RD1 in the Netherlands with superb racing all weekend long
The Euro Touring Series started into Season #15 from the 02. – 05. June 2022 at the awesome RC racing facility of the AMCA Apeldoorn in the Netherlands. The weather god was on the side of the racers, and in combination with some adjustments on the time schedule, all races happened in dry conditions. As always in Apeldoorn, the club did an amazing job and prepared everything for a great weekend of ETS racing action.
Let`s head back to Apeldoorn to review the race results and some other interesting things we noticed during the first race of the new ETS season.
Another perfect job from the AMCA Apeldoorn
As many times in the past, the AMCA club did an outstanding job again during all days at this ETS race. The whole ETS crew wants to shout out a huge THANK YOU. It was a pleasure to work with every one of the club, and all racers and spectators enjoyed the whole event!
When you are in Apeldoorn, you can easily feel the love and attention for detail. The team in the cafeteria was always there to care about the racers and even simple things like checking toilets and the waste cans around the track never felt into oblivion. About the track – there is not much to say as it is just perfect and amazing. The ETS is looking forward to the next stop in Apeldoorn!
Thanks to Bjarne Høllund
This time, Bjarne Hollund was announcing the race. He did a great job, and the complete event was running smooth and always on time. We like to thank Bjarne for joining us during the weekend in Apeldoorn. He was also very happy to be with us as he always had the goal to announce an ETS race.
Driver`s and Team`s top performances
Now it is time to analyse the racing action which we saw during ETS RD1 in Apeldoorn. Most of the top drivers of each racing class had been on the line and a lot of the favourites found themselves on top with their cars. Others didn`t achieve their goals and had to regroup and analyse their weekend directly after the event.
Matrix Modified and Awesomatix Pro Stock
Yokomo BD11 with perfect debut in the hands of Yannic Prümper
Shortly before the race, the new Yokomo BD11 touring car was released, and finally available in hobby shops as well. The Yokomo factory team around Christopher Krapp, Yannic Prümper, Nicholas Lee, Loic Jasmin and Enrico Jung was attending the race, and they pushed hard from the beginning to find out what to expect from the new platform.
Directly from the start of practice, the whole team was looking strong. Enrico Jung was in the top 5 of the Awesomatix Pro Stock class most of the time, and the modified guys looked sharp on track as well. Yannic Prümper had a great qualifying and was fighting for pole position with Mugen Seiki`s Ronald Völker, and Awesomatix lead driver Marc Rheinard who had a good pace with his A800MMX. In the end, Prümper lined up second on the grid with a serious shot for the win. With Krapp, Lee, and Jasmin also making the “A”, the debut for the new BD11 looked almost perfect and very strong.
Enrico Jung just didn`t have any kind of racing luck in the Pro Stock A-Mains, he finished 11th overall but showed the potential of the BD11 in the Pro Stock class for sure. Let`s see if there will be more BD11`s on the grid of the Pro Stock class soon!
When the modified finals started, Yannic Prümper suffered from a DNF in the first run after some technical issues with one of his drive shafts. Because of that, he collided with Marc Rheinard who just could not avoid the contact with the suddenly stopping BD11 in front of him. But in A2 and A3, Yannic was back in the hunt, and he was able to win both races after overtaking TQ Ronald Völker in the opening stages two times. With this big win in the bag, Prümper is now leading the championship after RD1 with his Dash and Gens Ace powered Yokomo BD11. Yokomo had 4 (!) BD11 cars in the A-Main and it seems that the Japanese brand is now back to fight for a championship. With this in mind, we can look forward to ETS RD2 with some huge excitement!
Mugen Seiki`s Völker with a strong TQ and second overall – will he bounce back in Austria?
For reigning Matrix Modified champion Ronald Völker, everything was set for a perfect weekend after he was able to seal a hard fought TQ in the Matrix Modified class. He won Q1 and Q2, with Prümper taking Q3, and Rheinard Q4. After Ronald was able to win A1 with his LRP powered Mugen Seiki MTC2, he was only one win away from taking maximum points from the season opener in Apeldoorn.
But after he was struggling with rear traction in the first lap of A2 and A3, he found himself chasing race leader Prümper. In A2, Völker came really close to Prümper`s Yokomo again, after losing the position to him in lap 1. He had one amazing attempt to overtake Prümper, was on the inside, but had to back off again to avoid trouble in the next corner. Great and respectful driving from Prümper and Völker in this situation. Völker took 2nd in A2, and everything was down on the line between him and Prümper in A3. But the same here – Völker`s car lacked just a bit of rear grip in the first lap again, and he dropped all the way down to P4. He tried everything to get close to the race leaders again after this bad start into A3. He overtook the Yokomo of Krapp at the 2-minute mark of the race and quickly closed the gap to Marc Rheinard’s Awesomatix A800MMX who was running second. In these stages of the race, it was easy to see that Völker had the fastest package on track.
What we then saw was another epic battle between two of the greatest onroad RC racers of all time – Rheinard vs. Völker. Excellent driving, huge respect, masterful blocking, late braking, different racing lines, and all eyes had been on them. But as racing sometimes is, Ronald touched Marc`s car in the right section of the track after having a perfect “on power” exit out of the corner. Völker`s fight for the win, and Rheinard’s fight for a podium was over. Not an intentionally move from Völker, as he would have loved to get by Rheinard to have one last chance to catch Prümper who still was running in front of them. But this showed us, like in real motorsports, that even the best in the business are human beings and mistakes and collisions like that can happen from time to time. Völker apologized to Rheinard immediately after the race.
Nevertheless, the Mugen Seiki MTC2 looked extremely fast on track. Ronald sealed the TQ with his LRP powered MTC2, and his teammate Eric Dankel qualified 10th on the grid to finish 8th overall with his Hobbywing equipped MTC2. For the next race in Aigen, we also expect Mugen Designer and modified racer Robert Pietsch back on track again, and the Mugen team will do everything to fight back in the championship. In the Awesomatix Pro Stock class, the Mugen team had no car in the A-Main this time. This is something where Mugen Seiki still can improve their presence, after having a good last season with a minimum of at least one MTC2 in the A-Main at every race.
Awesomatix wins season opener in newly named Awesomatix Pro Stock class
Max Mächler was the man of the weekend for the Awesomatix team. He was able to TQ and win the race in the newly named Awesomatix Pro Stock class. Behind Mächler, another 4 Awesomatix A800MMX cars completed the top 5 (Benson, Lauter, Bultynck, Kunkler), until we saw the first car from a different manufacturer on P6 (Ellerbrock/Xray).
The racing class is not only carrying the name of the Awesomatix brand now, with the current absence of drivers like Ratheisky and Duchet, a win in this class seems only possible when a driver puts down an A800MMX car on the track right now. A very impressive showing of strength from the team around Max Mächler with 7 cars in the A-Main at the AMCA Apeldoorn. It will be an interesting season in the Pro Stock class, and we can only ask ourselves: Will there be somebody being able to challenge the Awesomatix team, or is the title already booked for one of their drivers?
In the Matrix Modified class, Marc Rheinard (3rd), Michele Manzo (7th), Lucas Urbain (8th) and Tim Benson (9th) made it into the big show with lining up their A800MMX cars on the grid for the triple A-Mains. As we mentioned in some of our last race reports, the last ETS race winner for Awesomatix in the modified class was fabulous Freddy Südhoff some years ago in Madrid. But it seems like whenever Rheinard has a great pace, he is still missing the overall TQ by a few hundredths of a second to line up third on the grid. Rheinard showed that he still can win big races when he took the win at the GP3F in Longwy (France) at the end of the last indoor season. And guess what – he won it from pole position!
In Apeldoorn, Rheinard had a great pace during all practice sessions until qualifying, and he also took one round with his TQ in the last qualifier. He must somehow improve his qualifying results to get into a better position to fight for the long-awaited race win with his A800MMX at the ETS. The speed was there, and Rheinard was happy with his car and the Orca power, and he will attack again at the next round in Aigen, Austria. Overall, the team can still be happy with 4 cars in the Matrix Modified A-Main.
Infinity, ARC, Xray, Serpent & co.
Beside the brands like Awesomatix, Mugen Seiki, and Yokomo, there have been a few isolated cars in the Modified and Pro Stock A-Mains as well. The 2021 IFMAR world champion Jilles Groskamp was able to bump-up into the Matrix Modified A-Main with his Infinity IF14-II. He showed that he still has the pace to go fast, even after not havig raced electric 1:10 scale touring car since a while.
On the other side, it was the first modified race since almost “ever”, without an Xray car on the grid for the finals. In the Awesomatix Pro Stock class, Lukas Ellerbrock was the only one making the cut as he finished 6th with his Xray X4.
Lars Hoppe was piloting his ARC R12.1 touring car and qualified 9th on the grid – the same position he finished the weekend after A3. A good performance by routineer Hoppe against all the bigger temas and groups of drivers.
The only Serpent driver in the A-Main of the Awesomatix Pro Stock class was Sören Sparbier. It was his first ever Pro Stock A-Main and something he can be very proud of. We can be sure that we will see him more frequently in the top 10 in the future as it is simply impossible to not notice his progress.
Hobbywing Frontwheel
Steven Olsen takes another run at the title
In the Hobbywing Frontwheel class, Steven Olsen has started his hunt for the overall title with a perfect weekend in Apeldoorn. He took the win from first on the grid after a ballistic qualifying with his Awesomatix A800FX Evo. Last season, he had some great fights with Stefan Schulz, who finally became the overall champion. But with the Xray driver Schulz not attending RD1 in Apeldoorn, Olsen was able to take full advantage and maximum points away from the Netherlands. He is now leading the championship, and his goal is clear: He finally wants to win the overall ETS championship in the Hobbywing Frontwheel class. Overall, Awesomatix had 5 drives in the A-Main making them the brand with the most cars on the grid.
Behind Olsen, Nicolas Delisé was surprisingly fast with his Mugen Seiki MTC2 FWD car. He finished second overall and nailed the fastest lap of the weekend. A great performance from Delisé, who was not really on the radar for many people. Torsten Baggendorf had a great race to third overall with his A800FX Evo, and the FWD class was the class with the most entries once again.
As mentioned before, the Awesomatix A800FX Evo was the most used car in the A-Main, and the Mugen Seiki MTC2 FWD as well as the Xray X4F had been in the A-Main with three cars each. That made it a final with cars from 3 different manufacturers only, a interesting side fact for sure.
Scorpion Formula
First, and very emotional ETS victory for René Kölbel in the Formula class
René Kölbel from Austria was the man to beat on track in the Scorpion Formula class. Kölbel, who arrived in Apeldoorn with no ETS race win on his scorecard, was able to claim the pole in the 4 rounds of Formula qualifying. After some very intense battles with Andreas Stiebler, Jitse Miedema, and Robin van Gog, he crossed the line after A3 and burst directly into tears of pure enjoyment. His competitors all joined Kölbel for their heartly congratulations and especially his long-time friend Herbert Weber celebrated the win with Kölbel – what a team spirit! Jitse Miedema finished second, and Andreas Stiebler third on the podium.
It was the first race for the Formula cars with the Matrix foam tires on asphalt, and after all drivers struggled with their setups in free practice on Thursday, the cars improved day by day and looked great when racing finally started. On the chassis side, the Formula class seems to be more open as we had 7 different brands of cars in the A-Main.
Orca 17.5 Stock
Reile wins in the Netherlands while Jasmin Donath celebrates first ETS podium
Dominik Reile was the Benchmark throughout the whole weekend in the Orca 17.5 Stock class. After reigning champion Thomas Bemmerl stepped up into the Awesomatix Pro Stock class (where he finished on a strong P12) it seems that Reile will step into Bemmerl`s footprints. We will find out about that more detailed in the next races. Another driver who looked strong all weekend was Kevin Schmid. He started fourth on the grid and was able to finish second overall behind race winner Reile. Schmid will be one to watch for the next races!
Another one to watch (she received the “One to Watch” award this weekend) is young Jasmin Donath. Her progress is really great to see, and she lined up second on the grid after a brilliant TQ run in Q4. In the finals she made some small mistakes – something which is kind of normal when you are young and just posted your best ever qualifying result on a bigger stage. In the end, Jasmin finished third on the podium and was the star of the event in the Orca 17.5 Stock class in Apeldoorn!
ToniSport 40+ Masters
Elibert Sievers – the 40+ Master
After Dominik Reile was able to repeat his win from last year in Apeldoorn in the Orca 17.5 Stock class, it was Elibert Sievers who did the same in a hard fought ToniSport 40+ Masters class. Elibert lined up on pole position for the finals with his Awesomatix A800MMX and drove to a 0.4 second victory over Torsten Baggendorf in A1. After Sievers had some problems in A2, which the reigning champion Toni Mateo was able to win, Elibert was back on point for the last and deciding A-Main on Sunday morning. He took it tone to tone ahead of Torsten Baggendorf again and became a well-deserved race winner on his home ground. His friends celebrated this victory together with Elibert in the pits as it is never easy to become a “back-to-back” ETS race winner. Elibert is leading the championship now, and we are excited if he carries his great form over to the next race!
Torsten Baggendorf finished second and Toni Mateo third. When we are looking on the cars in use, we can report 8 (!) Awesomatix A800MMX, against two Xray X4 (Flavio Paladin and Mirco Thalheimer) and one Mugen Seiki MTC2 (Thomas Oehler).
Next stop for the ETS – Aigen-Schlägl in Austria
After this great start into Season #15, we are changing locations from the flatlands of Apeldoorn to the mountains of Aigen-Schlägl in Austria. A new track for the ETS circus, and we are looking forward to race there one week after the Euro Nitro Series (ENS).
The race is scheduled from 21. – 24. Of July 2022.
If you like to sign up for the race now, just click here:
We hope you liked this small recap of our beautiful weekend in Apeldoorn, from ETS RD1 Season #15 2022/23 – see you very soon in Aigen for RD2 of the Euro Touring Series!
Your ETS Media Team
