ETS Q1 Report RD1 Season #16 2023/24
The opening round of qualifying at the ETS in Apeldoorn is in the books after two days of practice and tons of setup work for all racers and teams. Tomorrow, we will see three more qualifiers on the AMCA track to find out who will start on the grid of the A-Mains in all of our ETS racing classes. The weather forecast looks good for Saturday with the expectation of slightly increased temperatures.
Matrix Modified
Schumacher`s Orlowski takes super intense first modified qualifying
The first of four rounds of modified qualifying was as close as it could be. From the start to the end of the race, the top 5 or 6 drivers stayed together in a couple of tenths on the scoring and timing. Lucas Urbain (Awesomatix) was leading for the first 3 minutes of the race, before the lead changed and Marc Rheinard (Awesomatix) was on top of the field. As the top 5 changed positions in almost every lap, it was a thriller to watch on the timing board. Ronald Völker (Mugen Seiki), Michal Orlowski (Schumacher), and Akio Sobue (Axon) gave everything they had to catch Rheinard and Urbain and everybody was on the absolute limit.
As we entered the last 30 seconds of the race, we saw the lap times of Rheinard, Sobue, and Urbain dropping down a little bit (compared to Orlowski and Völker), and in the last lap, race leader Marc Rheinard had no more power as he came onto the straightway and dropped all the way back to the end of the field. Urbain took second for the round on the last drop of power and Sobue finished fourth behind the LRP powered Mugen of Völker in third place.
Meanwhile, Michal Orlowski took the win after an impressive drive and is the the overnight TQ here at the ETS season opener in Apeldoorn!
I had a very good qualifying run after having some weird practice sessions yesterday. I had to stand on the right side of the driver stand which I am not used to here in Apeldoorn. But my car felt good, and I knew that I could do something with it. After the results from the seeding practice, I could change my position on the driver stand again for Q1 which made me even more confident. The setup we found together with Mattia (Collina) and the team seems to be almost perfect for the tires and conditions here and I hope that I can repeat this result tomorrow.
Michal Orlowski (PL) Schumacher | Hobbywing
Awesomatix ProStock
Bultynck takes Q1 from Benson and Ratheisky
Top seed Olivier Bultynck took the win in the opening round of Pro Stock qualifying. Tim Benson, Lukas Ellerbrock, and Max Mächler pushed their cars hard around the track to create pressure on the race leader but it was not enough for them to finish the run ahead of the Awesomatix A800R of Bultynck who also posted the fastest lap of the race.
Jan Ratheisky and Dominic Vogl posted the third and fourth fastest times for the round out of the second fastest group. The top-5 ranking list after the first round is: Bultynck, Benson, Ratheisky, Vogl, and Ellerbrock. Three more qualifiers are awaiting the drivers tomorrow and it will get even hotter on track in the Awesomatix Pro Stock class.
Hobbywing Frontwheel
Weffers TQ`s opening round of FWD qualifying
In the Hobbywing Frontwheel class, we saw Max Weffers (Mugen Seiki) posting his first ever TQ run at the ETS. He was on fire and was battling it out with Robin van Gog (Awesomatix) and Adam Izsay (Xray) during the entire run and crossed the line half a second ahead of van Gog and Izsay. Congratulations for a great run Max. Roman Borschel and Kevin Sparbier rounded out the top five while top seed Henrik Heitsch lost some pace, finishing only in sixth place.
I had a very clean run, just had to lift one more time in the trafic when I passed a lapped car. In the last laps I became very nervous when I noticed that Robin was on top again but in the end the race went to my favour and I am super happy today. My Mugen is working great, I just need a tiny little bit of extra steering. I wil think about a small setup change this evening together with my team!
Max Weffers (DE) Mugen Seiki | Orion
1up Racing 40+ Masters
Mateo on point on Friday afternoon as he takes Q1 from Stankowitz
In the 1up Racing 40+ Masters class, Toni Mateo (Awesomatix) did what he loves the most – scoring important TQ runs! Starting only from P4, he quickly moved up to the top of the board and had a very close fight with Elibert Sievers (Awesomatix), and top seed Manuel Stankowitz (Iris). With the top 3 only separated by 0.5 seconds at the end, Mirco Thalheimer (Xray) and Renè Kölbel followed in P4 and P5 ahead of US racer Eric Anderson who started with a solid sixth place into qualifying. With a TQ run in the bag, Toni Mateo will have a good night of sleep with some sweet dreams about the pole position in the 1up Racing 40+ Masters class.
Orca 21.5 Stock
First round of qualifying goes to Bergheim while Siebert and Baumbach took second and third
In the first round of Orca 21.5 Stock qualifying saw top seed Tristan Bergheim (Awesomatix) taking the win after 5 minutes. With a gap of only 1.1 seconds in front of Timo Siebert (Mugen Seiki), the race was closer as we expected after the practice results. Siebert was pushing really hard behind Bergheim and took second place for the round. A great start into qualifying for the Mugen racer. Tobias Baumbach (Xray) finished third in Q1 and will try to improve this result in the next one for sure. Baumbach comes along with a lot of racing experience, and we can expect something to come from him in the next three rounds of qualifying. Laura Pollert and Jan Vogler completed the top 5 on Friday afternoon!
ToniSport Formula
Ratheisky wins close opening qualifier
The first round of ToniSport Formula qualifying was a close race between top seed David Ehrbar and Jan Ratheisky. Both Xray drivers had the best pace on track and pulled a gap of 4 seconds to Schumacher`s Andreas Stiebler who finished third for the round. Michael Lipperheide and Herbert Weber completed the top 5. After we have seen the great pace of Ratheisky and Ehrbar, we are excited for tomorrows Formula qualifying where Andreas Stiebler and the other drivers need to find some serious pace to fight with the leaders.
