Jan Ratheisky – ETS Scorpion Formula Champion Season #14 2021/22
Jan Ratheisky is our newly crowned champion of the Scorpion Formula class. He attended four out of five races this season and won three of them. This season’s title is Jan Ratheisky`s seventh (!) overall championship in the ETS Formula class – what an amazing achievement for him. He is the ETS most successful F1 driver and we are not calling him “the master of F1” without a reason! Here is what Jan told us about his passion for RC racing, and especially about the formula class:
ETS – Hello Jan, thank you for taking some time to sit down for a quick Interview with us. This season, you have won your seventh overall ETS title in the Formula class. What is your secret of being so fast with Formula cars on track?
JR – Good morning 😉 7th title – time fly’s man. What’s the secret? There is none. Just enjoy racing 😊 have to say it’s never that easy how it may looks like.
ETS – As we mentioned before, you are the most successful driver of the Formula class in the history of the ETS. When you look back on all these years of racing, which drivers have been your hardest competitors on track and which championship title was the hardest to win for you?
JR – Well there are a few over the last years. But David is for sure one of the biggest of them. There are also “big guns” in the pipelines who are very fast in F1 like Luke, Jitse and as we run foam now also Rene seems to be way quicker with that. Game on 😊
ETS – How was it to race against RC car superstar and record IFMAR world champion Masami Hirosaka when he came back from retirement to race one ETS with us in the Formula class (2016 Mühlheim-Kärlich)?
JR – Man what a great memory. I remember still the complete event. A highlight! Here is another side story… I build a car for the one and only Mr Scotty Ernst so he has the 100th entry spot! So not just Masami… also the biggest F1 race those days. But back to Masami… As I said he is and always will be the guy which I looked up to. I was more than happy that I was able to beat him but also… let’s say very frustrated that he got some bad luck in the finals and finished out of the podium. I would have the podium picture in my living room for sure. Now I still have the pic with him and all his trophies in the background.
ETS – Let us talk a little bit about the Formula RC cars in general. What is your fascination about those cars, especially when we compare them with the more popular 4WD touring cars?
JR – Fascination is maybe the wrong word. I love that class since we ran it back in the days with 6 cells and 12×3 brushed modified motors. I like any kind of pan car classes. My advantage is mostly that I can drive not too bad even when the car setup isn’t on point. And this class with that (bad) rubber tires fits me very well. Don’t understand me wrong. I don’t judge the tires. Same for everyone. But the cars just don’t work well as we want with the rubber tires no matter which brand. So, I’m able to make faster lap times just with forcing the car over the limit. So yea… lets say this is my fascination on this class hehe. Have do add… as long the car is equal tweaked… the setup is overrated 😉
ETS – We all know that you are not only fast in Formula – you are amazing touring car racer as well. Do you have to practice more for the touring car classes, or do you put in the same work and practice in your Formula racing as well?
JR – I just practice F1 if we try any new parts to be honest. If I am on my clubs’ tracks, I just like to run TC with whatever it is inside from the last race. Just to burn some laps. I am also very happy that my entire family is racing now. So, I must fix and repair a lot for them. But that’s how it must be.
ETS – For all the newcomers in the Formula class: What are the things you are mostly changing on your Xray Formula car setup wise? Do you have some favourite setup parameters you are playing with or is it always different?
JR – I have a very solid basic setup. Mostly I just change my setup with rear wing position, side tubes and most important, droop settings. Now as it seems foam will be the future… I also look to the gear diff setting. To say it easy… when traction comes up = harder diff needed! BUT… as I mentioned before: Make sure the car is well tweaked and just get maximum track time. To handle the car on the limit is most important.
ETS – In the last two races of the season, the foam tires found their way back on track. They are now in use in the ETS Scorpion Formula class. What are your thoughts on that and what have you learned about these tires so far?
JR – I love it! There is not much to learn as the ETS crew made the rules very easy. We use the same diameter as with the rubber tire. So, after adding glue to the sidewall on the front tires the car works very well. Would be way more complicated and faster if tire truing would be allowed but I very much like that it’s NOT.
ETS – A lot of “hobby drivers” would like to know how often you go for practice and testing. It is for sure different right now because of the Covid-19 pandemic, but how was it looking like before that mess started? How much practice does a multiple ETS champion need?
JR – I can’t answer that because it changes from month to month. I would say no practice is “needed”. It depends on how much time you want to invest. As we have a permanent indoor track 2 minutes away from my work, I was there for sure 1-2 times a week for a couple of packs. But I wasn’t there this year. Lots of work and family things needs me to take some time to rest as well. I love RC and I can’t and don’t want to stop it. But it is, and always will be a hobby for me. I want to add that for sure I do practice but as I said before… mostly I just ran packs for fun. No tire glue checking setup changes or whatever… just driving. I just test with sense and time if we test new things. For example, the Xray X4.
ETS – Which is your so called “home track” right now? And please also let us know which is your all-time favourite track you have been racing on with your Xray Formula car?
JR – My home track(s) are located in Braunschweig. We have a winter permanent carpet track together with 2 outdoor tracks. One is a smaller electric track on the same area as the carpet one and the other one is a nitro track with the size like that. My all-time favourite track, “Sponsored or not” is the Hudy Arena Outdoor track for sure 😉
ETS – What are your plans for the next season? Will we see you on track in the Pro Stock and Formula class again, or do you plan any changes on your racing programme?
JR – This is not decided yet but as travel will be allowed more and more again, I might go to more oversea races in the future again.
ETS – Thank you for your time, Jan. We wish you the best of luck for the rest of 2022 and for your upcoming years of RC racing. Thank you for being a part of our ETS family. Now it is all up to you to round up our nice little interview!
JR – Thanks a lot and no problem at all – cheers 😉
