The dust has settled, and ETS RD3 is in the books! After everybody left Arena33 in Andernach, our media team was still about to catch some statements from the top drovers of all classes which we saw winning big. 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 RD3 Season #15 2022/23 at Arena33 in Andernach, GER.
Marc Rheinard – winner of the Matrix Modified class in Andernach
The weekend was just what we hoped for after the German nationals where we also won the race. We had a lot of confidence from the beginning on because our cars worked pretty well. Not only my car – all of our cars were fighting for top spots in all of the ETS touring car classes. All pole positions got taken by our team and we won ALL the classes too – I am super proud of everybody as that was just outstanding. The whole event was well organized, and luckily the weather was with us too.
Marc Rheinard (DE) Awesomatix/Orca
My own race went just perfect in the finals where I took the win in A1 and A2. This win gives me a lot of confidence for the next weeks, especially in preparation for the IFMAR worlds in Italy. My whole electronic package with the Orca power and PowerHD steering was on point and I couldn`t ask for more. With three different winners in the Modified class this season, the championship is still wide open and is as thrilling as it wasn’t for some years. Now it is time to relax as I will not drive anymore before the worlds. My team will get my cars ready, and I will fully focus to be there when the first practice will start on the Gubbio track in Italy. See you at the IFMAR worlds!
Yannic Prümper – second placed driver in the Matrix Modified class at Arena33
Overall, I am satisfied with the final result. But at the same time, I am a bit disappointed because I missed the TQ by only 0.15 seconds due to small driving mistakes. Unfortunately, I have to say that my driving was not at its best in Qualifying!
Yannic Prümper (DE) Yokomo/Dash
The performance of our BD11 was again very strong here in Andernach. That was very important for us to see, as the two previous ETS circuits in Apeldoorn and Aigen were very different.
Looking ahead to the IFMAR worlds in Gubbio (Italy), I am also very optimistic and I hope that we, as Team Yokomo, can be very competitive there as well.
Max Mächler – winner of the Awesomatix ProStock class at the German ETS
All in all a perfect weekend for Awesomatix and myself! Once again a great organised event with great action on the track. Very emotional weekend for me as Team Manager of Awesomatix, as its the first time we ever saw our car on top in ALL touring car classes! This means a lot to me and also to Oleg and whole Awesomatix company. In this way we also wanna thank the ETS Orga to give racers and brands a great platform to compete with each other at the highest level. See you all soon again in Luxemburg!
Max Mächler (DE) Awesomatix/Sunpadow
Freddy Südhoff – winner of the Hobbywing Frontwheel class in Andernach
What a weekend it was! After not having a radio for more than 2 years in hands it felt nice to be back on track, meeting all racing friends again. Max contacted me some weeks ago and asked if I want to join a race. I have chosen the FWD class as I really like the spirit and look of the cars. Timm Ohlef was so nice to do a phenomenal paint job and I was rocking the Castrol Toyota Corolla, including side mirrors 🙂 I was not sure about my pace as I knew how competitive and tricky this class is but the car was running great from the beginning and with the help of some FWD experts I could improve run by run. I really enjoyed the close racing with both Sparbier brothers, Roman and Stefan! Crazy how close and fair racing can be done with these cars, winning both first A Mains with less then a tenth advantage! Thanks for this beautiful weekend. Until then, Freddy!
Freddy Südhoff (DE) Awesomatix/Sunpadow
Manuel Stankowitz – winner of the ToniSport 40+ Masters class at ETS RD3
My car was running well from the start and I drove with the new Protoform P63 body which felt great in practice. As I didn’t have a good feeling about the weather forecast for Saturday, I already used both new sets of tyres in Q1 and Q2 on Friday evening to get good results. With a bit of luck, I was on pole position at the end of the heats. A good starting position, but only half the battle.
Manuel Stankowitz (DE) Awesomatix/Orca
I haven’t shaken as much as I did in the first final heat for a long time….but I managed to win it. In the second A-Main I was even more nervous and unfortunately made a “stupid” mistake. Caspar was able to win this run. In the third final, I focused absolutely, and it actually worked – I won the heat and the overall race, unbelievable!!!
No kidding, winning the first A final already felt good, but to walk off the driver’s stand as the overall winner in the end is something unbelievably awesome. Thanks to everyone who supported me – especially Tim Benson, who I’ve learned so much from over the years!
Jasmin Donath – winner of the Orca 17.5 Stock class at Arena33
On Sunday after the victory, I was very happy and also upset. Everyone was happy with me. I was very happy, especially when Scotty said, that I was the youngest winner and also the first girl / woman winner at the ETS. Through all the photos at the end of the ETS and congratulations and conversations you slowly realised what had happened a few hours ago. At home, I had to explain everything in more detail and show photos to my parents, who unfortunately couldn’t come along. But even on Monday morning, which was also the new start of the school year, I noticed that I was still so excited inside.
Jasmin Donath (DE) Awesomatix/GensAce
Even on the second day afterwards, I think about it a lot and enjoy all the pictures and videos that are now on the web. I found the whole weekend very successful. The course was great. The catering was great. The event was great. I would like to thank my fellow competitors who all rode fairly and had fun together with great racing action and I hope that we will meet like this on the track a few more times. I hope that we can share many more of these moments of joy with our amazing hobby.
We sat on the couch in front of the livestream all weekend and watched every run with great anticipation. It was so exciting to sit at home and wonder what the atmosphere must have been like on site. We were very excited at each of Jasmin’s races. There were tears of joy at the finals, and even more so when she crossed the finish line in A2. It was just mega great and we were as happy as little children.
Parents of Jasmin Donath
The first really important big race won under these conditions! Simply great! She told us at home who all helped her, I was touched, there are so many people who helped her beforehand. Many THANKS !
Jan Ratheisky – winer of the Scorpion Formula class in Andernach
I think that from Friday at the latest, Andreas and I were completely on a par and didn’t give each other a millimetre. Everyqualifying heat and every final was extremely exciting. My hats off to Andreas at this point. He drove superb! In the end, I was able to block him in the first two finals to secure the overall victory.The foam rubber tyres run great. However, the setup is quite different from the rubber tyres. I think there is still a lot to learn in the future.
Jan Ratheisky (DE) Xray/Nosram
