Euro Touring Series

June 26, 2015

Prumper tops practice at ETS finale

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Yannic Prumper topped practice at the Yokomo Euro Touring Series season finale at the Hudy Racing Arena in Slovakia. The Yokomo driver was fastest over 3-consecutive laps from team-mate Ronald Volker. The only driver in with a chance of denying Volker & Yokomo their fifth consecutive ETS title, Marc Rheinard completed the Top 3 just ahead of former team-mate Viktor Wilck, the pair having claimed a TRF 1-2 at the event last year.

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Having topped free practice, Prumper backed that up by again topping timed practice and the 21-year-old will now lead away the top heat in qualifying later today. A fan of the 320 metre long track, the ETS Italy race winner described his Much More powered BD7 as ‘difficult to drive but fast’. Commenting that over the second half of the run he is able to run at between one & two tenths a lap faster than his rivals for the opening qualifier, two rounds scheduled for today, the German will run the car unchanged.

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Describing his practice pace as ‘good so far’, Volker said ‘the Top 5 is all very close and it’s all about the tiny things in determining who will top the opening qualifier.’ Winner when the championship first visited the famed facility in 2013, the German added because of how close everyone is it’s going to be ‘hard to check out’. Although a fan of the layout he knows it is not an easy track and there is always the chance of having bobbles and this is going to be key to the opening qualifier. Asked about his car he replied that they will make a slight set-up change as they try to improve the LRP powered BD7’s overall balance.

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‘Everything pretty close’ that was how Rheinard summed up practice adding ‘no one is standing out as being faster’. Having just made little changes between practice rounds, the multiple World Champion will keep his Much More powered TRF419 the same for Q1 and ‘just drive careful’. Last year’s Top Qualifier and race winner, he said the high grip on the curbing can easily cause crashes and he said qualifying will be determined by the driver who makes the least mistakes.

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Fourth fastest, Wilck said his Serpent has been pretty good all day although for the final practice he had an issue with a vibration after changing to a new set of tyres. Feeling he could have run a faster 3-lap pace without the imbalanced tyres, the Swede said while Prumper is a little faster after that everyone is really close. Pleased with his Speed Passion powered S411 he said other than fit a new set of tyres he would leave the set-up unchanged for the opening qualifier. Team-mate Marc Fischer would complete the Top 10 in timed practice. Having ran between 4th & 7th fastest in the free practice rounds, the German said his car was ok until the final practice when while feeling good to drive it just suddenly didn’t want to turn in.

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The nearest thing to a home race due to their cars being manufactured just metre away from the track, Xray’s Bruno Coelho and Alexander Hagberg posted the 5th & 6th fastest times respectively. Registering his first ETS win at the previous round in Luxembourg, Coelho said his car was really good but the problem was all the mistakes he made. Setting the fastest lap, with only Prumper also managing a 17-second lap, he said a little more steering would be nice but he will leave his LRP powered T4 unchanged for Q1 and instead ‘drive a little more safe’ than he did in practice. Hagberg said ‘things are ok’ adding he is ‘not super fast but consistent’. Describing his ORCA powered T4 as ‘easy to drive but lacking a little corner speed’ he said ‘3-laps are not the best indication’ of everyone’s pace and he is confident over 5-minutes he will be strong due to his consistency. The Swede added that on new tyres it is particularly easy to flip on the curbing and he predicts a lot of drivers to make mistakes in Q1.

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Seventh fastest Christopher Krapp felt he has ‘pretty solid pace’ going into the qualifying. The factory Tamiya driver said while he would like to find another tenth of a second in outright pace he feels over 5-minutes his Orion powered TRF419 feels really good. ‘Maybe a little too easy to drive’, something he said is maybe not such a bad thing as a lot of drivers made mistakes in the practice rounds, he will go to a heavier rear diff oil for Q1 which he said should bring more steering.

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HB’s Jilles Groskamp would put in the 8th fastest time, the HB driver’s event not getting off to the best of starts. Binding issues with his radio yesterday meant he lost two rounds of practice. Switching from his Sanwa Exzes-Z to a borrowed older Exzes-X, the Dutch ace has overcome the issue but said he is still playing catch up to his rivals after the loss of the valuable track time. Compared to Luxembourg, where he had race winning pace, the HB/HPI Racing driver said his PRO5 feels like it has something wrong with it with understeer being an issue. 3/10ths off on outright pace he believes he will be a lot closer when qualifying starts and it’s 5-minutes that count and not 3-consecutives laps.

View the complete event results here.

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June 26, 2015

Track Focus – Hudy Racing Arena

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Name – Hudy Racing Arena
Country – Slovakia
Location – Trencin (120km NE from capital city of Bratislava)
Host – Hudy/Xray
Surface – Asphalt
Direction – Anti-clockwise
No. of ETS Races hosted – 2
Previous Winners –Marc Rheinard (2014), Ronald Volker (2013)

Having had the honour in 2013 of being the first international race to be held at the Hudy Racing Arena in Slovakia, the Yokomo Euro Touring Series is back for a third visit to the World’s greatest RC facility. With the finale of the Season #8 of the ETS attracting a record 365 entries from a record 36 different countries, the words ‘amazing’ and ‘wow’ have never been heard in as many different languages as drivers walked through the main entrance. Located in the city of Trencin, the track was built in 2006 on the grounds of a former soccer stadium. The massive 25,000 square metre facility also includes the factory of both Xray, the only true r/c car manufacturer in Europe, and Hudy but it is the Arena which dominates the grounds. In typical Hudy fashion everything at the Arena is about attention to detail even down to such things as getting a highly rated local cafe in to provide two baristas to ensure racers, who like their coffee, can enjoy a high quality coffee between rounds in the track’s equally impressive restaurant area.

Housing three tracks, two asphalt and one carpet, the ETS is running on the 320 metre outdoor asphalt track. Featuring a 75 metre long straight away, the 4.5 metre wide track covers a depth of 28 metres with the front running Ride Modified drivers running 18-lap seconds. With its super smooth surface and perfect curbing, the track’s key feature is the main straight’s left hand kink.

Image Gallery

June 25, 2015

ETS #8 concludes with record entry

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The Yokomo Euro Touring Series concludes its 8th season this weekend (June 26-28) at the World famous Hudy Racing Arena in Slovakia with the sixth & final round highlighting the championship’s continued world wide appeal. Attracting a record 365 entries, the season finale will also mark a new record for the number of nations represented with the flags of 36 different countries set to hang at the 45th running of an ETS race weekend. On the track the main focus come Sunday will be on crowning champions with both the Ride Modified and the Xray Pro Stock titles still to be decided.

A championship widely regarded now as one of the most prestigious titles the sport has to offer, defending champion Ronald Volker is close to extending his reign over the ETS to a fifth season however as seen at Round 5 in Luxembourg nothing can be taken for granted. Expected to sow the title up there, the Yokomo driver ended up not even making the podium handing his long time arch rival Marc Rheinard an outside chance of capturing back the title he last held in 2010. Last year the Hudy Racing Arena proved a successful hunting ground for Tamiya with Rheinard heading a TRF 1-2 with Volker third.

A season that has produced four different race winners, Volker, Rheinard, Prumper and Coelho, one driver looking to add his name to that list will be former 2-time champion Jilles Groskamp. Moving from Tamiya to HB/HPI Racing this season, the 2012 World Champion came so close to winning in Luxembourg and backing that up with a Euro Nitro Series 1-2 behind team-mate Teemu Leino in Austria, it is clear the Dutchman is revelling in his new surroundings. Knowing the speed is now there, Groskamp’s confidence has never been higher. Joining HB’s regular ETS squad of Groskamp, Andy Moore and Freddy Sudhoff for his first outing of this season will be JJ Wang. The Shanghai driver will be one to watch after displaying some impressive race craft at this year’s Reedy Race of Champions that grab the attention and respect of a number of touring car’s establishment.

The driver who has injected a new lease of interest into the world of electric touring car racing, Bruno Coelho proved last time out that he is the real deal by claiming his first ETS win. With this weekend the home race of his Xray team, the factory where the T4 is produced overlooking the track, the Portuguese star will be hoping to carry the momentum of Round 5 and give the Hudy family cause for great celebration. Team-mate Alexander Hagberg, one of the seven world champions competing this weekend, qualified P2 in Luxembourg and won A3 would like nothing better than to end his campaign with a win having occupied the other two podium positions this season.

Elsewhere, having finished second in Slovakia 12-months ago Viktor Wilck would like to conclude his first ETS season with Serpent with a strong showing. The 2-time race winner, both with Tamiya, has shown flashes of speed with his new team and maybe this weekend he and team-mate Marc Fischer will pull it all together to give the marquee its first win.

In Pro Stock, the ETS’ biggest class with 388 drivers having registered championship points so far this season, Lars Hoppe is looking to end Xray and Marek Cerny’s title reign. ARC driver Hoppe and Cerny have had a great championship battle sharing two wins each but there is no love lost between the duo after they clashed in Luxembourg allowing Serpent’s Julian Borowski to claim his first win. With already crowned Formula Champion Jan Ratheisky, team-mate to Cerny, going out of the title chase at Round 5, it is advantage Hoppe going into the decider but last year Cerny pulled it off after a late turn around of his campaign that saw him go head to head for the title with Ratheisky. All of the action from the Hudy Racing Arena will be streamed live via Red RC.

May 31, 2015

Video – Modified, Pro Stock & Formula A3

May 31, 2015

Coelho endorses huge following with first ETS win

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Bruno Coelho has won the fifth round of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Luxembourg, a fourth place in the final A-Main enough for the A2 winner to secure his first overall win in the world famous electric touring car championship. An event that would see four drivers go into A3 with a chance of the overall win, the new star of touring cars Coelho would become only the 11th different winner of the ETS’ premiere class helped by Xray team-mate Alexander Hagberg taking the win ahead of Marc Rheinard. Again briefly taking the lead only to again roll his HB Jilles Groskamp would complete the podium at the unique Mini Circuit “Ville de Luxembourg” track. For reigning champion Ronald Volker his chance to secure a fifth consecutive title will have to wait until the season finale at the Hudy Arena after he put his Yokomo on the grass while leading, leaving him to end the event 5th overall. Rheinard’s second today means the Tamiya driver still has a very slim chance of the title.

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A driver who burst onto the international scene when he finished runner-up at the World Championships in Florida last October, Coelho said it was ‘super good to finally get an ETS win’. Still in his first year as a full time factory driver the win is a breakthrough in terms of lifting the huge expectations that had fallen on the soon to turn 22-year-old. With his spectacular driving style and fighting spirit gaining the Portuguese driver a huge following around the world today’s victory proves that his true talent is substantiated. Looking back on his first season of ETS, he said bad results at the opening two rounds where a combination of carpet being a totally new experience for him and nerves having got the better of him adding the poor performances where fully down to him and not his equipment. Once the championship moved outdoors on to asphalt, familiar territory for the long time nitro racer, his speed became apparent but clashes between himself and Volker denied him from harnassing that pace but today that all changed. ‘All the problems between me and Volker are now behind us, we talked it over at the start of this weekend. I think you just have to look at the great racing we had in A2 to see that’.

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Commenting on this third final, he said it was a difficult race as his T4 would be ‘super good’ and then become completely loose as if something was broken. On passing the stranded car of Groskamp on lap 2 he said the car without warning just did a donut dropping him back to 7th. Recovering to fourth behind Serpent’s Marc Fischer, he said while he could catch them the car kept randomly breaking loose dropping him back again an issue he could only put down to the wind. Complimenting Hagberg on his ‘perfect drive’ to take the A3 win he said it turned out to be a pretty important win for him by the Swede. With the next round of the ETS at his Xray team’s home track he said while racing always brings pressure today’s win means he can go there with less pressure.

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Claiming only his second podium finish of the season, Rheinard said ‘from 6th on the grid to finish 2nd is good but I wanted more’. The Tamiya driver, whose only other podium finish was when he won Round 2 in Germany, said when he saw Volker crash he thought I have to go for the win. He said after being able to catch Hagberg his car ‘suddenly had no pace anymore’ and towards the end it ‘started to push more and more to the left’ ending his challenge for what could have been a very significant win for the ETS’ most winning driver. While the result gives him a really small chance of the regaining the title he lost to Volker four years ago, he said realistically the title is decided as he needs the perfect weekend and for Volker to finish 3rd or lower.

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‘I had it in the bag and I threw it away again’, was how Groskamp summed up A3. Despite having been so close to a first ETS win for a number of seasons, the 2012 World Champion said ‘I got too excited at the car being amazing and at being back again mixing it for the win. Now that we have the car so good I just need to get the driver good again’. His first podium for his new HB team whom he only joined in March, he said the weekend was a huge step forward and he is really excited for the season finale. Feeling he had the best car in the finals, his PRO5 posting the fastest lap time of A3, he said he wouldn’t touch the car for the Hudy Arena and ‘will just put it on the track there as it is working so good’.

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Having struggled in the opening two mains, Hagberg would discover this was related to an electrics problem that was effecting how the car drove. Fitting a new speedo and motor for A3 the nitro touring car World Champion said it worked fine again but unfortunately the problem was discovered too late. While ‘a shame to miss the podium’, losing out on the tie break for third with Groskamp, he said the win was an important one for his Xray team as it helped Coelho secure the win, the Slovakian manufacturers fourth ETS win.

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‘A massive massive disappointment’ was how Volker summed up how his day had gone. Having had a somewhat below par Day 1 at the event, Day 2 was t a perfect day with three TQ runs that netted him an 18th overall TQ. Today however he would again struggle. While ‘big time annoyed with the tyre situation’, many drivers having issues with quality consistency between sets, he said this time however it was his own fault that he threw away the opportunity to win. Having opened up twice so as to avoid contact, opening up in A2 to Groskamp & Coelho and then Groskamp again in A3, he said he was very disappointed that he ‘messed up in the sweeper’ by putting a wheel on the paint which put his car into the grass while leading. Having had become somewhat of a sparring partner for Coelho at the last two rounds of the championship Volker paid compliments to Coelho on what he said was a ‘deserved first victory’.

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In Formula, with Olivier Bultynck sitting out A3 having wrapped up his first victory of the season with wins in the opening two encounters, it was David Ehrbar who would take the win ahead of Jacques Libar to secure second overall. Finishing third, Jan Ratheisky would complete the podium in Luxembourg and with it become the first ETS Season #8 champion securing his third consecutive title in Formula.

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With two different winners in the opening two mains, the Xray Pro Stock class would be decided in A3. Starting from pole position defending champion Marek Cerny, winner of A2, would lead away from A1 winner Lars Hoppe but on lap 8 the title contenders would clash in the sweeper. While Hoppe would get a Stop & Go, Cerny would retire his Xray. This left Serpent’s Julian Borowski go to the lead which he would hold to the end followed by Schumacher driver Nicolai Lindegaard. The win would give Borowski his first overall ETS victory and he would be joined on the podium by Lindegaard and Hoppe.

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View the complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

May 31, 2015

Chassis Focus – Henrik Heitsch

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Chassis – ARC R10 2015 ATS
Motor – Muchmore (handout)
ESC – Muchmore (handout)
Batteries – LRP 7500 mah
Tires – Ride (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/Savox
Bodyshell – Blitz LSF
Remarks – Head of the ARC Team here at the ETS, German driver Henrik Heitsch is running an interesting version of the R10 2015 ATS. The car is equipped with a new pre-production floating steering system that is meant to increase mid-corner steering and will be available in four weeks. He is also using the new LSF Blitz bodyshell.