A1 Report, ETS RD4 Season #17 2024/25
Orlowski wins the first A-Main in Daun after a real masterclass from the top drivers at the ETS
The first A-Main of the FlySky Modified class was a demonstration of world class RC racing on the highest level – once again! The drivers showed awesome pin-point driving on the flowing and difficult track in Daun and it was a pure joy to watch.
Michal Orlowski had a good start with his Elceram and Cayote energized Mi9, and Ronald Völker was following him with his MTC-3 and the LRP power a couple of tenths behind. Marc Rheinard was also right in the mix with his Cayote powered Awesomatix A800R. Völker was kind of sandwiched between Orlowski and Rheinard, which meant he could not attack Orlowski too much to not give Rheinard a chance to close in as well. After two minutes, Orlowski switched on the afterburners and pulled a small gap which Völker was immediately able to close again.
Both posted identical lap times out front and, in the end, there was nothing Völker could risk and try when he crossed the finish line 0.278 of a second behind race winner Orlowski. Marc Rheinard was another 2 tenths behind and took P3 away from A1. Simon Lauter and Lucas Urbain completed the top 5 in a fantastic final – even if we did not see any spectacular moves on track. There are two more A-Mains coming up on Sunday and we can`t wait until it happens!
That was a close race. Ronald was very fast, and I had not the best feeling with my car on track this evening. We need to discuss possible changes for A2 to just make it a little better again. However, I could maintain the gap to Ronald during the run and I am happy with this start into the triple finals. Now it is time to enjoy the evening with the team!
Michal Orlowski (PL) Schumacher | Elceram
I am happy with the pace we had on track. My problem was that I could not put more pressure on Michal because of Marc being also very close to me. I was kind of sandwiched and then you never can risk too much. It is not easy to follow closely on this track as we are approaching the corners with a lot of speed all the time. But we are finally back on a great pace and there are two more finals on Sunday where we will try to win!
Ronald Völker (DE) Mugen Seiki | LRP
Hmmm, I really hoped that there will happen something in front of me. I was staying in touch with the leaders but there was never a real chance to attack. My car felt good, and I hope that I can race Michal and Ronald a little harder in A2 and A3 tomorrow.
Marc Rheinard (DE) Awesomatix | Cayote
Sparbier is “right on the money” and wins A1 in Daun
A great day for Mugen Seiki came to a perfect ending when Sören Sparbier took full advantage of his pole position in the first A-Main of the Awesomatix Pro Stock class. Sparbier had a perfect race, made no mistakes, and was holding off a very hard pushing Adam Izsay (0,7 seconds after 5 minutes). A big break for Sören Sparbier who has the chance to win his first ever ETS race in the Pro Stock class (and the first one for Mugen Seiki) on Sunday when A2 and A3 is on the line!
To win A1 feels great and was already a little emotional. But now I will try to stay focused for tomorrow. We will have a nice dinner and then I will go to bed early. Tomorrow is a new day and I will try my best to bring home the win for the team and myself!
Sören Sparbier (DE) Mugen Seiki | LRP
Behind Sparbier and Izsay it was Dominic Greiner who finished on a strong third place ahead of Jesper Rasmussen and Olivier Bultynck. Third place starter Lukas Ellerbrock lost a lot of time because of a body tuck and finished seventh in A1.
Clinic drive from Valent earns him A1 victory
After the sound of the tone, Schumacher`s Mark Valent brought the field around lap number one where we saw no position changes. Valent was able to open a gap to Phil Langner (Awesomatix) and Reile (Iris) and was one second ahead of them after the first 2 minutes of A1. Phil Langner also had a little gap over Reile who had a lot of work to do to keep championship contender Frederik Hovgaard (Yokomo) behind him. Valent`s pace was impressive, and Langer had no chance to create pressure on him.
The battle for positions 3 to 8 was super-intense and we saw high class ETS FWD racing. Alexander Stocker was able to get by Hovgaard with two laps to go to take fifth place. Mark Valent took the win in A1 from Phil Langner and Dominik Reile.
Great show of racing as Ehrbar didn`t crack under Zierold`s pressure
David Ehrbar had a clean start in A1 of the Masters class with his Xray car. Michel Zierold and René Kölbel followed him a few tenths behind and Zierold was very close to Ehrbar after two minutes while Kölbel was sitting in third spot – “sometimes the best place to be”. Zierold pushed really hard and was all over Ehrbar in the last 90 seconds of the race. Zierold` s car looked much better in the chicane on the left side of the track and Zierold was looking high and low, but Ehrbar kept the door slam shut.
Behind them, the freight train with Kölbel, Mateo, and Stocker was waiting for something to happen, but Ehrbar kept his nerves under control and brought home a hard-fought win in A1 of our 1up Racing 40+ Masters class.
Kriz wins Saturday evening A1 in Daun
After a clean start, the field was running in the grid order for the first three laps until Kristian Jensen lost his car at the deepest point of the track opposite to the driver stand. His car flew over the barrier, and he dropped back to the dead last spot. Jaroslav Kriz was leading the race and quickly build a one second gap over Bajusz Zsolt who was followed by Pawel Trella in third place.
Jan Gehrig and David Reip had a good race in fourth and fifth spot. Nothing happened on top until the end of the race as Kriz made no single mistake when he won A1 in style and from tone to tone ahead of Bajusz Zsolt, Pawel Trella, Jan Gehrig, and David Reip.
Ehrbar cold as ice when he took Formula A1 from Stiebler and Stenger
Right after winning A1 in the 40+ Masters class, Ehrbar changed the model on his transmitter and launched his Xray Formula car off the line to win A1 of the Formula class as well. Schumacher`s Andreas Stiebler was running in second all time and Thomas Stenger had a nice battle with Jacques Libar for third and fourth position.
In the last minute of the race, Ehrbar lost time when he got collected by a backmarker but luckily, he could continue leading the race. Stiebler was close behind him and flew off track when he touched Ehrbar`s rear tire. Thomas Stenger took advantage of it and finished second ahead of Jacques Libar, Andreas Stiebler, and René Kölbel!
