Free Practice Report, ETS RD1 Season #17 2024/25
The seventeenth (!) season of the Euro Touring Season is underway and day one is already in the books. The 250 racers had 5 rounds of free practice to find back in their rhythm of ETS racing after some weeks of a break for most of them. The weather was stable all day with some light breezes of wind and a temperature around 16-18 degrees. The forecast for the weekend looks good as well and we are expecting great races on the track of AMCA Apeldoorn.
Urbain nails the three magic laps of the day in FP4 – Orlowski and Völker taking second and third place at the AMCA track on Thursday
The FlySky Modified class saw Awesomatix factory driver Lucas Urbain nailing some really hot laps during the fourth of five practice sessions on Thursday. The Awesomatix driver was on fire and posted a 40.237 over three consecutive laps. Reigning ETS champion Michal Orlowski (Schumacher) finished second for the day with a 40.588 followed by the Mugen Seiki of Ronald Völker who was able to do a 40.831 in the last heat of the day. Marc Rheinard (Awesomatix) and Yannic Prümper (Yokomo) completed the top five at the opening day of ETS Season #17 2024/25 in Apeldoorn
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Lucas Urbain (FR) 40.237 Awesomatix|ORCA
2. Michal Orlowski (PL) 40.588 Schumacher|Hobbywing
3. Ronald Völker (DE) 40.831 Mugen Seiki|LRP
4. Marc Rheinard () 41.000 Awesomatix|Cayote
5. Yannic Prümper (DE) 41.081 Yokomo|ORCA
Ellerbrock leads ahead of champion Bultynck and a quick Dutch trio after free practice
In the Awesomatix ProStock class we saw two familiar drivers on top – Lukas Ellerbrock and his teammate Olivier Bultynck. Both had been on a very similar pace with a huge gap over the rest of the field (on the pure three lap pace). Behind them we saw a very fast Dutch trio of Timon Coenen, Rob Janssen, and Bart Wubben who all looked very quick on the AMCA track. Ellerbrock and Bultynck will be hard to beat but it looks like there is a big chance to see some new names in the A-Main of the Pro Stock class this weekend.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Lukas Ellerbrock (DE) 48.359 Awesomatix
2. Olivier Bultynck (BE) 48.461 Awesomatix
3. Timon Coenen (NL) 49.052 Awesomatix
4. Rob Janssen (NL) 49.063 Awesomatix
5. Bart Wubben (NL) 49.159
Stankowitz fastest during free FWD practice sessions
Manuel Stankowitz (Iris) topped the time sheets in the Netherlands on Thursday. He had a good pace and posted the three hottest laps of the day in front of Phil Langner (Awesomatix), Roman Borschel (Awesomatix), Jacques Libar (Xray), and Nicolas Delisé (Xray). The top 10 had been very close and we are expecting some thrilling qualifying runs on Friday and Saturday.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Manuel Stankowitz (DE) 57.394 Iris
2. Phil Langner (DE) 57.751 Awesomatix
3. Roman Borschel (DE) 57.861 Awesomatix
4. Jacques Libar (LU) 58.008 Xray
5. Nicolas Delisé (BE) 58.015 Xray
Ahead of the competition on day one – local hero Sievers
After always running strong here in Apeldoorn (with a win in 2022), it was no surprise that Elibert Sievers would be in contention for another top result on home soil. The Awesomatix driver was fastest in free practice and had a comfortable looking gap of half a second (on three lap pace) over our reigning 1up Racing 40+ Masters champion Michel Zierold (Awesomatix), and third placed Werner Schmitzer (Xray). The winner of the last two races, David Ehrbar (Xray), took P4 for the day and was followed by Torsten Baggendorf in the fifth spot.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Elibert Sievers (NL) 52.651 Awesomatix
2. Michel Zierold (DE) 53.167 Awesomatix
3. Werner Schmitzer (AT) 53.212 Xray
4. David Ehrbar (DE) 53.257 Xray
5.Torsten Baggendorf (DE) 53.408 ARC
Zühlke fastest in free practice on Thursday
In the Orca 21.5 Stock class, Nadine Zühlke (ARC) showed a very good pace as she posted the fastest three consecutive laps of the day in the fourth practice round. Timo Siebert (Mugen Seiki) was second fastest, followed by Jan Vogler, Tobias Baumbach, and Holger Wittek.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Nadine Zühlke (DE) 53.600 ARC
2. Timo Siebert (DE) 53.814 Mugen Seiki
3. Jan Vogler (DE) 54.025 Awesomatix
4. Tobias Baumbach (DE) 54.534 Xray
5. Holger Wittek (DE) 54.582 Mugen Seiki
Jovicic tops free practice at ETS season opener in Apeldoorn
Luka Jovicic (Xray) was surprisingly strong here at the first day in Apeldoorn. He outpaced his contenders by almost a second over the three fastest consecutive laps which is something we do not see very often. Behind Jovicic we saw Chris Grenz (Xray), David Ehrbar (Xray), champion Andreas Stiebler (Schumacher), and Robert Kampehl (Schumacher).
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Luka Jovicic (LU) 48.556 Xray
2. Chris Grenz (DE) 49.423 Xray
3. David Ehrbar (DE) 49.495 Xray
4. Andreas Stiebler (AT) 49.526 Schumacher
5. Robert Kampehl (DE) 49.920 Schumacher
