Round three of qualifying here in Daun is in the books. We saw intense racing against the time again and is is a very close decision in all of our six ETS racing classes. As always, you find some videos of the top heats in our report where you can easily see that drivers have a lot of work to do on their steering wheel on this year`s racetrack at ETS RD5 in Daun!
Matrix Modified
Völker on top in Q3, overall TQ to be decided in Q4
Ronald Völker (Mugen Seiki) took the third round of qualifying of the Matrix Modified class. After Marc Rheinard (Awesomatix) was fastest in Q2, Ronald was able to take the third one by 0.245 of a second. To point out how close qualifying is here in the Modified class: Ronald`s advantage of time over Marc after three rounds of qualifying (15 minutes) is 0.305 seconds! It is really unbelievable how close these guys are. Behind the leading duo it was Christopher Krapp (Yokomo), Lucas Urbain (Awesomatix) and Michal Orlowski (Schumacher) rounding out the top 5.
The decision for the overall TQ comes down to the line in the fourth and final qualifier and it will be all between Ronald Völker and Marc Rheinard again – a guarantee for another THRILLER. Right now, Ronald has the faster overall runtime at his favour. Let`s see what Marc can do in Q4.
Link to the Results on MyRCM: https://www.myrcm.ch/myrcm/report/de/60974/278091?key=202
Xray ProStock
Kunkler takes RD3 of Pro Stock qualifying
The third round of qualifying in the Xray ProStock class saw Awesomatix driver Alex Kunkler taking the win. His teammate Simon Lauter had a crash in lap 2 and lost 3.5 seconds but he was able to recover from that and still finished second for the round. In the front, Alex Kunkler had a flawless run without any mistakes, and he posted his first ever TQ run at the ETS – something really special for every RC racer.
Behind Kunkler and Lauter it was Awesomatix driver Louis Kretschmer in third place followed by Meik Niemann and Xray`s Lukas Ellerbrock who made it into the top 5 for the first time this weekend!
Round 4 of Pro Stock qualifying will be up next and the only driver with a theoretical chance to steal the TQ away from Simon Lauter is Alex Kunkler now. But therefore, he would need a faster run as Lauter posted in Q2 and that will not be an easy task for Kunkler. Simon Lauter is still looking like the fastest guy out there and he posted the fastest lap of the day (15.079) as well.
We talked to Alex Kunkler and asked him about his feelings after his first ever TQ run:
Really cool to finally TQ a round of qualifying at the ETS. After Simon made the mistake in lap 2 I was leading and luckily I got it together until the end. Simon was closing up all the time, but he lost to much time in the beginning which was good for me in this case. For the next round I will try some small setup changes as my car is absolutely on the limit and not far away from traction rolling. But nevertheless, I will go full send in Q4.
Alex Kunkler, Awesomatix/Ruddog
Link to the Results on MyRCM: https://www.myrcm.ch/myrcm/report/de/60974/278090?key=202
Hobbywing Frontwheel
Niemann seals the overall TQ in the FWD class
Meik Niemann will start from pole position into the triple A-Mains of the Hobbywing Frontwheel class. He took another win in Q3 which sealed the deal for him. Behind the dominant driving “Mighty” Meik Niemann, Sören Sparbier was the closest follower as he took second place for the round – his best ever FWD run at the ETS. Steven Olsen, Mischa Kroos, and Sebastian Meibörg completed the top 5 in the third round oh qualifying in our Hobbywing Frontwheel class. With the overall TQ now decided, the places on the grid behind Meik Niemann are still wide open between Olsen, Sparbier, Körner, Stocker, Meibörg and Völker.
Link to the Results on MyRCM: https://www.myrcm.ch/myrcm/report/de/60974/278089?key=202
Orca 17.5 Stock
Qualifying RD3 goes to Körner
Max Körner was the fastest driver on track in round 3 of qualifying in the Orca 17.5 Stock class. After he took a second place in the opening round on Friday afternoon, he topped this result here in Q3 of the Orca 17.5 Stock class. He had an advantage of 1.4 seconds over Thomas Bemmerl and Daniel Pöhlmann – a really strong result for Körner who is racing his third ever ETS event here in Daun.
Behind Körner, Bemmerl and Pöhlmann, we saw Dominik Ruf in fourth and Alexander Müller in fifth position.
Max Körner is on top of the field right now and we are heading into a thrilling fourth round of ETS qualifying in our Orca 17.5 Stock class very soon. The pole position will be on the line between Max Körner, Daniel Pöhlmann and Dominik Reile as all of them TQ`ed at least one round here so far. Keep an eye on our Orca 17.5 Stock class, these guys are showing awesome RC car racing!
Our ETS reporter Patrick had the chance to speak to RD3 TQ Max Körner after the race:
I was really nervous during the run as it was super close with Thomas and Daniel. Luckily, I was able to bring home a clean run and it feels very good to fight for the top spots here in Daun. In Neumünster my goal was making it into the A-Main but here I have a better pace and I hope for an even better result!
Max Körner
Link to the Results on MyRCM: https://www.myrcm.ch/myrcm/report/de/60974/278086?key=202
ToniSport 40+ Masters
Mateo the third different TQ of the weekend
Toni Mateo from Gran Canaria took the third round of qualifying in the ToniSport 40+ Masters class. He took the win in Q3 with 0.9 seconds from second placed driver Ulrich Dinger. Round 2 TQ Caspar Morgen finished third for the round and Torsten Baggendorf and Thomas Oehler completed the top 5. After we saw three different TQ`s until now, the decision for the pole position will come down to the line in the last round of qualifying here at the Sporthotel Grafenwald. Stay tuned and watch our thrilling ToniSport 40+ Masters class.
Link to the Results on MyRCM: https://www.myrcm.ch/myrcm/report/de/60974/278087?key=202
Scorpion Formula
Lee fights back in Q3
Luke Lee took the third qualifier in the Scorpion Formula class at ETS RD5 in Daun. The British Formula racer had a clean run and finished 3 seconds ahead of RD2 winner Renè Kölbel. Luke Lee posted the fastest lap of the heat and was the only driver with a 19-lap run. It seems that he has the best pace so far but let`s see if Kölbel will find something to fight for the overall TQ in the upcoming last round of qualifying.
Sören Sparbier, Herbert Weber and Luka Jovicic completed the top 5. With one more round to follow, everything is possible in the Scorpion Formula class.
We talked to Luke Lee and here is what he had to say about his third qualifying run:
As this is the first time ever I am running foam tires on my car here at the ETS, I had to adapt my driving style a little bit during practice. But now I got a good feeling for my car on track, and I really like to drive on this challenging ETS track where you can ride the curbs a little bit! With two TQ runs in the bag I hope to seal the overall TQ in the next round as a good starting position will be very helpful for the finals.
Luke Lee
Link to the Results on MyRCM: https://www.myrcm.ch/myrcm/report/de/60974/278088?key=202
Some TQ`s are decided, some are still wide open! Don`t miss the action from the upcoming last round of qualifying here at ETS RD5. On our website you will not miss anything as you can find the PullstartTV livestream in our “LIVE” section. To get quickly to the results of all classes simply navigate to the “RESULTS” area on our landing page!
