Today we like to inform you about the 5 things we have learned from ETS RD4 Season #16 2023/24. Read about first time race winners, our drivers of the weekend, the perfect debut of the Iris ONE.05 FWD car, Lucas Urbain who jumped back on the championship train, and the fastest onroad girls of europe!
1) Our drivers of the weekend are…
At every ETS event there are drivers achieving great things like first victories, first A-Main appearances, or just having their best time at their first ETS attendance. Last weekend in Hann. Münden, we noticed two drivers who just knocked it out of the park!
We are talking about young racer Phil Langner, and the very experienced RC veteran Torsten Baggendorf. Both have something in common: They practiced a lot at Chucks Raceway in Hasloh (close to Hamburg), and they won their races at ETS RD4 after stellar performances.
Phil Langner, the winner of the Orca 21.5 Stock class
Phil Langner was shining bright like a diamond for the whole weekend. He was racing in the Orca 21.5 STock class, and in the Hobbywing Frontwheel class. He showed great driving and speed and was able to TQ the Orca 21.5 class and to put his FWD car onto third place of the grid.
In the finals he drove amazingly clean, made no single mistake, and celebrated his first ETS victory under the applause of the audience around the track. What a day for the young racer who showed his talent at the last races as well. But now, Phil Langner is an ETS race winner at the age of just 13 years – and that is simply amazing. By the way: In the FWD class, Phil finished third overall making it a double podium weekend.
Torsten Baggendorf finally got the job done and is a ETS race winner now
Torsten Baggendorf was able to claim his first ever win at the Euro Touring Series in Hann. Münden. He was very fast at so many races in the past, but unlucky crashes, small driving errors, or just bad luck eluded him a win in the past. This is history now as Torsten finally had his perfect weekend and took the win in the 1p Racing 40+ Masters class.
Torsten was TQ after qualifying and never looked back in A1 and A2 after the sound of the tone. It was a very impressive performance and Torsten also brought home the biggest victory for the ARC brand at the ETS since a long time. His ARC A10-23 was on rails and he clearly showed the huge potential of the car!
2) The Iris ONE.05 FWD made a perfect ETS debut
The Iris team was at the ETS with car designer Andreas Myrberg, Ruddog CEO Sven Rudig, Alex Kunkler, Dionys Stadler, Manuel Stankowitz, and Jan Petersen. The team`s FWD drivers used the brandnew Iris One.05 FWD car for the very first time on the big stage of the ETS and Manuel Stankotiz and Andreas Myrberg made into the show and qualified 2nd and 6th on the A-Main starting grid – what a debut!
Manuel Stankowitz was super fast all weekend. He was TQ after the first round of qualifying, and scored P2 in all other rounds. We saw lots of emotions going on after Manuel was overnight TQ on Friday as it meant a lot to the whole team to present such a competitive race car to the public. In the end, Manuel finished second on the podium behind Xray`s Adam Izsay and Andreas Myrberg came in 6th place – what a fantastic result for the whole Iris team!
3) Urbain joins the battle for the championship
Awesomatix factory driver Lucas Urbain added his first ever ETS win on carpet to his CV last weekend at the Transworl Hotel. It was a very important result for him as it brought the French driver back into the fight for the overall championship of the premier Matrix Modified class.
Lucas had a good start into the season with a second place in the Netherlands, before he missed out RD2 in Austria and “only” took a P8 away from Arena33 in Germany.
After winning the race last weekend, he must be looking forward to the last two races of the season with huge excitement. Two more race wins (depending on other drivers results) could earn him the big trophy at the end of the season.
Re-watch the fantastic first A-Main from ETS RD4 in Germany
4) You can make the top 5 in FWD with an “old car”
Adam Southgate from the UK amazed the ETS reporter when he saw his car while collecting drivers technical data. Adam qualified on a fantastic 5th spot for the A-Main of the Hobbywing Frontwheel class with his Xray T4-2019F – a car that looks like coming out of last century.
Compared to nowadays actual FWD cars, the “old” 2019 model is still featuring a front motor position, relativeley long shocks, and for sure not the lowest center of gravity. But Adam showed that you don`t need the latest and greatest all the time to go fast. When you know your package well, an older car can still do the job. Thanks for remembering us about that, Adam Southgate!
5) Fast girls having fun at the ETS
We have been extremeley happy to see so many ladies racing at ETS RD4 in Hann. Münden. They are always showing that our sport is not seperated in “Mens” and “Womens” classes which is just great. Thanks for being a part of the ETS family Nadine Zühlke, Susanne Reile, Manuela Borrmann, Meggy Schaal, Lena-Marie Zemke, Elena Fuchs, Jasmin Donath, Emely Ratheisky, and Svantje Ratheisky!
