ETS RD2 in Austria is history! It was an amazing weekend of RC car action and we saw many many happy people saying goodbye to us after the trophy ceremony. Thank you all for coming and enjoying a great time with us in Aigen-Schlägl.
Today we like to inform you about the 5 things we have learned from ETS RD2 Season #16 2023/24. Read about the MAV Aigen-Schlägl, the Modified TQ spot, Xray`s Pro Stock victory, young Phil Langner, and first time podiums for Iris and Schumacher.
1) MAV Aigen-Schlägl is a top notch facility that fulfils the wishes of all racers
After ETS RD1, we hailed the AMC Apeldoorn for hosting a fantastic event. Now we MUST do the same for the MAV Aigen-Schlägl! ETS RD2 was another fantastic event and the club did an outstanding job. Last year`s race in Aigen was organized perfectly, and the club has not rested on this. Drivers shouted out huge compliments for the technical inspection, the cafeteria, the nice meals at lunchtime, and of course for the amazing racetrack. The atmosphere was brilliant all day long and that was the merit of the MAV Aigen-Schlägl under the leadership of Martin Mayrhofer. THANK YOU for hosting us!
2) Being Modified TQ currently brings no luck
Last season, five of the six races in the Matrix Modified class saw the TQ taking the win from the best place on the grid. The only driver winning from second on the grid was Yannic Prümper in Apeldoorn. This means, that the TQ has therefore won the race 83% of the time.
After 2 races of the current season this win rate has now crashed down to zero percent.
Marc Rheinard was top qualifier at RD1 in the Netherlands with his Awesomatix car, and was only able to finish in P7 after the triple A-Mains while Michal Orlowski took the win from second on the grid. Rheinard had some tough luck and was very frustrated after the race as the win was so close. In Aigen-Schlägl, Rheinard was able to recover from the bad Apeldoorn result and took an impressive win. But how was it possible?
Well, TQ Ronald Völker suffered from an almost similar portion of bad luck in Austria. Völker was able to put his Mugen car on TQ after looking very strong in qualifying, but in the triple A-Mains the racing luck disappeared from Völker`s hands. He had a bad start in A1 where his teammate Dankel culd pass him after the sund of the tone, and ended only fourth in A1. In the second and third final, he suffered from spinning once, and flying off the track in the last final – P8 for Völker in the end. A nightmare for the Mugen Seiki team and the record ETS champion Völker.
Two races, two times no winner from the TQ spot. The next race at Arena33 in Andernach will show whether this is just a snapshot, or if the TQ has been put under an evil curse.
3) After very long time – Xray back on top of the Pro Stock podium
Xray was a dominant force in the history of the Euro Touring Series with winning many races and championship titles in the past. Marek Cerny, Jan Ratheisky, Alexandre Duchet, Bruno Coelho – all these names are connected with winning ETS titles.
Would you have known that Xray has not won a race in Pro Stock since 11 races? We also had been surprised about this as we checked the results. The last eleven Pro Stock races all had been in the hands of Team Awesomatix around Max Mächler, Simon Lauter, and Olivier Bultynck.
This past weekend in Aigen, Xray driver Adam Izsay from Hungary was able to turn the tables and finally won the Pro Stock class for Xray after Alexandre Duchet did it the last time 2021 at Arena 33 in Andernach. Adam Izsay was on a mission all weekend long and took a well deserved TQ. He made a big mistake in A1 but got his nerves togehter and won A2 and A3 to seasl the deal for himself and the slovakian manufacturer Xray. Congratulations to Adam for a great drive. Let`s see if he will be able to challenge Aweosmatix for the win now frequently.
4) Driver of the weekend – Phil Langner is one to watch
Phil Langner was the “driver of the weekend” through the eyes of our ETS reporter. He did a great job and took his Awesomatix car to second place overall in the Orca 21.5 Stock class. Phil drove great lines, had a lot of patience and overview, took one round of qualifying, and won the first A-Main. Not bad for such a young man against so many experienced racers including former ETS champion Daniel Pöhlmann. Beside his great touring car result, Phil raced in Hobbywing Frontwheel as well and finished 15th out of 41 drivers. Another great result.
The cherry on top of the cake was certainly that he also had his birthday on Sunday and was able to enjoy it with the ETS family. His father Mark was watching his son racing, always being nervous and so proud. Keep up the good work guys – see you hopefully in Andernach for ETS RD3.
5) Iris ONE and Schumacher FT8 celebrating first ETS podiums
To design a new and quick car is not an easy task at the top end of the RC racing industry. Last weekend, we saw two relativeley new cars making it onto the ETS podium for the first time. In the 1up Racing 40+ Masters class, Manuel Stankowitz took a great third place with his Iris ONE touring car. Manuel won the 40+ masters ETS title last season, before he switched teams ahead of the new campaing as he just wanted to “experience something new”. The whole Iris team around designer Andreas Myrberg worked really hard and the first podium is a result of their dedication to racing. Congratulations for the great result!
Another driver placing a car onto the podium for the first time was Schumacher`s Andy Murray. The 2020 1:12 scale Spec IFMAR World Champion raced the new Schumacher FT8 FWD car and took a hard fought third place in thr Hobbywing Frontwheel class. It was a huge improvement for him and the car as he “only” managed to finish on P10 at the season opener in the Netherlands. Congratulations to Andy and Schumacher for the podium in Austria!
