ETS Round 3 in Germany
We are close to half time of ETS Season #15 2022/23 with RD3 taking place at Arena33 in Andernach, GER next weekend. Today we like to take a look on the upcoming race and the situation in the championships of our six ETS racing classes. As always, this predictions are only written from the perspective of our media team and we got surprised from time to time with a completely different outcome 😊.
The track at Arena33 is ready for all ETS racers and the crew from the local club DJK Andernach will do their very best to make it another great race in the fifteenth season of the Euro Touring Series. The turnout looks great with 190+ drivers having registered for the race so far!
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Matrix Modified
Yokomo`s Prümper and Krapp shining at RD1 and RD2 – can they also fight for the win at Arena33?
We have seen an incredible (and unexpected) strong performance from the Yokomo team at the first two races of the season. Yannic Prümper`s win at the season opener in the Netherlands was a superb result, and a perfect debut for the new BD11 touring car. And just as some people thought about this being a “one hit wonder” only, it was Prümper`s teammate Christopher Krapp who took the win at RD2 in Austria in a very impressive way. Things like that don`t happen by accident and the BD11 seems to be a very strong car.
Two wins out of two races, championship lead (Krapp), and four races to go – what else can Yokomo ask for right now! They are in a very good position to fight for the overall title until the end of the season. At last weekend`s German nationals at Arena33, Christopher Krapp was very fast and finished third on the podium behind Rheinard and Völker – two drivers which will challenge the Yokomo team as hard as possible at ETS RD3. Danish Yokomo driver Frederik Hovgaard will also make the trip to Germany to race in the Matrix Modified class with his BD11 alongside Yannic Prümper and Christopher Krapp.
Rheinard and Awesomatix optimistic after taking German nationals at same venue
After a bit of a “slow” start into the season for Awesomatix top driver Marc Rheinard, we can expect him to be in the mix for the win at ETS RD3 in his hometown Andernach. Last weekend, Marc was able to win the German with his Orca powered Awesomatix A800MMX in front of Ronald Völker (Mugen Seiki) and Christopher Krapp (Yokomo). He will do everything he can to (finally) win a race at the Euro Touring Series for Awesomatix. In the overall championship, Rheinard is sitting in third position right now. His gap to leader Christopher Krapp is at 7 points, and if Rheinard will have a chance to fight for the overall championship until the end of the season, he should at least TQ and win the upcoming event on his home soil.
German ace Rheinard will see his French teammate Lucas Urbain and Michele Manzo from Switzerland competing in the Modified class as well, while setup expert and ace mechanic Tim Wahl will also be in Andernach to support the whole Awesomatix team – a combination which sounds very promising for Awesomatix and their A800MMX touring car. Will they come along with the “big trophy” after the race – let`s fins out at ETS RD3 in Andernach.
Mugen Seiki`s Völker aiming for a fourth consecutive Arena33 ETS race win
Ronald Völker is sitting second in the overall championship rankings after finishing on P2 in the first two races of the season (while also scoring a TQ point in Apeldoorn). Völker, who still is the record champion of the ETS with 7 (!) titles in the Modified class, is always aiming for race wins and he will try to fight for the win at RD3 in Andernach with his LRP powered Mugen Seiki MTC2. The track of Arena33 looks to suit Völker`s driving style a lot, as he was able to win the last three ETS races in Andernach. Especially when switching teams from Yokomo to Mugen Seiki, Ronald showed some impressive performances at Arena 33. Two consecutive race wins at the start of last season helped him to win the overall title for Mugen Seiki in his first ETS campaign for the Japanese brand. Last weekend, Völker finished second on the podium at the German nationals behind Marc Rheinard (Awesomatix) and in front of championship leader Christopher Krapp who finished third.
Mugen Seiki designer Robert Pietsch will be on the side of Ronald Völker and Eric Dankel, and Rémi Callens at ETS RD3 in Andernach to help them getting the maximum performance out of their MTC2 cars. This time, Robert will not race himself, as he will focus on the best possible preparation for Ronald and the team for the IFMAR world championships which will take part in Gubbio (Italy) in September. Robert will come to Andernach after laying down an incredible performance at the 1:8 scale Nitro Onroad Euros in Spain. He finished second on the podium, just 2 seconds away from winning another european championship title in the class he raced the most during his career. Congratulations for the great result Robert!
Team Xray lining up with Kaufmann, Havranek, and Ratheisky
At the last race in Aigen-Schlägl (Austria), we saw Marco Kaufmann and Oliver Havranek doing very well with their Xray cars finishing 6th and 7th in the A-Main. Both have made their entries for RD3 again, and they will welcome their teammate and long-time Xray racer Jan Ratheisky who also signed up in the modified class beside racing F1, ProStock, and caring about his whole family (all are racing) as well. Jan`s presence and race craft will be a huge asset to the Xray team in Andernach. Patrick Gollner and Adam Izsay are in competition also, and we are excited how many X4 cars we will see lining up in the A-Main of the Matrix Modified class at the end of qualifying.
Schumacher sending Orlowski and Mi8 on another mission
Schumacher Racing`s offroad star and excellent onroad racer Michal Orlowski will travel to Andernach after not being at the ETS since RD5 of the last season in Daun (February 2022). There, he was making the A-Main with the freshly released Schumacher Mi8 car, and now it is time to check the car`s performance on the flat and smooth surface of Arena33 in Andernach. Orlowski, who is the reigning European champion in 1:12 scale, is always good for a top result at the ETS and will see the full support of his father and Schumacher car designer Andy Murray during the whole weekend. Can Michal Orlowski accomplish another onroad mission with his Hobbywing powered Mi8?
Awesomatix Pro Stock
Lauter, Mächler, Kunkler & Co out for another dominant weekend?
The Awesomatix Pro Stock class was in the hands of the Awesomatix team during the last races. Max Mächler and Simon Lauter are leading the championship right now – separated by 1 point only. Olivier Bultynck, Alex Kunkler, Tim Benson, and Frederik Mikkelsen are completing the top 6 now for Awesomatix before we see the first “non Awesomatix driver” Lukas Ellerbrock (Xray) in seventh position of the ranking list. With Lauter and Mächler being in a great form so far, we also should also keep an eye on Alex Kunkler during ETS RD3 in Andernach. At last weekend`s German nationals “Kunki” showed a great pace and was able to create enormous pressure on race winner Simon Lauter. The list of fast Awesomatix drivers for ETS RD3 is very long, and we are very sure to see many of their A800MMX cars lining up on the grid in the A-Main.
Xray with “a new hope” as Ratheisky placed Pro Stock entry
When we are looking at the Awesomatix Pro Stock class, we can only see a few names that have proven themselves to fight against the forces of Awesomatix in the last two seasons. One of these names is Jan Ratheisky. The Xray driver is on the list for the race (his first ETS appearance of the season), and the three times Pro Stock champion is a driver which you can never ignore when it comes down to the top spots on the podium. He will fight for a top result with his Xray teammates Lukas Ellerbrock, David Ehrbar, and Adam Izsay, and it wouldn`t be a huge surprise to see Ratheisky in contention for the win at ETS Rd3 in Andernach. Let`s see what he can do and which kind of “fresh wind” he brings along for Xray at the ETS.
Yokomo, Mugen Seiki, Serpent & Co
Enrico Jung, who was fighting in the Awesomatix Pro Stock class for Yokomo on is own in the last races, will see Frederik Hovgaard racing alongside him in Andernach this time. It is never a disadvantage to share setups with teammates in the same racing class, and it will be exciting to see how Yokomo`s new BD11 will perform at Arena33. For Enrico Jung, the track in Andernach seems to be a good place as he qualified for the A-Main here at the first 2 races of the last season.
The Mugen Seiki Team will see Kevin Sparbier, Nicolas Delisé, Maximilian Unterschütz, and Patrick Miekautsch wheeling the MTC2 aiming for some good results. Kevin Sparbier looked very fast at the last races from time to time during practice, but he never had the perfect qualifying runs to make it into the A-Main with his Mugen Seiki car.
Sören Sparbier will be the “partner in crime” for Serpent once again. He had two very strong races with the new Medius X20-23 car this season. At RD1 in Apeldoorn, Sören qualified for the A-Main and just missed to repeat that again in Aigen-Schlägl with some bad luck while leading the B-Main.
Hobbywing Frontwheel
Schulz aiming for another victory to get into the fight for the title again
Reigning ETS Hobbywing Frontwheel champion Stefan Schulz (Xray) celebrated a dominant win at the last race in Austria. Steven Olsen finished third overall and is still leading the championship after two races. With Schulz not attending RD1 in the Netherlands, he is further down in the ranking list right now. But with another strong result at the upcoming race in Andernach, he can bring himself back into the fight for the overall championship.
Schulz is looking very strong in the FWD class since a long time, but he will see a very strong field of drivers competing in Andernach. Beside championship leader Steven Olsen (Awesomatix A800MMX), we see many well-known FWD drivers on the list of entries. Guys like Sören Sparbier (Serpent) the Mugen gang around Kevin Sparbier, Nicolas Delisé and Max Weffers, and a huge group of Awesomatix A800FX Evo drivers around Freddy Südhoff will try to hunt Schulz and Olsen down.
Freddy Südhoff – yes you have read correctly! The former world class touring car driver, who retired from RC racing 2 years ago, will return to the ETS for a “one race comeback”. He will use a loaner Awesomatix car, and it will be interesting to see what he can do against all the strong FWD drivers around him
In the end, all eyes will be on Steven Olsen who will try everything to score a good number of points to stay on top of the rankings at half time of ETS Season #15 2022/23 in the Hobbywing Frontwheel class.
Stock 17.5
Strong competition for Reile at Arena33 in Andernach
Dominik Reile is on the sunny side of life right now. He captured two pole positions and overall wins at the races of the current season in the Orca 17.5 Stock class and is leading the championship with a comfortable gap of 8 points. We expect him to be in contention for another win in Andernach, but this time we see even more strong competitors on the list of entries
Thomas Stenger can be one of those strong contenders. He is a very experienced touring car racer and was a German champion in 1:12 scale stock racing some years ago. Beside Stenger, Alvaro Fernandez from Gran Canaria can be another potential driver for a top 3 finish. He is one of the fastest Stock racers from Spain and will travel to Germany together with reigning 40+ Masters champion Toni Mateo. The well-known A-Main drivers Pöhlmann, Ruf, Donath, Koos, Schmid, Storm, Siebert, and Bergheim will also push hard to challenge Reile.
Daniel Pöhlmann won the German nationals ahead of the strong driving youngsters Niclas Storm and Tristan Bergheim last weekend at Arena33, and they will try to repeat that “podium feeling” at the upcoming ETS race again. Another fact to highlight is, that Nele Knodel and Elena Fuchs will race alongside this season`s double podium finisher Jasmin Donath to strengthen the “girl power” in the Orca 17.5 Stock class.
ToniSport 40+ Masters
Toni Mateo with big chance to extend championship lead
When we are looking onto the ToniSport 40+ Masters class, it is Toni Mateo from Gran Canaria leading the standings with his Awesomatix A800MMX ahead of Italian racer Flavio Paladin (Xray) and German Mugen Seiki driver Thomas Oehler. Toni Mateo seems to be able to score top 3 results in the 40+ Masters class constantly, and he is our top favourite for winning a second ETS title in a row. But anything can happen in racing – especially in the highly competitive 40+ Masters class where we have seen many different race winners and podium finishers during last season.
The list of entries is fully packed with a lot of quality, and we are happy to see Caspar Morgen, Nathan Parker, Joachim Altenhof and Frank Fuchs back on the line again after a short break. With Mateo, Paladin, Oehler, Stankowitz, Thalheimer, Schmitzer, Baggendorf, and Arts, the top 8 of the championship have made their entry for Arena33, while RD1 winner Elibert Sievers and Michael Uhlir not being able to attend the German ETS this season. ETS race reporter Patrick Beck will give his debut in the ToniSport 40+ Masters class beside writing all the race reports during the weekend. His friends from the Mugen team will care about his car and he will “only” drive it in his first ever 17.5 Stock class race. Everything is set for some great battles in this great ETS racing class at Arena33.
Scorpion Formula
Multiple champion Ratheisky returns to ETS Formula class
Jan Ratheisky (Xray) returns to ETS Formula racing in Andernach. Jan is a strong force (if not the strongest) in radio controlled F1 racing and has won everything possible in this class. He also took two race wins at Arena33 last season and will feel like in his “living room” when he will put down is Xray on track. But in Ratheisky`s abscense, other drivers have stepped up their game and became ETS race winners. René Kölbel (Xray) and Andreas Stiebler (Schumacher) are both running in a very strong form now and Ratheisky will need to show his best driving to fight with them for the win. Let`s see who will be the fastest Formula driver at ETS RD3 Season #15 2022/23 in Andernach, Germany.
We are happy to welcome all of you for ETS RD3 Season #15 202/23 in Germany. You can follow us here on our website (ets.racing) and on the euroRCseries YouTube channel as well. Live Streaming will be available starting from Friday. As always, we will share our reports on Facebook too. Let`s go racing!
Uwe, Scotty, and the whole ETS crew
