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The 2008 European Championship 1/10 Electric Touring Car was held the first weekend of August. Drivers from over 20 countries around Europe came to battle for the prestigious title and all factory teams were present with their racing teams to showcase their very best. Most of the teams participated at the warm-up races, either at the unofficial practice a few weeks before the Euros or at the official European Championship Warm-up race which was won by the young XRAY team driver Elliot Harper.

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XRAY was at full strength at the European Championship with both the racing team and the support team with the XRAY service tent, and all spares available for all XRAY drivers. From Team XRAY it was Teemu Leino (Finland), Elliott Harper (UK), Alexander Hagberg (Sweden), Steven Weiss (Germany), Dirk Wischnewski (Germany) and of course plenty of other XRAY drivers from other European countries. Juraj and Martin Hudy from the XRAY factory were present as usual for technical and set-up support.

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Team XRAY was on pace from the very first practices and the main challenge for all the drivers and teams was to find the best set-up for the constantly changing track conditions. In previous years the weather (and mostly the rain) were challenges for everybody, but this time it was sunny and the hot track was changing its characteristics almost every hour. In practice it was Teemu and Steven who were setting the pace while both young XRAY stars Alex and Elliott were turning very fast and consistent lap times.

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During the qualifiers on Friday and Saturday there were both ups and downs for the team. Out of five runs there were two best rounds to count and the expected XRAY aces (Teemu & Steven) confirmed their places in the top 10. The previous European Junior Champion Alex Hagberg was on rails as well and with very consistent results in all his runs he got into the A main final as well. The biggest surprise of qualifying was definitely young XRAY driver Eliott Harper who was also very consistent runs and at the end his two best runs rocketed him up into the top 10 and gave him a starting position in the main final at the 2008 Euros. This was a great result for the young talented driver for whom this was the first Euros ever, clearly showing that there are opportunities for new and young drivers to get into the European or even join the World's best drivers. With Teemu, Steven, Alex and Elliott in the main, Team XRAY - with 4 cars out of 10 - was the strongest and most successful team in the qualifiers. With the very strong presence and best efforts of all the teams, it was already a great result and success but of course the team focused on doing its best in Sunday's finals.

2008 European Championship qualifying results:
1. Ronald Volker (Germany)
2. Marc Rheinard (Germany)
3. Viktor Wilck (Sweden)
4. Andy Moore (UK)
5. Teemo Leino (FinlandI) - XRAY T2'008
6. Jilles Groskamp (Netherlands)
7. Marc Fischer (Germany)
8. Steven Weiss (Germany) - XRAY T2'008
9. Alexander Hagberg (Sweden) - XRAYT2'008
10. Elliott Harper (UK) - XRAY T2'008

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The first final started very well. After a few laps, Teemu went from his 5th starting position into 2nd position and Alex showed incredible talent by moving from his 9th starting position into 3rd position where he finished. The first final finished with great 2nd and 3rd positions for XRAY.

A-main Leg 1 results:
1. Marc Rheinard
2. Teemo Leino - XRAY T2'008
3. Alexander Hagberg - XRAY T2'008

4. Vikor Wilck
5. Andy Moore
6. Jilles Groskamp
7. Steven Weiss - XRAY T2'008
8. Marc Fischer
9. Elliott Harper - XRAY T2'008
10. Ronald Volker

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The second final was even more exciting! After a few laps and very close racing, Teemu worked his way into 4th position where he cruised for the remainder of the race while a strong battle went on in the middle of the field. Teemu was on the tail of Andy Moore in 3rd position and in the last few laps was trying to pass Andy. In the very last lap Teemu passed Andy at the end of the main straight which moved him into 3rd position and he just needed to get through the last corners and cross the finish line but the unexpected happened. his ESC broke just few meters before the finish line and he not only lost his 3rd position but also put him to the end of the field. This was a huge disappointment for Teemu and for Team XRAY as well as the 2nd + 3rd position would mean great chances for the podium and even more when the winner of this final Marc Rheinard was disqualified for illegal cells which would move Teemu to 2nd position.

A-main Leg 2 results:
1. Viktor Wilck
2. Andy Moore
3. Jilles Groskamp
4. Ronald Volker
5. Steven Weiss - XRAY T2'008
6. Elliott Harper - XRAY T2'008
7. Alexander Hagberg - XRAY T2'008

8. Marc Fischer
9. Teemo Leino - XRAY T2'008
10. Marc Rheinard

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The chances were still open for everybody in the last final and there were several drivers who could still take the final and overall win. Teemu was the one who could still get a good result but all his chances were gone after the start when he got into a collision in heavy traffic in the fast right-hand corner and went off the track. With the very high efforts from everybody at Team XRAY team, the 2008 European Championship finished without a podium finish but it was still a great success for Team XRAY - Elliott Harper won the trophy and title of Junior European Champion and made it another great success and title for Team XRAY. and it was his own first major achievement.

2008 European Championship final results:
1. Marc Rheinard
2. Vikor Wilck
3. Ronald Volker
4. Andy Moore
5. Teemo Leino - XRAY T2'008
6. Alexander Hagberg - XRAY T2'008

7. Jilles Groskamp
8. Steven Weiss - XRAY T2'008
9. Elliott Harper - XRAY T2'008

10. Marc Fischer

2008 European Junior Championship final results:
1. Eliott Harper - XRAY T2'008
2. Christer Anderson
3. Christopher Krapp

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XRAY would like to thank everybody for a great and exciting European Championship. A big thanks goes to all XRAY drivers and customers for the ongoing support and trust in XRAY products and services. Thanks go to organisers for running the event and all other teams for making this race competitive and exciting.

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Despite missing the podium at the European Championship, Team XRAY leaves the 2008 European Champion with a great achievement of being the major representative in the main final, taking the Junior Champion title but especially a great achievement of having the XRAY touring cars be the most favourite choice. With the famous highest performance and premium quality of XRAY touring cars, supported by well-known ongoing development and backed up with the most professional support and service, it was no wonder that once again it was the XRAY touring car which was most frequently represented. In most cases, the XRAY touring car was the choice for private drivers.

2008 European Championship presence of electric touring cars:
XRAY - 46
Tamiya - 25
Corally - 18
Schumacher - 16
Hot Bodies - 15
Yokomo - 7
Associated - 6
Kyosho - 4
TOP - 2
Losi - 2
Team Magic - 1
Serpent - 1
Robitronic - 1

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XRAY would like to thank to all the XRAY customers for their ongoing support and trust in their products and services and the ongoing success and interest in XRAY products fuels us to continue to work on improving not only the products but also the service and support so as to provide the best experience to every XRAY customer both on and off the track.

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