The sixteenth (!) season of the Euro Touring Series will start at the beautiful venue of the AMCA Apeldoorn in the Netherlands on the first weekend of June, in about 6 weeks. The list of entries is getting longer and longer, and the whole ETS crew is very optimistic to reach the mark of 200 drivers for the season opener on one of the best racetracks across europe!
Today we like to take a closer look on the stacked field of Modified drivers who have already signed up, or confirmed their participation for ETS RD1 in the Netherlands to make the modified division the most spectacular racing class once again!
Akio Sobue
Axon | Orca | Sanwa
The Japanese top driver is racing for Team Axon and uses Orca electronics. He finished third at the 2022 IFMAR world championships in Gubbio (IT) and took a strong second place at last season`s ETS RD2 in Aigen (AUT). He also won the Japanese touring car championships in 2022. Akio had another great race at the start of 2023 at the TITC in Bangkok (THA), where he was the hardest contender for race winner Bruno Coelho (Xray). He finished second on the podium in front of his strong Axon teammate Hayato Ishioka. It is great to see Akio on the list of entries for our ETS season opener and we expect a good performance from the leading Axon factory driver!
Ronald Völker
Mugen Seiki | LRP | Highest
Last year was full of ups and downs for the Mugen Seiki factory driver Ronald Völker. After a slower start into the ETS season, Ronald was able to win his title number eight (!) at the last race of the season in Daun. Ronald won the penultimate round of the ETS campaign on carpet in Hann. Münden, and celebrated his title after a strong second place at the season finale. The IFMAR world championships in Italy didn`t went to plan for the German as he was only able to take P8 away from Italy – not what he and Mugen Seiki had hoped for.
At the end of 2022, Völker was able to win the highly competitive EWS International race in Great Britan. The year 2023 started with a trip to the TITC where Völker had a weekend to forgte with a lot of bad luck, followed by a win at the MIBO International race in the Czech Republic. Völker will start the hunt for ETS title number 9 in the Netherlands – can he win another modified championship?
Marc Rheinard
Awesomatix | Orca | PowerHD
Marc Rheinard has gone through a year 2022 which (same as Völker) brought some good, and some bad results for him and his Awesomatix car. On the positive side, Rheinard was able to win the first modified race at the ETS (at Arena33) since he joined the Awesomatix team, and he was also able to win the German nationals title at the same venue too. Two very important wins for Marc who was very close for a few times with his Awesomatix A800MMX (now A800R).
On the down side, the world championships in Italy, where Rheinard tried to win a fourth IFMAR title in the touring car category, was one of the big disappointments for him in 2022. Finishing only 5th overall was just not good enough for Rheinards ambitions and his possibilities as a driver. After the worlds, some more wins at the New York GP, the AOC in Australia, and the win of the Road Champion Cup at the 2023 Snowbirds Nationals in Florida rounded out the list of success for mister MR33. Let`s see how Marc Rheinard will come “out of the gate” at the first race of ETS Season #16 2023/24 in Apeldoorn!
Christopher Krapp
Yokomo | Racing Performer | PowerHD
2022 was one of the best years, if not THE best, in the RC racing carreer of Yokomo`s Christopher Krapp. He had a very decent outdoor season, including his amazing win at the ETS race in Aigen-Schlägl. It was the first ETS race win for Krapp since he won on the island of Gran Canaria in 2012, running for Kyosho and Team Orion (sonds like an eternity).
Krappi was always a contender for top spots, but in the past years it looked like he lost his winning edge. But after his great win in Austria, it looked like all of his confidence was back at 100%. That was also visible when Krapp took over the role of the hardest contender for Bruno Coelho at the IFMAR worlds in Gubbio, where he became the vice world champion behind the winning Xray driver Coelho. Krapp showed fantastic racing and was very close to Bruno all the time. The best carreer result for the Yokomo driver was the cream on the cherry of a great 2022. It will not be an easy job to top these results in 2023, but maybe the birth of his little daughter will give him some “extra wings” for the big upcoming ETS races!
Lucas Urbain
Awesomatix | Orca | MKS
Another driver joining the circle of ETS race winners in 2022 was Awesomatix factory driver Lucas Urbain. He had a good start into the year 2022, winning one round of ther EWS series in Great Britain, followed by two 5th place results at the ETS races Aigen and Andernach. In Luxembourg, the time of Urbain had finally come. The French ace drove the stars from the sky at ETS RD4 in Luxembourg, where he won the race in front of Rheinard and Völker. A victory which was long overdue, but which had eluded him for many years in the past.
Urbain backed up the result with a win at one of the Longwy Winter Series races, followed by a third place at ETS RD5 in Hann. Münden. Lucas was in the fight for the overall ETS title until the very last race of the season, making ETS Season #15 2022/23 the best campaign for him at the Euro Touring Series so far. As preperation and progress is one of Urbain`s biggest strengths, it will be exciting to watch him during the next season on track!
Michal Orlowski
Schumacher | Hobbywing | PowerHD
Schumacher`s leading factory team driver Michal Orlowski was the man of the weekend at the huge ETS season finale in Daun. Michal drove flawless all weekend long and was able to TQ and win the event in front of all the top drivers including Völker and Rheinard. It was a very big win for himself and the Schumacher team at the Euro Touring Series. For Michal Orlowski it was the first ever ETS win after finishing on the podium once or twice some years ago. When having in mind that the Schumacher team is one of the smaller ones at most of the ETS races, this success is ranked even higher – especially on a tricky carpet track we have in Daun. A sixth place at the IFMAR world championships in Italy was more than just an exclamation mark during the summer season.
As Orlowski`s main focus is normally on his Offroad programme, there is a lot of phantasy allowed when we think about him concentrating even more on the onroad side of RC racing. His talent is amazing and he is one of the best “allround” drivers on the lanet right now!
Yannic Prümper
Yokmo | Orca | PowerHD
Team Yokomo`s Yannic Prümper has also (like Krappi) become a proud daddy of a young boy some weeks ago – congratulations Yannic! If that will give him some extra speed on track is something we will discover together during the next weeks. Prümper had a perfect start at last years season opener in Apeldoorn where he won from second on the grid against a very fast Ronald Völker. It was a superb win from Yannic with the new BD11 car which he backed up with another podium at ETS RD3 in Andernach. The IFMAR worlds in Gubbio saw Prümper making the A-Main and finishing seventh overall in the end. Not a bad result, but Yannic had hoped for a bit more in Gubbio.
Can Yannic repeat the win in Apeldoorn again after switching his electronic sponsor from Dash to Orca? We will have an eye on him in the Netherlands at the first round of the new ETS season!
Only some weeks of patience needed
The new season is coming closer, so does our need for adrenaline and ETS racing. We hope you enjoyed reading our quick report which had the intention to wake you up a little bit from the long time without the ETS 🙂
INFO: We will release the new ORCA Softwares for our stock touring car classes in the next days. You will find them for download very soon – just follow our news here on the website!
