From dusk till Daun
The fifth round of ETS Season #14 2021/22 will finally take us to the Sporthotel Grafenwald in Daun again. The last indoor race we had in Daun (February 2020) was the last ETS race before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Since then, we have been waiting for the day the ETS returns to Daun, as we always saw fantastic RC racing in the village located close to the world famous Nürburgring!
Covid-19 rules still dominating everything
It is not something we all have ever dreamed of, but after a long time with different and quickly changing Covid-19 rules, we have adapted ourselves a little bit to this situation. For our race in Daun we still must accept some strict rules. We are sure that we can count on your cooperation as we could in the last 5 ETS races since we got racing back underway in September 2020 at Arena33 in Andernach/GER.
Another huge turnout at ETS RD5
It is amazing to see so many entries for the race in Daun (300+). The fascination and the secrets of success of our races in Daun are a mix of several things. The Sporthotel Grafenwald is a very unique location in the Eifel region in Germany. Close to no man’s land and only forest on one side, and only a quick drive away from the world famous “Green Hell Nürburgring” on the other side. The huge hotel complex offers the great opportunity to stay with some teammates in the Bungalows and the hotel`s restaurants have never disappointed us.
The huge tennis sports hall is the place to be during an ETS race in Daun. The hall normally covers 4 tennis courts, but when the RC racers arrive, a unique track is always expecting them. The T-shape of the area where the track is built up is a huge challenge for most of the drivers as normally everybody is used to tracks with a rectangular shape. We are sure that racers will be excited once again to race in Daun at ETS RD5.
As the season is now entering its final stages, we expect the tension to be very high as the decision for the overall ETS championships is coming closer. Now we look on the different classes, the list of entries, and what to expect from drivers and teams at ETS RD5 Season #14 2021/22 in Daun.
Matrix Modified
Outstanding modified racing in Neumünster whets appetite for more
At the last race in Neumünster we saw an epic battle between Awesomatix Marc Rheinard and Xray`s Bruno Coelho – a fight that people will talk about in different ways for a very long time. Coelho walked away with a well-deserved win, while Rheinard hat to settle for third place behind the star of the race, the amazing driving Michele Manzo (Awesomatix). Mugen Seiki`s championship leader Ronald Völker finished fourth in Neumünster – a deletion result for him which he will try to improve in Daun for sure. Tim Wahl (Awesomatix) showed his tremendous quality with scoring a strong fifth place overall. It was his best result since a long time.
Rheinard and Völker top favourites in Daun while Xray skips the race!
When we are looking on the list of entries for the Matrix Modified class in Neumünster, we are missing some big names. The biggest surprise on the 300+ field of drivers is the fact, that most of Xray`s top factory drivers have not made their entry. With Bruno Coelho, Alexander Hagberg, Jan Ratheisky and Alexandre Duchet, the Slovakian manufacturer will not line up with their top Modified and Pro Stock performers in Daun.
At the same time, they will be in the United States with the major team to race at the famous Snowbirds Nationals in Orlando/Florida. A big surprise, after Coelho won the last two races in Modified after missing out the first two encounters of season #14 due to Covid-19 travel restrictions. His chances for the title are close to zero now with his team skipping the race in Daun.
Awesomatix driver David Ronnefalk will be on a USA trip for his major racing class (1:8 Nitro Buggy) with his new chassis sponsor Mayako. Ronnefalk made the A-Main in Neumünster at his first official race as an Awesomatix Onroad driver and showed again that he can perfectly wheel RC cars in any classes.
We now can expect Marc Rheinard and Ronald Völker to have the biggest shot for the win at ETS RD5 as they showed strong performances all season long. Völker (Mugen Seiki) won the first two races at Arena33, finished second in Apeldoorn and fourth in Neumünster. He is leading the championship and is very close to his seventh overall Modified ETS title of his career.
Marc Rheinard (Awesomatix) also had a good season so far, even without claiming a race win so far. He was on the podium at the last race in Neumünster, and at the first two races on his home ground at Arena33. Especially his performance at the last race in Neumünster was very promising. He seemed to have the fastest car in the mains and created some serious pressure on pole setter Bruno Coelho who was in “defending mode” all the time, especially in the very thrilling second final.
Can Rheinard finally win his first big race for Awesomatix or will Ronald Völker be on point again. Völker won the last race in Daun (February 2020) and if we think back, we remember amazing races between him and Rheinard – let`s see what happens in the Matrix Modified class at ETS RD5 of season #14 2021/22.
Team by Team
The modified class is the premier class at the ETS, and we don`t want to forget to talk about all the great drivers of the teams traveling to Daun. We have a list of high-quality entries and the modified guys never disappointed us when it came down to close and impressive racing!
Awesomatix pushing for first Modified win since Madrid 2019
The fabulous Freddy Südhoff brought home the last win in the ETS Modified class for Awesomatix when he won the race in Madrid in April 2019. Since then, Freddy Südhoff has retired from RC racing and Marc Rheinard joined the team in 2020. The multiple world champion is the best driver who ever wheeled an Awesomatix car for sure, but Marc is still missing an ETS race win with the Russian brand`s car. After the pace he showed in Neumünster he is one of the top favourites in Daun and a driver to watch.
Together with Rheinard, the Awesomatix team will consist of RD4 runner up Michele Manzo, Tim Wahl, Lucas Urbain, Thimo Weissbauer, Dominic Vogl and Karri Salmela. All drivers can do something special and Awesomatix can be very proud of having such a strong team in the Modified class!
Xray still with a lot of quality
With the absence of Coelho and Hagberg in the Matrix Modified class, it will be all about Antoine Brunet, Marco Kaufmann, Oliver Havranek and Patrick Gollner to score good results for the new X4 touring car platform at ETS RD5.
Still a good line-up, and after Antoine Brunet showed his potential at the first race of the season at Arena33 where he finished second, we can expect good results from the team even without their two top guns Hagberg and Coelho. Nevertheless, it is sad that we will not see them racing in Daun!
Yokomo on the line with Prümper and Krapp
The Yokomo team must count on the quality of their two factory drivers Christopher Krapp and Yannic Prümper in Daun. This time, their teammates Loic Jasmin from France and Nicolas Lee from Singapore will not be able to make the trip to add some additional strength and experience to the team of the Japanese company!
But as Prümper and Krapp are always drivers aiming for top results, Yokomo will be in a good situation with their BD10LC platform at the Sporthotel Grafenwald!
Völker targets Mugen Seiki`s first ever ETS title
If you like to win big titles, you need a driver who can bring big titles home – and Ronald Völker is one of these drivers! He is the record champion of the ETS Modified class where he already won six titles in the past for Yokomo.
After his move to Mugen Seiki at the end of 2020, he had a pretty decent start into the ETS season with two dominant victories at Arena33. He also won another German national title in 2021. After his second place at the third ETS of the season in Apeldoorn, he arrived to RD4 in Neumünster leading the championship. The race in Neumünster didn`t went as Völker and his Mugen team had planned, but in the end, he still finished fourth in a „not a perfect weekend “, which shows the strength and the ambitions of Völker and his Mugen ride.
Together with Mugen Seiki designer Robert Pietsch, Völker will try to score an even better result now in Daun where he won the last race in 2020. Robert Pietsch himself will also race in the Modified class to collect as much setup data as possible to adjust their MTC2 touring car perfectly to the track.
Eric Dankel, who was a strong asset for the team during the outdoor season where he made the A-Main three times in a row, will miss the race in Daun (he also missed Neumünster) because of his Master`s degree demanding most of his time right now!
Schumacher trying to improve on carpet
After scoring two good results at the opening rounds of Season #14 at Arena33, the Schumacher team is looking for some pace since the races in Apeldoorn and Neumünster. Their top driver, Michal Orlowski, qualified for the A-Main at Arena33 and was right on speed there, but in the last two rounds he had to settle for the B-Main.
This time he will be in Daun with Schumacher`s Onroad Engineer and 1:12 Stock world champion Andy Murray, and Pekko Ivonen. Let`s find our if Orlowski can make another A-Main with the Mi7 Pro touring car for the British RC car manufacturer.
Xray Pro Stock
Xray`s title at risk with Duchet not on the line in Daun
As championship leader Alexandre Duchet is also racing in the United States at the Snowbirds this weekend, he can only hope that any other driver instead of Simon Lauter (Awesomatix) will win the race in Daun. Lauter is the only driver with a chance to steal the overall title away from Duchet, and Lauter was in a great form in the last months.
Duchet collected strong points at Arena33 (two wins) and in Neumünster (second place) but this weekend he will watch the races in Daun from a distance. Jan Ratheisky also made the trip to the US and in Daun it will be Lukas Ellerbrock leading the Xray drivers together with routinier David Ehrbar in the Pro Stock class. Can Ellerbrock do something to protect Duchet`s lead in the championship in Daun?
Big chance for Awesomatix and Lauter to close up
The Awesomatix team will have a big shot at ETS RD5 in Daun. Simon Lauter is their driver with high hopes and chances to win the overall title in the Xray Pro Stock class. With Xray`s top drivers Duchet and Ratheisky not attending the race due to their USA trip, it is a huge opportunity to bring Lauter even closer to championship leader Alexandre Duchet.
After four rounds, Duchet is 4 points ahead of Lauter (one deletion result taken out). But when Simon Lauter will TQ and win in Daun, the championship will be wide open and even closer as before. It will be interesting to see how the huge Awesomatix team will deal strategy wise with this situation at ETS RD5 in the Sporthotel Grafenwald this weekend!
All eyes will be on guys like Simon Lauter, Max Mächler, Alex Kunkler, Martin Hofer, Louis Kretschmer, Frederik Mikkelsen, Jesper Rasmussen and many more. But the main goal for Awesomatix will be clear – closing the gap to Xray´s Alexandre Duchet!
Mugen Seiki aims for fifth Pro Stock A-Main of the season
Since the release of their new MTC2 touring car platform, the Mugen Seiki team had at least one car in the A-Main during this ETS season. A huge step forward for the Japanese brand in the Xray Pro Stock class. With Alex Kunkler (Arena33), Tim Benson (Arena33 and Apeldoorn), and the duo of Jonas Völker and Mugen factory driver Berkan Kilic in Neumünster the team is having a strong season so far.
At this weekend`s ETS RD5 in Daun we will see Berkan Kilic, Jonas Völker, Sebastian Meibörg, Maximilian Unterschütz, Kevin Sparbier, and others lining up on the grid with their Mugen Seiki cars. The team around car designer Robert Pietsch, lead driver Ronald Völker and team manager Patrick Beck is looking back on their most successful ETS campaign since Mugen Seiki entered the electric market and they want to continue like this for sure!
Another one for Yokomo`s Jung?
Enrico Jung still is the only “hot iron” in the Pro Stock class for Team Yokomo. But nevertheless, Jung did an amazing job throughout the whole season. He made three A-Mains and his average position during this season is P9 which is the same position he is holding in the overall championship of the Xray Pro Stock class.
Yokomo can be happy to have him on board, they just need one more driver like him to strengthen their team for the next season in the Xray Pro Stock class. But for now, all eyes on Enrico Jung and his Yokomo car in Daun!
Hobbywing Frontwheel
Title race between Schulz and Olsen not decided yet
Stefan Schulz is sitting on top of the Hobbywing Frontwheel class. He is leading second placed Steven Olsen by comfortable 6 points now (one deletion result taken out) but is in the United States as well with the Xray team to be the race mechanic for Jan Ratheisky. This brings back some thrill to the fight for the title after Schulz looked very dominant with TQ`s and wins in the last 3 races of ETS Season #14 2021/22.
Now, Steven Olsen sees some daylight again – and has some chances for still taking the title away from Schulz. When Olsen will be able to TQ and win the last two races of the season he will be tied on points with Schulz, and it will all come down to the tie breaker. But for sure, Steven Olsen will have a lot of competitors as the class is the biggest once again with 90 entries. Many very fast names are on the list for Daun, and it is almost impossible to point out Olsen`s hardest competitors before the race. Marvin Fritschler and Jonas Völker had been very quick in Neumünster, and they will try to improve their results for sure. Olsen will need a perfect weekend with a TQ and win to keep his championship hopes alive. Game on for a thrilling FWD race in Daun!
Orca 17.5 Stock
One last chance for Reile, advantage Bemmerl!
In the Orca 17.5 Stock class the situation is almost like in Hobbywing Frontwheel. Thomas Bemmerl is traveling to Daun with an advantage of 8 points over Dominik Reile. Both are the only drivers who scored race wins during the season (3 x Bemmerl, 1 x Reile), and especially Thomas Bemmerl looked very consistent so far. Daniel Pöhlmann has the same number of points on his favour as Reile, but he was not able to win a race in the season until now. Pöhlmann`s championship hopes died in Neumünster where he TQ`ed the event but finished only third overall after some bad racing luck in the finals.
In Daun, the show will go on between Bemmerl and Reile. The only chance for Reile to turn things around are two pole positions and two victories in the last races of ETS Season #14 2021/22. We expect a thrilling race in the Orca 17.5 Stock class – let`s go for it!
ToniSport 40+ Masters
Can Morgen win his first ETS title in Daun?
Danish driver Caspar Morgen has the best initial situation when we head into the weekend in Daun. He is the championship leader of the ToniSport 40+ Masters class, with Mirco Thalheimer and Thomas Oehler behind him (tied). Until now, we saw four different winners during the season with Soren Boy Holst (RD1), Caspar Morgen (RD2), Elibert Sievers (RD3), and Toni Mateo (RD4). Caspar Morgen scored the best average points so far and only Thalheimer and Oehler can snatch the overall championship trophy away from Morgen. As Mirco Thalheimer is not on the list of drivers for Daun, Thomas Oehler is the last serious title contender for Caspar Morgen.
The ToniSport 40+ Masters class produced great racing during the whole season, caused by the huge experience from most of the drivers racing in it. This weekend, the field is peppered with a lot of very good drivers in the ToniSport 40+ Masters class, and it will not be an easy task for the championship leaders to stay on top of the game. We hope to see a great showdown between Morgen and Oehler, and we wish everybody the best of luck at the Sporthotel Grafenwald!
Scorpion Formula
Ratheisky is champion, but who will win RD5 in Daun?
After ETS RD4 in Neumünster, nobody can take the title away from Jan Ratheisky anymore. The Xray driver won three out of four races this season and his gap to the rest of the field is big enough to skip ETS RD5 to attend the Snowbirds nationals in Orlando/USA with his Xray teammates. Ratheisky was dominating the season and is a well-deserved champion in the Scorpion Formula class. Congratulations Jan Ratheisky for another ETS Formula title!
Now we must see who can win the race in Daun with Ratheisky not on track this weekend. The second placed driver in the ranking list, Renè Kölbel from Austria, is not sure if ha can make the trip to Daun. He suffered from health issues and had to stay in hospital last week. The whole ETS Family wishes Renè a speedy recovery, as health is the greatest good, we all have. Get well soon Renè!
After kind of a weak turnout of F1 drivers in Neumünster, we expect almost 30 drivers in Daun to race on the new Matrix foam tires which are finally available for the class!
As you can see, there is a lot to expect from ETS RD5 at the Sporthotel Grafenwald. We are looking forward to welcome all of you there for ETS RD5 Season #14 2021/22!
