Goodyear FIA ETRC Q&A: José Eduardo Rodrigues

With an outright race win and a career-best fifth in the final overall standings to boot, this is what the Reboconort Racing Truck Team ace had to say.

Looking back, how would you describe your Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship season?
“It was a good start for me in the fight for the Young Driver title. We try at Misano to push to the maximum to see where it’s possible to fight. My accident with René [Reinert] in Slovakia, was a big crash. Maybe my mistake, maybe René’s mistake, I don’t know but it was a big crash because the truck was 10 metres in the air. In Nürburgring I have problems in the first day, so I tried to secure my position, try the maximum, focusing in this moment on the championship, the same as in Most. So, for me it was ups and downs, we had good results and bad results, and it was not an easy season. But we tried to understand and learn the maximum for the future. I don’t finish all the races, we had some touches, some problems with the truck, but we try to see what happened and try some solutions, it’s the most important to be learning all the time.”

You successfully defended your Goodyear FIA ETRC Young Driver title in 2026. How good did that feel?
“Very good. It was a big year with a lot of ups and downs, but we had a very good pace, we were pushing to the maximum and it’s very good.”

As well as winning the Goodyear FIA ETRC Young Driver title, you finished fifth in the final overall standings, a two-place improvement from 2025, following a battle with Steffi Halm, which was decided during the final race of the season at Jarama. What was that like?
“We wanted to be five overall, so we tried to push to the maximum in the third race and in the fourth race we were lucky because René did not start in the first position and we tried to stay behind Steffi all the time, so I was very happy with this result. We focused in the start to stay in the fifth position, so it’s very good we did this.”

During your Young Driver title celebrations at Le Mans your you called on more racers of a similar age to you to try the Goodyear FIA ETRC for size. Why?
“We need more young drivers, more people to compete with us. It’s a fantastic championship with very good people, so if it’s possible, come. We need more young drivers to push me and Bradley [Smith], pushing us to the maximum. Lukas [Hahn] is also part of the championship and always pushing when he comes. Maybe in the future we have more young drivers which is very good for me, for the championship and for everyone.”

You have a reputation among your Goodyear FIA ETRC rivals for being a respectful racing driver, is that fair”
“Respectful I try but, in some moments, I have touches and it’s possible you can retire the truck but it’s racing. I try to respect every pilot and, in the end, the most important is the respect for the other opponents. I’m not a pilot who touch too much the penalty markers. I try to stay in my line, the normal line. Maybe when I have not a good line or some touch with other guys, I don’t control the truck, it’s normal to touch the penalty markers, but I try to be careful with the markers.”

Full 2026 Goodyear FIA European Truck Racing Championship standings are available by clicking HERE. All results are subject to final confirmation by the FIA. Revisit the 2026 season on YouTube and stay tuned for more on the Goodyear FIA ETRC.

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