Seeding Practice Report, ETS RD1 Season #17 2024/25
We are right ahead of qualifying at the ETS season opener in the Netherlands and before it is getting really serious here, we like to let you know about the results from the two rounds of controlled seeding practice.
Champion Orlowski with a small margin over his competitors as a stacked field of drivers heads into qualifying
The reigning FlySky Modified class champion Michal Orlowski was on top here on Friday afternoon in the Netherlands. The Schumacher factory driver had an advantage of three tenths over the rest of the field and his car was looking very consistent over the entire run on track. Orlowski mentioned that “It was not easy today and we (him and his mechanic Andy Murray) had to do a lot of wrenching to get the car where we wanted it to be, but finally we found a good setup for the complete runtime on track”.
Other drivers had been more in “struggle city” when it came to the true 5-minute pace, and it will be interesting to watch how everybody will perform when the three fastest consecutive laps will not be so important anymore in qualifying.
Lucas Urbain and Eric Dankel had been the quickest Awesomatix drivers in second and third place while Akio Sobue took fourth position with his Axon car. Marc Rheinard seeded in fifth spot with his Awesomatix car at his first outing with his new Cayote electronics. Ronald Völker (Mugen Seiki), Dominic Greiner (Serpent), Atsushi Hara (Awesomatix), Antoine Brunet (Yokomo), and Yannic Prümper (Yokomo) completed the top ten after seeding practice.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Michal Orlowski (PL) 40.471 Schumacher|Hobbywing
2. Lucas Urbain (FR) 40.781 Awesomatix|ORCA
3. Eric Dankel (DE) 40.840 Awesomatix|Hobbywing
4. Akio Sobue (JP) 40.857 Axon|ORCA
5. Marc Rheinard (DE) 41.029 Awesomatix|Cayote
Ellerbrock begins his hunt for the title, Benson and Sparbier also in the mix
In the Awesomatix ProStock class, last season’s vice-champion Lukas Ellerbrock (Awesomatix) posted the fastest lap times during both rounds of seeding practice. Tim Benson (Jambo One) and Sören Sparbier (Mugen Seiki) had been his closest contenders so far sitting in second and third place, only two and three tenths behind Ellerbrock. The 5-minute qualifying runs will be tough as many drivers are on a similar pace. Young Phil Langner took fourth place in his first (!) Pro Stock seeding practice and was followed by Xray racer Jacques Libar who completed the top 5.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Lukas Ellerbrock (DE) 48.497 Awesomatix
2. Tim Benson (DE) 48.677 Jambo One
3. Sören Sparbier (DE) 48.748 Mugen Seiki
4. Phil Langner (DE) 48.901 Awesomatix
5. Jacques Libar (LU) 49.182 Xray
Super close FWD practice sessions with Stankowitz coming out as our top seed for qualifying
After having a great day yesterday, Manuel Stankowitz (Iris) continued in the same way and was the fastest FWD driver on track. He was hinted by the rest of the field, and it was the ARC of Henrik Heitsch who was the closest to him. Roman Borschel, Torsten Baggendorf, and Nicolas Delisé completed the top five. Qualifying will be a close affair and everybody is already excited to follow the sessions.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Manuel Stankowitz (DE) 57.360 Iris
2. Henrik Heitsch (DE) 57.653 ARC
3. Roman Borschel (DE) 57.705 Awesomatix
4. Torsten Baggendorf (DE) 57.757 ARC
5. Nicolas Delisé (BE) 57.770
Schmitzer tops controlled practice in Apeldoorn
Werner Schmitzer was the fastest during controlled practice of the 1up Racing 40+ Masters class. Schmitzer had a great pace in the last seeding round and had an advantage of 0,35 seconds over David Ehrbar on the three-lap pace. Elibert Sievers, Eric Anderson, and Torsten Baggendorf completed the top five before the start of qualifying!
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Werner Schmitzer (AT) 52.926 Xray
2. David Ehrbar (DE) 53.275 Xray
3. Elibert Sievers (NL) 53.360 Awesomatix
4. Eric Anderson (US) 53.379 Awesomatix
5. Torsten Baggendorf (DE) 53.445 ARC
Siebert is top seed for qualifying with Zühlke and Vogler right in tow
Mugen driver Timo Siebert made it to the top of the board after the end of seeding practice as he was laying down the fastest times in the last round of controlled practice. He will start first into qualifying followed by Nadine Zühlke, and Jan Vogler.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Timo Siebert (DE) 53.338 Mugen Seiki
2. Nadine Zühlke (DE) 53.657 ARC
3. Jan Vogler (DE) 54.030 Awesomatix
4. Kristian Jensen (DK) 54.211 Xray
5. Markus Ernst (DE) 54.432 Mugen Seiki
Jovicic leading Formula drivers into qualifying
Luka Jovicic from Luxembourg came out of seeding practice as the fastest driver. Jovicic was leading an all Xray 1-2-3-4 after seeding and was followed by David Ehrbar, Michael Lipperheide, and René Kölbel. Reigning Formula champion Andreas Stiebler (Schumacher) was only seventh fastest and needs to improve his pace for qualifying to battle for a top result here in the Netherlands.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Luka Jovicic (LU) 49.011 Xray
2. David Ehrbar (DE) 49.311 Xray
3. Michael Lipperheide (DE) 49.370 Xray
4. René Kölbel (AT) 49.487 Xray
5. Patrik Sadrinna (DE) 49.629
