Völker and Rheinard “best of the rest” at ETS season finale

Drivers reported about tricky conditions on track today and many drivers struggled a lot with the balance of their modified car. The last round of qualifying was 5 seconds slower compared to Q1 which took place on Friday. Nobody really knew if it has to do with the changing outside temperatures or the higher humidity due to the rainy weather outside.

However, the best in the business went for it and it was once more Schumacher driver Michal Orlowski who took the win in Q4 by 0.8 seconds ahead of a much improved Lucas Urbain, Simon Lauter, Marc Rheinard, and David Ronnefalk (fastest lap of the entire heat 13.436). Mugen driver Ronald Völker had not the best Q3 and Q4, but due to his strong points from the opening two rounds of qualifying he secured second on the grid behind Orlowski.

Can Izsay and Ellerbrock find their afterburners to attack Sparbier in the finals?

Mugen Seiki`s Sören Sparbier was laying down another perfect run onto the black ETS carpet at Arena Nova. Adam Izsay was trying all he could to stay with Sören but came short again by 2.2 seconds. It was a perfect qualifying session for Sparbier who claimed his second ever ETS pole position here in Austria. Izsay, Ellerbrock, Bultynck, and Benson completed the top 5 in the last qualifier.

After the results from qualifying, Lukas Ellerbrock is our newly crowned ETS Pro Stock champion as Olivier Bultynck will not have a chance to beat him anymore on points. CONGRATULATIONS Lukas Ellerbrock, you are a well deserved champion of ETS Season #17 2024/25 and we will officially crown you as the champion later on Sunday!

Last minute TQ for Langner – championship decision between Hovgaard and Valent upcoming!

Phil Langner posted another TQ run and secured the pole position for the finals with his Awesomatix car. Langer won Q1 and Q4, while Yokomo driver Frederik Hovgaard was victorious in Q2 and Q3 of qualifying. Phil Langner had the fastest overall runtime to his favour (from Q1) which handed the TQ spot over to him.

When we are looking onto the fight for the overall FWD championship, nothing is decided yet. Frederik Hovgaard and Mark Valent will somehow battle it out on track with having two cars between them (Smid and Reile) on the starting grid – thriller expected!

Starting grid for the finals

TQ Phil Langner, 2. Frederik Hovgaard, 3. Wiktor Smid, 4. Dominik Reile, 5. Mark Valent, 6. Gergö Valent, 7, Matheo Buchhalt, 8. Olav Dahle, 9. Pawel Staszewski, 10. John Trottmann

Zierold secures second spot in Q4, Anderson to line up third on the grid!

In the last round of 40+ Masters qualifying of the season we saw a super-close fight for the positions behind David Ehrbar. Eric Anderson, Michel Zierold, Simon Schindler, Alexander Stocker, and Mirco Thalheimer all delivered a great run on the challenging track, and it was Michel Zierold who took second place ahead of Ulrich Dinger, Eric Anderson, Simon Schindler, and René Kölbel.

Starting grid for the finals

TQ David Ehrbar, 2. Michel Zierold, 3. Eric Anderson, 4. Ulrich Dinger, 5. Mirco Thalheimer, 6. Simon Schindler, 7. René Kölbel, 8. Manuel Stankowitz, 9. Alexander Stocker, 10. Toni Mateo

Zsolt, Zühlke, and Baumbach to chase TQ Kriz in the finals

After Jaroslav Kriz already had the TQ in the bag before Q4, it was all about the other drivers to score some good points in the last heat of Orca 21.5 Stock qualifying. Kriz took another win to sweep qualifying and he was followed by Buchhalt, Zsolt, Baumbach, Zühlke, and Jensen.  

Starting grid for the A-Main finals

TQ Jaroslav Kriz, 2. Bajusz Zsolt, 3. Nadine Zühlke, 4. Tobias Baumbach, 5. Kai Gerhardt, 6. Loris Buchhalt, 7. Kristian Jensen, 8. Krystian Kopacki, 9. David Reip, 10. Elena Fuchs

Xray`s Stenger on pole at ETS season finale in Austria

Thomas Stenger has claimed a maiden pole position at Arena Nova. The Xray driver from Germany, who is a former 1:12 scale stock national champion, was able to win three rounds of qualifying against David Ehrbar, Michael Lipperheide, Jacques Libar, and Andreas Stiebler. We have some thrilling finals ahead of us and the question is: Can Thomas Stenger defend his position against the bunch of fast guys in the finals?

Starting grid for the finals

TQ Thomas Stenger, 2. David Ehrbar, 3. Michael Lipperheide, 4. Jacques Libar, 5. Andreas Stiebler, 6. Chris Grenz, 7. Balint Rajki, 8. Michal Wojcik, 9. Robert Kampehl, 10. Mathias Domig

Strong Ronnefalk takes P2 for the round ahead of Rheinard

Michal Orlowski took another impressive win in Q3 of the FlySky Modified class. His Elceram and Cayote powered Schumacher Mi9 was looking good on track and the ETS champion had a gap of 0.7 seconds over Xray`s David Ronnefalk in the end. Ronnefalk had his best run of the weekend so far and was very pleased with his result after the run.

I am pretty happy with the run. We improved the car after losing a bit of pace in Q1 and Q2 after having a real good speed in practice. Scoring a second now is great as it gives me a lot of confidence for the finals. I hope to be able to fight in the top five for the best possible result. Overall the event is great and we have a good time here with the team!
David Ronnefalk (SE) Xray|Cayote

Marc Rheinard came short to Ronnefalk by two tenths and had to live with third place from Q3. The Awesomatix cars of Lucas Urbain and Simon Lauter rounded out the top five. Sören Sparbier (Mugen Seiki) scored some good points when he took sixth for the round ahead of his teammate Berkan Kilic (7), Adam Izsay (8), Alexander Hagberg (9), and Dominic Greiner (10).

Michal Orlowski will now start from the sweet spot of the grid on his way to a possible (and record breaking) 10^th ETS win in a row. What sounds like an impossible streak can become reality at Arena Nova in Wiener Neustadt – the place where Orlowski won his first ETS championship title last year. Time for a coffee with Marc 🙂

Pole position for Sparbier and the new Mugen Seiki MTC-3

Mugen driver Sören Sparbier posted another third consecutive TQ run at Arena Nova. The German was 1.1 seconds faster than Xray`s Adam Izsay who finished second again, followed by Lukas Ellerbrock from Awesomatix. It seems like the top three positions are relatively settled now as Sparbier, Izsay, and Ellerbrock always finished in this 1-2-3 order until now.

Olivier Bultynck showed a better pace on Saturday morning when he drove to fourth place in Q3 ahead of Schumacher`s Mark Valent. With the TQ now going to Mugen and Sparbier, the battle for the remaining spots at the end of the grid is still in full force with Langner, Benson, Valent still fighting for their spot in the A-Main.

Hovgaard wins early morning Q3 and is close to the overall TQ now

Frederik Hovgaard is on fire in the battle for the ETS FWD championship. The Danish Yokomo driver had an advantage of 1.9 seconds over second placed Wiktor Smid. Dominik Reile took another third place away from Q3 followed by Gergö Valent and Matheo Buchhalt. Hovgaard`s championship rival Mark Valent is still struggling a bit with the pace and is ranked fifth overall after Q3. Let`s see how Q4 will unfold and how our starting grid will look like at the end of FWD qualifying!

Pole position for Ehrbar after dominant Q3

All the 40+ Masters drivers are scratching their heads thinking about “how Ehrbar always can be so fast”. In Q3 he had a big gap of more than 2 seconds again when Michel Zierold took second place with his Awesomatix car, followed by Eric Anderson, Simon Schindler, and René Kölbel. With the result from Q3, Ehrbar will start on pole position in the triple finals which was a 100% guarantee for him to win the races in the 40+ Masters class so far.

One hand on the trophy as Kriz seals overall TQ

Jaroslav Kriz had another perfect run and is the top qualifier at the ETS season finale at Arena Nova – a huge step on the way to the championship for the young Xray racer from Slovakia. Bajusz Zsolt took second for the round followed by Nadine Zühlke, Kristian Jensen, and David Reip. The last round of qualifying will set the grid for the A-Mains. Who will become the biggest contender for Kriz? Will it be Zsolt, Zühlke, or Baumbach?

Another TQ run from Stenger – can he snatch the pole away from Ehrbar?

After taking the win in Q2 on Friday evening, Xray driver Thomas Stenger was again “on the money” in Q3 where he outpaced his teammate and long-time friend David Ehrbar by 2.0 seconds. Stenger also posted the fastest lap of the run with a 14.087 and it looks like we have a new contender for the win here in Austria. Michael Lipperheide took second for the round, followed by David Ehrbar, Andreas Stiebler, and Jacques Libar!

Rheinard takes second in Q2 just two tenths behind Orlowski, Völker in third!

Schumacher factory driver Michal Orlowski took another close win in the second round of FlySky Modified qualifying. Somehow, Orlowski always seems to find a way to have that small edge over the others, and after Völker came short by two tenths in Q1, it was the Awesomatix of Marc Rheinard who had the disadvantage of 0.2 seconds to Orlowski in Q2.

It was a very close race and Lucas Urbain and Ronald Völker had been in the mix as well. Urbain was leading for two laps in the last minute of the run but had to take fourth in the end behind Orlowski, Rheinard, and Völker. David Ronnefalk had another good run to take fifth for the round again!

The overall result sees Orlowski holding the overnight TQ at Arena Nova, followed by Völker, Rheinard, Urbain, Ronnefalk, Lauter, Callens, Kilic, Gollner, and Hagberg in the top 10.

Sparbier delivers another TQ run in Q2

Mugen Seiki`s Sören Sparbier confirmed his form from Q1 and took another impressive heat win with the new Mugen MTC-3. His advantage over second placed Adam Izsay (Xray) was at 2.1 seocnds which is a lot in the world of competitive RC racing. Right now, Sparbier is the man to beat here at Arena Nova – can he seal the TQ spot in Q3 or Q4 on Saturday?

Behind the top two drivers we saw Lukas Ellerbrock taking another third place followed by Schumacher`s Mark Valent and (still) reigning Pro Stock champion Olivier Bultynck. New ARC driver Tobias Sutrich scored sixth place in Q2 while Kevin Schmid, Martin Hudy, Gergö Valent, and Phil Langner completed the top ten.

Yokomo`s Hovgaard wins Q2 ahead of Langner and Valent

Frederik Hovgaard took the win in Q2 with a gap of nine tenths over second placed Awesomatix driver Phil Langner. Schumacher driver Mark Valent had a solid run to third overall making up some ground on the provisional grid – super important to keep his championship hopes alive.

Top seed Dominik Reile posted the fourth quickest time for the Iris team and Wiktor Smid had another good run finishing fifth for the round. With Phil Langner`s time from Q1 being quicker than Hovgaard`s Q2 result, Langer holds the provisional overnight TQ here at the ETS season finale!

The Ehrbar show continues in Q2 – Anderson scores a second place!

After taking Q1, David Ehrbar was once again “spot on” when he drove to another win in Q2. This time it was the Awesomatix of Eric “EA” Anderson who took second for the round crossing the line 1.1 seconds behind the Xray of Ehrbar.

Iris racer Manuel Stankowitz suffered from an unlucky body tuck after riding the curbs and dropped all the way down to the end of the heat. Behind Ehrbar and Anderson, we saw Michel Zierold, René Kölbel, and Mirco Thalheimer completing the top 5 for the round!

Two from two as Kriz takes Q2 from Zühlke and Zsolt

Jaroslav Kriz (Xray) is on a mission as he really wants to seal the overall championship here in Wiener Neustadt. Kriz posted another TQ run and was three seconds faster than Nadine Zühlke (ARC) who had a strong run to second for the round in the B-heat.

Bajusz Zsolt (Xray), Kai Gerhardt (Mugen Seiki), and Tobias Baumbach (Xray) completed the top 5 in the second of four Orca 21.5 qualifying runs. Kristian Jensen had another run to forget and is under serious pressure now before Q3 and Q4 if he wants to jump back into the fight for the title!

Stenger wins second Formula qualifier on Friday afternoon!

Xray driver Thomas Stenger took the second round of Matrix Formula qualifying at Arena Nova. Stenger was eight tenths ahead of Jacques Libar after five minutes and Michael Lipperheide finished third ahead of Schumacher racer Andreas Stiebler, and the Xray of Chris Grenz. With Ehrbar and Stenger winning one round each, the decision for the overall TQ is wide open before Q3 and Q4 on Saturday morning!

Top seed Völker finishes four tenths behind Orlowski, Urbain takes third from Q1

The first round of Modified qualifying was a dog fight between top seed Ronald Völker, and reigning ETS champion Michal Orlowski. Coming out of the gate, it was Awesomatix driver Marc Rheinard who was leading after the first lap, but as the first minute of the run was progressing, Ronald Völker popped up on top of the board.

Völker was leading the race with his very soon to be released MTC-3 ahead of Michal Orlowski`s Schumacher Mi9 then, followed by the two Awesomatix cars of Lucas Urbain, and Marc Rheinard. Between minute two and four, the gap between Völker and Orlowski was a few hundreds of a second all the time.

Orlowski was right on the money in the last minute of the race where he took over the lead to win Q1 with a margin of 0.439 of a second from Völker. Lucas Urbain posted the third fastest time and was followed by Marc Rheinard, and the Xray of David Ronnefalk.

I am extremely happy and proud of my Q1 run. Things had been very difficult here so far (setup wise) and we tried to keep up with the pace of Ronald and the others who are all very fast. We finally made some important changes to the setup of our car and these changes seem to work fine. Let`s see how things will be in Q2 later this evening!
Michal Orlowski (PL) Schumacher | Elceram

To be honest, I am a bit disappointed about Q1 as my own driving was not on point. I already had a bad start into the heat as my car was standing on a little bump once I started causing my car to not lauch off perfectly straight. After that I found a good rythm, but in the last two minutes of the run I didn not hit all my marks perfectly. However, P2 is ok for Q1 and I am very happy about our complete team result so far. We have four cars in the Modified top heat, and Sören (Sparbier) posted a TQ run in Pro Stock. For Q2 I will just try to drive better!
Ronald Völker (DE) Mugen Seiki |LRP

Hot TQ run from Sparbier at Arena Nova

Sören Sparbier is in the form of his life now. After winning the last ETS race in Daun and the TITC in Thailand, the Mugen Seiki driver had a great start into qualifying here at the season finale in Austria when he took the win in Q1 ahead of top seed Adam Izsay (Xray). Sparbier (hot lap 14.093) was able to close up to Izsay who was driving in front of him, and at some point Izsay had to open the door for Sparbier to let him by. However, Izsay (hot lap 14.144) pushed really hard and was able to stay with Sören until the end of the run to finish 1.6 seconds behind the Mugen driver.

Third place for the round went to Lukas Ellerbrock (hot lap 14.286) and Mark Valent and Olivier Bultynck rounded out the top five. On the road to the championship, Lukas Ellerbrock is heading in the right direction keeping teammate Olivier Bultynck in a small distance!

Young talent Langner takes close FWD Q1 from Hovgaard

Phil Langner had a great run in Q1 of the Hobbywing FWD class. Starting third into the heat, Langner quickly moved up to the top of the board, closely followed by the Yokomo of Frederik Hovgaard, and the Iris of Dominik Reile. It was a very close and intense heat of qualifying where the top 6 all posted identical hot lap times (16.5).

At the end of the run, Langner made the extra lap and posted the only 19-lapper of Q1. Frederik Hovgaard, Dominik Reile, Mark Valent, Wiktor Smid, Olav Dahle, and Gergö Valent took positions 2 -7 and had been separated by 1.1 seconds only. Things are getting spicy now in the Hobbywing Frontwheel class!

Ehrbar takes opening Masters qualifier in Wiener Neustadt

A strong driving Manuel Stankowitz (Iris), Mirco Thalheimer (Xray), Michel Zierold (Awesomatix), and Eric Anderson (Awesomatix) took the positions two to five within one second behind Xray driver and Q1 winner David Ehrbar. It was another masterclass from Ehrbar as he outpaced the rest of the guys by 1.7 seconds on the difficult track at Arena Nova.

Ehrbar posted the fastest lap of the heat with a 15.111 and has shown again that he is the dominant force in the 1up Racing 40+ Masters class. Right now, it looks like smooth sailing for our new champion David Ehrbar. Will it stay like this?

Orca 21.5 Stock

Kriz wins Q1 from Baumbach and Gerhardt – bad run for Jensen

Jaroslav Kriz showed that he is in good form today by taking the win in the opening round of qualifying from Tobias Baumbach and Kai Gerhardt. Kriz also posted the fastest lap of the entire round (15.333) and his gap to second placed Xray driver Tobias Baumbach was at 3.8 seconds after the five-minute run, with the Mugen car of Kai Gerhardt another two tenths behind.

Nadine Zühlke was fourth quickest with her time coming from the b-heat, while Krystian Kopacki completed the top 5 in Q1. Championship contender Kristian Jensen lost around 4 seconds in lap 10 which caused him to drop down to the end of a super-close field of drivers in the top heat.

Qualifying round one goes to mighty Ehrbar

After Michael Lipperheide topped seeding practice in Wiener Neustadt, he was also able to score a strong second place in Q1. Lipperheide was only 4 tenths off the pace when he finished the run behind our new ETS Formula champion David Ehrbar.

Behind the top duo we saw another Xray on P3, driven by Jacques Libar from Luxembourg. Andreas Stiebler and Chris Grenz rounded out the top 5 in the first of our four rounds of qualifying. The top 4 had only been separated by 1.5 seconds and we expect the upcoming rounds to get even closer.