Andreas Stiebler is running his successful Schumacher Icon2 Worlds Formula car here at ETS RD5 in Daun. His car is equipped with a TRG rear wing, a Mon-Tech front wing, magnetic bodyshell mounts in the front, and a titanium screw set from Riptech-RC.
The first round of Matrix Modified qualifying saw top seed Michal Orlowski taking the win. But what looked like “business as usual” for the Schumacher factory driver was not an easy mission. The track provided such a high amount of traction and many drivers struggled with traction rolling or being up on two wheels for a several times during the run.
In the first minutes of the race, Yokomo`s Christopher Krapp was on top of the board in a close fight with Adam Izsay, Michal Orlowski, and Marc Rheinard. In lap 10, Ronald Völker had to retire his car, followed by Patrick Gollner in lap 14 and race leader Krapp in lap 18 – all after crashing it too hard!
Michal Orlowski took over the lead and brought home a 2.5 second advantage over Izsay and Rheinard. Pekko Iivonen posted the fourth fastest run coming out of the second fastest group and Simon Lauter (Awesomatix) scored good points with a P5 for the round.
It was not easy out there as the traction was very high. I was up on two wheels in the warmup lap and it was clear that “not crashing” would be the key to success. I was on two wheels two more times during the run when riding curbs but luckily, I had no traction rolls till the end. It was a good start into qualifying, but it is still a long way to go!
Izsay takes Q1 on a silver plate after heat winner Benson got his result deleted
Adam Izsay took the win in the first round of Awesomatix Pro Stock Qualifying. BUT, he got handed the win over after the race as it was top seed Tim Benson who originally crossed the finish line in first spot. There was an issue with Tim`s car in the technical inspection after the race which caused a disqualification for Tim. Bad luck for Benson, and a lucky punch for Adam Izsay.
The championship contenders Olivier Bultynck (Awesomatix) and Lukas Ellerbrock (Awesomatix) took second and third for the round and Sören Sparbier (Mugen Seiki) and Jan Ratheisky rounded out the top 5.
1-2-3 for Hungary as Izsay wins Q1 ahead of the Valent brothers
Adam Izsay (Xray) seems to be unstoppable. He took the win in the first of four qualifiers here at ETS Rd5 in Germany. However, the very fast Valent brothers finished right behind him making it a 1-2-3 result for Hungary. Gergö (Xray) took second place, his brother Mark (Schumacher) third. Roman Borschel and Henrik Heitsch completed the top 5. Behind the top 5 we saw so many good drivers battling for positions and making it into the A-Main at this race with 110 FWD entries will be a big deal for everybody.
Impressive pace from Ehrbar earns him TQ in round 1
David Ehrbar took full advantage of having a clean track in front of him. He took an impressive win by 3 seconds over all his competitors. His Xray car looked superb on track and Ehrbar knows how to put in clean runs. Ulrich Dinger (Awesomatix) and Andreas Myrberg (Iris) had a great fight for second and third place and took good points from Q1 as well. René Kölbel and Michel Zierold completed the top 5 in the opening round of 1up Racing 40+ Masters qualifying.
Bergheim takes opening qualifier from Wiese and Gehrig
Tristan Bergheim posted a TQ run in the opening round of qualifying. Phil Langner was a little quicker in the first laps until he suffered from a body tuck in lap 6 after hitting the barrier coming onto the straightway. That cost him 6 seconds and threw him all the way back to P4 which he saved until the end. Timo Siebert had a good run until he also lost a lot of time behind a backmarker – in the end he could not finish his run. Out front, Tristan Bergheim did what he had to do. He won the round ahead of Jonas Wiese and Jan Gehrig.
Schumacher`s Stiebler wins first Formula qualifier ahead of Ratheisky and Ehrbar
The top three drivers posted identical hot laps in Q1 of the ToniSport Formula class, but it was Andreas Stiebler who showed the best consistency. He took the win by a relatively big gap of 2 seconds from Jan Ratheisky. Third placed David Ehrbar was another 4 seconds behind. Andy Murray and Robert Kampehl completed the top 5 for the round.
Dominic Greiner is racing at the ETS for the first time since announcing his retirement from nitro racing. The former IFMAR world champion is kind of a one-man team here in Daun with Serpent`s actual X20`24 touring car. He is running the car almost out of the box with the only real option is a tungsten plate under his Nosram LiPo battery. It is great to have Dominic here at the ETS!
The end of seeding practice is always defining the heats for the four rounds of qualifying at the ETS. Here in Daun, two consecutive hot laps are responsible for every driver`s ranking. Having a good three lap pace is giving drivers a lot of confidence before Q1 and therefore everybody was trying to extract the maximum out of their packages on the very demanding racetrack in Daun!
Matrix Modified
Orlowski leads by one thousand of a second from Izsay and Rheinard
The Matrix Modified class was close as always. As only two consecutive hot laps are counting due to the shortened three-minute seeding rounds, the field was even close together. Orlowski`s fastest time was 0.001 (!) faster than the laps of Adam Izsay. Mard Rheinard and Ronald Völker followed in third and fourth spot with Simon Lauter taking fifth position. The top 10 had been separated by 0.265 of a second only but we are sure that this scenario will change a bit in qualifying as the track is very demanding and it will be mandatory to put in absolute clean runs.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (2 consecutive laps)
1. Michal Orlowski (PL) 23.710 Schumacher|Hobbywing 2. Adam Izsay (HU) Xray 23.711 Xray|Hobbywing 3. Marc Rheinard (DE) 23.764 Awesomatix|ORCA 4. Ronald Völker (DE) 23.800 Mugen Seiki|LRP 5. Simon Lauter (DE) 23.820 Awesomatix | Hobbywing
Benson ahead of Lund and Izsay in very close Pro Stock class
In the Awesomatix ProStock class it was Tim Benson who was the fastest in seeding practice. Benson skipped half of yesterday`s practice runs on purpose and was right on pace in the two rounds of controlled practice on Friday morning. Last weekend`s GP3F winner is looking confident on track and will be in the mix for the podium here in Daun for sure. Casper Lund from Denmark was second fastest, followed by Adam Izsay, Lukas Ellerbrock, and Patrick Danielsen.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (2 consecutive laps)
1. Tim Benson (DE) Awesomatix 25.570 2. Casper Lund (DK) Awesomatix 25.723 3. Adam Izsay (HU) Xray 25.820 4. Lukas Ellerbrock (DE) Awesomatix 25.825 5. Patrick Danielsen (DK) Xray 25.837
Izsay is top seed, three Hungarian racers ranked in the top 5
Xray`s Adam Izsay continued where he stopped yesterday – on top of the field. He was joined by his fellow countrymen Mark and Gergö Valent who both made it into the top 5 after seeding. German ARC driver Henrik Heitsch is sitting in third place, and Benjamin Elbisser (Xray) from France will start from P5 into qualifying.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (2 consecutive laps)
1. Adam Izsay (HU) Xray 29.934 2. Mark Valent (HU) Schumacher 30.012 3. Henrik Heitsch (DE) ARC 30.099 4. Gergö Valent (HU) Xray 30.176 5. Benjamin Elbisser (FR) Xray 30.275
David Ehrbar is running strong at his first ETS 40+ Masters outing. He was laying down the fastest two consecutive laps onto the black carpet, but the rest of the field was right in the hunt. Championship leader Mirco Thalheimer showed a much-improved pace compared to yesterday and is seeded fifth in the top heat behind Ehrbar, Kölbel, Morgen, and Dinger.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (2 consecutive laps)
In the Orca 21.5 Stock class, Tristan Bergheim found his way back on top of the board. His advantage over Phil Langner was half a tenth of a second before Lutz Jentsch followed in third place with almost the same gap. Jan Gehrig and Timo Siebert took fourth and fifth place like they did yesterday in free practice. Qualifying will start soon and we are already excited who will be able to claim the pole position here in Daun.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (2 consecutive laps)
Jan Ratheisky is our top seed in the ToniSport Formula class. Current points leader Andreas Stiebler came out of seeding practice in second spot, with David Ehrbar, Robert Kampehl, and Michal Wojcik rounding out the top 5.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (2 consecutive laps)
1. Jan Ratheisky (DE) Xray 25.913 2. Andreas Stiebler (AT) Schumacher 25.981 3. David Ehrbar (DE) Xray 26.431 4. Robert Kampehl (DE) Schumacher 26.520 5. Michal Wojcik (PL) 26.568
Day one at the penultimate round of ETS Season #16 is done. Five rounds of free practice allowed racers to learn the track layout in the famous t-shaped sports hall of Daun. The huge turnout gave drivers enough time to think about setup changes between their runs and at the end of the day we saw everybody getting into the grove.
After the event lost 2 hours of time in the morning due to a power cut, the day was stretched almost until midnight giving racer`s a first taste of the following three long days in Daun. All participants left the track late evening with a lot of excitement for the official start of the evet on Friday. Seeding practice will start early in the morning with two three-minute runs for everybody with the fastest two consecutive laps counting.
Matrix Modified
The Matrix Modified class saw the top dogs going for it. The flowing track was leading to fast lap times (compared to previous Daun track layouts). Awesomatix driver Marc Rheinard was fastest at the end of the day followed by the Schumacher of Michal Orlowski and the Mugen Seiki car of Ronald Völker. With the top three separated by only 0.135 of a second, we all know what to expect from the rest of the weekend. Chrostopher Krapp (Yokomo) was fourth fastest, followed by a very strong Adam Izsay (Xray). The Matrix Modified class is on fire here in Daun and Friday will bring the heat…
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Marc Rheinard (DE) 35.480 Awesomatix|ORCA 2. Michal Orlowski (PL) 35.568 Schumacher|Hobbywing 3. Ronald Völker (DE) 35.615 Mugen Seiki|LRP 4. Christopher Krapp (DE) 35.866 Yokomo|Racing Performer 5. Adam Izsay (HU) Xray 35.909 Xray|Hobbywing
Izsay, Ellerbrock, and Bultynck – championship contenders on top!
In the Awesomatix ProStock class we saw the top three of the current championship rankings finishing 1-2-3 in free practice. Izsay (Xray) was fastest, followed by Ellerbrock (Awesomatix) and Bultynck (Awesomatix). GP3F winner Tim Benson (Awesomatix) was only running in the last practice heat of the day and immediately popped up in fourth position, followed by Sören Sparbier (Mugen Seiki).
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
Izsay leading, but the best of the rest is all over him
Adam Izsay has once again proven that he is the man to beat in the Hobbywing FWD class. But right behind him, there is an intense fight for the positions with British racer Ben Moorey and German talent Phil Langner being closest to Izsay in second and third place. Frederik Hovgaard and Andreas Myrberg made it into the top five at the first day of ETS RD5.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Adam Izsay (HU) Xray 45.168 2. Ben Moorey (GB) Schumacher 45.282 3. Phil Langner (DE) Iris 45.447 4. Frederik Hovgaard (DK) Yokomo 45.634 5. Andreas Myrberg (SE) Iris 45.695
Ehrbar leading from Dinger and Myrberg – Thalheimer searching for pace
David Ehrbar is leading the field in the 1up Racing 40+ Masters class after day one at ETS RD5 in Germany. Ehrbar entered the 40+ Masters class for the first time and he is looking very fast out there. Behind Ehrbar, it was Ulrich Dinger and Andreas Myrberg in the hunt for success. Michel Zierold and René Kölbel completed the top 5 while championship leader Mirco Thalheimer is actually looking to find some pace sitting in tenth position.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. David Ehrbar (DE) Xray 41.5617 2. Ulrich Dinger (DE) Awesomatix 41.740 3. Andreas Myrberg (SE) Iris 41.796 4. Michel Zierold (DE) Awesomatix 41.797 5. René Kölbel (DE) Xray 41.981
In the Orca 21.5 Stock class, young Phil Langner is sitting in first position overnight. Lutz Jentsch was second fastest, and Langner`s championship rival Tristan Bergheim took P3 for the day. Jan Gehrig and Timo Siebert looked strong as well. The championship is still wide open and Langer, Bergheim, and Siebert will go for it…!
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Phil Langner (DE) 41.996 2. Lutz Jentsch (DE) 42.325 3. Tristan Bergheim (DE) 42.420 4. Jan Gehrig (DE) 42.737 5. Timo Siebert (DE) 42.955
Defending champion Stiebler shows great form in practice
Our reigning ETS ToniSport Formula champion Andreas Stiebler was the fastest in the strong field of 45 (!) Formula drivers. He outpaced second placed Jan Ratheisky by 0.6 seconds which makes him top favourite for qualifying right now. Robert Kampehl, David Ehrbar, and Alex Bremer rounded out the top 5 during free practice at the Sporthotel Grafenwald.
The Top 5 after Thursday practice (over 3 consecutive laps)
1. Andreas Stiebler (AT) Schumacher 38.850 2. Jan Ratheisky (DE) Xray 39.451 3. Robert Kampehl (DE) Schumacher 39.561 4. David Ehrbar (DE) Xray 39.797 5. Alexander Bremer (DE) Schumacher 40.183
We are looking forward to all the Friday action here at ETS RD5 in Germany. Stay tuned and follow us during the whole weekend. Check our website, and also visit the Youtube channels of the Euro Touring Series and RC Racing TV as well. There you find our live coverage from ETS RD5 Season #16 2023/24 at the Sporthotel Grafenwald in Daun, GER.
Hear some interesting stories from Schmacher factory driver Michal Orlowski who won his first IFMAR world championship title at the end of 2023 in Florida. Scotty Ernst and Michal took the chance to talk here on Thursday at ETS RD5 in Daun.
