Max Mächler (Awesomatix Team Manager) is in second for the first time. But 2 points are nothing, nothing at all. XRAY definitely has strong drivers in the field, there’s no question about that. Because now the poker game begins, as each team can only field a driver a maximum of three times. The team managers are certainly running out of top guns 😉 Especially in Modified, Awesomatix has the stronger driver field. There is no XRAY points supplier. Unless David (Xray Team Manager) uses a joker for this or has he already used it? But if we look at the tech charts at 21.5 Stock, P1-P4 are occupied by XRAYs. So there is room for David to choose strong drivers from other classes.
We can assume that it will develop into a duel at the top.
Who else will finish on the podium?
At the start of the season, we assumed that Mugen Seiki would be able to stay within reach of the podium. At the moment, it looks as if Schumacher will not give Mugen Seiki a break and remain within striking distance. But here too. The rule 😉 that Michal Orlowski can only be entered three times also applies to Mr Points Supplier. The formula drivers or Frontis could perhaps help out with Schumacher here.
But to hold on to the podium, the Mugen Seiki drivers should step up their game a little. There’s certainly room for improvement. Ronald (Mugen Team Manager) will certainly already be working on various scenarios.
What remains?
Due to the change of some Yokomo drivers, ARC has a good chance of snatching 4th place. Especially as there will be ideal indoor training opportunities for some ARC drivers in the north of Germany. The ARC team will be prepared in Daun and Wiener Neustadt.
Who guessed what?
Fortunately, only one person knows 😉 That much can be said, now the strategic and forward-looking decisions for the last two rounds have to be made. It’s fair to say that at least two of the three of them are already a little bit in the dark. Mugen Seiki will certainly not allow third place to be taken away from them and Awesomatix will not be satisfied with second place in Wiener Neustadt. The last word has not yet been spoken.
But perhaps Schumacher will come up with that one brilliant tactical move and secure 3rd place. 60 points is quite a few, but as you can see from RD1 and RD2, it’s definitely achievable.
Background information
How are the points calculated?
The points scored by a team/constructor per ETS event are determined on the basis of the results of the individual drivers from the RC Manager and presented in a separate ranking list.
Why can’t I see the drivers of the team managers?
Currently, the team managers do not want the information to be published. Especially with regard to the Joker, it could lead to discussions in the respective team and these should understandably be avoided. The tactical procedure in such manager games is not always immediately clear and understandable.
Why do I only see the data two days later?
This will change from Daun onwards and the points will be displayed virtually in real time. As soon as new points are scored via the RC Manager, the ETS Constructors Championship table will be updated automatically.
The outdoor portion of ETS Season #17 is done and dusted after we had another great event last weekend at “Mini Circuit Ville de Luxembourg” which is one of the most iconic tracks for onroad rc racing in the world. The ETS circus will rest a bit now as the next race is scheduled for the end of January 2025 at the next famous place – DAUN…. Before we send you into the autumn break, we like to share our 5 things we have learned during ETS RD3 in Luxembourg with you!
1) Laguna Seca Corkscrew – made for pure racing and nice passes
The whole track in Luxembourg is amazing. Beautiful layout, super fast and steep left turn after the straight, a nice and flowing infield section with the beautiful curbs painted in luxembg colours, all ending with the entry into the most famous corner in the world of racing – the Laguna Seca Corkscrew section.
Drivers arrive at the entry of Laguna Seca after going full power on the short straight in front of the driver`s stand. Hitting the entry with the right speed is super important as the cars are getting unloaded for a short time when diving down the hill into the compression before turnign right and going uphill again. This section is a key to success in Luxembourg as you can simply gain or loose so much laptime there.
When the cars arrive on top of the hill, they get unloaded again when going down onto the straightway. Drivers just need to get the perfect feeling of how much they can attack the track , and when and where they just need to let the car “doing stuff by itself” before accelerating again.
No matter how difficult this part of the track is, some drivers didn`t fear the risk of riding an attack to the car in front of them. We saw some epic passes over the weekend with the best ones (we noticed) coming from Michel Zierold, Mark Valent, and Jacques Libar. Michel Zierold overtook David Ehrbar with a ball move going uphill in the last lap of A2 in the 40+ Masters class. Mark Valent did the same to Jacques Libar in A3 of ther FWD class to only lose the position again to Libar who was putting on a nice counter on Valent some laps later.
2) Steel chassis are coming into vogue
Since a couple of races, we can see some factory drivers using STEEL chassis plates on their touring cars. Yes, you read that right – STEEL! Until now, there are no production chassis available to the public as the teams are still testing to find out about the perfect dimensions of these chassis plates in case of thickness (flex) and overall weight.
What can be the benefit of a steel chassis? Well, as we expect them to be around 50% heavier than for example an alloy chassis (mostly around 100g), the center of gravity goes down a lot resulting in more corner speed and a better handling on track. Will be interesting to see how much of a difference it will make on carpet.
However, teams also have to find out which screws to use with the thin steel plates. The same counts for the material and the shape of the topdecks combined with the steel chassis to get the flex right. Everythign will take a moment to get released to the market but we can expect STEEL CHASSIS in hobby shops soon 🙂
3) Hara proves he is still world class with making the A-Main on super challenging track
There is no doubt that Atsushi Hara is one of the greatest drivers of all time. The two time IFMAR world champion, multiple FEMCA and Japanese champion, as well as record TITC race winner did not race a lot in the last years when he was with Infinity.
Since he is running Cayote electronics and Awesomatix cars now, Hara was at all three ETS races of the current season and got up to speed race by race.
Atsushi was in the front of the B-Main in Apeldoorn and Aigen, and always had the pace for the A-Main. Last weekend, he got the job done in qualifying and lined up seventh on the grid for the big show.
Hara finished sixth overall which made him the best driver who had not practiced on the very challenging Luxembourg track in the weeks before the event. A huge accomplishment for Atsushi Hara who is still a star of our sport and a fan favourite wherever he goes. Thanks for racing at the ETS Atsushi!
4) Driver of the weekend – Lukas Ellerbrock
Sometimes it is not easy to pick a “Driver Of The Weekend” -this time it was! Awesomatix driver Lukas Ellerbrock was the man of the weekend with a TQ and win in the Awesomatix Pro Stock class while also finishing P9 in the A-Main of the Modified class.
Lukas had his rear view mirrors full of his teammates Louis Kretschmer and Ollie Bultynck in each and every second of Pro Stock A1 and A2 and simply drove a perfect race. He never gave his competitors a chance for the win – what a great performance!
Ellerbrock also made his first Modified A-Main at the ETS in Luxembourg fighting with the top dogs of the sport in the finals. All in all a perfect weekend for Lukas Ellerbrock and his great performance earns him the “Driver Of The Weekend” honours this time. Well done Lukas, it was a pleasure to watch you on track at ETS RD3.
5) Racer`s LOVE the “Mini Circuit Ville de Luxembourg”
Last but not least, we like to thank the LMCC Luxembourg for hosting us. The club did a very nice job preparing everything perfectly, and supporting us in the best possible way. The atmosphere was always nice and friendly, even the rain could not take the fact away that the LMCC Luxembourg is having one of the greatest racetracks in the world.
For sure, the pit area can be a little tight and windy sometimes, but all racers highlighted the track and how amazing it is to race on it. We hope that we can come back next year to see cars going into laguna seca again 🙂
The third round of the Euro Touring Series in Luxembourg was a blast. 266 racers from all over the world went for it, and together we survived some rain showers, had a nice barbecue on Friday evening, and – most important – we had an amazing time on the iconic track of the LMCC Luxembourg. The racing had been at the highest level as always and we like to thank everybody for coming and supporting our racing series.
Three out of three for Orlowski as he wins ETS RD3 in Luxembourg from Urbain and Rheinard
A2 – When the second final got underway at the sound of the tone, Urbain and Rheinard were staying close to pole sitter Orlowski. Lucas had to survive a power slide in the infield section in lap 4 which only cost him a little bit of time. Urbain was also responsible for the next thing to happen in the race when he drove through the grass on top of the corkscrew section allowing Rheinard to jump to second spot.
Rheinard was Orlowski`s number one hunter now and after some laps he came closer and closer to the Schumacher car in front of him. Urbain was also staying in touch waiting for something to happen out front. In the last two laps of the race, Rheinard was all over Orlowski and was hard on the binders two times to not risk any collision. Orlowski didn`t gave any chance to Rheinard for putting on a pass and they crossed the finish line up the hill separated by only 0.222 seconds.
Lucas Urbain followed another three tenths behind taking third place while Ronald Völker had another solid race to P4 some 2.2 seconds behind Urbain. It was a great second A-Main and the best in the business once again showed the perfection and speed of the fastest 1:10 scale racing class in the world.
The win was the third one for Orlowski this season and the championship is (almost) his, if nothing really special will happen on carpet!
A3 – In the last heat of the event, all eyes had been on Lucas Urbain and Marc Rheinard when they were fighting for second and third overall. Marc looked a bit quicker and was very close to Lucas in the middle of the race until he made a small mistake at the exit of laguna seca giving Urbain some breathing room.
Rheinard closed the gap one more time but finally ran out of time. The result from A3 was putting Urbain second on the podium ahead of Rheinard. Yannic Prümper snatched fourth place away from Ronald Völker who unluckily flew off the track in A3 after being fourth quickest all weekend long.
Perfection of Pro Stock racing as Ellerbrock wins big in Luxembourg
A2 – Lukas Ellerbrock is the overall winner of the Pro Stock class in Luxembourg after a crazy race. Ollie Bultynck found his way by teammate Louis Kretschmer in the second lap of the race when Kretschmer almost lost his car in the downhill entry section of the laguna-seca. A powerslide from Ellerbrock in lap 4 allowed Bultynck and Kretschmer to close the gap again and also Jesper Rasmussen was not far behind running in fourth position.
It was a very close race coming into the last minute of the race and Bultynck gave his all to pressure Lukas Ellerbrock into a mistake – which simply didn`t happen. Ellerbrock showed nerves of steel and brought home his second win of the season after also taking maximum points from the season opener in Apeldoorn. Behind Ellerbrock, the top 5 in A2 was completed by Bultynck, Kretschmer, Johannessen, and Valent. By the way: the top 3 crossed the finish line within 0.197 of a second which was INSANE!
A3 – Louis Kretschmer took A3 of the Pro Stock class to finish second overall. Ollie Bultynck finished second and Sören Sparbier third in the last final of the day. The overall result is as they qualified in the top three with Ellerbrock, Kretschmer, and Bultynck on the podium. Mugen driver Sören Sparbier took a strong “best of the rest” fourth position (as expected in the event`s preview report), and was followed by a very happy Helge Johannessen (B-Main bump um driver) in fifth place!
Valent wins in Luxembourg after “on the edge” move in A3 – Libar unlucky second!
A2 – Jacques Libar took the win in the second Frontwheel A-Main after A1 didn`t went to his favour yesterday. Libar was laying down a perfect run on the tarmac of his home track while Mark Valent, Frederik Hovgaard, and Jitse Miedema had a clean and close fight for the positions behind Libar. The finishing order was Libar, Valent, Hovgaard, Miedema, and Weffers.
After Libar`s win in A2, the battle for the overall victory in Luxembourg continued in the deciding third A-Main where Mark Valent and Jacques Libar had to battle it out on track once more
A3 – Jacques Libar was leading the race until Mark Valent passed him in the corkscrew with a nice move. Libar took the position back with an identical attack some laps later. Shortly before the end, Valent was touching the rear of Libar`s car when they were both coming onto the straightway. Libar`s chances for the overall win had been gone in this moment, and the home crowd was absolutely disappointed after that had happened. It was a tough race incident and there was no call from the referees, so it was kind of “on the edge”. Good for Valent, bad for Libar! Valent took the overall win in the end and was joined by a very unlucky Jacques Libar, and Jitse Miedema on the podium.
Ehrbar holding off Zierold in thrilling finals to celebrate second win of the season!
A2 – After loosing A1 in the last lap to Zierold on Saturday evening, Xray driver David Ehrbar had to win A2 to stay in the fight for the overall win in Luxembourg. After the start, Zierold (Awesomatix) quickly found his way by second place starter Eric Anderson (Awesomatix) and was following Ehrbar. Zierold was closing the gap to Ehrbar lap after lap and came very close as they approached the last minute of the race. It was almost looking like a copy of A1 where Zierold made an epic pass on Ehrbar in the last lap but this time, Ehrbar was standing his ground for A2 victory. Eric Anderson finished third again and was followed by Gilles Choque, and Toni Mateo who moved up from eight on the grid to the fifth spot. With Ehrbar and Zierold winning one final each, the showdown for the overall win went down to the line in A3.
A3 – It was another good start for Ehrbar off the line. Zierold moved up to second place quickly (as in A1 and A2) and started to hunt down the Xray of David Ehrbar again. Gilles Choque from Luxembourg was running in third place. Zierold was much faster than Ehrbar and pushed him around the track until he found himself in the grass after being too close to Ehrbar in the infield section. Zierold`s chances for the win had been blown away in a second. Ehrbar brought home the win in what was a great race in the 40+ Masters class. Michel Zierold and Gilles Choque joined him on the podium!
A2 – After a thrilling end of A1 yesterday, Kristian Jensen was putting his head down in A2 and drove to the overall victory in Luxembourg. Jaroslav Jun. Kriz was shadowing him for the entire run but Jensen did not make any special offer to Kriz and so they finished how they started off the grid. Michael Koos, Gilles Choque, and Oliver Bilweis rounded out the top 5 in the second A-main of the Orca 21.5 Stock class. Congratulations to first time ETS race winner Kristian Jensen!
A3 – Jaroslav Jun. Kriz took the win tin the last final of the day. Timo Siebert had bad luck when he spun out on the curbing in the teardrop at the end of the long straightway. He also collected third placed Michael Koos and Carlos Gabriel do Pinhal and Jan Gehrig earned second and third place from them. Oliver Bilweis (bumped up from the B-Main) finished on a strong fourth place in the last final. The overall results saw Kristian Jensen on the top step of the podium joined by Jaroslav Jun. Kriz and Jan Gehrig.
Impressive Ehrbar wins the Formula class at “Mini Circuit Ville de Luxembourg”
A2 – David Ehrbar took another win in A2 and sealed the win here at ETS RD3 in Luxembourg in an impressive way. The Xray driver was in a world of his own all weekend long and was rewarded with maximum points for the championship. A2 saw a nice battle for second, third, and fourth place involving Michal Wojcik, Andreas Stiebler, and Luka Jovicic. They showed great Formula racing for the entire five minutes while Ehrar had already checked out. Stiebler made a nice pass on Wojcik in lap number 10 and moved up to second spot. The finishing order in A2 was Ehrbar, Stiebler, Wojcik, Jovicic, and Kampehl.
A3 – Race winner David Ehrbar was watching the third final from the side-line and saw a nice race for the remaining podium positions between Michal Wojcik, Andreas Stiebler, and Luka Jovicic. Wojcik was able to break away from Stiebler who had a lot of work to do to keep hometown boy Luka Jocivic behind. After five minutes, the A3 finishing order was Wojcik, Stiebler, Jovicic, Sadrinna and Kampehl. The podium was completed by race winner David Ehrbar, second placed Michal Wojcik, and Andreas Stiebler!
US racer Eric Anderson is running strong in the 40+ Masters class here at ETS RD3 in Luxembourg and we had the chance to look under the hood of his Awesomatix ride. The car is powered by Eric`s very own EAM batteries and he has chosen to use a 6300mAh pack for the best compromise between power and balance.
The car is build on the Awesomatix steel chassis (prototype) and is also equipped with some Awesomatix option parts such as AT03R, FSS Steering Set, C21MMXG, C01RF, LF Pulleys, AM14H, ABH, AM23-I, MXLR Flex Bumper, MXLR Servo Arm, RD14V, and RC Maker Horizontal Ultra light Body Mounts.
Body Shell: Zoo Racing Wolverine Max 0,7mm Speedo: ORCA ETS Motor: ORCA ETS 21.5T Battery: Team EAM 6300 Radio: Sanwa M17 Servo: MKS Tires: Matrix EPA-036 ETS Handout Sponsors and support: Team EAM, APEX Raceway, Awesomatix USA, Cry Baby Racing, 1up Racing, MXLR, MR33, ToniSport, AVID, Sanwa, SRG, Prolix RC, RC Discharger, TQ Wire, and thanks to Kemp, Max, and the Awesomatix Europe team for making us feel @ home!
Cold as ice – Orlowski executes perfect A1 to hold off hard charging Awesomatix duo Urbain and Rheinard
The first A-Main of the FlySky Modified class was a demonstration of clinic driving from Michal Orlowski, Lucas Urbain, Marc Rheinard, and Ronald Völker. Top qualifier Orlowski launched his Schumacher Mi9 off the line and never looked back. He was driving like a real iceman and brought home a well-deserved win on Saturday evening. His gap to Awesomatix factory driver Lucas Urbain was at 0.263 seconds after five minutes which is not a lot to be honest.
But as Orlowski made no single mistake, Urbain just never had a chance to go for a move on him. Urbain also had a lot of work to do when the car of his teammate Marc Rheinard appeared in his rear-view mirror. Rheinard posted the fastest lap of the run (16.764) and had an amazing pace. But the same here – Urbain was not offering any chance for a move to Rheinard and everybody was keeping their positions.
Behind the top-3 freight train, Mugen Seiki`s Ronald Völker had kind of a lonely race to fourth place. He could not match the pace of the top-3, but the rest of the A-Main drivers could not follow him either. Yannic Prümper was best of the rest and finished fifth in A1 ahead of Ellerbrock, Hara, Lauter, Callens, Brunet, and B-Main bump up driver Greiner.
The first A-Main of our highly competitive ProStock class was a true show of stock touring car racing at the highest level. Lukas Ellerbrock and Louis Kretschmer raced nose to tail on track for the entire five minutes and Kretschmer found no way and no chance to pass the car of his teammate in front of him. Ellerbrock won the race by a super small margin of 0.102 seconds and the crowd was spending a lot of applause for them.
Behind the race leaders, Mugen racer Sören Sparbier found his was to third position from fifth on the grid while Kevin Schmid (Awesomatix) moved up from eight to fourth place. Reigning ETS Pro Stock champion Olivier Bultynck had a run to forget and dropped down from third to fifth position.
Bad luck for TQ Libar in the corkscrew – Valent brothers taking 1-2 in first final
After the start, TQ Jacques Libar was leading the race with his Xray car. The hometown boy was looking good on track and behind him it was Jitse Miedema who was able to overtake Mark Valent in lap 3 at end of straight – what a nice pass it was. After that, Jitse Miedema tried all he could to close the gap to Jacques Libar and was all over him in lap number 6.
Both their cars collided going down the hill into the corkscrew corner and Mark Valent (Schumacher) took over the lead ahead of his brother Gergö (Xray). Jacques Libar and Jitse Miedema finished the race in third and fourth place behind the lucky Valent brothers Mark and Gergö. A tough pill to swallow for top qualifier Jacques Libar who wanted a different ending from A1 for sure.
Amazing “corkscrew move” earns Zierold the win in A1
David Ehrbar brought the field around the first corners while Eric Anderson had to open the door for Michel Zierold in front of the driver stand. Zierold started to pressure Ehrbar very hard in the next laps and was all over Ehrbar in lap 4. They showed great driving before Zierold rolled his car coming into the infield section. Zierold lost some time but was lucky to stay in second place ahead of Anderson and Choque. Zierold was able to close in on Ehrbar again and was on his tail when they entered the last minute of the race. When they entered the famous corkscrew corner for the last time, Zierold made a ball move on Ehrbar coming down onto the straightway and took over the lead. Zierold was then able to bring home the win with Ehrbar right in tow and the crowd was spending a lot of cheers and applause to both of them for a great race on track.
Jensen takes eventful opening A-main from Kriz and Gehrig
Pole setter Kristian Jensen had a perfect start and was leading the race from tone to tone. Jaroslav Jun. Kriz pushed extremely hard behind him, but Jensen was able to bring home the win in A1. Third place starter and championship leader Timo Siebert lost a lot of time and finally stopped his race allowing Jan Gehrig to take over third place. In the last minute of the race, leader Jensen crashed while driving all alone and made the race interesting again. Jaroslav Jun. Kriz came close again but didn`t get a shot to overtake Jensen. The top 5 finishing order in A1 was Jensen, Kriz, Gehrig, Schneider, and do Pinhal.
The first Formula A-main was a copy of qualifying when David Ehrbar was in control of the race. Michal Wojcik took a strong second place ahead of Andreas Stiebler, Luka Jovicic, and Patrik Sadrinna. Ehrbar is one win away from sealing the big deal here in Luxembourg and ther is no doubt that he will bring it home somehow!
Qualifying is DONE at ETS RD3 Season #17 2024/25 in Luxembourg. All rounds of qualifying took place on a dry track and Saturday finally brought the sun back out resulting in some temperatures as well. The grid is set and all racers and spectators are looking forward to some great action in the finals!
Can Urbain and Rheinard attack Orlowski in the finals?
Q3 – Michal Orlowski will start from the TQ spot into the triple A-Mains. The Polish Schumacher star took another win in Q3 by 0.8 of a second ahead of Marc Rheinard and his Awesomatix teammate Lucas Urbain. Marc and Lucas had an intense fight for that second spot for five minutes with the better ending for Marc (gap 0.2 seconds). Yannic Prümper was fourth fastest for Yokomo while Simon Lauter finished fifth. With Michal Orlowski already on pole, the positions behind him are still wide open. Especially Marc and Lucas had to battle out second on the grid in Q4.
Q4 – The last FlySky Modified qualifier saw again Michal Orlowski scoring maximum points. Orlowski won with a gap of 1.1 seconds in front of Lucas Urbain, and Marc Rheinard in third place. Rheinard aimed for second on the grid as well before the run but some setup changes didn`t went to plan letting him line up third for the finals. Mugen Seiki`s Ronald Völker will start fourth with his best points coming from Q1 and Q2 and is followed by Yannic Prümper (Yokomo), Simon Lauter (Awesomatix), Atsushi Hara (Awesomatix), Antoine Brunet (Yokomo), Remi Callens (Mugen Seiki), and Lukas Ellerbrock (Awesomatix) who made his first Modified A-Main at the ETS – congratulations!
Awesomatix 1-2-3 with Ellerbrock, Kretschmer, and Bultynck – do they have “Papaya Rules” in the team ?
Q3 – After Louis Kretschmer had taken the second round of Awesomatix Pro Stock qualifying in the morning, his teammate Lukas Ellerbrock fought back in Q3 when he outpaced Kretschmer by 0.2 seconds on the challenging track in Luxembourg. A very strong third place went to local driver Dirk Rischard who was another 1.4 behind Kretschmer. Sören Sparbier took fourth place for Mugen Seiki, and Kevin Schmid had a brilliant run with his Awesomatix A800R to take fifth for the round. The decision for the overall TQ was down on the line between Ellerbrock and Kretschmer in Q4 – advantage Ellerbrock because of his faster overall time from Friday evenings Q1.
Q4 – Louis Kretschmer took the last heat of Pro Stock qualifying to end in second place – equal on points with top qualifier Lukas Ellerbrock who had the faster overall runtime to his favor. Reigning champion Ollie Bultynck will grid up in third place and is followed by Jesper Rasmussen (Awesomatix), Sören Sparbier (Mugen Seiki), Dirk Rischard (LUX), Tim Benson (Schumacher), Kevin Schmid (Awesomatix), Mark Valent (Schumacher), Gergö Valent (Xray). With an Awesomatix 1-2-3-4 on the grid we are excited how they will race each other in the finals… Papaya Rules???
Halfway there as Libar locks in pole position for the finals on home soil
Q3 – Jacques Libar has claimed the pole position after winning three rounds of qualifying. The Luxembourg based driver from Steinfort was showing once again that he is a real master of the track when he won Q3 in front of Frederik Hovgaard, Gergö Valent, Alexander Stocker and Phil Langner. Interesting to see that the top times are coming out of the A and the B group which once again shows the high competitiveness of the Hobbywing Frontwheel class.
Q4 – Overall FWD TQ Jacques Libar took away a third place from Q4 while Mark Valent and Jitse Miedema had been a bit quicker. Gergö Valent and Max Weffers completed the top five in the last heat of FWD qualifying on the Mini Circuit “Ville de Luxembourg”. The starting order for the triple A-A-Mains is: Jacques Libar (Xray), Mark Valent (Schumacher), Jitse Miedema (Fenix), Frederik Hovgaard (Yokomo), Gergö Valent (Xray), Alexander Stocker (Xray), Max Weffers (Xray), Dominik Reile (Iris), Phil Langner (Awesomatix), Andreas Myrberg (Iris).
Ehrbar to defend against Anderson and Zierold in the finals – game on!
Q3 – We saw an intense battle for Q3 between Michel Zierold, Eric Anderson, and David Ehrbar. Michel Zierold was able to win it from Anderson while Ehrbar retired his car from the race after 11 laps. Ronald Arts, Mirco Thalheimer, and Elibert Sievers made it into the top 5 for the round and the decision for the overall TQ was moved into Q4 between Ehrbar and Zierold. Ehrbar had all the jokers in his hands as his runtimes from Q1 and Q2 had already been faster than Zierold` s result from Q3.
Q4 – Michel Zierold could not start the race due to a technical issue. David Ehrbar also stopped to drive after lap one. The decision for the overall TQ was made after this putting Ehrbar onto the sweet spot of the 11-car grid. Eric Anderson took full advantage of Zierold and Ehrbar stopping in Q4 and scored maximum points. Anderson will now start from second place ahead of Michel Zierold, Gille Choque, and Ronald Arts. Can US racer Eric Anderson challenge David Ehrbar in the finals, or will Ehrbar complete his masterclass in Luxembourg?
Jensen to start on pole position after strong qualifying performance in Luxembourg
Q3 – Another heat win for Kristian Jensen earned him the overall TQ for the triple finals at ETS RD3 in Luxembourg. The young Danish driver claimed his first ever ETS pole position and is the hot bet for the win now. Jaroslav Jun. Kriz and Michael Koos finished in second and third place, followed by Jan Gehrig and Carlos Gabriel do Pinhal.
Q4 – The last heat of Orca 21.5 Stock qualifying went to Jaroslav Jun. Kriz who will start in second spot behind TQ Jensen. Timo Siebert took P5 for the round and will grid up in third place ahead of Michael Koos and Tim Schneider. Thrilling A-Mains are ahead of us as our 21.5 stock class is always producing a great show on track. Good luck to all drivers – let`s go racing!
Ehrbar claims important pole position at “Mini Circuit Ville de Luxembourg”
Q3 – Another win in Q3 earned Xray`s David Ehrbar the well-deserved pole position for the finals. Ehrbar is on a mission here in Luxembourg and everybody is looking forward to the finals to find out if he can continue his dominance in the triple A-Mains. Andreas Stiebler finished second in Q3 and looked much better than in the previous rounds. Can the champion fight Ehrbar in the finals, or will it be all about Luka Jovicic and Michal Wojcik to hunt Ehrbar down? The remaining spots on the grid had been up for grabs in Q4.
Q4 – The last Matrix Formula qualifier was in the hands of Ehrbar again. He seems to be unbeatable with his Xray car. Michal Wojcik will start second on the grid which is his best Matrix Formula qualifying result so far. Andreas Stiebler is lining up third for the finals after improving his pace heat by heat. Local ace Luka Jovicic is running a bit behind expectations and will start fourth with Patrik Sadrinna right in tow. Will Ehrbar cruise to an easy victory or will something happen in the finals – we will find out about it very soon!
Urbain recovers from bad Q1 to finish 1.4 behind Orlowski in Q2
The second round of FlySky Modified qualifying was in the hands of Michal Orlowski again. The Schumacher factory driver and reigning ETS champion was pulling off another clean run winning the heat by 1.4 seconds from Lucas Urbain (Awesomatix). Urbain had a tough start into qualifying with a DNF yesterday and scored important points now in Q2. Marc Rheinard, Ronald Völker, and Simon Lauter rounded out the top 5 on Saturday morning. Orlowski is only one win away from pole position – can Urbain challenge him in Q3 and Q4?
Kretschmer wins Q2 ahead of Awesomatix teammate Bultynck
After skipping Q1 on Friday, the risk paid off for Louis Kretschmer who was able to win Q2 on Saturday morning on a fresh set of tires. He was two tenths ahead of his teammate Ollie Bultynck and is now in the mix for the TQ with his teammates Bultynck and Ellerbrock. Behind the Awesomatix drivers it was Mugen Seiki`s Sören Sparbier who took third place away from Q2 by a small margin over local hero Dirk Rischard (Xray) and Kevin Schmid (Awesomatix). Q3 is up next and we are already excited about the result.
On the way to pole position as Jacques Libar takes early Saturday morning Q2
It was a very early round of qualifying on Saturday morning just after sunrise. Jacques Libar (Xray) and Jitse Miedema (Fenix) had a super-close battle for the win in the top heat which went to Libar by 0.3 seconds only. It was the second TQ run for Libar who is now only one step away from securing the top spot on the grid at his home race.
Behind the top duo we saw Gergö Valent taking third place with his Xray car. He was closely followed by the two Iris cars of Andreas Myrberg and Dominik Reile. The top five all have a shot for the win here this weekend but for now it is Jacques Libar who is holding the best cards in his hands!
Hard to beat – Ehrbar still running strong in Masters class
Beating David Ehrbar is a hard job since he has entered the 40+ Masters class – only Eric Anderson got it done at ETS RD1 in Apeldoorn. Ehrbar is enjoying the class a lot and his Xray car looks dialed on track here in Luxembourg. The second qualifier saw him taking another win in front of Michel Zierold`s Awesomatix car. Zierold was only four tenths behind Ehrbar, and it seems that he is the only one who can really challenge him. Dutch racer Ronald Arts (Awesomatix) was third quickest, followed by Mister EAM – Eric Anderson (Awesomatix), and Mirco Thalheimer (Xray). Ehrbar now had the chance to secure the best grid position in Q3 or Q4, and only Zierold had the opportunity to deny him this.
Another TQ run for Jensen who can seal pole position in Q3
Kristian Jensen continued to dominate on Friday afternoon when he posted another TQ run. Tim Schneider was the hardest contender on track and finished second in Q2, only eight tenths behind Jensen. Jaroslav Jun. Kriz, who was the race winner at the last round in Austria, finished third for the round and picked up a good pace for the rest of qualifying. Michael Koos and Carlos Gabriel do Pinhal completed the top 5. The third round of qualifying can already decide pole position for Jensen – will he get the job done?
Wojcik and Jovicic closing the gap to magic Ehrbar
After outpacing his competitors by six seconds in Q1, David Ehrbar saw the field coming closer in the second round of Matrix Formula qualifying. Michal Wojcik and Luka Jovicic came closer and Wojcik was only three seconds slower than mighty David Ehrbar. As three seconds is still a lot in the world of racing, it seems that there is nobody really able to challenge Ehrbar for the win this weekend in Luxembourg. But as miracles can happen, we can not hand the trophy to Ehrbar before the finals are done 😊. Robert Kampehl and Andreas Stiebler completed the top 5 behind Ehrbar, Wojcik, and Jovicic.
The first round of qualifying is over in Luxembourg. After the racers lost 2 rounds of practice in the morning, the track got finally dry and racing could continue. The track was in perfect condition again for the start of Q1 and everybody was pushing hard for the best results on the tricky and difficult “Mini Circuit Ville de Luxembourg”.
Mighty Orlowski takes opening Modified qualifier ahead of Rheinard and Völker while Urbain stopped his car due to a technical failure
The opening round of FlySky Modified qualifying saw Michal Orlowski coming down the drivers stand with a smile. The Schumacher factory driver was fastest on track with his Hobbywing powered Mi9 and was ahead of top seed Lucas Urbain (Awesomatix) on the timing already after lap one.
Orlowski and Urbain both had a great pace and Orlowski was closing in on the Awesomatix of Urbain half a tenth every lap. Meanwhile, Marc Rheinard was in third position with his Cayote powered A800R and Ronald Völker was on a safe P4 pace rocking his Mugen Seiki MTC-2R with the LRP power.
After 4:15 minutes, Lucas and Michal came out of the corkscrew corner and accelerated onto the straight when Urbain`s Orca powered A800R stopped and rolled into the grass with an unsoldered power wire – bad luck for Urbain who was still on a P2 pace behind Orlowski. Marc Rheinard and Ronald Völker took over second and third place which they kept until the end of the run. Yannic Prümper (Yokomo) and Simon Lauter (Awesomatix) completed the top five.
Antoine Brunet (Yokomo), Dominic Greiner (Serpent), Remi Callens (Mugen Seiki), Lukas Ellerbrock (Awesomatix), and Tim Benson rounded out our overnight top 10 in the FlySky Modified class.
Ellerbrock, Bultynck, and Benson leading after Pro Stock Q1
Lukas Ellerbrock was up to speed in Q1 where he scored the perfect result by winning the heat with 1.5 seconds ahead of his Awesomatix teammate Ollie Bultynck. Tim Benson was third fastest rocking a Schumacher Mi9 followed by Jesper Rasmussen (Awesomatix) and local Luxembourg racer Dirk Rischard (Xray).
Jacques Libar (Xray), Gergö Valent (Xray), Niclas Storm (Mugen Seiki), Mark Valent (Schumacher), and Roel Jongenelis (Xray) completed the overall top 10.
TQ run for Libar on home soil – Miedema second and Valent third
The first round of Hobbywing Frontwheel qualifying saw Jacques Libar taking the win on his well-known home track. The Xray driver had a gap of one second when he crossed the finish line and was followed by Dutch driver Jitse Miedema and the Valent brothers Gergö and Mark.
Fifth place went to the newly crowned European champion Frederik Hovgaard and the Yokomo team. A perfect start for Jacques Libar into the event – can he claim the pole position in the Hobbywing Frontwheel class?
Ehrbar wins Q1 by 0.8 from Zierold and local hero Choque
Top seed David Ehrbar (Xray) showed that he will be the man to beat for the rest of the weekend. Ehrbar had a great run with his Xray car and his gap to second placed driver – current ETS champion Michel Zierold – was 0.8 seconds after five minutes. A perfect start into qualifying for Ehrbar, and also a very strong result for Zierold (Awesomatix).
Gille Choque from Luxembourg was using all his track knowledge to score P3 for the round in front of Mirco Thalheimer (Xray), and Dutch racer Ronald Arts (Awesomatix).
In the Orca 21.5 Stock class it was top seed Kristian Jensen who took the opening round of qualifying. The Xray driver was 1.2 seconds ahead of the Mugen Seiki car of Timo Siebert who also had a great run on track after searching for the perfect car balance during yesterdays practice sessions.
Third place for the round went to Elena Fuchs. She drove a perfect race in the second fastest group with her Xray car while the top 5 was rounded out by Michael Koos (Awesomatix), and Carlos Gabriel do Pinhal (Xray).
In a world of his own – Ehrbar takes Q1 after dominant drive
Nobody was able to challenge David Ehrbar in the first round of Matrix Formula qualifying. The Xray driver took the heat by almost six (!) seconds from second placed Michal Wojcik, and teammate Luka Jovicic.
What a dominance from Ehrbar so far….. Schumacher driver and reigning ETS champion Andreas Stiebler finished fourth for the round with Patrik Sadrinna taking fifth place.
The ETS is racing at the Mini Circuit “Ville de Luxembourg” this weekend. The fantastic racetrack got a new surface in 2023 and is looking perfectly with the track curbs painted in the national colours of Luxembourg. Luckily, the weather was dry, and the racers had the chance to use the full Thursday to set up their cars for Friday where we have a serious chance of rain in the morning.
Orlowski, Rheinard, and Völker chasing down Luxembourg specialist Urbain
The FlySky Modified class saw top favourite Lucas Urbain on a mission. The Awesomatix driver was topping all rounds of free practice and found himself ahead of Michal Orlowski, Marc Rheinard, Ronald Völker, and Michele Manzo at the end of the day. However, Urbain`s gap to the contenders was melting down during the five rounds of practice when Orlowski and Rheinard closed it to “only” three tenths of a second over three consecutive laps. We are very excited to what will happen on Friday when we will head into qualifying on this amazing track of the LMCC Luxembourg – game on!
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Lucas Urbain (FR) 50.532 Awesomatix|ORCA 2. Michal Orlowski (PL) 50.803 Schumacher|Hobbywing 3. Marc Rheinard (DE) 50.848 Awesomatix|Cayote 4. Ronald Völker (DE) 51.369 Mugen Seiki|LRP 5. Michele Manzo (CH) 51.773 Awesomatix|Hobbywing
Awesomatix on top with Kretschmer ahead of Mugen Seiki`s Sparbier
In Awesomatix ProStock, Louis Kretschmer was showing a great form on the opening day of practice. The German Awesomatix driver was a tenth quicker than second placed Sören Sparbier who was looking very good on track with his Mugen Seiki ride. Behind them, the two Awesomatix cars of our current vice-champion Lukas Ellerbrock and Pro Stock champion Ollie Bultynck took P3 and 4 and had been followed by Jacques Libar who made it into the top 5 with his Xray.
The Pro Stock drivers are vey close to each other and Friday will fire things up when seeding practice and qualifying is on the schedule!
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
Local hero Libar second for the day behind Schumacher`s Valent
Mark Valent from Hungary was fastest in free FWD practice on Thursday. The Schumacher driver was one and a half tenths quicker than the 3-lap time of Xray driver Jacques Libar who is a very highly rated driver here on his home track. The two Iris cars of Andreas Myrberg and Dominik Reile finished the day in third and fourth place, followed by the quickest Awesomatix car of Roman Borschel.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Mark Valent (HU) 1:11.274 Schumacher 2. Jacques Libar (LU) 1:11.418 Xray 3. Andreas Myrberg (SE) 1:11.647 Iris 4. Dominik Reile (DE) 1:11.933 Iris 5. Roman Borschel (DE) 1:11.983 Awesomatix
Xray`s Ehrbar ahead of Awesomatix duo Mateo and Zierold
David Ehrbar was the fastest driver in the 1up Racing 40+ Masters class at the “Mini Circuit Ville de Luxembourg”. Ehrbar outpaced second placed Toni Mateo (Luxembourg race winner 2022) by a huge margin of one second over three laps. A very big gap in the hard-fought masters class where the rest of the top five had been in 0.8 of a second behind Ehrbar. Can David Ehrbar keep up this blistering pace, or will the pack close it in qualifying.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. David Ehrbar (DE) 1:05:074 Xray 2. Toni Mateo (ES) 1:06.064 Awesomatix 3. Michel Zierold (DE) 1:06.111 Awesomatix 4. Mirco Thalheimer (DE) 1:06.618 Xray 5. Eric Anderson (US) 1:06.913 Awesomatix
In the Orca 21.5 Stock class, Kristian Jensen from Denmark had the strongest 3-lap pace during the five rounds of free practice. The young and talented Xray driver was followed by the very experienced Awesomatix driver Michael Koos from Germany. Jan Gehrig (Xray), local hero Carlos Gabriel do Pinhal, and Tim Schneider completed the top 5 in free practice.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Kristian Jensen (DK) 1:07.359 2. Michael Koos (DE) 1:07.625 3. Jan Gehrig (DE) 1:07.815 4. Carlos Gabriel do Pinhal (LU) 1:07.942 5. Tim Schneider (DE) 1:07.959
Ehrbar, Stenger, and Stiebler setting the early pace in the Formula class
A very positive day for David Ehrbar (Xray) as he also topped free practice of the Matrix Formula class (beside being fastest in 40+ Masters). The Schumacher duo of Thomas Stenger and Andreas Stiebler will need to find something magic overnight as Ehrbar was already 1.4 seconds faster on three laps. Local hero and podium contender Luka Jovicic was fourth quickest and Michal Wojcik rounded out the top 5 on day one of ETS RD3 in Luxembourg.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. David Ehrbar (DE) 59.721 Xray 2. Thomas Stenger (DE) 1:01.185 Schumacher 3. Andreas Stiebler (AT) 1:01.434 Schumacher 4. Luka Jovicic (LU) 1:01.586 Xray 5. Michal Wojcik (PL) 1:01.647 Xray
RC Maker – main sponsor of our ETS live stream – has sent us two display cars of their brand new and very first touring and FWD cars called SP1 and SP1-F. The cars were built by Ryan Maker, the owner of the RC Maker brand, who is also the designer of the cars. The cars will be on display at the ETS in Luxembourg from Friday to Sunday and everybody is invited to take a first look onto these beauties.
Low centre of gravity and reduced moment of inertia – two key aspects of the new SP1
Both RC Maker cars are coming along with a very unique design as they are featuring normal shocks which are completeley laid down in the car using a push-rod system. The centre of gravity is super low which was one of the key approaches of Ryan Maker when drawing the initial designs in his Australia based company. All components and parts are designed to make the car feeiling as “flat and planted” to the track as possible. The very centered suspension components are reducing the moment of inertia which is another positive aspect of the SP1.
It was my dream to design and develop my own car under the RC MAKER brand since many years. We have put a lot of work and dedication into the SP1 project, and now we are only a couple of weeks away from shipping the car kits to all our dealers around the world. It is a great feeling and we are waiting for customers feedback with a lot of excitement. We will try to help everybody out there to get the cars up to speed quickly.
Ryan Maker (AUS), RC MAKER
Car kits expected to reach hobby shops by the end of September
The display cars which we have here at the ETS this weekend are exactly how customers will receive their car kits by the end of September. The carbon parts – all made in house at RC Maker – are having this special touches here and there which is kind of a signature look of the RC Maker brand since many years. The car kits include many extras such as chassis stiffener weights and carbon bumper mounts and battery hooks to finish off a perfect look!
THE CARS WILL BE ON DISPLAY AT ETS RD3 IN LUXEMBOURG FROM FRIDAY TO SUNDAY AT THE TENT OF THE ETS MEDIA TEAM
Features of the SP1 Touring Car
Lay down push-rod shock absorber design for Ultra Low CG
19mm high topdeck for Ultra Low CG
Under-arm Anti-Roll Bar Design for Ultra Low CG, easy changes and tweak adjustment
Minimised chassis width and length for less ground contact
Centrally located spur-gear and motor-mount design
Centrally located suspension components for reducing moment of inertia
Composite upper arms with adjustable caster via inserts
Aluminium Diff Casing design for maximum heat dissipation
Aluminium Spool Housing with same pulley as rear diff
Adjustable diff height and belt tension via composite eccentrics
Built in rear belt tensioner and centre layshaft anti-skip bearings (for Modified)
Dual Ball Bearing inner driveshaft couplings for maximum efficiency and corner speed
Race proven dual bell-crank steering
Built-in adjustable active rear steering
Quick release battery system with adjustment in all directions
Hard Coated Steel drivetrain for maximum durability
All 7075 Aluminium and Carbon Fiber major components for minimum weight and maximum durability
High grade metal-shield ball bearings throughout
Nickel-Coated high quality steel screws throughout
Includes Carbon Fiber Front Bumper Mount and Battery Mounts
Includes 13g and 19g Brass Centre Chassis Stiffener Weights
High quality Bando 351 Belts made in Japan
High quality Shock springs and bladders manufactured by AXON Japan
Features of the SP1-F FWD Car
Lay down push-rod shock absorber design for Ultra Low CG
19mm high topdeck for Ultra Low CG
Under-arm Anti-Roll Bar Design for Ultra Low CG, easy changes and tweak adjustment
Minimised chassis width and length for less ground contact
Maximum Forward located electronics placement
Easily adjustable gear mesh and fast motor replacement.
Centrally located rear suspension components for reducing moment of inertia
Composite upper arms with adjustable caster via inserts
Aluminium Diff Casing design for maximum heat dissipation
Adjustable diff height and belt tension via composite eccentrics
Dual Ball Bearing inner driveshaft couplings for maximum efficiency and corner speed
Race proven dual bell-crank steering
Built-in adjustable active rear steering
Quick release battery system with adjustment in all directions
Hard Coated Steel drivetrain for maximum durability
All 7075 Aluminium and Carbon Fiber major components for minimum weight and maximum durability
High grade metal-shield ball bearings throughout
Nickel-Coated high quality steel screws throughout
Includes Carbon Fiber Front Bumper Mount and Battery Mounts
Includes 2x 32g Front Side Weights and 4x 10g Front Bumper Weights
High quality Bando 300 Belts made in Japan
High quality Shock springs and bladders manufactured by AXON Japan
