ETS RD2 is a wrap! After everybody left the amazing facility in Aigen-Schlägl to travel home, our media team was still about to catch some more impressions from the fastest drivers during the last weekend in Austria. Between packing, traveling,, driving, flying, or going to work on monday morning, we got some response from most of the drivers we contacted. Here are their thoughts about ETS RD2 Season #15 2022/23 in Aigen-Schlägl, AUT.
Christopher Krapp – winner of the Matrix Modified class in Apeldoorn
I just arrived at home, and I am still feeling full of adrenaline and happiness about the weekend in Austria. Before the event, I was not sure if I should make the trip as I am in the middle of moving into a new house right now. But as I heard so many positive things about the whole facility in Aigen-Schlägl, I wanted to be there and made the long trip. I always welcome new tracks on our racing calendar and when I arrived at the track, I was shocked in a positive way about everything there. The local club did an AMAZING job all weekend long, it was an enjoyable event from the first to the last minute. The track was just fantastic with the curbs, elevation changes, and especially the banked corners made it even more challenging to drive. Almost nobody had an advantage there because for most drivers it was the first time traveling to Aigen. I started with my setup from the European championships in Slovakia but went back to the setup from ETS RD1 in Apeldoorn which felt a lot better in Austria. I made some small changes to the active rear suspension of my BD11 and that was pretty much it. I also changed to the ZooRacing Wolverine body shell and made some adjustments to the power settings of my speed controller which helped me a lot in the high-speed sections of the track. I was always on a good 5-minnute pace, even if that was not always visible in our training sessions where everybody is looking at the 3-lap pace when it comes to practice results. I was able to TQ the first and third round of qualifying and was starting into the finals from first place. There, I was able to stay in front of the field in A1 and A2 and I took the win – what an amazing feeling, especially with Scotty announcing the race in his unique style. I had to wait TEN years for my second ETS race win and it is great to feel that the “winning edge” is still in me. I would like to thank everybody who sent me messages or congratulated me trackside after A2. Thanks to my team mates as well for making this possible. Finally, I like to thank all my sponsors, especially Yokomo, and I am looking forward to the upcoming ETS races and the worlds in Italy.
CHristopher Krapp (DE), Yokomo/Racing Performer
Akio Sobue – 2nd placed driver in the Matrix Modified class
Finally, I was able to come back to one of the amazing ETS events after a long time and I was so excited all weekend long. Congratulations to Christopher Krapp for his win. My first day was difficult as we needed to adjust our car and also, I needed to adapt my driving for the conditions in Aigen. But on the second day we had a good pace and could fight for positions on top of the field. I was enjoying the racing all weekend and car was so amazing work on track. I had a real chance to win but made a small driving mistake but next time I will fight again and race even better. Again, good job from Christopher Krapp and congratulations for his win. Now, I hope that we can come back to this amazing place next year!
Akio Sobue (JP), Axon/Orca
Ronald Völker – 3rd placed driver in the Matrix Modified class
Personally, it started well with P1 in Thursday practice, but overall, I had some ups and downs throughout the race weekend. I had a terrible Q2 on new tires but a great Q3 on used tires though. I felt that I had the best pace in A1, but not anymore for A2. Nevertheless, it was a great weekend at the beautiful Aigen facility where I enjoyed the time with the Mugen Team and fellow racers as it should be. The club and ETS crew did a fantastic job to run the event with the rain interruptions. Great job from my former teammate Chrissi Krapp for a long overdue race victory – congratulations to him!
Ronald Völker (DE), Mugen Seiki/LRP
Marc Rheinard – 4th placed driver in the Matrix Modified class
The weekend didn`t went as planned for me. After being second after controlled practice, I also finished second in Q1 and Q2 – missing the overall TQ by 0.3 seconds in both runs on Friday. On Saturday, for some reason, my car didn`t work as good anymore and I wasn`t quick enough. Overnight, we tried to change some stuff and parts on it but even on Sunday morning the car wasn`t great in A2. We then made more setup changes for A3, and it felt better again as I could follow Akio and Ronald on track. But overall, it was another disappointing race for me being not on the podium, but I will not give up and try to be ready for the next ETS for sure.
Marc Rheinard (DE), Awesomatix/Ocra
Lucas Urbain – 5th placed driver in the Matrix Modified class
The race is just over, but I am already longing to come back, so good were the facilities and the environment at MAV Aigen Schlägl.
Lucas Urbain (FR) Awesomatix/Orca
As for the race itself, I’m happy with P5, considering I didn’t do so well in the last races. Although the pace was there before, I didn’t manage to bring it all together to get where I wanted to go, so it was nice to be back in the mix. However, there’s still a bit of a gap I need to make up to get to the front, so the plan is to keep working on it in the coming races.
Simon Lauter – winner of the Awesomatix Pro Stock clas
First, I want to congratulate the ETS and MAV Aigen crew for a flawless event. Racetrack, atmosphere, and weather were just perfect to have an enjoyable event. The comeback of Scotty was also a very nice addition to the ETS. Thanks for the effort to everyone! As I could not attend the European Championships for work related issues, I was looking forward to this Event a lot. Race wise it was all about weather prediction and tire strategy. Practice showed that many drivers will be close together at the front and making no mistakes will be the key. As the weather was unpredictable for Saturday no one decided to safe tires in Q1, and everyone was all in. I had luck on my side and got the TQ with a super small gap to Max. With this in hand I decided to safe a set of tires and see what happens in Q2. Max took the TQ, and I had a big mistake unfortunately, so we had to wait for good weather on Saturday. As many guys used both tire sets already, I had an advantage I tried to use and was able to set another TQ run which was the fastest for now. This was enough to get the overall TQ as the track got slower for Q4. For A1 we decided to go with the alternative strategy and safe the extra set for Sunday. This worked out perfect as I could win A1 on used tires and pull away on new tires in A2. With those wins I could take the overall win and cheer for my teammate during A3, impressive team result which we managed to Score. Congratulations to the other winners and especially Krappi (Christopher Krapp) for his perfect performance! Overall, I am Super happy with my result, the race itself and the great people in Austria! I would love to come back next Season. See you in Andernach 😊
Simon Lauter (DE), Awesomatix/LRP
Max Mächler – 2nd placed driver in the Awesomatix Pro Stock class
Another great ETS weekend came to an end for my team (and myself as well)! Big shout out to the MAV Aigen-Schlägel club for the whole facility and service they provided to us racers! It’s a wonderful track with a great flow. Big fun with all the banked and sometimes hanging corners. I hope we will come back to this track in future again. We saw very close racing which was awesome. Some runs were decided by 0,0XX seconds only! Personally I’m very happy once again about the whole results of our Awesomatix racers. Our cars just perform very well in all classes and this is a great achievement for us. Also it was nice to see some more guys from our competitor teams again! Let’s hope it will be even more in the next races. We are looking forward to it 👍
Max Mächler (DE), Awesomatix/Sunpadow
Frederik Mikkelsen – 3rd placed driver in the Awesomatix Pro Stock class
So going into the race I had not previously been to the venue. We arrived Wednesday to get a look at the facility and it was quite impressive from the start. Pit was spacious and the driver stand was also a very nicely build. Looking at the track it was quite an interesting layout with elevation changes and with both OFF-Camber and positive camber corners making it really interesting to drive. There was also a really nice canteen offering different menus for every day throughout the event. As always, the competition is high at ETS events so there was not room for any mistakes. After the practice rounds Thursday and Friday, I had good confidence both with the car as well as my driving. Going into the Qualifying rounds I knew that it would be very close at the top. I decided to use both my new sets of tires Friday and managed to get a 3rd in the first round and a 2nd in the second round of qualifying rounds. I was pretty happy with those as it meant I had secured a good starting position for the finals. For the finals I just tried to follow Max as overtaking on this track would be very difficult. The first final went well without too much happening as both Simon and Max drove flawlessly so I finished 3rd in that one. For the second final I had an unfortunate spin so the pressure was on for the last final. For the last final I was able to keep a good pace and finish 2nd behind Max as Simon had already taken the win in the first 2. So overall I was able to finish on the podium in 3rd position which I am really happy about.
Frederik Mikkelsen (DK), Awesomatix/LRP
Stefan Schulz – winner of the Hobbywing Frontwheel class
As of this weekend, the course is one of my favourites. Super smooth to ride, but still challenging. The people around give a nice feeling and the mountains give a world class view!
Stefan Schulz (DE), Xray/Gens Ace
For me it was a perfect weekend. TQ and win in FWD and in Stock I made it into the A-Main for the first time. What more could I want 😅
Andreas Stiebler – winner of the Scorpion Formula class
My weekend could not have started more perfectly. I was in front from the first practice and was able to keep my lead by making small setup changes for the changing track conditions. The track was always in perfect condition thanks to the MAV and the ETS team and the grip was top despite the heat. In the first final I was unlucky because the front right wheel bearing got stuck in lap 7 and I couldn’t continue. In the second final, with less grip due to the rain the night before, René was much closer to me. In the third final I knew that I had to push hard right from the start and when I had a lead of 2 seconds, I could drive more safely and manage the lead. It was a great feeling to finally win an ETS race and I was still smiling when I woke up this morning!
Andreas Stiebler (AT), Schumacher/Intellect
Toni Mateo – winner of the ToniSport 40+ Masters class
I enjoyed this weekend in Austria a lot. We found super good facilities and many friendly people here at this nice track. It was a very close race in the 40+ Masters class as a lot of good drivers showed up. I went on a slightly different tire strategy compared to many other drivers and luckily it paid off. I am just on my way back to Gran Canaria again, but I am looking forward for the next race at Arena33 in Andernach where I will go for another good result again!
Toni Mateo (ES), Awesomatix/Nosram
Dominik Reile – winner of the Orca 17.5 Stock class
The race weekend in Aigen-Schlägl was wonderful, the ETS team and the club just put on a great event except for the weather that could have been a little cooler 🤣. For me personally, everything went perfect and my Awesomatix car was a dream. Also, the fights on track had been mega. All around a really good ETS weekend. I hope Aigen appears more often in the ETS calendar from now on and now I am already looking forward to RD3 Andernach in August.
Dominik Reile (DE), Awesomatix/LRP
