Today we like to inform you about the 5 things we have learned from ETS RD3 Season #16 2023/24. Read about rain, press conferences, FWD body shells, the ETS family, and new drivers joining the circle of ETS rcae winners!
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1) We welcome two more drivers in the circle of ETS race winners
Lukas Ellerbrock shows that patience and hard work pays off as he wins at the ETS for the first time
Lukas Ellerbrock is racing at the ETS since many years. He got quicker and quicker, and stepped up his game with switching from Xray to Awesomatix one year ago. He had many great races in the past, scored some decent podium positions, but always came short to the race winners. This weekend at Arena33, Lukas Ellerbrock finally got the job done after having a perfect weekend. He drove flawless in each and every run on track and was TQ after qualifying. In the triple A-Mains, Lukas never looked back and took the win in A1 and A2. A very well deserved win for the Awesomatix driver who is using LRP batteries to power his car. It will be interesting to see what he can do in the fight for the championship until the end of the season. Congratulations Lukas Ellerbrock and welcome to the circle of ETS race winners!
Thalheimer joins circle of ETS race winners after long awaited victory at Arena33 in Andernach
The second driver who conquered the top step of the podium last weekend for the first time was Xray racer Mirco Thalheimer. Known as one of the fastest drivers in the 40+ Masters class, he always raced in the top group of the field since he entered the class some years ago. Thalheimer was close to a victory many times, but small mistakes here and there, as well as collisions with competitors always crossed his plans – until now!
His performance at Arena33 was great, especially in qualifying where he was super fast. In the finals he showed some kind of nerves with riding a curb too much here and there, but in the end he took the win ahead of the rest of the field. It was easy to see that a big rock had fallen off his shoulders after the third A-Main. Winning is never easy and Mirco Thalheimer finally did it at the ETS. Congratulations Mirco Thalheimer, you are an ETS race winner now!
2) Changing body shell trend in the Hobbywing Frontwheel class
Bittydesign and Blitz the dominant forces at ETS RD3 in Germany
When looking on the equipment charts in the final race report of ETS RD3, we noticed one very interestig fact: The body shell choice of the FWD A-Main finalists.During the last seasons, the ZooRacing Gorilla body shell was in use by most of the drivers and only some guys used different ones from time to time. Then the Blitz YRS came onto the market and was getting more and more attention. The same now with the Bittydesign CA45 which seems to be very famous.
At the last races in Apeldoorn and Aigen, the Protoform Speed3 was the body to have and many drivers used it (especially in Apeldoorn where race winner Izsay had the Speed3 on his car). But as the availability of the Protoform Speed3 body is almost zero here in europe, drives switched to the Blitz YRS and Bittydesign CA45 for the race in Aigen-Schlägl where no other body was in the final.
This trend continued now at ETS RD3 in Andernach where we only saw the Bittydesign CA45 and the Blitz YRS in the A-Main. A very strict change of a trend in a class which was dominated by the ZooRacing Gorilla for almost 2 seasons.
What is the reason of that? Good question, but many drivers reported that the Gorilla does not work great with the actual Ride FWD tires. In the past, the Ride tires had been totally different and the Gorilla was the best way to find a good balance. With the full slicks now, the drivers found out that other bodies are faster – as simple as it sounds!
As the ETS asphalt season is over now, the carpet portion of the campaign is waiting for us and the drivers have to test and select a body shell again. We will keep an eye on this topic as it is a very interesting one!
3) New at the ETS: Press Conferences
We will bring you closer to the top drivers and ask them about their races
Together with our new media partner RC Racing TV, we have set up a press conference after Qualifying and after the A-Mains of the Matrix Modified class. It was a first try, and we are happy with the outcome and also with the feedback so far. We will continue to do this at the upcoming events and we will further improve the style and look. You can already be excited about the next ones at ETS RD3 in Hann. Münden. If the schedule allows us, we will also do a press conference for other ETS classses too.
Here you can watch the show from ETS RD3 again:
Saturday Press Conference
Final Sunday Press Conference
4) The ETS family stayed together in the rain of Andernach
It was great to see everybody staying together and having a good time during the rain-cancelled Friday
After we had a day of dry conditions on Thursday (free practice), the weather changed and we had terrible rain all friday long. No racing was possible as the track was completely flooded. Some drivers used their rain cars (from their national series) to have some fun and it was great tro see some cars running in the wet. The talks about racing in the wet came up once again and some people told us that they would love to race in the rain at the ETS. With the handout motors we are using in all stock classes, it is just not possible to do it as we then would need the double amount of motors for a season just to make sure that we have enough of them. The second aspect which makes it difficult is the high number of heats we always have. Rain in the middle of a qualifyer makes it impossible to have a fair counting of results and repeating a complete round takes to much time. Luckily, we had not a lot of rain in the past years.
However, it was great to see so many drivers staying trackside all day, supporting the canteene with buying food and drinks, wrenching on their cars, and just having a good time. On Friday morning a group of drivers helped to get the track dry with using gas burners walking around the track. Everybody had the same goal and teamwork made the dream work. This is what the ETS family is all about. At the upcoming three indoor races we do not have to check weather apps and datas so everyting will be more on the easy side 🙂
5) The ARC A10MF-24 is a real competitor
First race for the car, first TQ, and second overall – not a bad debut!
Henrik Heitsch had a strong race in the FWD class and was TQ after qualifying. The finals had been tough for Henrik and he had to walk away with second place overall. Anyway, the car he used was the new ARC A10MF-24 and it was looking very fast on track. Heitsch won three out of four qualifiers and had an amazing pace. It seems like the new FWD car from ARC is a real contender.
