The first day of ETS RD3 in Luxembourg is in the books and beside a five-minute shower, the track was dry and fast all day long. All practice rounds of the day counted for seeding, and a quick 3-minute practice session on Friday morning will bring the track back to good conditions as we expect some more rain during the night. However, before we start qualifying on Friday we will let you know about the results from practice in our quick update report.
Coelho and Urbain closest to top seed Völker – champion Orlowski to start from P4 into qualifying
The Cayote Modified class saw Mugen Seiki driver Ronald Völker laying down the fastest three consecutive laps onto the tarmac in Luxembourg. He posted the fastest time in the fourth and last round of practice – so did the overall top 6. Bruno Coelho (Infinity) was second fastest and about 0.108 of a second behind Völker. Awesomatix driver Lucas Urbain, one of the top favorites whenever the ETS stops in Luxembourg, finished the day in third place and was followed by reigning Modified Champion Michal Orlowski (Schumacher), and the Xray of David Ronnefalk.
Behind the top five, Simon Lauter (Awesomatix), Marc Rheinard (Awesomatix), Antoine Brunet (RC Maker), Eric Dankel (Awesomatix), and Alexander Hagberg (Xray) completed the top ten after Thursday practice. With all the four practice rounds counting as seeding, Ronald Völker will lead the field into qualifying which will start on Friday after a quick round of early-morning practice which will be held in the qualifying groups already.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Ronald Völker (DE) 49.901 Mugen Seiki MTC-3|LRP
2. Bruno Coelho (PT) 50.009 Inf1nity IF14 Speciale|Hobbywing
3. Lucas Urbain (FR) 50.195 Awesomatix A800RR|ORCA
4. Michal Orlowski (PL) 50.307 Schumacher Mi9|Elceram
5. David Ronnefalk (SE) 50.320 Xray X4`25|Cayote
Kretschmer fastest from Bultynck and Rasmussen
The Awesomatix Pro Stock class saw last year`s second place finisher Louis Kretschmer on top of the board. The Awesomatix driver was only 0.032 seconds faster than his teammate Olivier Bultynck, but this small gap was enough for Kretschmer to end the day sitting in P1. Jesper Rasmussen was third quickest, while the Mugen Seiki duo of Sören Sparbier and Tim Benson was rounding out the top five.
Qualifying will start on Friday after a round of early morning practice, where everybody will get a three-minute run to break in the track again after the rain which is expected to hit the Luxembourg area during the night. The top drivers of the Awesomatix Pro Stock class will push hard, and the fight for the TQ will be as intense as always.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Louis Kretschmer (DE) 59.668 Awesomatix A800RR
2. Olivier Bultynck (BE) 59.700 Awesomatix A800RR
3. Jesper Rasmussen (DK) 59.773 Awesomatix A800R
4. Sören Sparbier (DE) 59.855 Mugen Seiki MTC-3
5. Tim Benson (DE) 1:00.092 Mugen Seiki MTC-3
Borschel tops Thursday practice in Luxembourg – championship leader Weffers sits fifth overnight!
Roman Borschel (Awesomatix) was the quickest driver on the challenging LMCC track on Thursday, but it was very close with the top 10 within one second over three laps. However, Borschel will be the man to beat in qualifying when he will start first out of the gate ahead of newly crowned European Champion Robin van Gog (Schumacher), the Xray of local hero Jacques Libar, Phli Langner, and championship leader Max Weffers (Xray).
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Roman Borschel (DE) 1:12.134 Awesomatix
2. Robin van Gog (NL) 1:12.243 Schumacher
3. Jacques Libar (LU) 1:12.383 Xray
4. Phil Langner (DE) 1:12.455
5. Max Weffers (DE) 1:12.458 Xray
Dutch driver Arts quickest in 40+ Masters practice
Ronald Arts from the Netherlands was the fastest 40+ Masters driver here on Thursday in Luxembourg. Behind Ronald Arts, the Xray trio of Mirco Thalheimer, Alexander Stocker, and David Ehrbar had been a bit on the back foot compared to Arts (gap around four tenths) but qualifying will be a different affair when the runtime will count over the full five minutes. Caspar Morgen from Denmark was fifth quickest with his Xray car at day one in Luxembourg!
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Ronald Arts (NL) 1:04.958 Awesomatix
2. Mirco Thalheimer (DE) 1:05.472 Xray
3. Alexander Stocker (DE) 1:05.509 Xray
4. David Ehrbar (DE) 1:05.526 Xray
5. Caspar Morgen (DK) 1:05.698 Xray
Local hero Choque showing great pace on home-soil
Gilles Choque was the fastest driver in the Hobbywing 21.5 Stock class on Thursday. He took full advantage of his great track knowledge and posted the fastest three consecutive laps of the day. Cedric Gridelet from Belgium was second fastest ahead David Reip, Kristian Jensen, and Elena Fuchs.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Gilles Choque (LU) 1:05.486
2. Cedric Gridelet (BE) 1:05.603 Awesomatix
3. David Reip (DE) 1:05.769 RC Maker
4. Kristian Jensen (DE) 1:06.157 Xray
5. Elena Fuchs (DE) 1:06.210 Awesomatix
Schumacher`s Stiebler fastest after day one at LMCC
Second in the championship now – but the fastest on track during Thursday practice. A perfect start for Andreas Stiebler into the event. The Schumacher driver was four tenths faster than the rest of the world, even local hero Luka Jovicic (Xray) was not able to match his pace. Championship leader David Ehrbar (Xray) took third place from the day while Jitse Miedema (Fenix) and Jacques Libar. Tomorrows start into qualifying will be the signal for a close fight in the Matrix Formula class – who will claim the pole position?
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Andreas Stiebler (AT) 59.164 Schumacher
2. Luka Jovicic (LU) 59.567 Xray
3. David Ehrbar (DE) 59.603 Xray
4. Jitse Miedema (NL) 59.924 Fenix
5. Jacques Libar (LU) 59.972 Xray
