After the weather was not with us during ETS RD2 in Austria, the third round of the season was a much better one with a lot of sunshine and only a small shower on Friday evening. With 340 entries, it was one of the biggest outdoor race in the history of the ETS so far, and we saw great racing on track. As always, there was alot to learn from drivers, cars, teams, and the action on track. Here are our 5 THINGS WE LEARNED…..
1) “Every streak comes to an end….”
We have talked and written about it all the time – Michal Orlowski`s impressive winning streak. With 12 wins in a row, he dominated the Cayote Modified class since January 2023 which is still unbelievable. The Schumacher driver won eleven of his twelve races from the pole position which is another record in the history of the ETS. At last weekend`s race in Luxembourg, the time had finally come and it was Bruno Coelho who was able to win the race after a spectacular performance.
Orlowski`s streak ended with a big bang and a disappointing fifth place overall, but Michal also had some bad luck when he lost the pinion of his Mi9 in A2. We will never find out what would have happened without this mechanical issue, but as they say: “It is like it is now”! Michal took the defeat like a true champion and we can be sure that he will be back at it when the ETS will meet again in January for RD4 in Daun. Michal is still leading the championship and his goal must be the defence of his title to win it for a third time in a row.
Once again – hats off to Michal Orlowski for his impressive series of victories, and also to Bruno Coelho for ending it in a spectacular way. We are looking forward for their next battle on track at the Euro Touring Series.
WATCH THE TRIPLE FINALS AGAIN
2) “Carbon is NOT DEAD”
As the touring car market is developing quickly and intense, it was cool to see many fast guys rocking their cars with an “old school” carbon chassis. Carbon is still very common on track, but in the last two years the trends had gone towards steel and aluminium chassis on many tracks and the top guys always tried to get their cars dialed in with these chassis.
In Luxembourg, Bruno Coelho won the Modified class with his Inf1nity IF14 Spec1ale on a carbon chassis, while Ollie Bultynck and Lukas Ellerbrock also used carbon to secure first and third on the Pro Stock podium for Awesomatix. That clearly shows that “carbon is not dead” and that you can still find a perfect and “easy to drive” setup on asphalt. Watch the press conferences where we also asked the drivers about their chassis choice!
3) “Gridelet joins “ETS Race Winners Club”
Cedric Gridelet from Belgium won the Hobbywing 21.5 Stock class and celebrated his first ever ETS victory at what just was his third try. He secured the pole position in qualifying and drove very strong with his Awesomatix A800RR in the finals. Congratulations Cedric, you have now officially joined the club of ETS race winners – something that you will never forget!
4) Sparbier with impressive double A-Main performance
It is not easy to qualify for the A-Main in Pro Stock or Modified at the ETS, and it is even more difficult to squeeze into both finals at the same event. Not many drivers have achieved this in the past, and in the short term we can only remember of guys like Adam Izsay, Tim Benson, and Jan Ratheisky who lined up on the A-Main grid for Pro Stock and Modified at the same weekend.
Mugen Seiki`s Sören Sparbier managed to make both mains already at the last season finale in Wiener Neustadt (P1 in Pro Stock and P6 in Modified), and HE DID IT AGAIN in Luxembourg. Sören took a very strong fourth place in Modified and finished seventh overall in Pro Stock. A great performance and something we found “good enough” to write about 🙂
5) “The ETS is also great for RC beginners”
The “Spirit of the Event” award was handed over to Sebastian and Maximilian Müller – two brothers who took part at the ETS for the second time. The cool thing behind the story: They are still totally new in the RC hobby as they just got started with it at the end of 2024. But due to watching videos on YouTube and talking to members from their home club, they quickly became “fans of the ETS” and decided to join us immediateley.
After already joining us at the “rained out event” Aigen, they were not hesitating to sign up again for Luxembourg. The They did a great job and finished 41st and 44th in the Hobbywing 21.5 Mastets class. And the most important: They had a great time with us. They truly deserve this award for their courageous participation on the big ETS stage. Welcome to the ETS family, Sebastian and Maximilian!
5.1) “Entertaining Pit Walk`s with Martin and Milan”
Last, but definateley not least, enjoy the entertaining pit walks from Martin Hofer and Michal Milanowicz. They did a great job and showed that they need to do that more often in the future – THANK YOU GUYS…
