ETS Q4 Report RD1 Season #16 2023/24

Matrix Modified

Marc Rheinard (Awesomatix) was on a mission in the last round of Matrix Modified qualifying. With himself, Orlowski (Schumacher), and Urbain (Awesomatix) all having one last shot for the TQ spot, Rheinard took the win in an intense and fast heat. With this result, Rheinard will start in front of Orlowski and Urbain. Orlowski finished third in the last qualifier and Urbain had to take a P5.
Mugen Seiki`s Eric Dankel took second for the round after a fantastic drive and will line up fourth on the grid, right in front of his Mugen teammate Ronald Völker. Axon`s Akio Sobue (6^th), the Yokomo trio Christopher Krapp (7^th), Yannic Prümper (8^th), and Loic Jasmin (9^th) as well as Mugen Seiki`s Remi Callens (10^th) are completing the 10 car A-Main grid at ETS RD1 in the Netherlands.

I like to thank Tim Wahl for his great work on my car. He has played a major role in this team success and I really hope that I can convert the pole position into a race win tomorrow. The car felt great and everything was absoluteley on point!

Marc Rheinard (DE) Awesomatix | Orca

Cars in the A-Main: 3 x Mugen Seiki | 3 x Yokomo | 2 x Awesomatix | 1 x Axon | 1 x Schumacher | 1 x Jambo

Triple A-Mains coming up on Sunday morning – don`t miss the show and follow our ets.racing website when the best Modified drivers on the planet will go for the big win at the AMCA Apeldoorn track.

Awesomatix ProStock

Ellerbrock takes final round of Pro Stock qualifying

The last round of qualifying in the Awesomatix Pro Stock class went to Lukas Ellerbrock. He had a great run with his Awesomatix A800R and will start second on the grid behind TQ Bultynck and in front of Awesomatix team manager Max Mächler who will line up third.  The best “non Awesomatix racer” is Jan Ratheisky who will start from P4, right in front of Tim Benson with his self-made Jambo car.

Hobbywing Frontwheel

Izsay with last moment TQ after van Gog and Weffers rolled it over

In the Hobbywing Frontwheel class, Adam Izsay from Hungary is the top qualifier after four rounds of qualifying. Izsay was running close with van Gog and Weffers for the entire 5 minutes and it was a last minute decision for the TQ. In the last lap, Weffers and van Gog were lapping a car which gave them enough space to go by but for some reason, both cars flipped and Izsay was the lucky guy who walked away with the win and the pole position in the Hobbywing FWD class.

1up Racing 40+ Masters

Kölbel with a brilliant touring car debut

Austrian Xray racer Renè Kölbel was the biggest surprise in the 1up Racing 40+ Masters class. He had some great qualifying runs and will start first into the finals at his first 40+ Masters race – excellent job from the previous Formula ETS race winner. Two-time Apeldoorn race winner Elibert Sievers will start from second with Toni Mateo in third place. Mirco Thalheimer placed his Xray car fourth on the grid and US racer Eric Andcerson will start from P5 with his Awesomatix A800R ride.

Orca 21.5 Stock

Pole position for very strong driving Bergheim

The last round of qualifying went to Tristan Bergheim again. With three TQ runs he will start from a well-deserved pole position into the triple A-Mains on Sunday. Tobias Baumbach and Timo Siebert finished second and third again and will be the hardest contenders for Bergheim. Laura Pollert and Karl-Heinz Moritz will line up on P4 and P5.

ToniSport Formula

Ehrbar secures front row starting spot as he takes ultimate Formula qualifier

The last round of ToniSport Formula qualifying went to David Ehrbar. This result was enough for him to secure P2 on the grid in front of Andreas Stiebler. Everybody is expecting a great race in the triple A-Mains on Sunday.

Now we are heading directly into the finals. Check our amazing livestream options in our “LIVE” section here on the ets.racing page. To get quickly to the results of all classes simply navigate to the “RESULTS” area on our landing page!

ETS Q2 + Q3 Report RD1 Season #16 2023/24

Qualifying is almost over here at ETS RD1 Season #16 2023/24 in the Netherlands. With only one last chance remaining for everybody, the heat is on at the beautiful facility of the AMCA Apeldoorn. Find out what happened in Q2 and Q3 in our combined Saturday report.

Matrix Modified

Rheinard, Urbain, and Orlowski to chase TQ spot in Q4

Q2 – Awesomatix factory driver Lucas Urbain took the second round of Matrix Modified qualifying. He had a very close and intense fight with Schumacher`s Michal Orlowski as they raced very close to each other on the track. They had some tough moments, but always managed to loose no time to their competitors Völker, Rheinard, Krapp, and Sobue. In the end, Lucas took the win 0.5 seconds ahead of Orlowski, Rheinard, and Völker. Yokomo`s Christopher Krapp took fifth for the round.

That was a bit of a lucky TQ run as Michal made a small mistake. He gave me plenty of room afterwards which was really nice from him. My car was good and I am happy with the pace of my A800R. Now I need to think about my tire strategy for Q3 and Q4 as I really like to take the overall TQ here in Apeldoorn.

Lucas Urbain (FRA) Awesomatix | Orca

Q3 – As everybody was watching the fight at the front between Orlowski and Urbain, it was Marc Rheinard taking the win in the third round of Matrix Modified qualifying starting from the fourth position. Rheinard was chasing the Mugen Seiki car of Ronald Völker (starting third) in front of him and worked his way up to P1 until the end of the race. He took the win with the advantage of 4 tenths from Urbain, with Axon`s Akio Sobue and Mugen`s Eric Dankel taking third and fourth for the round.
Orlowski lost some time in lap 15 letting him drop down to P6 and Ronald Völker was unfortunately out of the race after 3:30 minutes. With three TQ drivers out of three qualifiers, we will see a real showdown going on here in Apeldoorn when the drivers will start into the ultimate round in the afternoon. Will it be Rheinard, Urbain, or Orlowski on pole?

My pace was already there in Q1, but due to the technical problems I could not transform the pace into a good result. In Q2 I went out with used tires to see if everything would be fine again and scored a solid P3. For Q3 everybody was on new tires again and after some difficult laps in the beginning I found my rhythm and was able to TQ the round with the faster time compared to Lucas TQ run from yesterday. I am happy with the car as the balance is amazing after the changes we made before Q1. I just hope to repeat my run in Q4 because pole position would help a lot to win the race here in Apeldoorn.

Marc Rheinard (DE) Awesomatix | Orca

Awesomatix ProStock

Bultynck is TQ after dominant qualifying performance in Apeldoorn

Q2 – After winning the opening round of Pro Stock qualifying on Friday evening, Olivier Bultynck took another win in the second one driving his Awesomatix A800R in front of Lukas Ellerbrock (Xray) and Max Mächler (Awesomatix). With two out of two, Bultynck had the best chances to seal the pole position for the finals in Q3. Sören Sparbier (Mugen Seiki) and Mattia Collina (Schumacher) completed the top 5 in Q2.

After my car was difficult to drive in Q1 and 2, we made some changes for Q3 and the car was a lot better. I am happy about my TQ and in the final I will just try to win the race – as simple as it sounds 🙂 But I know that the guys behind me will push hard so I need to stay focussed.

Olivier Bultynck (BE) Awesomatix | LRP

Q3 – With another perfect run, Awesomatix driver Olivier Bultynck secured the pole position for the triple A-Mains of the Pro Stock class. Jan Ratheisky (Xray) posted the second fastest time out of the second fastest group and is now sitting second overall followed by Tim Benson (Jambo) and Max Mächler (Awesomatix). Behind top qualifier Bultynck, the fight for all other positions on the grid will come down to the final round of qualifying here in Apeldoorn.

Hobbywing Frontwheel

TQ decision between Weffers, van Gog, and Izsay shifted to Q4

Q2 – The second qualifier was a close fight between Robin van Gog, Max Weffers, and Adam Izsay. They changed positions many times and in the end the heat win went to the Xray of Izsay with a small margin of 0.2 seconds from Awesomatix racer Robin van Gog and the Mugen of overnight TQ Max Weffers in third place. Kevin Sparbier (Mugen Seiki) and Henrik Heitsch (ARC) rounded out the top 5 in Q2.

Q3 – Robin van Gog was the third FWD driver laying down a TQ run onto the AMCA track in Apeldoorn. The fight in Q3 was between Izsay, van Gog, and Weffers and we will see these drivers battling it out for the overall TQ in the last round of Hobbywing FWD qualifying. The finishing order in Q3 was van Gog, Weffers, Izsay, Heitsch, and Borschel. Let`s see who will have claimed the TQ spot when qualifying is over.

1up Racing 40+ Masters

Anderson wins Q2 while Kölbel sets his mark in Q3

Q2 – In the 1up Racing 40+ Masters class it was US racer Eric Anderson (Awesomatix) who took the second qualifier. With the top 4 in about one second, Renè Kölbel (Xray) finished second for the round followed by Mirco Thalheimer, Elibert Sievers, and Q1 winner Toni Mateo.

After my team told me I was driving like a p…. yesterday, I was going a little more aggressive into Q2. I am getting used to the track more and more and hope to get another good run done in the next one!

Eric Anderson (US) Awesomatix

Q3 – After we saw Toni Mateo and Eric Anderson taking the first two rounds of qualifying, Renè Kölbel from Austria took the third round with his Xray car. He had a fantastic run on top of the field and was really happy after the 5-minute run. It is the first touring car race for Formula 1 expert Kölbel and he seems to really enjoy it. The overall TQ is wide open, and the decision will be between Kölbel, Mateo, and Anderson in the last round of Orca 21.5 Stock qualifying.

Orca 21.5 Stock

Siebert and Bergheim taking Q2 and Q3 – overall TQ still undecided

Q2 – Timo Siebert (Mugen Seiki) took the second round of Orca 21.5 Stock qualifying on early Saturday morning. He had a perfect run and crossed the line 3 tenths of a second ahead of Q1 winner Tristan Bergheim (Awesomatix). Behind Siebert and Bergheim, we saw Tobias Baumbach (Xray) taking another solid P3 ahead of Karl-Heinz Moritz and Jan Vogler.

Q3 – After loosing Q2 to Timo Siebert, Awesomatix driver Tristan Bergheim was back on top in the third round of Orca 21.5 Stock qualifying. However, it was a close race all time and Bergheim`s gap was at only 0.4 seconds after 5 minutes. Timo Siebert and Tobias Baumbach had a great battle for second and swapped positions multiple times with the better end for Siebert. Laura Pollert and Jan Vogler scored good points with P4 and P5 securing them a spot in the A-Main already.

ToniSport Formula

Ratheisky is top qualifier in Apeldoorn

Q2 – Xray`s Jan Ratheisky scored another TQ in the second qualifier of the ToniSport Formula class. He also had the fastest lap to his favour and there is no doubt about the fact that a win will only go over Jan Ratheisky. This time, it was Andreas Stiebler with his Schumacher car who finished second behind Ratheisky with David Ehrbar taking third for the round.

Q3 – This time, Ehrbar was charging really hard to deny Ratheisky the TQ, but in the end it was again Jan Ratheisky who crossed the finish line in first position with a very small gap of 0.098 of a second. With 3 out of 3, the pole position in the ToniSport Formula class is booked for Ratheisky who will see David Ehrbar or Andreas Stiebler lining up directly behind him in second place. The rest of the grid will be decided in the upcoming last round of Formula qualifying.

On our website you will not miss anything as you can find our livestream on the landing page. To get quickly to the results of all classes simply navigate to the “RESULTS” area on our landing page. Q4 will be up next!

ETS Q1 Report RD1 Season #16 2023/24

The opening round of qualifying at the ETS in Apeldoorn is in the books after two days of practice and tons of setup work for all racers and teams. Tomorrow, we will see three more qualifiers on the AMCA track to find out who will start on the grid of the A-Mains in all of our ETS racing classes. The weather forecast looks good for Saturday with the expectation of slightly increased temperatures.

Matrix Modified

Schumacher`s Orlowski takes super intense first modified qualifying

The first of four rounds of modified qualifying was as close as it could be. From the start to the end of the race, the top 5 or 6 drivers stayed together in a couple of tenths on the scoring and timing. Lucas Urbain (Awesomatix) was leading for the first 3 minutes of the race, before the lead changed and Marc Rheinard (Awesomatix) was on top of the field. As the top 5 changed positions in almost every lap, it was a thriller to watch on the timing board. Ronald Völker (Mugen Seiki), Michal Orlowski (Schumacher), and Akio Sobue (Axon) gave everything they had to catch Rheinard and Urbain and everybody was on the absolute limit.

As we entered the last 30 seconds of the race, we saw the lap times of Rheinard, Sobue, and Urbain dropping down a little bit (compared to Orlowski and Völker), and in the last lap, race leader Marc Rheinard had no more power as he came onto the straightway and dropped all the way back to the end of the field. Urbain took second for the round on the last drop of power and Sobue finished fourth behind the LRP powered Mugen of Völker in third place.
Meanwhile, Michal Orlowski took the win after an impressive drive and is the the overnight TQ  here at the ETS season opener in Apeldoorn!

I had a very good qualifying run after having some weird practice sessions yesterday. I had to stand on the right side of the driver stand which I am not used to here in Apeldoorn. But my car felt good, and I knew that I could do something with it. After the results from the seeding practice, I could change my position on the driver stand again for Q1 which made me even more confident. The setup we found together with Mattia (Collina) and the team seems to be almost perfect for the tires and conditions here and I hope that I can repeat this result tomorrow.  

Michal Orlowski (PL) Schumacher | Hobbywing

Awesomatix ProStock

Bultynck takes Q1 from Benson and Ratheisky

Top seed Olivier Bultynck took the win in the opening round of Pro Stock qualifying. Tim Benson, Lukas Ellerbrock, and Max Mächler pushed their cars hard around the track to create pressure on the race leader but it was not enough for them to finish the run ahead of the Awesomatix A800R of Bultynck who also posted the fastest lap of the race.
Jan Ratheisky and Dominic Vogl posted the third and fourth fastest times for the round out of the second fastest group. The top-5 ranking list after the first round is: Bultynck, Benson, Ratheisky, Vogl, and Ellerbrock. Three more qualifiers are awaiting the drivers tomorrow and it will get even hotter on track in the Awesomatix Pro Stock class.

Hobbywing Frontwheel

Weffers TQ`s opening round of FWD qualifying

In the Hobbywing Frontwheel class, we saw Max Weffers (Mugen Seiki) posting his first ever TQ run at the ETS. He was on fire and was battling it out with Robin van Gog (Awesomatix) and Adam Izsay (Xray) during the entire run and crossed the line half a second ahead of van Gog and Izsay. Congratulations for a great run Max. Roman Borschel and Kevin Sparbier rounded out the top five while top seed Henrik Heitsch lost some pace, finishing only in sixth place.

I had a very clean run, just had to lift one more time in the trafic when I passed a lapped car. In the last laps I became very nervous when I noticed that Robin was on top again but in the end the race went to my favour and I am super happy today. My Mugen is working great, I just need a tiny little bit of extra steering. I wil think about a small setup change this evening together with my team!

Max Weffers (DE) Mugen Seiki | Orion

1up Racing 40+ Masters

Mateo on point on Friday afternoon as he takes Q1 from Stankowitz

In the 1up Racing 40+ Masters class, Toni Mateo (Awesomatix) did what he loves the most – scoring important TQ runs! Starting only from P4, he quickly moved up to the top of the board and had a very close fight with Elibert Sievers (Awesomatix), and top seed Manuel Stankowitz (Iris). With the top 3 only separated by 0.5 seconds at the end, Mirco Thalheimer (Xray) and Renè Kölbel followed in P4 and P5 ahead of US racer Eric Anderson who started with a solid sixth place into qualifying. With a TQ run in the bag, Toni Mateo will have a good night of sleep with some sweet dreams about the pole position in the 1up Racing 40+ Masters class.

Orca 21.5 Stock

First round of qualifying goes to Bergheim while Siebert and Baumbach took second and third

In the first round of Orca 21.5 Stock qualifying saw top seed Tristan Bergheim (Awesomatix) taking the win after 5 minutes. With a gap of only 1.1 seconds in front of Timo Siebert (Mugen Seiki), the race was closer as we expected after the practice results. Siebert was pushing really hard behind Bergheim and took second place for the round. A great start into qualifying for the Mugen racer. Tobias Baumbach (Xray) finished third in Q1 and will try to improve this result in the next one for sure. Baumbach comes along with a lot of racing experience, and we can expect something to come from him in the next three rounds of qualifying. Laura Pollert and Jan Vogler completed the top 5 on Friday afternoon!

ToniSport Formula

Ratheisky wins close opening qualifier

The first round of ToniSport Formula qualifying was a close race between top seed David Ehrbar and Jan Ratheisky. Both Xray drivers had the best pace on track and pulled a gap of 4 seconds to Schumacher`s Andreas Stiebler who finished third for the round. Michael Lipperheide and Herbert Weber completed the top 5. After we have seen the great pace of Ratheisky and Ehrbar, we are excited for tomorrows Formula qualifying where Andreas Stiebler and the other drivers need to find some serious pace to fight with the leaders.