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View on the track and the drivers' stand

The XRAY Support Team is present at the European Championship and since we finally have a very good Internet connection we will try to bring you daily updates, news, and stories from the race. Enjoy and have fun.


The left side of the track - view from the drivers

The 2007 European Championship in 1/10 electric touring category takes place at one of the best European touring car tracks, in the central part of France in a smaller town Montbrison. The track is really some of the better one and the whole facility is very well prepared and laid out. The asphalt is very flat and definitely best asphalt from all the Euros in the last year, so all the drivers are very happy for the quality of the track. Not only the quality of the track is excellent but also the layout is very enjoying, it is very fast but at the same time very technical with a lot of chicanes where the proper balance of the car will be the key competitive advantage, as well several 180 degree corners and few very fast corners. Finally this is the track where the power will not be the deciding factor like it used to be at the Euros in several last years and this small and technical track will definitely challenge not only the skills but also the setup knowledge of all the drivers.


The right side of the track - view from the drivers

The weather forecast seems to be friendly after last year•s rain and wash-outs, and despite there being a short rainstorm today in the morning the entire first day of free practice was very hot and should remain so for the remainder of the week.


The central part of the track

For the 7th year in a row, XRAY is the main and principal sponsor of the European Championship, thus supporting not only the organizers to assist in making this race a reality, but also to support the hobby. As main sponsor, the XRAY Support Team arrived at the track on Monday to prepare everything for the team and to organize the whole promotion. The XRAY Service Van is fully loaded with all spare parts and option parts that will be needed throughout the whole week, and service and support will be provided to all XRAY drivers free of charge during the event.


XRAY's exclusive VIP support service available at the track

All XRAY drivers as usual have received a large gift bag fully loaded with some very cool goodies and new stuff, including the all-new exclusive XRAY aluminum pit board customised with each driver name which will be available only in a very limited edition. Besides plenty of other stuff, all XRAY drivers received a nice present from HUDY • a new exclusive touring car stand, again customised with laser-engraved driver•s name and additionally two all-new HUDY Ultra-fine Droop Gauges and Ride Height Gauges, all available exclusively before official public sales. For more special care for all XRAY drivers, of course everybody was got fully dressed with all-new XRAY T-shirts, XRAY cap, lanyard and of course new XRAY pit towels for the pits. First class luxury service is provided to any XRAY owner, no matter if it is team driver or regular customer.


XRAY's private pit area

After 1? days of preparation of the whole facility and VIP pit area for XRAY team drivers, the Support Center was built right in front of the entrance with a nice showcase of the whole XRAY product lineup. After the first day•s of preparation, the first drivers started to arrive on Wednesday to check out the track and to be ready for the first practice on Thursday (today). After the arrival of the entire Team XRAY, everybody prepared the cars and was ready for the first practice. Unfortunately it started to rain a bit so nobody ran in the first heats, but in a short time the track became dry again and the sun rose so the whole day was busy with open practice.


Today's free practice started very well for the team

After the warm-up and very precise preparation by the XRAY factory team, we have made huge progress with test sessions at the track, and preparing and testing several new ideas for a longer time in different racing conditions to be ready for any grip conditions that will be available at the Euros. With the Euros track layout that was built at XRAY's own indoor racing facility there were very long tests on schedule for the last few weeks with focus on very small details which really paid off as it was shown today in open practice. Despite there being no official timing it was obvious that it was Jilles, Teemu and Martin who set the pace with the fastest laps as well as Steven Weiss who was very fast in the last open practice run.


The super fast corner just after the straight

The French XRAY team has been consistently super fast at this track and there is a lot of high expectations on them as all of them are very young and super fast drivers who seem to be born on this track and their performance is very positively surprising. Hopefully they will have enough good luck and rhythm in the race, too. In the afternoon when the weather was not so hot, other teams seemed to get up to a similar pace and it was then World Champions Marc Rheinard and Andy Moore being at the top as well as Ronald Volker. As this is only open practice there are no big assumptions and conclusions made since the day was used to test different set-up details or even different bodies. But tomorrow•s timed practice and first qualifiers will start to see some competition.


Martin Hudy has been doing very well too



Jilles was incredibly fast during the day

We will try to keep up the live updates and post any news and results during the day. You can meanwhile post any comments or questions to the XRAY forum and you can send regards to any of your favourite XRAY drivers which we will be forwarded to the drivers or you may even ask any question and we will try to get it answered by the drivers themselves during the day.



See you tomorrow and enjoy the ride.


Jilles keeping the shortest corner


Waiting for the free practice start


The adrenaline during the practice was like in the real race


We see sometimes also off-road tricks


Some extra action photos below








Drivers from last group ready for the run




Andreas and Alex, cool guys from Sweden


Mathias Rascol besides racing also updates the French web site


Cyril is not only big guy but also very fast in today's practice


Jilles preparing his car


Ben as usually has the smile on his face, a nice guy from Team XRAY UK


Some serious faces when you stand on the drivers' stand


Jilles still sticks to his stick radio


Cyril's body is really nicely painted


Jilles was relaxed the whole day and seems in good form


Was Jilles fast due his exorcise tricks?