RC Maker has released some new products which we like to show here quickly. The first one is a very nice carbon fibre setup board with the dimensions of 32 x 39,5cm. The board is made from high quality matte carbon fibre and will be a highlight on every pit table. Optional levelling feets can get mounted to the board to create the perfect surface for setting up your race car on tables and undergrounds which are not perfectly straight.
Beside the amazing setup board, RC Maker offers some tuning parts for the actual Yokomo BD12 touring car. From two different chassis plates and top decks, to a carbon front shock tower and a rear body mount plate – RC Maker has everything you need to upgrade your BD12 in style and performance.
All products will be available in hobby shops around the globe in the next days!
after we have used the quickly produced Matrix tires at the first ETS race of the season in Apeldoorn, we finally can inform you about the tires we will use for ETS RD2 in Aigen, and for RD3 in Andernach. We have talked to Cristian Boni from Matrix every day, we discussed with many drivers, and we also tested again on different tracks. We are sure that the decision we made is good for ETS racing, but also for other racing series and club level events.
Different tires for Stock and Modified racing
Matrix can produce the “old” tires again for the rest of the year as the raw material shortage seems to be overcome now. The production will start at the end of the week and the tires should be back in stock until the end of June. This is a great fact and opens some options for our two remaining ETS asphalt races.
In Apeldoorn, we saw the Modified drivers going super-fast with the new tires, while the drivers in the Stock classes had struggled a bit more to get the tires into the perfect setup window. Many stock drivers wanted to have “the old tire back as quick as possible” while others liked the new ones after the event. The Modified racers had a very clear statement for us: “We don`t want to go back to the old tires anymore” was the most used sentence from the modified drivers after the trophy ceremony.
With all these information and facts from ETS RD1, we decided to follow the wishes of most of our racers. We will use the following tires for ETS RD2 in Aigen, and for ETS RD3 in Andernach. Both tires will be available in the next days again!
Awesomatix Pro Stock, 1up Racing 40+ Masters, and Orca 21.5 Stock
We will use the Matrix Tires which we all know from the previous seasons. They are very good and reliable tires and never disappointed in the past. The white dish wheels will have the ETS logo on the surface to clearly show that it is the corretc tire for ETS stock racing. Our decision for these tires will ensure a nice handling for the drivers as they easier to drive for everybody. Part Number: MatrixEPA-036
Matrix Modified
In the Modified class, the ETS will use the “new” tires which had been in use in Apeldoorn. We call these tires D36 now, and they will get a special part number for an easy identification. The white wheels will come without the ETS logo, to visually separate them from the EPA-036 stock class tire. The D36 is 1g heavier (per tire) compared to the classic Matrix tire. Part Number: MatrixEPA-D36
We are sure that this decision is the best one for the remaining outdoor season and we hope that you will like it. Beside managing the tire situation for 2023, we will further develop and test different tires all the time to be prepared if such a material shortage will hit us again in the future. We want to thank Cristian Boni from Matrix tires again for all his support and his hard work behind the scenes. The tire business it not an easy one, and together with Matrix we do our very best to give our ETS family the best tire we need for racing!
Schumacher factory driver Michal Orlowski won the eurpoean championship in the 1:8 scale electric buggy class on the past weekend. The EFRA event was held in Bischofsheim (GER), and attracted 137 drivers to make their entry. The big and challenging Rhein-Main-Raceway ensured tough and close racing, and in the end it was Michal Orlowski winning the title from second on the grid. Top quailfier Bruno Coelho finished second overall while Burak Kilic took the last spot on the podium in third place.
First of all, I would like to thank my main man Tris for the hard work he has put into this project over the past year and a bit. Winning this title with a car made of many parts made in his garage is just unbelievable #Trishbits. We make such a good team together. I would like to thank my dad for his tremendous support over the years and this week. We were wrenching and gluing tyres together in a hurry on Tuesday this week, just coming back from ETS, as I was leaving to Germany on Wednesday morning. I love you! Huge thank you to the Polish team here at the Euros, we had a great time pitting together and they supported me massively all weekend. Thank you Rafał, Ewa, Sonia, Jodła, Bogdański family, Bartek and Rafał. Thank you to all my sponsors for giving me the best equipment out there, the whole package was unbelievable this weekend! Thank you Schumacher R/C Racing, Hobbywing Technology, Sunpadow RC, Power HD, Whitz Racing Products, MR33 Racing, Hotrace Tyres Factory! Thank you to all my friends and family watching the live stream and cheering me on. My phone was blowing up after the finals! You are the best. Thank you to Nicola from Hotrace and Robert this weekend for supporting me in my 1/8 journey. I loved driving on the Sahara Clay tyre this weekend. This weekend had it all. From a very good start in practice, to finishing practice on a low and then battling some issues in qualifying and then the crazy 3 legs of A finals. I’m so proud of the hard work we put into this win over this weekend and 6 weeks ago at the warm up. We truly put everything we had into this. What happened in A3 is extremely unfortunate. As everyone will have their own opinion on the incident, all I’m going to say is, that nothing was intentional from my side, I was racing hard and very close with Burak for the title, as any other driver would. I respect everyone’s view on it and all of us can develop their own opinion on what happened watching it live at the track or on the live stream and looking at the lap times from that final. Not the way I wanted it to end. Well done to you Burak for the awesome performance this weekend and also to Bruno, we always race together in so many different classes at the highest level and I greatly appreciate the respect we have for each other on and off the track. It’s been a crazy first half of 2023, now need to relax a bit and keep the ball rolling. Onto the next one!
The dust has settled and the first round of the new season is already in the books. With 230 entries, the race in Apeldoorn was a huge success and a great show for RC racing on a very high level. As always, the products used by the drivers are very interesting, and today we like to talk a little bit about trends and performances we have seen on the ground of the AMCA Apeldoorn.
Cars
Strong debuts for many new platforms
We saw many new cars on track at ETS RD1 in the Netherlands. Some did brilliant, others only average. But whenever a new car is racing at a big event, a lot of attention is on the teams and drivers as a lot of customers from all around the world are making their buying decisions based on the ETS results.
FWD
Starting with the FWD class, we can say that the new Xray T4F-2024 won the race in the hands of Adam Izsay. He started from pole position and had a lot of work to do to keep the Mugen of Max Weffers and the possibly fastest car of Robin van Gog (Awesomatix) behind him in the triple A-Mains. But in the end, Izsay made it a perfect debut for the new Xray car.
Schumacher`s ingeneer Andy Murray from Great Britain drove the new FT8 FWD car and tried a lot of different setups, as the track in Apeldoorn was completeley different to everything they have in the UK. Murray made the A-Main but had no speed to fight for a top spot taking P11 in the end. He will be back with an improved setup for sure as he is a very experienced guy in setting up fast race cars.
Touring Car
The touring car classes had four new cars in the window of interest: Mugen Seiki`s MTC-2R, the ARC A10-2023, Yokomo`s BD12 and the Awesomatix A800R. All teams had a lot of work to do to get their cars up to speed. In the end all drivers had some good results with the new cars during the ETS season opener!
Starting with the Mugen MTC-2R, we can report that it was competitive right from the start of the weekend. In practice, Ronald Völker was very dominant, until he lost some pace when racing started. Robert Pietsch and Eric Dankel showed great speed in practice as well, and Remi Callens completed the Mugen guys hitting the top 10 in every round of practice. In the end, Eric Dankel had a magic weekend, drove very impressive, and placed his Mugen ride on a very strong third place on the podium. Völker was able to do some damage limitation with P4 in the end and Remi Callens finished on a strong P9 after some great runs durng the whole weekend. The MTC-2R seems to be a good car which is working great out of the box. Sören Sparbier was in the Pro Stock A-Main with the car even after he had not the cleanest qualification runs.
The Awesomatix A800R was not the newest car in Apeldoorn as it was already released in February. But it was the first official ETS race on asphalt for the team and therefore a lot of attention was on the Awesomatix ride. Did the team deliver? Oh yes! With a complete podium in the Pro Stock class (Bultynck, Ellerbrock, Mächler), and a total of 4 cars in the A-Main the comany nce again showed that the only way to victory in Pro Stock goes over Awesomatix. In the modified class, Marc Rheinard was able to seal the TQ spot in qualifying, with Lucas Urbain lining up in third place. Rheinard had a lot of bad luck in the triple A-Mains and dropped down to P7, but Lucas was flying the flag to the finish line with a good second place behind Schumacher`s race winner Michal Orlowski. The A800R is a rocket on asphalt and will be in contention for the win at every race due to the strong team and their knowledge about the car.
Yokomo was running the new BD12 on the track where they started into last years season with a race win (Yannic Prümper) at the BD11 debut. This time, the Yokmoo team had three cars in the modified A-Main, but it looked like they never found that last piece of performance to fight for the win. However, with Christopher Krapp (5th), Yannic Prümper (8th), and Loic Jasmin (11th), they left the track with a solid team result. The highlight for Yokomo was the fourth place for Dominic Vogl in the Pro Stock class. He was competing against the Awesomatix and Xray cars in the A-Main and did very well indeed. Let`s see what the team can do at the next race in Aigen – a track where Christopher Krapp won last season`s race for the Yokomo team.
Last but not least, the new ARC A10-2023 was on the line in Apeldoorn. Henrik Heitsch and Torsten Baggendorf raced the new car and Baggendorf was able to qualify it directly into the 40+ Masters A-Main with P8 in the end. Henrik Heitsch had a good speed in Pro Stock (5th place in one round of qualifying), but missed some racing luck to put the car into the final. He finished in the Pro Stock B-Main which still is a good result. For ARC, it would be super important to add another top driver to the team for scoring good results constantly.
Searching for the ultimate power source in all classes
Batteries are one of the most important and crucial things in RC racing. No matter if modified or stock racing – finding the best battery for every track and class is a key to success. Let`s talk quickly about the Matrix Modified class. In Apeldoorn, the traction was very high, and in combination with the very grippy Matrix tires, the drivers pushed their electronic packages (speedo – motor – battery) to the absolute limit. That caused some drivers having a little trouble with power and runtime in the last minute of the race. And as nobody likes to run out of power in the year 2023, many drivers used a battery with a higher capacity for the races. For example, the LRP/Nosram team switched from 5700mAh to 6700mAh batteries. Other teams did the same as ORCA drivers used 6390mAh instead of 6090mAh power sources. The Gens Ace drivers used their 6000mAh battery while Eric Dankel had an EZ 6100mAh LiPo in his car. On the Sunpadow battery of race winner Michal Orlowski, we found the capacity of 6500mAh. When looking back on the last years at Apeldoorn, Bruno Coelho once won the race with a 5300mAh pack in his Xray car. But as the Modified drivers now drove ONE lap more in qualifying (meaning them to be 14 seconds faster over 5 minutes), it is easy to undertand that everybody had the demand for more battery power at this years season opener in Apeldoorn!
In the Stock classes, we noticed that most racers had big batteries in their cars. When looking onto the tech charts of the A-Main finalists of Pro Stock, FWD, and 40+ Masters, LRP and Nosram clearly dominated with 65-70% of drivers using their products. Gens Ace, Sunpadow, EZ Power, Ruddog, EAM, and Orion had been the other brands in the finals. Capacity wise most touring car drivers used 9400 or 8100mAh packs, but also a EZ 6800mAh pack made it into the Pro Stock A-Main. The FWD racers used capacities between 4100 and 4900mAh on the track of the AMCA Apeldoorn. One thing is clear: All stock drivers are looking for the lowest possible internal resistance in their batteries to get the best punch over 5 minutes when running on track.
Body Shells
What is the trend right now?
The list of allowed body shells at the ETS is making it a lot easier for the drivers as they don`t have to select a shell from ALL available bodies on the market. However, drivers must still decide what they want to use and we have seen some new bodies performing well, and also some facts from last season have been confirmed once again!
Touring car body shells
In the Matrix Modified clas, all A-Main finalists used a body from Xtreme Aerodynamics. The Twister, and the Twister Speciale had been mountedon all the 11 cars on the grid. These two body shells are very similar in handling with the most significant differences being the rear wing, and the section around the side windows. Some drivers have used the Twister wing on the Speciale, or vice versa. Another wing option (for example used by Lucas Urbain) was to use the wing of the ZooRacing Wolverine on the Twister body. In the end it comes down to the driver’s personal preferences, but it is interesting to see how much experimentation is going on with aero components. That all drivers used the Xtreme bodies in the 0.5mm version should be somethign we don`t have to highlight as it has become state of the art in modified racing!
The Awesomatix Pro Stock class was in the hands of the Zoo Racing Wolverine Max body – the same procedure as last year. With 9 out of 11 drivers using the 0.5mm Zoo Racing body in the A-Main, the statement is clear that the Wolverine Max is still a must have for Pro Stock racing. However, Schumacher driver Mattia Collina used the Xtreme Speciale and finished sixth overall while Xray`s Jacques Libar trusted in the new Red Hawk, also from Xtreme, to finish in eight place. We will follow the trend in the Pro Stock class to see if we will see more drivers using different bodies at the next race, or if the Wolverine will still dominate.
By the way, the 40+ Masters class class winner Renè Kölbel used the Protoform P63 bodyshell. It also worked flawless on track and it was already the third race win for Protoform with the P63 as Manuel Stankowitz used the body last season to win the 40+ class in Andernach (Asphalt) and Hann. Münden (Carpet). Elibert Sievers used the Xtreme Red Hawk, and Torsten Baggendorf wheeled is ARC car topped by the Blitz CLA body shell.
What we have learned: The Xtreme Twister (and Speciale), ZooRacing Wolverine Max, and the Protoform P63 are the bodies to have when it comes to ETS racing. A good alternative is the Xtreme Red Hawk, the Bittydesign eptron, the Blitz CLA, and the Mon-tech Zero 2.
FWD body shells
This was an interesting one! Last season, the talks had been only about the ZooRacing Gorilla and the Blitz YRS. Now, we have seen more different bodies than ever in the A-Main of the Hobbywing FWD class. With four different manufacturers sharing the FWD class, we saw Protoform, Bittydesign, Blitz, and Zoo Racing batteling it out for the win. In the end, the Protoform Speed3 was able to take the win in the hands of Adam Izsay (Xray). It was the first outing for the Speed3 at the ETS and with 5 drivers uding the body in the A-Main, the Protoform crew around Eric Epp in the USA will have a happy week in the factory.
Another body that many drivers liked a lot was the Bittydesign CA45. With 2 bodies in the A-Main and one on the podium (MAx Weffers), the body was also seen a lot on track in the lower mains. The Zoo Racing Gorilla and the Blitz YRS both qualified for the A-Main two times, and had been around in the pits as well. It was a super interesting weekend for the body shell scene in the FWD class, and the next race in Aigen will be another showdown to find the “best FWD body” for the track in Austria. Let`s see if the Xtreme Italia or the Mon-Tech Civic will play a bigger role there, or if the fight for the win will be again between Protoform, Bittydesign, Blitz, and ZooRacing!
Radios
Something new FLYING on the SKY of the ETS
The radio topic was (almost) no reason to talk about in the last years as most drivers used Sanwa products, with a small number of Futaba radios also seen at the ETS. For sure, Sanwa is still the most used brand and we are seeing almost everybody walking onto the driver stand with an M17, MT-44, or the older M12 model. But something has changed at ETS RD1 in the Netherlands and we felt like a shock of power (to say it Star Wars style). Out of nowhere, Flysky stepped onto the ETS stage and their actual Noble Pro radio was able to TQ and win the race in the Pro Stock class with Olivier Bultynck, collecting another TQ (and possible win) in Modified with their big signing Marc Rheinard, and had another double A-Main (Pro Stock & Modified) with Tim Benson who also used the Flysky Noble Pro. Not a bad debut on the big ETS stage for Flysky, the company from Shenzhen, China. They have also become an associated sponsor of the ETS very shortly before we kicked off the season, and we once again like to welcome them in the circle of the ETS supporting companies.
Multiple IFMAR world champion Marc Rheinard has joined the Flysky team and will use the Flysky Noble Pro transmitter (and receiver) from now on. Marc used the radio last weekend at teh ETS in Apeldoorn where he was able to TQ the event.
Flysky announcement:
FlySky is excited to announce that multiple World Champion, Legendary Germany top 1/10 onroad driver Marc Rheinard RC has signed with the FlySky team! We suppose there is no need to introduce a lot about the legend. Marc is multiple Touring Car IFMAR World Champion, multiple 1/12th IFMAR World Champion, multiple European Touring Car Champion, multiple National Touring Car Champion and multiple Reedy Race USA TC Champion. Marc will be using FlySky Noble Pro transmitter in the forthcoming 1/10 onroad modified and 12th scale racing. Marc said:
“A big thank you to the Flysky team for taking me on board. I tried the Noble Pro a couple of weeks ago for the first time and I loved it from the first moment. The feeling and handling of the radio is perfect and the menu is like on a smartphone, super easy to use!
Destiny Japan has just released an updated version of their current touring car. The so called RX-10SR 3.0R comes with many small improvements and has already reached the hobby shops all around the world.
New parts in the Destiny RX-10SR 3.0R touring car kit:
New high grade graphite main chassis. Manufactured by RC Maker
Power HD has announced the introduction of their brand new high-voltage brushless GTS series servos, which can support the FLYSKY i-BUS2 protocol! The servos can get used with every other radio as well. The GTS Series includes four different servos such as the GTS-3, GTS-5, GTS-6, GTS-7. The servos will be available in shops around the world very soon!
*GTS series support FLYSKY radio’s i-BUS2 protocol : servo parameter setup / data logging / warning / and other functions
*GTS-5/6/7 use four-pole brushless motor : high torque/ high performance/ long Life-span/ heat-resistant/ faster response
The season opener in Apeldoorn is over, and we had a great event in the Netherlands. Today we like to inform you about the 5 things we have learned from ETS RD1 Season #16 2023/24 at AMCA Apeldoorn. Read about tires, the club, our drivers of the weekend, Orlowski on a mission, and Axon working on a touring car!
1.) AMCA Apeldoorn – simply one of the best tracks and clubs all around the world
The AMCA Apeldoorn has become a permanent fixture in the Euro Touring Series racing calendar. Once again, the club did a great job and all the drivers, mechanics, helpers and spectators were very impressed with the professional work that the AMCA crew does year after year. From the cafeteria to the pits, from the toilets to the tribune, everything was in perfect shape and the team around Gaston van Kleef, Peter Jongeling and Martijn van der Heijden was always there to help everybody.
When talking about the racetrack itself, there is no way to describe it in words. The AMCA track is just AMAZING and a pure joy to drive on. Everyone who has never been to Apeldoorn should give it a try, be it an ETS, a TOS, a Tamiya Cup or just a nice and relaxed day of practice.
2.) Orlowski is on a winning streak
Schumacher factory driver Michal Orlowski is enjoying the ETS as he never did before. After winning the final race of the last season on carpet at the Sporthotel Grafenwald in Daun, he was on fire again at our season opener in Apeldoorn. It was his first big touring car race win on asphalt and he was mega happy after the race. He worked so hard with his team around Andy Murray and Mattia Collina, and earned a well-deserved win in the Netherlands. For sure, he was also benefittign a little bit from Rheinards DNF in the last A-Main, but finishing races is also a key to success and Orlowski used this key in the right moment.
Sadly, Michal Orlowski will miss ETS RD2 in Austria due to a very important buggy race (his main class), but he will be back in Andernach to score important points for the championship. Until then, good luck at all your Offroad races Michal…!
It is just incredible to win here in Apeldoorn. After the race win at the season finale on carpet in Daun we had not been 100% sure if we can be as competitive on asphalt too. The last time here in Apeldoorn I was only in the B-Main, so today is a very special day for me and the team. I like to thank my team around Andy and Mattia for all their help, as well as all my sponsors for their trust in me.
Michal Orlowski (PL) Schumacher | Hobbywing
3.) Dankel and Kölbel – the drivers of the weekend
At every ETS, there are drivers scoring amazing results. We like to talk about two of them which (from the perspective of our reporter) had been the drivers of the weekend at ETS RD1 in the Netherlands:
Eric Dankel
The Mugen Seiki factory driver achieved his first ETS podium in the modified class after a brilliant weekend. He was able to put his Mugen Seiki MTC-2R on fourth place on the grid and with two third, and one second place in the finals he moved up to P3 in the end. Eric won some ETS races in the Pro Stock class many years ago, before he switched to modified racing. When looking back onto the last races, Eric was in the A-Main at every of his last eight races, crowning this great result with a well-deserved podium in Apeldoorn. Congratulations to Eric Dankel!
I had an amazing weekend here in Apeldoorn and my package worked flawless right from the start. I also had a little luck during the races but my pace was also very good and I am more that happy to step onto the podium in the modified class for the first time. Thanks to all my sponsors for their support and also to the whole Mugen team for the great time in the pits.
Eric Dankel (DE) Mugen Seiki | Hobbywing
Renè Kölbel
The Austrian racer is our second “driver of the weekend”. Mostly known for his Formula racing, Kölbel (Xray) is now also starting in the 1up Racing 40+ Masters class. With the setup help of his good friend Patrick Gollner (Xray), he was able to seal the TQ spot in qualifying which was already kind of a big surprise. In the finals he had to show strong nerves and he also had to survive some tough moments but in the end he took the overall win in this highly competitive class at his first race. Amazing job Rene Kölbel.
Wow, I didn`t expect to win this race when we came here. My goal was to put the car into the main. But thanks to my friend Patrick (Gollner), my car was so good and I could quickly get up to speed. It was super to race with all the 40+ Masters guys and I am already looking forward to the next race.
Renè Kölbel (AT) Xray | LRP
4.) Axon working on a complete Touring Car
The Axon team was in attendance with their lead driver Akio Sobue, and company owner and race mechanic Hidetoshi Mitsusada. Akio was on a good top 5 pace for most of the weekend, and he finished sixth overall after some eventful triple A-Mains. But what is the story now? We noticed that Axon is working on their first complete touring car which they will try to release to the market until the end of the year. In the last years, the Axon car was a conversion kit which customers could use to convert a Yokomo BD10 into an Axon car. But now, the team around Mitsusada, Sobue, and Ishioka is creating something new and they were running the first version in Apeldoorn. We were not allowed to take some pictures, but our reporter saw the car on the table and it already looked very close to production. Axon is always making high quality products and we can expect their touring car to be a good one for sure.
5.) New Matrix tire compound was ultra fast, and also very challenging
No doubt, the topic of the weekend had been the Matrix touring car tires. A week before the race it became clear that the Matrix tire could not get produced in the same way anymore. The reason for this was a raw material shortage which came almost out of nowhere. A quick solution was needed, and Cristian Boni from Matrix made a different tire for the ETS race in Apeldoorn. Without his hard work, we would have had a very big problem: A lack of racing tires. So with the start of ETS Season #16, the drivers had a new compound on the table and everybody was excited to find out about it`s performance. And the tires performed. They had been so fast, that the modified drivers did one lap more (!) than last year with the “old” Matrix tires. The track recore went down from 14.0 to 13.6 which was just insane!
However, the tires also created some challenges as they were more critical to drive in cooler temperatures, and especially in the first few laps when they had been new. The drivers of the slower Stock classes also had the feeling that it was not easy to get the tires to work perfectly. As the stock cars did not generate the same amount of load to the tires (compared to modified), they had a lot of setup work to do to get their cars (and tires) into the perfect window. As we had cooler weather conditions on Thursday and Friday it was not easy, but improved quickly on Saturday and Sunday when the sun was out.
But as most of the ETS racers are really good at setting up their race cars, we could also see that the “handling problems” of day 1 disappeared during the event as everybody invested a lot of work to adapt their car and driving style to the demands of the tires. Drivers started to use the tire warmers for a longer time, they used more additive, or cleaned the tires more often. Like in real motorsports, the teams tried everything and in the end the overall results had been the same as we would have expected them to be with the “old” Matrix racing tires. In the next days, we will quickly inform all racers if the tires will stay the same for our next race in Aigen to make sure that everybody can go for practice with the actual tires for this next ETS race.
The first race of ETS Season #16 2023/24 is over. It was a fantastic event with 220 entries and we saw some great racing all days long with solid weather conditions on Thursday and Friday, followed by two days of sunshine on Saturday and Sunday. We like to thank all our sponsors for their support, and all the racers for coming to the event in the Netherlands. The next race will be in Aigen-Schlägl (Austria) from 20 – 23 of July, the registration is already open.
Matrix Modified
Orlowski wins thrilling ETS season opener in the Netherlands
A3- What a race it was!!! The triple A-Mains of the Matrix Modified class had been exciting, eventful, and super fast. Awesomatix factory driver Marc Rheinard had a good start and was leading the race until his car stopped out of nowhere in lap 10 with a drive belt issue. Terrible luck for Rheinard who was out of contention while driving on the top spot before. Michal Orlowski took full advantage and took the win in A3 ahead of the Mugen duo Eric Dankel and Ronald Völker, followed by Akio Sobue, and Lucas Urbain. The result from A3 brought Michal Orlowski on top of the podium with Lucas Urbain in second, and Eric Dankel in third place. Congratulations guys!
It is just incredible to win here in Apeldoorn. After the race win at the season finale on carpet in Daun we had not been 100% sure if we can be as competitive on asphalt too. The last time here in Apeldoorn I was only in the B-Main, so today is a very special day for me and the team. I like to thank my team around Andy and Mattia for all their help, as well as all my sponsors for their trust in me.
Michal Orlowski (PL) Schumacher | Hobbywing
It is kind of a bitter-sweet second place for me. I came here to win and missed the TQ by only a very small margin. My whole weekend was very consistant and I also drove two very good first finals. In the end, the third A-Main was not a good one for me and that`s why I have to be happy with P2. My car was on point and I like to thank all my sponsors for their ongoing support!
Lucas Urbain (FR) Awesomatix | Orca
I had an amazing weekend here in Apeldoorn and my package worked flawless right from the start. I also had a little luck during the races but my pace was also very good and I am more that happy to step onto the podium in the modified class for the first time. Thanks to all my sponsors for their support and also to the whole Mugen team for the great time in the pits.
Eric Dankel (DE) Mugen Seiki | Hobbywing
Winner B-Main: Frederik Hovgaard (DK) Winner C-Main: Kemp Anderson (US) Winner D-Main: Junichi Kutsuna (JP) Winner E-Main: Peter Ende (NL)
Ellerbrock and Mächler to join race winner Bultynck on an all Awesomatix podium
A3- Lukas Ellerbrock (Awesomatix) took full advantage of his first spot on the grid while overall race winner Olivier Bultynck was watching A3 from the tribune. Ellerbrock took the win from tone to tone with Max Mächler and Jan Ratheisky (Xray) finishing second and third. Mattia Collina (Schumacher) had a great race from eight on the grid to P4 ahead of Dominic Vogl (Yokomo) in fifth position.
Winner B-Main: Jesper Rasmussen (DK) Winner C-Main: Olav Dahle (NO) Winner D-Main: Manuel Stankowitz (DE) Winner E-Main: Dennis Krings (DE) Winner F-Main: Petri Tuomainen (FI) Winner G-Main: Christoph Nungässer (DE)
Izsay secures overall victory after showing strong nerves in A3
A3- It was a thrilling last A-Main in the Hobbywing Frontwheel class. Adam Izsay started from pole with Weffers and van Gog in tow. After van Gog found his way around Weffers, he was chasing the Xray car of Izsay in front of him. In the last minute of the race, van Gog was so close that Izsay decided to give him a little room at his passing attempt to not lose P2. Izsay knew that a second place in front of Weffers would have been enough to take the overall win and he drove a very clever race acting like this. In the overall race result, Adam Izsay took the win with Max Weffers and Roman Borschel in second and third. Robin van Gog had to take a bittersweet fourth place which was not really showing his true pace in the end. Congratulations to all FWD drivers for their great driving and their results.
Kölbel wins big after thrilling last lap in Apeldoorn
A3- Winning an ETS race at the first outing in a racing class is not an easy job – but Renè Kölbel got the job done in the 1up Racing 40+ Masters class. He was leading the race for the entire five minutes, but Toni Mateo didn`t slow down and pushed hard to the end as well. When they entered the fast chicane after the straight in the last lap, Mateo was riding an attempt on Kölbel which unluckily endet in a crash. Elibert Sievers and Eric Anderson went by in the last corner to take first and second ahead of Kölbel while Mateo dropped back to P5. In the end, the results from A1 and A2 had been enough for Kölbel to win the race here in Apeldoorn, with Eric Anderson and Toni Mateo joining him on the podium.
Winner B-Main: Michel Zierold (DE) Winner C-Main: Marc de Witt (BE) Winner D-Main: Siegfried Costa (AT)
Siebert wins A3 ahead of Baumbach to secure second overall
A3- After not being able to race in A2 due to a self-made shortcut in the ESC, Timo Siebert (Mugen Seiki) was starting on pols as race winner Bergheim was watching from the sideline. Siebert had a good start and checked out a little bit from the rest of the field. At the 4-minute mark, Timo had a little slide and lost some time but it was enough to win his first A-Main heat at the ETS. He will step onto the podium in second place beside race winner Bergheim and third placed Tobias Baumbach (Xray)
Stiebler wins crazy ETS season opener in Apeldoorn
A3- Schumacher`s Andreas Stiebler is the winner of the ToniSport Formula class at ETS RD1 in the Netherlands. Even if A3 was not going to his favour with a P5 over the line, he will step on top of the podium with his first and second places from the first two finals. Jan Ratheisky (Xray) took the win in the last A-Main which secured him second overall ahead of Herbert Weber (Xray) in third place. David Ehrbar missed the podium after some great battles on track with the others. He showed great racing, as well as everybody else in the Formula A-Main – congratulations guys.
Rheinard, Orlowski, and Urbain all going into A3 with a shot to win
A1 – On the sound of the tone,TQ Marc Rheinard (Awesomatix) brought the field around the first corner with Michal Orlowski (Schumacher) and Lucas Urbain (Awesomatix), and Eric Dankel (Mugen Seiki) in tow. Akio Sobue (Axon) found a way by Völker (Mugen) and was running in fifth for a moment before he lost the position to Völker again. Out front, Marc Rheinard was controlling the pace (hot lap 13.758). In lap 3, Michal Orlowski had to retire from the race, which brought Lucas Urbain and Eric Dankel to P2 and P3. Lucas was on a mission (hot lap 13,741) and started to close the gap to Rheinard with a tenth of a second here and there. But as Rheinard` s lead was very comfortable after the first 2 minutes, Urbain had no serious shot to attack Rheinard in the last minute of the race. Eric Dankel (hot lap 13,864) was defending his third position successfully against his teammate Ronald Völker and took a strong third place from A1. Behind the Mugen cars of Dankel and Völker, Christopher Krapp and Yannic Prümper took fifth and sixth place for Yokomo.
A2 – The second A-Main was a tough one for TQ Marc Rheinard. His Awesomatix car was sliding in the fourth corner directly after the timing loop causing a spin after which he got hit by one of the other passing cars. This incident completely ruined Rheinard`s race and Schumacher`s Michal Orlowski took over the lead in A2. He never looked back and took the win in front of the Awesomatix of Lucas Urbain and the Mugen Seiki of Eric Dankel. With the result from A2, we have four drivers who can take the overall win in A3. Marc Rheinard (1st and 9th), Michal Orlowski (10th and 1st), Lucas Urbain (2nd and 2nd), and Eric Dankel (3rd and 3rd) are all in the mix for the victory and we expect an epic third Matrix Modified A-Main here in the Netherlands.
A1 – In the first A-Main of the Awesomatix Pro Stock class, Jan Ratheisky was able to overtake Max Mächler right after the start taking third place, only to lose the position to Mächler again later in the race. Out front it was Olivier Bentinck who was simply untouchable. He drove outstanding and his teammate Lukas Ellerbrock had to take a solid second place in A1 behind Bultynck in an all Awesomatix 1-2-3. In the middle of the pack, we saw intense fights and multiple position changes making it a very interesting A-Main to watch for the spectators. Xray`s Jacques Libar finished fourth in A1, with his teammate Adam Izsay in fifth place. Mugen Seiki`s Sören Sparbier drove all the way from P10 to P6.
A2 – Olivier Bultynck stamped authority onto the Awesomatix Pro Stock class one more time in the second A-Main. He drove another brilliant race and won with a huge gap of 4 (!) seconds ahead of Lukas Ellerbrock and Max Mächler. What a performance from Bultynck at the start of the new ETS season. Congratulations for a great race win! Jan Ratheisky was defending his fourth position like a lion against a hard pushing Tim Benson until Benson was hitting him from behind after the chicane ending the race for Ratheisky. After they collided, Dominic Vogl and Adam Izsay earned fourth and fifth place from them and brought them to the finish line.
A1 – Right after the start, third place starter Robin van Gog was putting a great pass on the car of Max Weffers and took second place. In lap two, van Gog had the better exit onto the straightway, and tried to pass Izsay on the inside line. Izsay`s car touched van Gog as they drove side by side on the straight. Both cars struggled and took third placed Weffers into the grass as well. Izsay was coming out of this situation in the best possible way and was still leading with Roman Borschel taking over second place. Kevin Sparbier had a solid drive to P3 while Weffers and van Gog were not able to recover from the incident in lap 2 anymore. Weffers took P4 and van Gog stopped his car after only 6 laps.
A2 – The second FWD A-Main was a great show of driving in the beginning. Izsay, Weffers, and van Gog drove some super close laps together until van Gog and Izsay collided after two minutes. Weffers took advantage of that and took over the race lead. He never looked back and won A2 with a huge gap in front of Roman Borschel, and Kevin Sparbier. Before the last A-Main, Adam Izsay and Max Weffers are tied on points with botrh scoring a first and a fourth place. The last A-Main will be a real showdown for the win between the Xray of Izsay and the Mugen Seiki car of Max Weffers.
Race win on the line in A3 after Anderson and Kölbel taking A1 and A2
A1 – Pole sitter Renè Kölbel had a perfect start into A1 and was benefitting from the 4 car fight behind him. After 2 minutes, Toni Mateo appeared in the rear view mirror of Kölbel and was hunting him down. In the last minute, Mateo and Thalheimer had closed the gap and drove right behind Kölbel. As Kölbel went a little wide before the straight, Mateo tried to get by and hit Kölbel from behind. Thalheimer wanted to take advantage of that but got caught by the carnage as well and it was US racer Eric Anderson who found himself on top in the last lap. He took the present he was handed over on a silver plate and won A1 ahead of Kölbel, Mateo, and Thalheimer.
A2 – Renè Kölbel took the win in A2 from tone to tone. In the beginning, Elibert Sievers, Toni Mateo, and Mirco Thalheimer were fighting for the positions behind Kölbel, before Sievers lost pace and dropped all the way down to tenth place. Toni Mateo then started to hunt Kölbel down and was coming closer and closer. In the last 5 laps of the race, it looked like Mateo could maybe try to ride a serious attack but Renè Kölbel was driving “cool like an icecube” and brought home the win in A2 after the first final didn`t went to his favour. The win in the 1up Racing 40+ Masters class will be on the line in A3 with many drivers having a theoretical chance to win the season opener here in Apeldoorn.
A1 – After a clean start, Bergheim was leading with Siebert right in tow. After Siebert made a small mistake in the chicane at the end of the straight in lap 2, Baumbach was able to get by and take second. Out front, Bergheim was stretching his legs and pulled a gap to Baumbach and Siebert. In the fight for second spot, Timo Siebert was trying to close the gap to Baumbach again. Laura Pollert was running on a solid fourth place. At the 2-minute mark, Siebert was right on Baumbach`s tail but touched him and had to wait for the Marshall turning Baumbach`s car around again. But with their gap to Laura Pollert being big enough, they could finish second and third behind a dominant A1 winner Tristan Bergheim.
A2 – Timo Siebert had a technical issue and was not able to start in A2. Tristan Bergheim (Awesomatix) had a good start and was in control of the race all the time. Tobias Baumbach (Xray) was running in second place and Laura Pollert (Mugen Seiki) in third. Behind the top 3, a nice battle for the positions was going on and the drivers enjoyed themselves in the sunshine of Apeldoorn. After five minutes, Tristan Bergheim crossed the line in first place and took his first ever ETS race win after a dominant performance all weekend long. Congratulations to Tristan for a great drive!
Ehrbar wins A1 while Stiebler takes chaotic A2! Overall win on the line in A3
A1 – After the start, David Ehrbar (Xray) passed Jan Ratheisky (Xray) in lap one in the right section of the track. Jan Ratheisky spun around and dropped down to P4. David Ehrbar was leading the race with Andreas Stiebler (Schumacher) in second. Ratheisky quickly found his way back to third position and closed the gap to the leaders lap after lap. But as Ratheisky was running out of time in the end, Ehrbar was able to win the race after a brilliant drive in front of Andreas Stiebler and Jan Ratheisky. Herbert Weber and Renè Kölbel completed the top 5 in A1 of the ToniSport Formula class.
A2 – The second A-Main was a controversial one. Ehrbar was making an aggressive (but clean) move on Ratheisky in the first lap. Ratheisky was holding fully against it and both cars flew off the track right before the front straight. This handed the lead over to Andreas Stiebler who took the win in A2 ahead of Herbert Weber who made a fantastic pass against Michael Lipperheide. Renè Kölbel was also able to overtake Lipperheide and took third place away from A2. The win here in Apeldoorn will be on the line between Ehrbar, Stiebler, and Weber in A3 and we will see what will go on as TQ Ratheisky will still start ahead of all of them without any chance to win the race.
