The first round of qualifying here in Apeldoorn was intense, close, and thrilling as always on a Friday evening at the Euro Touring Series. All drivers had to show their true speed and potential to achieve the best possible results. The track was in a perfect shape, and everything was ready for the first showdown of the weekend. Find out what happened in our Q1 report!
Matrix Modified
Ronald Völker takes intense Friday evening qualifier
After a thrilling opening round of qualifying here in Apeldoorn, Mugen Seiki`s Ronald Völker came out on top of the heat. The sun was slowly disappearing, and the track temperatures were cooling down as the heat started. In the same moment, the wind picked up as well. Not easy for some serious modified racing.
In the first minutes of the race, it was a very intense fight for the lead between Jilles Groskamp (Infinity), Yannic Prümper (Yokomo) and Marc Rheinard (Awesomatix). The lead changed a couple of times, and when Groskamp and Rheinard lost a little bit of pace after the first 2 minutes, Yannic Prümper was the driver who was leading when the race was going into the deciding stages.
Ronald Völker, who lost 6-7 tenths of a second in lap three when he had to save his car from a little slide, closed the gap to Prümper lap after lap. He was able to take over the lead in the last 30 seconds of the race for the first time. Ronald finally took the win with 0.215 seconds in front of Yannic Prümper and Marc Rheinard, who drove the fastest lap of the heat. Michele Manzo (Awesomatix) finished fourth for the round, and Christopher Krapp (Yokomo) posted the fifth fastest time coming out of the second fastest heat of qualifying.
Our media team talked to round one TQ Ronald Völker shortly after the race and he said:
After I struggled a bit in the hot conditions mid-day, I wasn`t sure if I would have the pace for a TQ run in the evening again. After two minutes I still was not believing that I am able to catch up with the race leaders after I lost some time in the chicane at the beginning of the race. For tomorrow morning I will try my best to repeat the result before the temperatures will increase. I expect tomorrow morning`s round to be faster than Q3 and Q4 so it will be a very important one.
Ronald Völker, Mugen Seiki/LRP
Link to the Results on MyRCM: https://www.myrcm.ch/myrcm/report/de/63614/286707?key=202
Awesomatix ProStock
Perfect start into qualifying for Max Mächler
The opening round of Awesomatix Pro Stock qualifying saw Max Mächler on top of the board. He took the win with his Awesomatix A800MMX with a gap of 0.254 seconds ahead of his teammate Olivier Bultynck. The entire race was very close and intense, as Simon Lauter, Frederik Mikkelsen and Lukas Ellerbrock had a great pace as well. Ellerbrock was out of contention for the heat win after he lost around 1.5 seconds in lap number 7, but the Awesomatix duo of Simon Lauter and Frederik Mikkelsen was pushing hard behind Mächler and Bultynck. A very impressive Awesomatix 1-2-3-4 in the first round of Pro Stock qualifying.
Awesomatix Team Manager Max Mächler talked to our media team after Q1. Here is what he had to say about his TQ run:
All I can say is that I am happy to finally TQ a round of qualifying again after quite some time. It feels really good and gives me a real boost of confidence. I am also very happy about the performance of the whole team so far. For tomorrow, I expect the same tension in all races as the speed of the top 5-6 drivers looks almost similar.
Max Mächler, Awesomatix/Sunpadow
Link to the Results on MyRCM: https://www.myrcm.ch/myrcm/report/de/63614/290569?key=202
Hobbywing Frontwheel
Round 1 goes to Steven Olsen
In the Hobbywing Frontwheel class, Steven Olsen from Denmark was able to lay down the fastest run in Q1. He was starting first after coming out of practice as the top seed. Caspar Morgen was pushing right behind him and had the fastest lap of the race, but in the end, he was not able to overtake Olsen on the leader board. Caspar crossed the line 0.6 seconds behind Olsen, who also felt high pressure from Torsten Baggendorf, Nicolas Delisè and Manuel Stankowitz. The entire field looked very close, and we are excited for Q2 of the Hobbywing Frontwheel class which will be on early Saturday morning.
We talked to RD1 TQ Steven Olsen directly after his run:
That was a close one! My run was clean, and my Awesomatix A800FX Evo felt very comfortable on track. But Caspar was a hard contender and I had to give my very best to take the win in this heat. For the next rounds of qualifying, I am very optimistic. I hope that my driving style, which is aways sensitive concerning tire wear, could help me to keep the field behind me on used tires as well.
Steven Olsen, Awesomatix/LRP
Link to the Results on MyRCM: https://www.myrcm.ch/myrcm/report/de/63614/286705?key=202
Orca 17.5 Stock
Dominik Reile takes RD1 of qualifying in front of Pöhlmann and Donath
In the first round of Orca 17.5 Stock qualifying, we saw Dominik Reile taking the win. Reile started from the front and was leading the heat during each lap of the race. In the end, he took the win with a relatively comfortable gap of 2.4 seconds ahead of Daniel Pöhlmann. Dominik Reile also had the fastest lap of the race on his favour, and he is looking really good out there with his Awesomatix A800MMX. It will be very hard for all the others to challenge him, but in the world of racing, everything can change very quickly.
Behind the leaders Reile and Pöhlmann, Jasmin Donath had an outstanding drive to third place with Kevin Schmid and Jan Gehrig following within a tenth of a second to complete the top 5 in the first round of qualifying. The Orca 17.5 Stock class will race another qualifier this evening, and we will inform you about the results in Saturday mornings Q2 report.
We had a quick chat with RD1 TQ Dominik Reile about his run:
My car felt great on the track, and with the new tires I just had the goal to lay down a clean run. As we will race Q2 later this evening, I will now analyse my lap times and double check everything on my car. I will try to repeat the run from Q1 and then we will see what will happen!
Dominik Reile, Awesomatix
Link to the Results on MyRCM: https://www.myrcm.ch/myrcm/report/de/63614/286702?key=202
ToniSport 40+ Masters
Sievers takes the opening round of qualifying
In the ToniSport 40+ Masters class it was top seed Elibert Sievers who walked away from Q1 with the heat win in his pocket. He was able to control the gap to the following cars at around one second. Flavio Paladin, Torsten Baggendorf, Manuel Stankowitz and Toni Mateo had a nice battle for the positions two to five during the entire run too.
It will not be easy for Elibert Sievers to score another TQ run in tonights second round of 40+ Masters qualifying, but with his knowledge of the Apeldoorn track he seems to be in a good position right now.
Our reporter asked Elibert about his impressions from Q1:
As always, I tried to bring home a safe run in the first qualifier. The run was clean, and once I heard about my little gap to the others, I was just trying to bring it home. For the next round I will not change my car and I expect the track to be very fast when the sun is not shining onto the tarmac anymore. Until now I really enjoy the race and the atmosphere here at our track!
Elibert Sievers, Awesomatix
Link to the Results on MyRCM: https://www.myrcm.ch/myrcm/report/de/63614/286703?key=202
Scorpion Formula
Renè Kölbel dominates the first Formula qualifier
The first round of qualifying saw Renè Kölbel from Austria crossing the line in first position with his Xray car. He was on a mission and opened an impressive gap of 2.6 seconds ahead of his competitors. Luka Jovicic was “best of the rest” in Q1 with the latest version of the LFX car from Libar Engineering. Right behind Jovicic, Herbert Weber (Xray) finished third, and Mathias Domig and local hero Robin van Gog completed the top 5. Top seed Andreas Stiebler lost a lot of time in lap 8, which let him only finish 9th for the round.
Renè Kölbel told our media team:
I am happy with the result of my first run. I just wanted to keep the car on track without any mistakes. When you are making a mistake here in Apeldoorn, you are ending in the grass most of the time and that costs a lot of time. I had a good feeling during the run, even if the cars are very criticle to drive with the foam tires.
Renè Kölbel, Xray
Link to the Results on MyRCM: https://www.myrcm.ch/myrcm/report/de/63614/286704?key=202
Round 2 of qualifying will start later today with the Orca 17.5 Stock and ToniSport 40+ Masters, and the other classes will race their second round early on Saturday morning.
On our website you will not miss anything as you can find our livestream options in the “LIVE” section. To get quickly to the results of all classes simply navigate to the “RESULTS” area on our landing page.
