ETS racing in the Netherlands
The third round of ETS Season #14 2021/22 is coming up this week when teams and racers will travel to the beautiful venue of the AMCA Apeldoorn in the Netherlands. This will be the seventh time for the ETS to race in Apeldoorn, at a very unique and outstanding track. When you want to learn more about the AMCA Apeldoorn, just read our Track Check which we publish here in the next days.
Scotty Ernst once again stopped by last minute restrictions
After we announced the return of Scotty Ernst last week, things have changed again one more time. With the Netherlands pointing out some stricter rules for US citizens when they enter the country, Scotty will not be able to fly over as he can not stay in quarantine for such a long time.
The ETS crew had to adapt to this situation quickly, and luckily Phil Richter was able to get some time off from work to arrive in the Netherlands on Friday evening – thanks to him for jumping in the announcers role once again for ETS RD3!
200 Entries for ETS RD3
After the last 4 ETS races all took place in Germany (1 x Daun, 3 x Arena33), we are very happy to see 200 entries for the first race in a different country since a long time. This shows the huge interest for the ETS from drivers all around Europe. The ongoing support from all these drivers is vital for the future of the ETS and shows the importance of our racing series!
But now, let us take a closer look onto the different classes, the list of entries, and what to expect from drivers and teams at ETS RD3 Season #14 2021/22 in Apeldoorn, NED.
Matrix Modified
World Champs returning to the ETS
In the Matrix Modified class we will see the return of three IFMAR world champions to the ETS. Xray`s Bruno Coelho (reigning touring car world champion) and teammate Alexander Hagberg (former 1:12 scale world champion) can travel without crucial travel restrictions again. They will make the trip from Portugal to the third race of the season, which will be their first outing after they sadly had to cancel RD1 and RD2.
With Marc Rheinard (Touring Car), Ronald Völker (Touring Car) and Robert Pietsch (1:8 Nitro) there are 3 other former World Champions in the mix making it a total of 5 IFMAR world champions in the Matrix Modified class. What an amazing turnout!
Can Mugen Seiki`s Völker stay on top of the game?
The last 4 ETS races saw the same winner – Ronald Völker. The German driver changed teams from Yokomo to Mugen Seiki in Oktober 2020 and continued winning races in a dominant and impressing way for his new main sponsor.
He will be the man to beat in Apeldoorn and he will see strong support on and off track from his teammates Eric Dankel and Mugen designer Robert Pietsch. They looked strong at Arena33 where they both qualified for the A-Main 2 times in a row.
The weekend in Apeldoorn will give a close-up on the form of Ronald and the growing Mugen Seiki Team on a different track.
Rheinard and Awesomatix aiming for victory
Awesomatix lead driver Marc Rheinard was very close to Völker (especially at the German nationals) and tried everything to collect his first win for his Awesomatix team after he switched to the Russian brand at the beginning of 2020. But in the end, he finished second on the podium behind Völker four times in a row at the ETS now. Not a bad result for sure, but we all know that the multiple world champion Rheinard still wants more!
With Marc Rheinard`s teammate Lucas Urbain once again not being able to make the trip (job commitments), his other Awesomatix teammates Michele Manzo, Tim Wahl and Dominic Vogl will work together closeley with Marc at ETS RD3 to achieve the best possible result for the Awesomatix brand around their car designer Oleg Babich!
Xray loading their guns
With one of Völkers biggest rivals from the last years, Xray`s Bruno Coelho, being on the entry list for Apeldoorn, it will be very interesting to see if he can challenge Völker even harder as Awesomatix driver Marc Rheinard did in the last races. Coelho had to watch the last 2 races from home, and he told us about his return:
It’s great to be back in the game!! Unfortunately, due to the German Covid-19 rules I couldn’t fly to Germany to attend the first two rounds of ETS, so finally now I’m allowed to fly to the Netherlands. I’m looking forward to it and I am very excited to race again!
Bruno Coelho
Bruno Coelho will not be the only Xray driver trying to hunt down Völker. His Xray teammate Alexander Hagberg will also push hard after he had to pause for the same period of time as Bruno. Alex can be a contender for the win when everything goes in his direction, and he is always prepared in a perfect way. We also had a quick chat with him, and he said:
After regretfully missing out on the first two rounds of the ETS series this year, it feels great to finally be back at the 3rd round. I’ve got to say, that it was a bit painful to watch from home, seeing both my competitors and teammates race it out at Arena33. Not painful for the results (our team did really well), but the feeling of missing out. But now the focus is set on Apeldoorn, a really nice race track which I look forward to being back at! Both myself and Bruno are extremely motivated to get the best possible result there. I’m also looking forward to seeing all my friends and team mates again. I also very much look forward to the return of the legend Scotty Ernst, another person which I haven’t been able to see since the start of the pandemic.
Alexander Hagberg
Together with Coelho and Hagberg, Xray will line up in Apeldoorn with all their other top guns as Antoine Brunet, Oliver Havranek and Marco Kaufmann will be in attendance as well. They stepped into the role of the team leaders while Hagberg and Coelho had to stay at home, and they performed really well at Arena33. As Xray announced a completely new car platform some weeks ago, they will be the team to watch at RD3 in Apeldoorn.
Yokomo`s Krapp wants a podium
After finishing 4th for two times in a row at Arena33, Yokomo`s Christopher Krapp will try to grab a spot on the podium one more time in Apeldoorn. He had a great pace in all his last races, and he finished second overall at the last ETS race in Apeldoorn which was held in June 2019. He really seems to like the track in the Netherlands and together with his Yokomo team he will attack in full force.
Krapp will arrive in Apeldoorn with his teammates Yannic Prümper and Loic Jasmin to get the best possible team result for the Japanese company. After his third place at Arena33, we can expect Yannic Prümper still on a high in Apeldoorn.
Xray ProStock
Xray – The dominant force in ProStock
With two wins on their score card, Xray is the team to beat in the ProStock class this season. Alexandre Duchet had two amazing races at Arena33 and is leading the championship, but also Jan Ratheisky and Lukas Ellerbrock are placed in the overall top 4 right now.
With Xray unveiling their new X4 platform to the public pretty soon, the attention will be on the performance of the team drivers even more as everybody wants to know how the new car performs on track!
Awesomatix still in the hunt
At ETS RD2 in Andernach, Simon Lauter finished third on the podium and was the highest ranked driver for Awesomatix. A strong result for sure, but as we all know about the high ambitions of the Awesomatix team in the ProStock class, we can expect them to fight back with full force in the Netherlands.
Their top stock drivers Mächler, Bultynck, Kunkler, Hofer and Kretschmer will all travel to the Netherlands and try everything to finally get a driver back on the highest step of the podium!
Best of the rest
As most of the cars in the ProStock A-Main are Xray and Awesomatix since a very long time, it is always interesting to find out who is “best of the rest” in the super strong Xray ProStock class. Enrico Jung showed great racing with two A-Main finishes for Yokomo, Tim Benson and Alex Kunkler made it into the A-Main (one time each) with the Mugen Seiki car and Nicolai Lindegaard qualified himself for the big show two times as well with his Schumacher ride.
Let`s see who can mix up the Awesomatix and Xray dominated field of cars in Apeldoorn!
Hobbywing Frontwheel
Battle between Olsen and Schulz
In the Hobbywing Frontwheel class it looks like we will see a battle between Steven Olsen and Stefan Schulz for the overall championship title. Olsen is leading the championship by one point from Schulz and they looked to be the most consistent drivers during the first two races at Arena33.
Behind them, Henrik Heitsch and Kevin Sparbier are ranked 3rd and 4th in the championship and with a TQ and a race win, they can hang out with Schulz and Olsen to fight for the title until the end of the season.
Stock 17.5
Who can break Bemmerl`s winning streak?
The 17.5 Stock class is searching for a driver to stop Thomas Bemmerl winning race after race. He is leading the Championship with a comfortable gap of 8 points right now in front of the still reigning champion Daniel Pöhlmann.
Let`s see if guys like Maximilian Unterschütz, Roman Borschel, David Kuschnarew, Daniel Pöhlmann or anybody else can take the win away from top favorite Thomas Bemmerl in Apeldoorn.
The track is wide and open and we expect some great racing from everybody in the 17.5 Stock class at ETS RD3.
Tonisport 40+ Masters
Morgen leading the championship
After a second place at RD1 and an impressive win at RD2, Caspar Morgen is the championship leader in the 40+ Masters class which is now presented by Tonisport. Because we saw a lot of position changes in the finals during the last two races, Caspar Morgen was able to built up a gap of 8 points between himself and his rivals.
Mirco Thalheimer who is second overall (tied on points with Thomas Oehler) is not on the list of entries for Apeldoorn which will allow Thomas Oehler, Werner Schmitzer and 5th place ranked Ingo Braun to collect important points for the championship. With the field of drivers including a lot of other really fast guys making their first ETS appearance of the season, we maybe will see somebody else being on top of the podium on Sunday!
Scorpion Formula
Who can crash the Ratheisky and Ehrbar Show?
The Scorpion Formula class is in the hands of championship leader Jan Ratheisky and his second placed long-time rival David Ehrbar. They are racing each other since a long time now and they know each other very well. The respect they show each other on track is amazing and produced some great racing in the past. In the last two races, Ratheisky had that extra percent of pace on his side, and it was not easy for Ehrbar to challenge him seriously.
Behind the leading duo we see Renè Kölbel and Herbert Weber in the Top 4 of the championship. They will try everything to get as close as possible to Ehrbar and Ratheisky in the Netherlands. With Dutch driver Jitse Miedema, we have another ETS race winner on the list of entries for RD3 and maybe Jitse can be a great challenger for Jan and David in front of his home crowd – we will find it out in Apeldoorn!
We are happy to welcome all of you for ETS RD3 Season #14 2021/22 in the Netherlands
Let`s go racing!
