With Scotty Ernst not being able tofly over to commentate the last three ETS races, we are happy to let you know that it looks like he can make the trip to Apeldoorn for ETS RD3. With the reduction of travel restrictions, we expect Scotty to be with us in the Netherlands – these news are really amazing! We had a quick chat with Scotty and he had the following words for the ETS family:
It has been a very long and trying time for everyone around the World with the Covid situation and for me it has been extremely difficult since my job is traveling around the World organizing and commentating RC Events. My last international trip was February of 2020 almost 18 months ago which was ETS Daun Germany. I am happy to let everyone know that it looks like the travel restrictions have been reduced and I will be able to make my return to the ETS at Apeldoorn.
As half owner of the ETS and EOS Series it has been so frustrating for me to not be able to travel and be with everyone over the past couple of events. All the friends I have made over the years and such great racing has made it very difficult to not be there doing what I do. Thankfully I will be making my return and I look forward to seeing everyone and doing my part of the ETS team to give everyone the great level of racing and exciting atmosphere you expect at an ETS event. I hope everyone can join us in a few weeks in the Netherlands for some great racing at such an amazing facility.
I look forward to seeing everyone very soon in Apeldoorn. On the Tone, Scotty
we have just updated the actual ETS rules for you to inform you about some things we decided, before we head into RD3 in Apeldoorn. Please check the rules once again and make sure that your equipment complies with the rules at any the time during the race!
We added the “Prototype Cars” section to our rules. From now on, it is not allowed to use any prototype cars from RC Car manufacturers in the Tonisport Masters 40+ class, the Stock 17.5 class and the Hobbywing Frontwheel class. It is only allowed to use cars which are available to the public to keep racing fair, with equal chances for everybody!
Please check the “Batteries” section as well and familiarize yourself once again with the charging and voltage rules for the batteries you are using during the event.
To find out the difference between the versions all changes to the previous rules are marked in blue.
From the 12. – 15. August 2021 the second round of ETS Season #14 2021/22 took place at Arena33 again. With RD1 at the same venue only 4 weeks prior to RD2, we saw 173 drivers attending the race in Andernach – a great turnout in the main time of summer holidays in Europe and some still ongoing Covid-19 problems.
Let us take you back to Andernach to review the action on track and some interesting facts from ETS RD2 Season #14 2021/22!
Drivers loved “clockwise racing” at Arena33
Compared to RD1, the running direction changed from anti-clockwise to clockwise this time for a completely new Arena33 experience. Most of the drivers really liked it and their feedback from the track was amazing with the long sweeper at the end of the straightway and the even more challenging infield section.
Phil Richter announced the event
With Scotty Ernst still not able to fly over from the United States because of the Covid-19 caused travel restrictions, Phil Richter from Berlin took over the announcer`s position at RD2 from Uwe Rheinard who did it most of the time during RD1. Phil really enjoyed this experience as he always dreamed about the chance to announce an ETS event and he did an amazing job. Always up to date, always on schedule, and with an entertaining way for all drivers. He worked great together with ETS time keeper Hartmut Wenzel, Referee Franz Heinsbroek and Patrick Beck who announced some heats as well. We all wait for the return of Scotty Ernst to our ETS races but in the meantime we are happy to have such great options in our ETS family!
Pullstart.TV with different camera positions
With the Pullstart.TV live streaming system in use at Arena33 for the first time during RD1, the camera positions and angles got improved for RD2. The main goal was a better experience for everybody watching their friends racing from home and together with the also updated microphone position for the announcer it was a great overall experience. Pullstart.TV is a great system for all ambitioned RC clubs who are interested in installing a live stream to their facilities.
Driver and Team top performances
Most of the top drivers of each class attended RD2 at Arena33. All, excluding the world class modified Xray factory drivers Bruno Coelho and Alexander Hagberg. Unfortunately, they still were not able to travel to Germany because of the Covid-19 travel restrictions in their home country Portugal. We really hope to finally see them with us for RD3 in the Netherlands again as they are an important part of the Xray team in the Modified class.
All drivers and teams performed on the highest level again but let`s see who did an extraordinary job at ETS RD2!
Mugen Seiki`s Ronald Völker continues winning
In the Matrix Modified class, Ronald Völker is still on a high with his new Mugen Team as he was able to TQ and win the event at Arena33 for a third time in a row. He won the last 4 ETS races (2 for Yokomo, 2 for Mugen Seiki) and is the dominant force right now. Another indication for the strong performance of the actual Mugen Seiki touring car are Völker`s teammates Robert Pietsch (car designer) and Eric Dankel who both qualified for the Main again after they achieved the same at RD1 a few weeks ago. Both showed great pace over the whole weekend and they will be in the mix in Apeldoorn again for sure!
In the ProStock class, the newly crowned German 13.5T Stock champion Tim Benson managed to qualify for the A-Main again without being at Arena33 on Thursday during free practice – not bad at all Tim Benson! Ingo Braun reached the Infinity 40+ Masters A-Main again with his Mugen car after bumping up from the B-Main. The new Mugen car continues to impress, and everybody is looking forward to RD3 where all eyes will be on the Mugen Team and their car`s performance on the different track of AMCA Apeldoorn.
Terrific Duchet wins again for Xray
Alexandre Duchet was on a mission again at Arena33. He was dominating RD1 in July at the same track and the changed driving direction seemed not to impress him a lot. Duchet continued where he stopped last time – dominating! He secured pole position and won A1 and A2 ahead of his teammate Jan Ratheisky who was driving amazing as well. Duchet and Ratheisky got serious help from their Xray colleague Lukas Ellerbrock who surprised with a strong TQ run in Q3 and some amazing racing in the finals. Overall, it was a very successful weekend for Xray in the ProStock class with maximum points for championship leader Duchet with Ratheisky joining him on the podium. Lukas Ellerbrock finished fourth making it 3 out of the top 4 for Xray. In the modified class, Oliver Havranek was the fastest for Xray after qualifying fourth and he achieved his best result at the ETS so far with finishing fifth overall in the end. A great performance from the young Slovakian driver. Antoine Brunet, who was the top driver for Xray at RD1 where he finished second on the podium between Völker and Rheinard, had a harder time this weekend. But he still made the A-Main and finished sixth behind his teammate Havranek in the end. Marco Kaufmann took the Bump-Up opportunity as he won B-Main number one to take the last spot on the grid for the triple Matrix Modified A-Mains.
In the Infinity 40+ Masters class, Xray booked another win during ETS RD2 with Danish driver Caspar Morgen securing pole position in qualifying and a well-earned win after taking A2 and A3 in front of runner up Werner Schmitzer. Jan Ratheisky showed once again that he is the master of Formula racing with another win in front of his long time rival David Ehrbar with his EF1 car and his Xray teammate Lukas Hock from the Czech Republic. Hoch was able to fight with Ehrbar for second during the whole weekend with the better end for David. Xray also was very successful in the Hobbywing Frontwheel class, where the reigning German national champion Stefan Schulz was on a mission at this weekend. Schulz dominated almost every run and he drove to a well-deserved victory in front of Steven Olsen who won ETS RD1 at Arena33.
Awesomatix on every podium
When we continue with the Awesomatix team, we first look on their top star Marc Rheinard. He was as close to Mugen’ s Völker as nobody else during the whole weekend and he was able to TQ RD2 of qualifying when Ronald had some issues. So Rheinard seems to be there whenever Völker struggles – but that simply does not happen very often. Two weeks ago, at the German nationals in Bernau, Rheinard was able to put huge pressure on Völker and he was all over him in the finals with the better end for pole setter Völker. But this will give some hope to Rheinard for RD3 in Apeldoorn where nobody knows if the Mugen ace will dominate in the same way as at Arena33. With the absence of Rheinard`s teammate Lucas Urbain, Michele Manzo was the second Awesomatix driver in the Matrix Modified A-Main In the prestigious Xray ProStock class, Awesomatix had 5 cars in the Main – more than any other brand. Simon Lauter was the top gun for Awesomatix during RD2 at Arena33 as he was able to split the Xray duo of Duchet and Ratheisky in qualifying lining up second on the grid. In the finals he showed great racing and looked like the only one able to attack Xray. But after a mistake by himself in A1 his fight for the podium lasted until the end of A3 which he was able to win in front of Xray`s Ratheisky. The Awesomatix drivers fished in this order: Simon Lauter(3), Max Mächler (5), Olivier Bultynck (6), Frederik Mikkelsen (9) and Pawel Staszewski who made his first ETS A-Main finished on P11. Thomas Bemmerl made himself the favourite for the overall championship title in the 17.5 Stock class after he won again with his Awesomatix car at Arena33. Bemmerl seems to be the master of this track as he won all three ETS races on the new track surface of Arena33 so far. Can he carry over his form to Apeldoorn for RD3? We will find out pretty soon! With Daniel Pöhlmann (4), Roman Borschel (5), Maximilian Unterschütz (6), Philipp Hagnauer (7), Felix Schneider (8), Wolfgang Hößle (9) and Fabien Valantin (10), Awesomatix was the dominant force in the 17.5 Stock class with 8 cars in the final. Frank Fuchs finished on a strong P3 in the Infinity 40+ Masters class and Steven Olsen placed his Awesomatix FWD car in second spot of the Hobbywing Frontwheel class to round up the great weekend for Awesomatix.
Yokomo`s Prümper back on the podium
After a long time, Yannic Prümper found his way back to the ETS podium where he finished third overall in the Matrix Modified class. But it was not an easy way as Yannic started from P5 into the finals and had to work his way by Havranek and his Yokomo teammate Krapp. With Christopher Krapp being faster as Prümper in qualifying, he made a small mistake in A3. This allowed Prümper to snatch away the podium from Krapp in A3 where Prümper was able to put a beautiful pass on Oliver Havranek. With third and fourth overall, Yokomo is still the biggest contender of Mugen, Awesomatix and Xray and they have high expectations for the next race in Apeldoorn.
Enrico Jung managed to qualify directly for the ProStock finals this time, after he did it with the Bump Up here at RD1 for the first time in his ETS career. He started from the sixth position, had some great battles on track and finally finished 10th overall for Yokomo. A result he will try to improve at ETS RD3. A strong driving David Kuschnarew was the Top Seed for 17.5 qualifying and he started from the second position behind race winner Thomas Bemmerl into the triple A-Mains. Kuschnarew, who finished 11th here at ETS RD1 looked really strong and was almost on the same pace as the race winner which he showed with taking A3 to secure his second overall position. If you want to see more of David Kuschnarew`s Yokomo car, check the “Under the Hood” report of his BD10LCR and our Image Gallery!
Orlowski and Lindegaard for Schumacher
Michal Orlowski from Poland was again in the mix with his Schumacher touring car. He worked together with his father as always and managed to lay down some great runs in qualifying to line up sixth on the grid. The end, Michal finished the race in seventh position, and he once again showed the potential of his car and his amazing driving skills. In the ProStock class, Danish driver Nicolai Lindegaard qualified for the triple A-Mains again after he was able to do the same here at ETS RD1 in Andernach – the track seems to be a good one for Lindegaard and his Mi7 car. This time he finished seventh overall in the Xray ProStock class – a great result for Nicolai!
Other highlights
As always during an ETS race, there are even more highlights than only the results of the top teams. Dominik Ruf is somebody to talk about as he drove a great race in the 17.5 Stock class with his Tamiya TRF 420 – a car that is still very fast even if it is not so much around in the pits anymore. But his result shows that you can go fast with a lot of different brand cars when you just invest enough time and setup work into it. Dominik did great and finished on a strong third place in the 17.5 Stock final where he was the only Tamiya fighting with 8 Awesomatix and a Yokomo in the finals.
Ladies Power at the ETS
We also want to look on the results of the Ladies at ETS RD2. It is always great to see some girlpower on the rostrum. Elena Fuchs finished 16th and Jasmin Donath 20th in the Stock 17.5 class and Susanne Reile came in on P39 in Hobbywing Frontwheel. Manuela Borrmann crossed the line in P22 in the Scorpion Formula class. Congratulations, it is great to see all of you racing with us!
Thanks to a lot of people
Last but not least we want to thank all helping hands who worked hard around the whole event, in the kitchen, the cafeteria, around the track, in the race direction, the technical inspection and in the media team. We also like to thank all our wonderful sponsors – without you the ETS would not be possible! Anther thank you goes out to Hoffmann`s Ice cream service who was on track every day with their amazing ice cream!
ETS RD3 Season #14 2021/22 in Apeldoorn, NED
The ETS circus travels to the Netherlands now where we will race from 16. – 19. September 2021 on the amazing ground of the AMCA Apeldoorn. The track is amazing there and a guarantee for some amazing ETS racing action.
We hope you liked this small recap of our beautiful weekend in Andernach, from ETS RD2 Season #14 2021/22 – see you in Apeldoorn!
now we finished another wonderful ETS event in Andernach with some great weather, great racing and a perfect facility, already we can think about our next race. Our hosts at the Apeldoorn club have confirmed it’s all OK for them to hold the race as we planned on 16.-19. September.
But at the moment, the rules mean we have to limit the number of drivers to 160. We hope we can allow more later on, but for now we have to make a limit of 160. After 160 entries, everyone else will have to go on the waiting list for the moment. The AMCA Apeldoorn is checking all possibilities at the moment and our goal is to allow 200 entries for RD3. We will keep you updated and we hope that we can accept all of your registrations.
Rheinard and Prümper joining race winner Völker on the podium
Overall race winner Ronald Völker (Mugen Seiki) watched A3 of the Matrix Modified class from the side-line. He saw Marc Rheinard (Awesomatix) taking a comfortable win in front of Yannic Prümper (Yokomo), who sticked his car to the inside of Oliver Havranek (Xray) for a beautiful pass. Earlier in A3, Christopher Krapp (Yokomo) made a mistake and lost the second place which he had to his favour at that time. With Prümper finishing second in the last final, he snatched the last podium spot away from his Yokomo teammate Krapp.
Overall results of the Matrix Modified class (Car/Electronics) 1. Ronald Völker (DE) Mugen Seiki/LRP 2. Marc Rheinard (DE) Awesomatix/ORCA 3. Yannic Prümper (DE) Yokomo/Dash 4. Christopher Krapp (DE) Yokomo/Racing Performer 5. Oliver Havranek (SK) Xray/Hobbywing 6. Antoine Brunet (FR) Xray/Hobbywing 7. Michal Orlowski (PL) Schumacher/LRP 8. Michele Manzo (CH) Awesomatix/Hobbywing 9. Eric Dankel (DE) Mugen Seiki/Hobbywing 10. Marco Kaufmann (DE) Xray 11. Robert Pietsch (DE) Mugen Seiki/LRP Winner B-Main: Patrick Gollner (AT) Winner C-Main: Frederik Hovgaard (DK)
In the third A-Main of the Xray ProStock class, Simon Lauter (Awesomatix) finally had a descent run to take the win in front of his teammate Max Mächler and Jan Ratheisky. With his win in A3, Simon Lauter will join overall winner Alexandre Duchet and runner up Jan Ratheisky on the podium of the Xray ProStock class here at Arena33.
We talked with overall winner Alexandre Duchet after the race:
After I had a great qualifying, my gap to the others was a little smaller in the finals. It was a great fight between Ratheisky, Lauter and myself and I am super proud to walk away with another win from Arena33. I would like to thank Martin Hudy for all his help and all my other sponsors as well. -Alexandre Duchet-
Overall results of the Xray ProStock class (Car/Battery) 1. Alexandre Duchet (FR) Xray/ORCA 2. Jan Ratheisky (DE) Xray/Sunpadow 3. Simon Lauter (DE) Awesomatix/LRP 4. Lukas Ellerbrock (DE) Xray/LRP 5. Max Mächler (DE) Awesomatix/Sunpadow 6. Olivier Bultynck (BE) Awesomatix/LRP 7. Nicolai Lindegaard (DK) Schumacher/LRP 8. Tim Benson (DE) Mugen Seiki/Nosram 9. Enrico Jung (DE) Yokomo/GensAce 10.Frederik Mikkelsen (DK) Awesomatix/LRP 11. Pawel Staszewski (PL) Awesomatix/LRP Winner B-Main: Alex Kunkler Winner C-Main: Kevin Sparbier (DE)
The third A-Main of the Hobbywing Frontwheel class saw Steven Olsen taking an easy win. With this win in the bag, Olsen secured second overall this time after he won here at the last ETS race. Roman Borschel had a great run in A3 as well as he finished second behind Olsen. This will see him stepping on the podium behind race winner Schulz and runner up Olsen. Behind Roman Borschel, Mischa Kroos and Kevin Sparbier finished fourth and fifth overall, tied on points.
Overall results of the Hobbywing Frontwheel class 1. Stefan Schulz (DE) 2. Steven Olsen (DK) 3. Roman Borschel (DE) 4. Mischa Kroos (CH) 5. Kevin Sparbier (DE) 6. Henrik Heitsch (DE) 7. Patrick Müller (DE) 8. Jacques Libar (LU) 9. Torsten Baggendorf (DE) 10. Frederik Hovgaard (DK) 11. Nicolas Delise (BE) Winner B-Main: Oliver Kaufmann Winner C-Main: Xavier Debroye
David Kuschnarew was the winner in the last A-Main of the 17.5 Stock class. With overall winner Thomas Bemmerl sitting out A3, David was able to cross the line first with Dominik Ruf in tow. Dominik tried to add maximum pressure on Kuschnarew but it was not enough to start a serious attack during the run. Philipp Hagnauer (3), Roman Borschel (4) and Daniel Pöhlmann (5) completed the top 5 in the last A-Main of the ETS 17.5 Stock class here at Arena33. With Ruf finishing second in A3, he will step onto the podium in third spot behind winner Bemmerl and second place finisher Kuschnarew but ahead of Pöhlmann and Borschel.
Overall Top 10 of the Stock 17.5 class 1. Thomas Bemmerl (DE) 2. David Kuschnarew (DE) 3. Dominik Ruf (DE) 4. Daniel Pöhlmann (DE) 5. Roman Borschel (DE) 6. Maximilian Unterschütz (DE) 7. Philipp Hagnauer (DE) 8. Felix Schneider (CH) 9. Wolfgang Hößle (DE) 10.Fabien Valantin (FR) 11.Patrick Müller (DE) Winner B-Main: Christian Lütjen Winner C-Main: Daniel Rausch
We saw a real thriller here in A-Main number three of the Infinity 40+ Masters class. Caspar Morgen and Werner Schmitzer battled it out on track, and it seemed that Morgen could drive to an easy win after Schmitzer made a small mistake in lap number 8. But Schmitzer recovered from his loss of time and closed the gap once again. In the last laps he was really close to Caspar Morgen`s car but in the end, he ran out of time and was not able to attack anymore. A great win for Morgen, who finished second here at ETS RD1. Frank Fuchs scored another strong third place in A3 which will make him stepping on the podium for the first time at the ETS – congratulations!
Overall result of the Infinity 40+ Masters class 1. Caspar Morgen (DK) 2. Werner Schmitzer (AT) 3. Frank Fuchs (DE) 4. Michel Zierold (DE) 5. Thomas Oehler (DE) 6. Mirco Thalheimer (DE) 7. Flavio Paladin (IT) 8. Torsten Baggendorf (DE) 9. Manuel Stankowitz (DE) 10. Ingo Braun (DE) 11. Oliver Kaufmann (DE) Winner B-Main: Marc De Witt Winner C-Main: Thomas Steinhage
David Ehrbar took the last Scorpion Formula A-Main at ETS RD2. He had to fight hard against Lukas Hoch who throwed his car on the inside in the second last corner, but in the end Ehrbar crossed the line first ahead of Kölbel and Weber. Lukas Hoch lost too much time after his unfortunate passing attempt and finished fourth in A3. He he will be the third placed driver on the Scorpion Formula Podium.
Overall Top 10 of the Scorpion Formula class 1. Jan Ratheisky (DE) 2. David Ehrbar (DE) 3. Lukas Hoch (CZ) 4. Renè Kölbel (AT) 5. Herbert Weber (AT) 6. Tomas Sova (CZ) 7. Michal Wijcik (PL) 8. Chris Grenz (DE) 9. Robert Kampehl (DE) 10. Patrik Sadrinna 11.Alessandro Giubbilei (IT) Winner B-Main: Alexander Bremer Winner C-Main: Manuela Borrmann
The second leg of finals in the Matrix Modified class saw the top three finishing in the same order as in A1. Ronald Völker took the win with his LRP powered Mugen Seiki car, 3.2 seconds ahead of Marc Rheinard (Awesomatix/Orca) and Christopher Krapp (Yokomo/Racing Performer). As Völker opened up the same gap as in A1, Rheinard had the car of Krapp in his rear-view mirror in the last 3 minutes of the race. Völker was in control of A2 and posted the fastest lap as well to bring home the overall win in the same impressive way as he did at ETS RD1 at the same venue. Behind the top three, Yannic Prümper and Michal Orlowski completed the top 5 in A-Main number 2.
Our reporter had a quick chat with Ronald after A2:
At the start of A2 I had a little bit of wheelspin, and I was on the curb with all four wheels in the first corner. But after that I was able to built up a gap over the others as my LRP powered Mugen car was just amazing in the hot weather conditions. I am really happy with my result, but also with our overall team performance as we have the most cars in the Modified A-Main.
At ETS RD1 we saw a dominant performance from Alexandre Duchet (Xray), and everybody was impressed by pace and driving from the French Xray driver. This time he got even more pressure from teammate Jan Ratheisky and Simon Lauter (Awesomatix) but he drove masterful again to win A2 and taking the overall victory. Duchet had the highest amount of pressure over the whole runtime in A2 as Lauter and Ratheisky followed him nose to tail – amazing driving from these guys on the track! As the race was in it`s last lap, Lauter was a little bit away from the racing line before the long-left corner and Ratheisky saw a chance to pass Lauter. After a small contact Lauter was the unlucky guy, dropping back to fourth position behind Lukas Ellerbrock (Xray). After Alexandre Duchet walked away as the overall winner, the fight for second and third is still alive between Ratheisky, Lauter and Ellerbrock. With Simon Lauter starting A3 from the first position (winner Duchet will not start), we will see a very interesting A3 in our Xray ProStock class for sure.
Stefan Schulz once again showed that he was the man to beat this weekend here in the FWD class at Arena33. Stefan won A2 from start to finish and outpaced the rest of the field by 2.5 seconds. With wins in A1 and A2 on his score card, the overall win is booked for Schulz after a dominant performance on track. Behind him, the winner of ETS RD1, Steven Olsen crossed the line in second spot ahead of Mischa Kroos (3), Roman Borschel (4) and Kevin Sparbier (5).
Thomas Bemmerl had to face serious pressure at the end of A2, when David Kuschnarew looked faster on track and was all over Bemmerl. Kuschnarew tried to make a pass, touched Bemmerls car which spun around, waited for Bemmerl to continue and followed him cover the finish line of A2 – impressive and fair racing from David Kuschnarew. Before this happened at the end of A2, Dominik Ruf was running in second until he had a small contact with third placed Maximilian Unterschütz which cost him some time. Roman Borschel took advantage of the situation to finish third ahead of Daniel Pöhlmann (4) and unlucky Dominik Ruf(5). With his win in A2, Thomas Bemmerl secured himself a third consecutive victory at the ETS which is something not a lot of drivers have done before – congratulations Thomas!
Caspar Morgen won the second leg of A-Finals in the Infinity 40+ Masters class. After he was not able to convert his pole into a win in A1 against Werner Schmitzer, he had a better run this time and took away A2 by 4.1 seconds from second placed Michel Zierold. A1 winner Werner Schmitzer finished third in front of Thomas Oehler (4) and Frank Fuchs (5). The overall win of the Infinity 40+ Masters class will be decided in A3 and we are looking forward to a thrilling last leg at Arena33.
As we mentioned in our A1 report, nobody could stop Ratheisky in A2 as well. Jan was able to win the race in front of his Xray teammate Lukas Hoch who was as close to Jan as never before this weekend. With his wins in A1 and A2, Ratheisky will walk away from ETS RD2 with maximum points for the championship. Behind them, David Ehrbar crossed the finish line in third position. Renè Kölbel (4) and Tomas Sova (5) completed the top 5 in A-Main 2 of the Scorpion Formula class.
Ronald Völker took the win with his LRP powered Mugen Seiki in the first leg of triple A-Mains in the Matrix Modified class this morning at Arena33. He was able to win A1 tone to tone ahead of second place starter Marc Rheinard who crossed the line with his Orca powered Awesomatix 3.4 seconds behind. With Marc`s fastest lap being 0.002 seconds faster than Völker`s hot lap, it seemed that Rheinard`s car lost a tenth per lap after the half minute mark of the race. This allowed Völker to take the win in A1 relatively unchallenged. Behind the leading duo, Christopher Krapp (Yokomo) crossed the line in third place in front of Oliver Havranek (Xray) who defended his position masterful against Yannic Prümper (Yokomo) during the whole race.
Alexandre Duchet took the win in A1 of the Xray ProStock division. The Xray driver transformed his pole position into the best possible result ahead of his teammate Jan Ratheisky who was on the back of Duchet for the entire race to finish 0.2 seconds behind the race winner. Second place starter Simon Lauter (Awesomatix) had a terrible first lap as he made a mistake in the sweeper at the end of the main straight which cost him a lot of positions. As Lauter was not able to recover from that, Lukas Ellerbrock (Xray) took advantage and scored a third place in this first A-Main. Olivier Bultynck who started from P8 also had a nice final run finishing fourth ahead of Max Mächler who completed the top 5.
The first lap of A1 in the Hobbywing Frontwheel class saw third place starter Mischa Kroos making a small mistake which let him loose a lot of positions. Meanwhile in the front, TQ Stefan Schulz was leading the race in front of Steven Olsen and Roman Borschel. Steven Olsen tried everything to close the gap and pushed really hard, but Schulz didn`t crack under pressure and took the win with 1.8 seconds from Olsen. Kevin Sparbier (4) and Patrick Müller roundet up the top 5 in A1 of the Hobbywing Frontwheel drive class.
The first final in the Stock 17.5 class saw Thomas Bemmerl in front once again as he seems to be the master at Arena33 in this class. But Bemmerl worked hard for this win as Dominik Ruf was very close to him in the first 4 minutes of the race until he made a small mistake in the slow chicane which let him drop down to fourth position. Maximilian Unterschütz, who was in third position until Ruf`s mistake, moved up to second and scored good points ahead of the reigning 17.5 champion Daniel Pöhlmann. Dominik Ruf finished fourth and Philipp Hagnauer made his way to P5 from the back of the field.
Werner Schmitzer won the first A-Main of the Infinity 40+ Masters class. He was able to get by Caspar Morgen and when they crossed the finish line, they have been separated by 1.1 seconds. Frank Fuchs started from P6 and made his way through the field to finish third as he overtook 2 cars in the chicane in an impressive way. Thomas Oehler and Torsten Baggendorf completed the top 5.
In the first leg of the Scorpion Formula A-Mains, nobody was able to fight with Ratheisky for the win. Jan checked out early in the race and controlled it until he crossed the finish line. Behind Ratheisky we saw a nice fight between second place starter David Ehrbar and Lukas Hoch. After Ehrbar made a small mistake in lap 7 when he was entering the last corner before the straight, Lukas Hoch passed him and was running in second. In the last lap of the race, Ehrbar was all over Hoch and passed him in the third last corner. But somehow, Lukas Hoch answered with a brilliant counterattack just in the next corner to take back second place from Ehrbar. Great F1 racing from these two guys! Renè Kölbel and Herbert Weber finished fourth and fifth.
The last round of modified qualifying saw Mugen Seiki`s Ronald Völker on top of the game for a third time this weekend. He denied Rheinard`s last chance for the overall TQ and took Q4 by a gap of 1.8 seconds from the Awesomatix lead driver. As pole position is always an advantage, it is even bigger in the modified class where drivers normally don`t make a lot of mistakes. But multiple world champion Rheinard will not stop to fight for the win in the triple A-Mains of the Matrix Modified class. We are looking forward to a battle between two of the best touring car racers on the planet here on Sunday at Arena33.
Behind Völker and Rheinard, Yokomo`s Christopher Krapp will start third on the grid – one position higher than last time here at ETS RD1. Krapp will see the surprise of the weekend – Oliver Havranek – starting next to him as Havranek earned his best ETS qualifying result with fourth overall.
Overall Top 10 of the Matrix Modified class after 4 rounds of qualifying: TQ Ronald Völker (DE) Mugen Seiki/LRP 2. Marc Rheinard (DE) Awesomatix/ORCA 3. Christopher Krapp (DE) Yokomo/Racing Performer 4. Oliver Havranek (SK) Xray/Hobbywing 5. Yannic Prümper (DE) Yokomo/Dash 6. Michal Orlowski (PL) Schumacher/LRP 7. Antoine Brunet (FR) Xray/Hobbywing 8. Eric Dankel (DE) Mugen Seiki/Hobbywing 9. Robert Pietsch (DE) Mugen Seiki/LRP 10. Michele Manzo (CH) Awesomatix/Hobbywing
Round 4 of qualifying here at Arena33 saw Awesomatix driver Simon Lauter laying down a ballistic run. He won 0.35 seconds ahead of Xray`s Jan Ratheisky and overall TQ Alexandre Duchet. We can all be very excited about tomorrow`s triple A-Mains as the field of driver is from highest quality here in the Xray ProStock class.
Overall Top 10 of the Xray ProStock class after 4 rounds of qualifying: TQ Alexandre Duchet (FR) Xray 2. Simon Lauter (DE) Awesomatix 3. Jan Ratheisky (DE) Xray 4. Lukas Ellerbrock (DE) Xray 5. Max Mächler (DE) Awesomatix 6. Enrico Jung (DE) Yokomo 7. Nicolai Lindegaard (DK) Schumacher 8. Olivier Bultynck (BE) Awesomatix 9. Tim Benson (DE) Mugen Seiki 10. Pawel Staszewski (PL) Awesomatix
German national champion Stefan Schulz will start from pole position into Sunday`s triple A-Mains here at ETS RD2 at Arena33 in Andernach. Stefan continued his impressing show with a third TQ run for the weekend.
Behind him it was once again Steven Olsen who finished in second place, just a second behind Schulz. Mischa Kroos posted the third fastest time once again. He will start from the third spot tomorrow, and as racers often say: Sometimes this is the best place to be!
Overall Top 10 of the Hobbywing Frontwheel class after 4 rounds of qualifying: TQ Stefan Schulz (DE) 2. Steven Olsen (DK) 3. Mischa Kroos (CH) 4. Roman Borschel (DE) 5. Kevin Sparbier (DE) 6. Patrick Müller (DE) 7. Torsten Baggendorf (DE) 8. Frederik Hovgaard (DK) 9. Henrik Heitsch (DE) 10. Jacques Libar (LU)
Dominik Ruf improved his fourth place run from Q3 with a clean and fast TQ run in the last round of qualifying here on Saturday afternoon at Arena33. With his TQ run being the faster as Thomas Bemmerl‘s times from Q1 and Q2, Dominik Ruf will be in maximum attack mode for the triple A-Mains on Sunday starting third on the grid.
Between TQ Bemmerl and Ruf, the Top Seed David Kuschnarew will line up second on the grid and his pace also looks very promising.
Overall Top 10 of the 17.5 Stock class after 4 rounds of qualifying: TQ Thomas Bemmerl (DE) 2. David Kuschnarew (DE) 3. Dominik Ruf (DE) 4. Maximilian Unterschütz (DE) 5. Roman Borschel (DE) 6. Daniel Pöhlmann (DE) 7.Patrick Müller (DE) 8. Felix Schneider (DE) 9. Philipp Hagnauer (CH) 10. Wolfgang Hößle (DE)
After his TQ run in Q2, Caspar Morgen was able to back up his result with another win in the last round of the day. Caspar finished second here on the podium last time, starting from the back of the field in some chaotic triple A-Mains. This time he can approach the first corner with all the pack starting behind him.
With Werner Schmitzer and Torsten Baggendorf we will see two very experienced guys starting right behind Caspar Morgen and they will try everything they can to get by the fast driver from Denmark. Game on in our Infinity 40+ Masters class!
Overall Top 10 of the Infinity 40+ Masters class after 4 rounds of qualifying: TQ Caspar Morgen (DK) 2. Werner Schmitzer (AT) 3. Torsten Baggendorf (DE) 4. Manuel Stankowitz (DE) 5. Flavio Paladin (IT) 6. Frank Fuchs (DE) 7. Michel Zierold (DE) 8. Thomas Oehler (DE) 9. Mirco Thalheimer (DE) 10. Oliver Kaufmann (DE)
David Ehrbar won the last round of qualifying in the Scorpion Formula class. With Ratheisky sitting out Q4 after he sealed the overall TQ after the first three rounds, Lukas Hoch and Renè Kölbel finished second and third for the round.
With his TQ run in Q4, Ehrbar managed to get by Lukas Hoch to line up second behind Ratheisky in the mains tomorrow. But as Lukas Hoch had some small mistakes in his last run, it will be interesting to watch if Ehrbar`s challenge will be attacking Ratheisky or defending against Hoch.
Overall Top 10 of the Scorpion Formula class after 4 rounds of qualifying: TQ Jan Ratheisky (DE) 2. David Ehrbar (DE) 3. Lukas Hoch (CZ) 4. Renè Kölbel (AT) 5. Herbert Weber (AT) 6. Michal Wojcik (PL) 7. Patrik Sadrinna (DE) 8. Tomas Sova (CZ) 9. Chris Grenz (DE) 10. Robert Kampehl (DE)
After suffering a DNF in round 2 of qualifying, Ronald Völker looked unimpressed as he took the win in Q3 with his LRP powered Mugen Seiki. Behind Völker, Marc Rheinard crossed the finish line in second spot with his ORCA powered Awesomatix. With Marc being 1.9 seconds behind Ronald, Michal Orlowski (Schumacher/LRP) finished third with another second behind Rheinard’s runtime. As Völker and Rheinard both have been on used tires in this run, they both will use a new set of tires in the last round of qualifying which has a real chance to be the rocket round today when the track cools down in the afternoon. With Völker having scored two, and Rheinard one TQ run so far, the only chance for Rheinard for the overall TQ is a faster run in compared to Völker`s 17 laps coming out of Q1. Behind Völker, Rheinard and Orlowski it was Yannic Prümper (Yokomo / Dash), and Christopher Krapp (Yokomo / Racing Performer) completing the top 5.
Lukas Ellerbrock was able to lay down a perfect TQ run in Q3 with his Xray car. He finished 0.1 second ahead of his teammate Alexandre Duchet and Awesomatix team manager Max Mächler who was another 0.8 seconds behind Duchet. With Duchet having the two fastest TQ runs on his side so far, he will have the best chance to start from pole in the triple A-Mains on Sunday. Q4 will show how the cars will finally line up in the Xray ProStock class.
After rolling his car onto the roof in Q2, Stefan Schulz performed better in Q3 of FWD qualifying as he won the top heat in front of Steven Olsen again. However, Steven Olsen was only 0.4 seconds back in this qualifier and he will try to maximize the pressure on Schulz in the next runs – especially in the mains – for sure. Roman Borschel (3), Kevin Sparbier (4) and Alexander Müller (5) completed the top five in Q3 of the Hobbywing Frontwheel class.
17.5 Stock Top Seed David Kuschnarew found back his rhythm in Q3 and scored maximum points for the round. Maximilian Unterschütz finished second and reigning champion Daniel Pöhlmann third. Behind them, Dominik Ruf took fourth for the round and a much-improved Jan Gehrig fifth. The TQ of Q1 and Q2, Thomas Bemmerl, opted to sit out Q3 to save some tires for the next heats which can be a benefit for him when he will be able to convert them into a good result.
In the Infinity 40+ Masters class, Torsten Baggendorf took round three of qualifying. With three different TQ`s so far, the decision for the overall top qualifier is wide open in front of Q4. Werner Schmitzer, Caspar Morgen and Torsten Baggendorf won a round of qualifying each. With Baggendorf scoring two second places as well, he has a small advantage from Morgen and Schmitzer who both have a third place on their score card so far. It will all come down to Q4 and we are looking forward for the overall TQ decision in the Infinity 40+ Masters class here at ETS RD2.
In the Scorpion Formula class, Jan Ratheisky is the overall TQ. He won the first three rounds of qualifying here at Arena33 which secures him the sweet spot for the triple A-Mains on Sunday. His closest contenders, Lukas Hoch and David Ehrbar, have been on a similar hot lap pace in Q3 (all with 22.3), but Jan was able to win with 2.2 seconds ahead of David. Lukas Hoch lost six seconds in lap 11 which destroyed his run in Q3 completely. Behind the leaders, Renè Kölbel and Herbert Weber once again finished “best of the rest” in P4 and P5!
Marc Rheinard (Awesomatix)was able to TQ the second modified qualifier at Arena33 in front of Oliver Havranek (Xray), who scored another great result after his fourth place in Q1. At the beginning of the run, Ronald Völker pulled away from the field and was able to build up a gap of 1.0 seconds from the rest of the group. But at the 4-minute mark, Völker had to stop his car due to some technical problems which brought Rheinard back to the point again. Marc took this advantage to score important points which can help him a lot in the fight for the overall TQ in the upcoming Q3 and Q4. Behind Rheinard and Havranek, we saw Christopher Krapp (Yokomo) taking the third spot ahead of Eric Dankel (Mugen Seiki) who looked strong in this round as well. Yannic Prümper (Yokomo) finished fifth for the round and Michele Manzo (6), Michal Orlowski (7), Antoine Brunet (8), Loic Jasmin (9) and Tim Wahl (10) completed the top 10 in Q2 of the matrix Modified division.
We saw another strong TQ run from Xray driver Alexandre Duchet in Q2. The French driver was able to stay ahead of the pack posting the only 16 lap run. Awesomatix driver Simon Lauter finished second for the round in front of the Xray of Jan Ratheisky.
Behind the top 3, there were 4 drivers in 0.6 seconds to take positions 4 to 7. Enrico Jung was fastest of this pack taking fourth for the round ahead of Lukas Ellerbrock (5), Olivier Bultynck (6) and Max Mächler (7).
Danish driver Steven Olsen was the man on top as he took the win for the round ahead of Mischa Kroos in second and Roman Borschel in third. During the run, the fight for the lead was between Olsen and Schulz all the time and in the end, it looked like Schulz got closer and closer to Olsen until he rolled his car at the 4:20 minute mark to serve the win to Olsen on a silver tray! Behind Olsen, Kroos and Borschel the top 5 were completed by Kevin Sparbier and Jaques Libar.
The second round of qualification in the 17.5 Stock class saw young gun Maximilian Unterschütz closing the gap to the strongest driver Thomas Bemmerl down to only 0.832 seconds. With Unterschütz posting the fastest lap of the run, it seems that he could be a serious contender for Bemmerl for the rest of the weekend. But not only Maximilian Unterschütz was quicker in Q2 as we saw Roman Borschel (3), David Kuschnarew (4) and Dominik Ruf (5) turning 20.9 laptimes as well. That shows that they are all able to go fast and that it`s all about consistency over the whole five minutes!
Q2 of our 40+ Masters division saw Caspar Morgen on top. Caspar, who finished second on the podium here at ETS RD1 took the win ahead of Torsten Baggendorf, round 1 TQ Werner Schmitzer, Michel Zierold and Frank Fuchs. With the Top 5 only separated by one second, the fight for the overall TQ is still wide open and it will come down to Q3 and Q4 to find out who will start from pole position in the 40+ Masters class.
The Formula class saw no changes in the rankings as the top 6 finished in the same order as in Q1 this morning. Compared to Q1, where Jan checked out dramatically over the rest of the field,Lukas Hoch was able to finish a little closer behind Ratheisky (3 seconds) which will give him some hope for the finals. David Ehrbar is still trying to find more pace from his self-made car as he finished third another time in Q2.
