The first round of qualifying is in the books and we have our first TQ runs of the season on the scoreboard. It was a thrilling day at AMCA Apeldoorn and all participants had been on fire on track. The rest of qualifying will take place on Saturday and it is game on at ETS RD1 Season #17 2024/25 in the Netherlands.
Masterclass from Orlowski as he dominates eventful first round of Modified qualifying
The opening round of FlySky Modified qualifying saw Michal Orlowski taking the win with his Mi9 by a huge gap of 4.6 seconds over second placed Awesomatix driver Lucas Urbain. Eric Dankel (Awesomatix) took third for the round and Yokomo`s Yannic Prümper posted the fourth fastest time coming out of the B-sort. His Yokomo teammate Antoine Brunet was able to take fifth place away from Q1. Orlowski was flying out there and posted the fastest overall runtime we have ever seen so far at an ETS race in Apeldoorn – what a statement it was from the reigning ETS champion!
BUT what sounds like a “business as usual” story was even more eventful as many of the drivers in the top heat had huge trouble during their five-minute qualifying run.
We start in lap one: The cars got off the line and fourth place starter Akio Sobue (Axon) was riding the curb in the banked right turn after the timing loop too much and spun into the gras – he stopped some laps later to save tires. Marc Rheinard (Awesomatix) was starting behind Sobue and somehow lost his rhythm after the Sobue incident to spin out as well. Rheinard stopped immediately to save tires. The same for Atsushi Hara – mistake in lap one and he stopped his A800R car too. Dominic Greiner retired his Serpent after only four laps.
Meanwhile, it was Mugen Seiki`s Ronald Völker who was Orlowski`s hardest contender on track running 2-3 seconds behind the Schumacher driver in a close fight for second place with Urbain. But Völker also suffered from bad luck when he had to stop his car due to an electronic issue after 18 laps running in second place.
We saw a lot of bad luck and unusual things for the top drivers in this heat, but others capitalised a lot from that. Yannic Prümper took P4 out of the B-group, Max Mächler posted a great run to P7 out of the C-group with many others scoring good points in Q1. Will “normality” come back in Q2? Can anybody battle Orlowski for the TQ? Many questions ahead of Q2 which will take place on Saturday morning here in Apeldoorn.
Ellerbrock takes super-close first Pro Stock qualifying
Top seed Lukas Ellerbrock (Awesomatix) was really exhausted when he arrived in the interview section under the drivers stand after Q1. The Awesomatix driver had a perfect run on track, but his main contender Tim Benson (Jambo One) also did a fantastic job out there. They were matching lap times lap after lap, and Ellerbrock won the heat by a margin of only 0.216 seconds after five minutes. Benson said that he “lost it to Ellerbrock in the opening laps of the race where he just didn`t drive perfectly”.
It was a very important TQ run for Ellerbrock who has never won in Apeldoorn in the past – the same as Tim Benson. Reigning champion Olivier Bultynck (Awesomatix) posted the third fastest time out of the B-group and Sören Sparbier (Mugen Seiki) and Rob Janssen (Awesomatix) completed the top 5 or the day.
FWD Q1 goes to Belgium and Nicolas Delisé
The first round of Hobbywing Frontwheel qualifying saw top seed Manuel Stankowitz having some trouble. The iris driver dropped back to last place after he lost a lot of time in lap 6 allowing Nicolas Delisé (Xray) and Phil Langner (Awesomatix) jumping in into the lead. Max Weffers also joined the party, and the trio had a nice battle for the win in Q1. After five minutes, it was Delisé who took the win by 0.8 seconds with Weffers another second behind them.
Benjamin Elbisser (Xray) and Henrik Heitsch (ARC) completed the top five in the first of four rounds of qualifying in Apeldoorn. Can Stankowitz fight back in Q2? He posted the fastest lap of the heat which clearly shows that the pace is there.
US racer Anderson wins Q1 in Apeldoorn
Eric Anderson, the man behind the EAM battery brand, took the win in the opening round of 1up Racing 40+ Masters qualifying. Eric had a great run with his Awesomatix A800R and won the heat by half a second over Dutch local hero Elibert Sievers (Awesomatix), and Xray driver David Ehrbar. Torsten Baggendorf took finished fourth, and top seed Werner Schmitzer dropped down to fifth place in Q1. A great start into qualifying for Eric Anderson, not a perfect one for Werner Schmitzer. What will happen in Q2? We will find out later this evening!
Zühlke wins opening round of qualifying
In the Orca 21.5 Stock class, top seed Timo Siebert was in the lead of the race until he made a mistake in lap number eight where he lost 2 seconds of time. Nadine Zühlke took full advantage of it and posted a TQ run ahead of Stefan Rommens, Timo Siebert, Jan Vogler, and Michael Koos. Can Timo Siebert fight back in Q2 this evening, or will Nadine Zühlke win another round of 21.5 Stock qualifying?
Jovicic TQ`s first Formula qualifier of the new season
Luka Jovicic drove a great race with his Xray car in Q1 of the Formula division. He had the fastest lap of the race to his favour (16.137) and won with a comfortable gap of three seconds ahead of his teammate David Ehrbar, and reigning ETS Formula champion Andreas Stiebler (Schumacher). Patrik Sadrinna and Michael Lipperheide completed the top 5 in a very interesting and competitive field of Formula drivers. Q2 will be up next and Jovicic will have another shot for a solid TQ run.
