report live on all the action.

September 21, 2009

2009/10 Euro Touring Series Season

Now in its 3rd season the Xenon Racing backed Euro Touring Series is back in force, with a 6 race calendar that sees the championship run all across Europe. The brainchild of Scotty Ernst and Uwe Rheinard the ETS will retain its popular Modified and Pro Stock racing classes and will add a 3rd class for Hobby racers as a great way to participate at a large international event in a cost effective manner. The season will kick off next month (October 16th to 18th) in Kastellaun Germany, and will travel once more to Budapest, Hungary for round 2, before making its debut in the Czech Republic for round 3. The series has its final indoor race of the season in Warsaw, Poland for round 4, before going outdoor, returning the MACH track in the Netherlands for round 5 before having its traditional season finale in Andernach, Germany next summer. Scotty Ernst will be present at all rounds, bringing excitement and international flair while Red RC will be once again reporting live from each race. Entry for all rounds of the championship are now open and you can find all the links as well as further information on the official Euro Touring Series website here.

Entry for round 1 can be placed here.

July 19, 2009

Groskamp & Rajki crowned 08/09 ETS Champions

Jilles Groskamp and Balint Rajki are the 2008/2009 Muchmore Euro Touring Series Champions. The titles went right down to wire at the final round here in Andernach, Germany, with the Modified title actually ending in a points tie between Groskamp and current World Champion Marc Rheinard who was today’s race winner. With identicial counting results and race TQ’s, they had to be seperated by qualifying positions handing Groskamp back to back titles. Having TQ’d and won the opening Leg of the A-Main Viktor Wilck looked set to claim his first ETS race win and to deny Rheinard the chance to challenge for the title but the former DHI Cup Champion made a slight mistake in the second final allowing Rheinard to win both legs and the final thanks to his faster race time. Before race officials had reached a tie break decision the Tamiya/Speedpassion took the tie break into their own hands literally as they used Rock, Paper, Scisscors to decide. The result was to go the same way with the Dutch star’s scissors being better than Rheinard’s Paper! On collecting his Champion’s trophy, Groskamp said he was delighted to retain his title and for Tamiya who took 1-2-3 in the standings with Tamiya Junior driver Yannick Pruemper finishing third overall.

In Pro Stock a single point decided the title with Rajki coming back from a poor qualifying to take it from Daniel Wohlgemuth who came here as the series leader. The Hungarian National Champion qualified only ninth for the final but put in two great drives to finish second one place ahead of Wohlgemuth. The Round 5 victory went to Top Qualifier Matthias Lang who was delighted to claim his first major race win but the day belonged to Rajki as he added his first international title to his CV. In the second Leg of the A Main, which was won by Thomas Musial, cruel luck befell defending Champion Alexander Stocker when a drive shaft broke on his Xray while he was leading. With the dust settled the overall championship Top 3 for the 2008/2009 ETS Pro Stock class was Balint on 298 points, Wohlgemuth on 297 and Stocker on 294.

So the second edition of the Euro Touring Series, which was once again supported by Muchmore, Speedpassion and Hot Bodies, has been another great success with 288 drivers registering points during the series’ visits to Germany, the Netherlands, Hungary and Poland. The series produced some great racing not just between the big names of the sport but also the future of the sport. Emerging talent Yannic Pruemper took his first international win in Poland where we also had our youngest ever competitor Maciek Kajko who was just 4 and a half. With the emphasis on having fun and bringing together r/c racing enthusiasts from across Europe, the two men behind the ETS, Scotty Ernst and Uwe Rheinard, are already planning the 2009/2010 series which they tell us is going to be bigger and better. Red RC have really enjoyed bringing you live coverage of each ETS race and to making many new friends along the way. We look forward to returning to Germany in October when the third edition gets underway with the Kastellaun indoor race.

Modified final race results
1. Marc Rheinard – 19pts
2. Viktor Wilck – 19pts
3. Jilles Groskamp – 16pts
4. Ronald Völker – 12pts
5. Steven Weiss – 11pts
6. Christopher Krapp – 11pts
7. Freddy Südhoff – 10pts
8. Martin Hofer – 5pts
9. Mario Sowka – 4pts
10.Patrick Gassauer – 3pts

Pro Stock final race results
1. Matthias Lang – 18pts
2. Balint Rajki – 17pts
3. Daniel Wohlgemuth – 16pts
4. Thomas Musial – 12pts
5. Steffen Still – 10pts
6. Alexander Stocker – 9pts
7. Meik Niemann – 9pts
8. Rob Janssen – 7pts
9. Martin Schmidt – 7pts
10.Michael Kiesewetter – 5pts

Hobby class final race results
1. Joachim Krapp – 18pts
2. Sebastian Kroh – 16pts
3. Markus Arenz – 16pts
4. Joachim Altenhof – 15pts
5. Thomas Lanwert – 13pts
6. Karl-Reiner Mürder – 12pts
7. Peter Hanna – 7pts
8. Andrzej Rozycki – 6pts
9. Andreas Hummel – 5pts
10. Tim Rudersdorf – 1pts
11. Jacek Kajko – 1pts
12. Urzsula Pyzel – 0pts

Hobby class Junior final race results
1. Andre Schäfer – 18pts
2. Frederik Tobiasch – 17pts
3. Christian Schlösser – 14pts
4. Christopher Buchner – 13pts
5. Marcel Klappert – 13pts
6. Elena Hummel – 10pts
7. Nino Triandafilidis – 9pts
8. Michal Orlowski – 7pts
9. Maximilian Schlösser – 7pts
10.Maciek Kajko – 3pts

View our event image gallery here.

July 19, 2009

Dutch racers show their appreciation

They have been the biggest supporters of the Euro Touring Series since it inception two years ago travelling to all the races and today the ‘Dutch Guys’ made a presentation to the two men behind the electric touring car series. Last year during the ETS’s visit to the MACH track near Amsterdam, Series promoters Scotty Enrst and Uwe Rheinard were presented with a very unique custom painted pair of wooden clogs. Today the large contingent of over Dutch racers & supporters again showed their appreciation for the series by presenting Scotty and Uwe with their own custom painted touring car shells. Completely airbrush painted the shells feature the ETS logo on the bonnet and the wording Uwe/Scotty for President in the rear window.

Thanking the Dutch racers for their loyality to the series Scotty said, ‘When Uwe and I started the series last year we wanted to bring a fun and entertaining series to the racers of Europe. Of course competition was important but also the friendship factor of this hobby was equally important. As the Series progressed last year we made such great friends from throughout Europe who believed in us and believed in our ideas. One country that embodies the spirit of the ETS and has travelled to nearly all of the races in both seasons is the Netherlands. They again surprised us with this wonderful presentation and this appreciation is what drives us to strive to make the ETS the best series possible.’

View the custom bodyshells in our image gallery here

July 19, 2009

Top Qualifiers get job done in first A-Main

Top Qualifiers Viktor Wilck and Matthias Lang got the job done in the first leg of the A-Mains here in Germany converting their No.1 starting positions into victories. Thankfully the very mixed weather conditions cleared for long enough to dry out the track for the top finals.

Pro Stock produced the better of the two finals with a number of lead changes but in the end it was pole sitter Lang who came out on top from current series leader Daniel Wohlgemuth with Balint Rajki putting in great drive to finish third having started ninth on the grid. ‘Strange’ was how Lang described the first final after getting spun out of the early lead. Recovering from his touch with defending Champion Alexander Stocker, the Xray driver recovered to eventually win by 1.5 seconds with the Top 7 covered by less than five seconds. Wohlgemuth was very happy to finish second, his main focus this weekend being the overall series title. Currently holding the points lead his target was to finish ahead of the two drivers, Rajki & Stocker, who can deny him his first international touring car title. For defending Champion Stocker, the move on Lang on lap 2 cost him dearly as he spun into the barriers losing around five seconds and dropping to last. Very happy with his new Xray ride, having destroyed his Hot Bodies chassis in Friday practice, the 2008 Andernach winner worked his way back up to fourth, setting the only 18 second lap of the final. Having led the race for a number of laps, Dutch ETS dominator Rob Janssen finished a disppointing 5th.

In Modified Viktor Wilck took victory in a less frantic final, leading from start to finish. The Swede only had to contend with a brief challenge from team-mate Marc Rheinard after getting off line but he pulled clear again as the World Champion started to struggle with rear traction on his Tamiya. The big battle then was for second between Rheinard and Jilles Groskamp but that became a three way battle when on lap 13 the Speedpassion team-mates touched at the end of the straight. Carrying more speed Groskamp tried a move down the inside but Rheinard closed the door and the pair touched with Rheinard’s rear bumper tucking under. Groskamp waited allowing the Yokomo of Ronald Volker, who started eight, to close right up but the showdown wasn’t to be as Volker and Groskamp touched on the last lap. Allowing Groskamp to retake position, this meant Rheinard cruised to second with Groskamp making it a Tamiya 1-2-3.

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July 19, 2009

Wet start to Finals day

The sun was out when we arrived at the Andernach track this morning but it didn’t last long as the heavens open up just as practice was about to get underway. Delaying the start of the final qualifying round to allow the rain to pass and the track to dry, with the help of plenty of sweeping brushes, things finally got underway at 10:00.

First up was Pro Stock and it was ETS points leader Daniel Wohlgemuth who topped the round. The first of the Pro Stock heats started on a damp and very slippery track but the rain returned. Using his wet car, a Hot Bodies Cyclone S, Wohlgemuth said the car was very easy to drive and racing in the wet conditions was good fun. Running 12 laps compared with yesterday’s 17 lap runs, second fastest was Dutch ETS winner Rob Janssen. The Corally team driver, who doesn’t have a wet car, said his Phi ’09 felt really good in the conditions but that the straight was very tricky as the car was aquaplaning on the standing water. Polish ETS winner Miek Niemann completed the Top 3. Top Qualifier Matthias Lang started his heat on a drying track but pulled up early once the rain returned.

In Modified only a handful of the top drivers took to the track. Jilles Groskamp took the round from Czech driver Zdenek Hamak with Martin Hofer third fastest. The Dutch ace said he ran on the wet track as it was a good opportunity to check his new waterproofing ahead of the European Championships in Luxembourg in 2 weeks time, where there is a strong possibility of rain. The factory Tamiya/Speedpassion driver said his TRF416 felt good in the conditions and that this car, the same one as he as been running all weekend, will become his rain car for Luxembourg.

Needing a good third score having had two bad heats yesterday, Ronald Volker didn’t want to run in the wet but had no choice if he wanted to be in the line up for the A Final. Running his Yokomo it almost didn’t happen as his car started to get radio glitches during the wet run. Working out how many laps he needed to complete to secure enough points for A Main placing the former European Champion continued cautiously, pulling up once his target was reached. The only one who could challenge Viktor Wilck for the overall TQ honours, Volker’s 17th placing for the round handed the Swede pole for A Main and sees the German line up 8th.

Pro Stock A-Main Grid
1. Matthias Lang – Xray – 0 pts
2. Daniel Wohlgemuth – Xray – 5
3. Alexander Stocker – Xray – 9
4. Rob Janssen – Corally – 10
5. Michael Kiesewetter – Xray – 10
6. Thomas Musial – Hot Bodies – 10
7. Martin Schmidt – Serpent – 11
8. Meik Niemann – Xray – 17
9. Balint Rajki – Hot Bodies – 18
10.Steffen Still – Xray – 19

Modified A-Main Grid
1. Viktor Wilck – Tamiya – 2 pts
2. Jilles Groskamp – Tamiya – 5
3. Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 6
4. Steven Weiss – Xray – 14
5. Christopher Krapp – Kyosho – 14
6. Freddy Südhoff – Xray – 17
7. Martin Hofer – Yokomo – 17
8. Ronald Völker – Yokomo – 19
9. Patrick Gassauer – Kyosho – 22
10.Mario Sowka – Xray – 23

View our live video feed here and our image gallery here.