Racing is done in Austria. All races are in the books, and we now know our winners in all of our six amazing ETS racing classes. It was a phantastic event at the venue of the MAV Aigen-Schlägl and we hope that everybody liked the racing here in Austria during the last 4 days. Scotty Ernst brought back “that special feeling” with his unique style of announcing races, and the local club did an AMAZING job here all weekend long with preparing the track, food, drinks, and everything else. Let`s find out what happened in the last round of finals on track!
Matrix Modified
Sobue and Völker joining race winner Krapp on the podium in Austria
After Yokomo`s Christopher Krapp had won the opening two A-Mains here in Aigen-Schlägl, the third final was on the line to decide about the remaining spots on the podium. Right off the line it was a three-horse race between Akio Sobue (Axon), Ronald Völker (Mugen Seiki) who all had a chance for second and third overall. Ronald was right on Akio`s tail for most time of the run, with Rheinard sitting third and waiting for something to happen in the front. Völker tried everything to push Sobue into a driving error, but the Japanese Axon racer stayed calm and brought home second place in front of the Mugen Seiki car of Völker and the Awesomatix A800MMX of Marc Rheinard. In the overall results, we see Akio Sobue and Ronald Völker joining Christopher Krapp on the podium in Austria.
Winner B-Main: Patrick Gollner (AT) Xray Winner C-Main: Oli Meggitt (GB) Mugen Seiki
A3 goes to Mächler to finish second on the podium with Mikkelsen taking third overall
Max Mächler took the last A-Main in the Awesomatix Pro Stock class with his teammates Frederik Mikkelsen and Olivier Bultynck finishing second and third. With a small gap to the top three, Alex Kunkler (Awesomatix), Toni Rheinard (Awesomatix) and Lars Hoppe (ARC) completed the top 6 in A3. With his win in the last main, Max Mächler finished second overall ahead of Danish driver Frederik Mikkelsen.
Vag Gog and Olsen battling it out in A3 to finish second and third overall
Robin van Gog took the last round of the A-Mains in the Hobbywing Frontwheel class. He was starting from first position as race winner Schulz was not on the line in the third main. Van Gog had a perfect run and was able to hold off a hard fighting Steven Olsen. Kevin Sparbier and Toni Rheinard finished third and fourth in the last run while Ulrich Dinger crossed the line in fifth spot.
The overall win was on the line between Dominik Reile, Daniel Pöhlmann, and Jasmin Donath in the third A-Main of the Orca 17.5 Stock class. Reile had a perfect start and was leading the field, but Daniel Pöhlmann was right behind him trying to set Reile under pressure. But suddenly, Reile made a mistake and dropped back to third place whils Jasmin Donath took over second. Directly after that, it looked like Jasmin was able to close up to race leader Reile just a little bit. But Reile then picked up some pace again and drove to a well-deserved overall win. Jasmin Donath took another second place in A3, but came short to Pöhlmann, who took second overall because of his A1 win fromSaturday afternoon.
Mateo wins with strong nerves and an advantage of 0.002 seconds
Toni Mateo was on a mission in the deciding A-Main of the ToniSport 40+ Masters class. Mirco Thalheimer was trying everything to set Mateo under enormous pressure, but the Spaniard was able to drive without any mistake – almost! When they drove their last lap, Mateo was not having the perfect exit from the very last corner (right before the timing loop), and slided towards the line with one wheel in the grass. Thalheimer was right beside him and both cars crossed the line in the same moment – a real photo finish. Announcer Scotty Ernst checked the result immediately and it was Toni Mateo who crossed the line two thousands of a second ahead of Mirco Thalheimer. What a final, what a race, well done guys!
“A dream comes true” as Stiebler wins Formula class on home soil
Schumacher driver Andreas Stiebler was under serious pressure right before the start of A3. After having trouble in A1 and winning A2, it was all on the line between him and René Kölbel for the overall win. Stiebler was pulling away perfectly off the line and never looked back. He was just driving perfect, and it was “his day” to celebrate his first ever ETS race win here in Aigen-Schlägl. René Kölbel finished second, and Michal Wojcik crossed the line in third place.
Andreas Stiebler told us right after his first ETS win:
I really don`t know what to say… It just feels great and I always dreamed about winning at an ETS event. I like to thank my father for all his help, and Schumacher racing cars for their great support
Now, after the dust has settled here in Austria, we like to thank everybody for coming and racing here in at the amazing facility of the MAC Aigen-Schlägl. We will see us soon at ETS RD3 in Andernach, GER!
Christopher Krapp shouted his joy out loud after crossing the finish line in the second A-Main of the Matrix Modified division. He had an excellent race and was taking the lead after a clean start from pole position with his Yokomo BD11. Akio Sobue (Axon) was chasing him hard, with the Mugen Seiki of Ronald Völker and the Awesomatix A800MMX of Marc Rheinard running third and fourth. The gap between Krapp and Sobue was always at about 0.5 seconds in the first three minutes of the race, and Ronald Völker was following them some tenths behind. Marc Rheinard lost the contact to the top 3 after the first couple of laps and wasn`t able to follow.
Akio then started kind of a “last attack” on Krapp as he was closing the gap lap after lap and down to only 0.2 seconds as we entered the last 30 seconds of the race. As everybody was waiting for Akio to try something, his car suddenly slided off the track into the grass in the penultimate lap (they found out that one battery connector became unsoldered). Tough luck for Sobue who was really running strong behind Krapp. Ronald Völker, Marc Rheinard, and Lucas Urbain took advantage of Sobue`s trouble (dropping all the way back to P9) taking second, third, and fourth positions in A2.
[the_ad_group id=”144″]
For Christopher Krapp and Yokomo, it was a very special win. After Krapp won an ETS race on Gran Canaria in 2012 (!), he finally got everything together with a perfect ending here in Aigen-Schlägl again. Well deserved! It was the second race for the new Yokomo BD11 in the Matrix Modified class, and the second win after Yannic Prümper took the opening round of the season in Apeldoorn. What a perfect debut of Yokomo`s new touring car.
We talked to a very emotional Christopher Krapp after this big win in Austria:
I am mega happy with my first ETS win after TEN years. It just feels great, and I am more than satisfied about my own driving and performance this weekend. Also, my Yokomo BD11 was unbelievable here and I could go full punch on this very demanding track. Right after the start, I had to be careful about two laps with the tires but then I just kept my head down and got the job done. Akio was also racing very strong, and in the last stages he came very close after I was overshooting some corners here and there. After Akio had to retire from the race in the last lap (very unlucky for him), I was bringing home the win and the emotions were just crazy after crossing the line. Thanks to all my sponsors and teammates for making this happen together!
First victory of the season for reigning champion Lauter
As the second A-Main of the Awesomatix ProStock class gut underway, it was Simon Laute leading Max Mächler around the track in lap number one. Frederik Mikkelsen suffered from a real “nightmare”, after spinning out in the first lap directly in front of Bultynck and Schulz. Schulz had no chance to avoid the following crash into Mikkelsen`s car and both dropped all the way back to the end of the field – it was just bad racing luck for both drivers! Out front, Simon Lauter could slightly pull away from Max Mächler and had an advantage of 1.2 seconds after the first two minutes of the race. Behind The leaders, Olivier Bultynck and Alex Kunkler had a nice and respectful battle for position three and four, with Toni Rheinard running fifth.
In the end, nothing happened until they crossed the line with a huge applause from the crowd for Simon Lauter. Simon is now more than back in the fight for the championship and too ka well-deserved win in Austria. Max Mächler finished second in A2, followed by Bultynck, Kunkler, and Rheinard making it another all Awesomatix A800MMX top 5.
Simon Lauter had the following to say after winning the overall race in Aigen-Schlägl:
I had some luck in qualifying where our strategy paid of completeley. But that was some kind of luck which I missed in Apeldoorn for example. It was very important for me to win A1 on used tires, as that was giving me a lot of confidence for the second leg of. I`m very happy with my win, but also for another strong result of our Awesomatix team around team manager Max Mächler. He is just doing an excellent job caring about allof us. Another big thank you goes out to Tim Wahl who has done a lot of mechanical work on my car this weekend. Now it is time to regroup and prepare for RD3 in Andernach. See you there!
Schulz brings perfect weekend to an end with-well deserved FWD win
The reigning ETS Hobbywing Frontwheel champion Stefan Schulz (Xray) had everything under control in the second A-Main. He took another very dominant win ahead of Robin van Gog (Awesomatix) and Steven Olsen (Awesomatix) who had a great fight for second and third. The same between Toni Rheinard (Awesomatix) and Kevin Sparbier (Mugen Seiki) for positions 4 and 5. Rheinard made a great move on Kevin Sparbier who was able to counter the attack immediately before Toni Rheinard passed him again – superb racing guys! The FWD class is producing great racing race after race and that`s why so many people are loving this amazing racing class here at the Euro Touring Series. (Awesomatix). With the overall win in the bag for Stefan Schulz, the remaining positions on the podium are up for grabs in the upcoming third A-Main of the Hobbywing Frontwheel class.
A2 goes to Dominik Reile – decision for the overall win to be on the line in A3
The second A-Main in the Orca 17.5 Stock class saw Dominik Reile taking the win from pole position with his Awesomatix A800MMX. A very important win for him to keep his chances for the overall victory alive here in Austria after coming short to Pöhlmann in yesterday`s opening round of A-Mains. Reile had a perfect race and took the win in front of Jasmin Donath, who was able to benefit from a mistake of Daniel Pöhlmann in the last minute of the race. Henrik Heitsch (ARC) and Joshua Winkler (Awesomatix) finished fourth and fifth behind race winner Dominik Reile, Jasmin Donath, and Daniel Pöhlmann. The decision for the win will be down on the line in the last A-Main of the Orca 17.5 Stock class and in theory we have three racers with a chance for the win with Reile, Pöhlmann, and Donath.
Nothing decided as Mateo takes A2 in the master’s class
Toni Mateo finally had a clean run after got taken out of the race in A1 of the ToniSport 40+ Masters class yesterday. Mateo (Awesomatix) took the win from tone to tone and the decision for the overall win will come down to the last A-Main between him and Mirco Thalheimer (Xray). Right after the start, Mirco Thalheimer was chasing Toni Mateo, until he drove into the grass in lap number four. Manuel Stankowitz took over second place and started to close the gap to leader Mateo. In the end, Mateo was standing his ground while bringing home A2 with a gap of 0.3 seconds ahead of Manuel Stankowitz, Thomas Oehler (3), and Werner Schmitzer (4), and Ronald Arts (5). Timm Ohlef posted the fastest lap of the race (19.567) but had to live with P10 after got taken out at the 2-minute mark of the race. Sometimes, the masters are driving a little rough and that`s the only thing to complain about this amazing racing class at the ETS. After Toni Mateo and Mirco Thalheimer each having one win on their score card, the last final will be a thriller and we are looking forward to finding out who will walk away with the win and maximum points from Austria. Even some other drivers like Manuel Stankowitz and Thomas Oehler are having chances for the overall win as Thalheimer and Mateo have a P8 and P11 on their list of results as well. If something happens at the front, somebody else can snatch the win away from them!
Great recovery from Stiebler as he takes A2 from Kölbel
After stopping his car in the first A-Main, Andreas Stiebler was back in the groove again with his Schumacher Icon2 in the second leg on Sunday. He had a clean run and was able to control the gap of around one second over a very hard pushing A1 winner René Kölbel. A very important win for Stiebler, after his DNF in the first leg. We will see a throwdown for the overall win in A3 between Kölbel and Stiebler – hard to say who will take it. Stiebler`s performance was great all weekend, but also Kölbel was right on pace in the finals. A3 will show who will have the strongest nerves in the Scorpion Formula class here at ETS RD2 in Austria.
Now, after we know about our race winners in the FWD, Modified, and Pro Stock class, we are still looking for the overall results and three more race winners in our remaining ETS classes. Follow our “LIVE” section and pick the live stream of your choice if you don`t like to miss the final decisions in Aigen-Schlägl!
Xray driver Stefan Schulz is rocking the actual FWD platform from the Slovakian manufacturer. Stefan is running his X4F out of the box with some self made brass weights in the front. The X4F is based on the actual Xray X4 touring car (4WD), and is on rails here in Aigen-Schlägl. Stefans car is powered by a Gens Ace battery, and a Power HD Servo is responsible for a precise steering response.
[the_ad_group id=”145″]
Body Shell: Blitz YRS Speedo: Hobbywing ETS Motor: Hobbywing ETS Battery: Gens Ace Radio: Sanwa M17 Servo: Power HD S15 Tires: Ride ETS Sponsors: Xray, Hudy, SMI, Gens Ace, Power HD, Hobbywing, Hiro Seiko, Monaco RC, Looxon Germany
NOTE: Pictures taken before Stefan installed the marked racing motor!
Yokomo`s Krapp on a mission as he takes A1 from wire to wire
We saw a great start into the triple A-Mains for Yokomo`s Christopher Krapp. The BD11 driver had a great race with Axon`s Akio Sobue and was able to stand his ground in the opening stages of the race. Krapp was 0.2 seconds ahead of Sobue at the 2:30 minute mark of the race and Akio tried everything to create very high pressure on the Yokomo in front of him. But suddenly, third place runner Ronald Völker came a little closer to Akio and the Japanese ace had to watch his rear-view mirror as well. Mugen driver Völker was close to Akio at one time but couldn`t find a place for a serious attack on Sobue.
[the_ad_group id=”144″]
Meanwhile, Christopher Krapp was stretching his legs and build up a gap of 1.4 seconds over the rest of the field which he finally brought home in A1 of the Matrix Modified class. Behind Krapp, Sobue, and Völker we saw Marc Rheinard and Marco Kaufmann completing the top 5 in a high class race on track at ETS RD2 in Aigen Schlägl.
Lauter, Mächler, and Mikkelsen showing Pro Stock racing at it`s best
Awesomatix is dominating the Pro Stock class – but that`s nothing new for now. After the start of the first A-Main it was all about Simon Lauter and Max Mächler who were slightly pulling away from the field with Frederik Mikkelsen right in tow. Max was right on Simon`s tail but couldn`t make it stick. Max tried different lines to see if anything would happen in front of him, but Simon was driving like a real champ on his used set of tires and brought home the win in A1 with Max and Frederik finishing very close behind him. Olivier Bultynck had a solid race to P4, and Stefan Schulz finished fifth with his Xray car.
Tomorrow, Simon Lauter will not slow down for sure as he will be on new tires in A2 to bring home the overall win. It was a great first final with very respectful driving at the front. Frederik Mikkelsen was also on pace and could have won the final as well if something would have happened at the front.
In the first A-Main of the Hobbywing Frontwheel class we saw Stefan Schulz continuing where he stopped in qualifying – winning races! He drove without any mistake and took the win 4.0 seconds ahead of the Awesomatix A800FX duo of Robin van Gog and Steven Olsen. They had a nice and clean fight for second place while Mugen Seiki`s Kevin Sparbier and Ulrich Dinger completed the top 5 in the first final. One more fact to highlight was the fight for sixth position between Henrik Heitsch and Toni Rheinard. Fantastic to watch and with the better ending for Rheinard – “that`s how it`s done guys”. Stefan Schulz is now only one win away from taking maximum points away from Austria. He will go for it on Sunday morning when A2 will be on the line.
We saw a very interesting start into the finals of the Orca 17.5 Stock class here in Aigen. Pole sitter Dominik Reile (Awesomatix) spun out directly in lap number one, the same happened to Jasmin Donath (Awesomatix) in the same corner. Daniel Pöhlmann was taking advantage of it and was leading the field from lap 2 until the finish line. Reile fought his way back to second place with a beautiful pass on Henrik Heitsch (ARC) but couldn`t close the gap to Pöhlmann until they crossed the finish line. Pöhlmann was 0.3 seconds ahead of Reile, while Wolfgang Swoboda finished in an excellent third position. Joshua Winkler took fourth place (in his first ever ETS A-Main) and Lutz Jentsch took P5 in the opening Orca 17.5 Stock A-Main. Tomorrow will be a new day for Reile and as he was the fastest in all rounds of qualifying, Daniel Pöhlmann will need another super run to beat Dominik here on track.
The first out of three A-Mains in the ToniSport 40+ Masters class was one to discuss about. Mirco Thalheimer (Xray)was chasing first place starter Toni Mateo (Awesomatix) hard around the track, and they touched in a way which looked relatively hard. Mateo and Thalheimer both lost time, and Toni Mateo was not able to recover anymore from Thalheimer`s hard move on him and finished last (p11). Flavio Paladin was leading the race after that situation, but after three minutes it was Mirco Thalheimer who was right on his tail. He passed Paladin right before the entry of the straightway with a hard but fair inside pass and took the win ahead of the Italian racer Paladin (Xray). A bittersweet victory for Thalheimer after the first laps of the race. Markus Wegmann had a great race from 10th on the grid up to third place. Thomas Oehler (Mugen Seiki) finished fourth, Ulrich Dinger (Awesomatix) fifth and Timm Ohlef (Mugen Seiki) turned the second fastest lap of the race finishing sixth. Toni Mateo was visibly frustrated after the race and everybody who knows him well can be sure that he will try everything to win A2 tomorrow morning to have a shot for the overall win in A3.
Kölbel takes A1 as race leader Stiebler scores unlucky DNF
Bad luck is part of racing – but these words will not help Andreas Stiebler today. The Austrian Schumacher driver was leading A1 with a comfortable gap, until he had to retire his car with some steering issues at the half minute mark. Everything looked like an easy win for Stiebler but now the pressure is even higher as he needs two strong races on Sunday to eventually walk away from Aigen-Schlägl with a win. After Stiebler was out of the race, the lead suddenly was handed over to Xray driver René Kölbel. He had a very close and intense fight with Infinity driver Robin van Gog but was able to stand his ground to bring home the win in A1. Herbert Weber, Luka Jovicic, and Gergö Valent completed the top 5 in the first
The second and third round of finals will be underway on Sunday, and we will keep you updated about the results. Follow our Streams in the “LIVE” section on our website and enjoy ETS RD2 from Austria, no matter where you are!
Some fantastic sessions of Qualifying are over here at ETS RD2 in Aigen-Schlägl. The day started with some rain showers at half past nine and the action was interrupted for an hour. But after the track was dry again, the traction was still on a good level and qualifying continued. Now, all A-Main spots are given away and finals will be up next. But before we head into the deciding races, we like to inform you about what happened in Q3 and Q4 here in Austria
Matrix Modified
Yokomo`s Krapp is top qualifier in Aigen while Völker takes last qualifier for Mugen Seiki
Q3 – Yokomo`s Christopher Krapp posted his second TQ run for the weekend in Q3. After his win in the opening round on Friday, he only had an average second qualifier but found out that he forgot to tighten up some screws on the rear upper bulkheads after the run. With that issue fixed in Q3, Krapp`s BD11 was right on point again. During the run, the lead changed multiple times and after Völker was leading the race on used tires after lap one, the battle was between Rheinard, Ishioka and Krapp mid-race. After Akio Sobue retired from the race after a small mistake, it was Ishioka leading at the 4-minute mark with Krapp right in tow. As Hayato Ishioka (Axon) lost about 0.8 seconds in the penultimate lap, Krapp was right there to take the win ahead of Lucas Urbain (Awesomatix) and Ronald Völker (Mugen Seiki). It was a very interesting round of qualifying as some drivers raced on new, and some on used tires – always a big gamble. Let`s see who will have a set of new tires remaining in Q4.
Q4 – The last round of qualifying saw Mugen Seiki`s Ronald Völker taking the win on his last set of new Matrix tires. Ronald took the lead with his LRP powered MTC2 and won the last round of Matrix Modified qualifying with a gap of 1 second in front of Q2 winner Akio Sobue (Axon) and Marc Rheinard`s Awesomatix A800MMX. With this TQ run, Völker is lining up third on the A-Main grid behind pole sitter Krapp and second place starter Sobue. Marc Rheinard and Lucas Urbain are taking P4 and P5 on the grid in the upcoming triple A-Mains. We can expect some world class racing from out modified drivers here in Aigen-Schlägl as the starting grid is fully packed with a lot of skills and quality. Let`s go racing modified style!
Here is, how the drivers will line up for the Matrix Modified A-Main (Bump up driver to be decided in the first B-Main).
Pro Stock champion Lauter to start from pole position
Q3 – In the Awesomatix Pro Stock class, Simon Lauterposted his second TQ run for the event. He took full advantage of his second set of new race tires in Q3 and crossed the line one second ahead of his Awesomatix teammate Olivier Bultynck from Belgium. Max Mächler, Frederik Mikkelsen, ad Toni Rheinard rounded up an all Awesomatix A800MMX top five in this round of qualifying. The fight for the TQ is still open between Mächler and Lauter, but whoever will take it – we will see another Awesomatix pole position in the Pro Stock class at the ETS. This class is absolutely in the hands of Awesomatix, and they showed that once again here in Austria.
Q4 – The last round of Awesomatix Pro Stock qualifying saw Max Mächler taking another win in front of Stefan Schulz and Toni Rheinard. Mächler and Lauter looked very strong in all rounds of qualifying, and we can expect a hard-fought race in the finals between the Awesomatix top drivers. Behind Lauter and Mächler, Frederik Mikkelsen and Olivier Bultynck are completing an Awesomatix A800MMX quartet on the grid with Xray`s Stefan Schulz lining up 5th on the line after a strong qualifying session for him.
Here is, how the drivers will line up for the Awesomatix Pro Stock A-Main (Bump up driver to be decided in the first B-Main).
Q3 – In the third round of qualifying, we saw Stefan Schulz (Xray) and Steven Olsen (Awesomatix) both having technical failures on their cars. After both drivers were not able to finish the run, it was Robin van Gog taking the win for the round with his Awesomatix A800MMX. His gap over second placed Kevin Sparbier (Mugen Seiki) was at 0.1 seconds only, with third place finisher Toni Rheinard (Awesomatix) another 0.5 seconds behind. The decision for the overall TQ will come down to the last round of qualifying, but as Stefan Schulz posted the fastest lap in Q3 again, we can name him as the top favourite for claiming the pole position here in Aigen.
Q4 – Stefan Schulz sealed his pole position in the last round of Hobbywing Frontwheel qualifying here in Austria. Schulz was on a mission again after his DNF in Q3 and had a gap of 3.8 seconds over his competitors at the end of the run. Steven Olsen finished second, right ahead of Kevin Sparbier and Toni Rheinard. In the finals, all eyes will be on the reigning European champion and last season`s ETS dominator Stefan Schulz. But we will also have a look on all of his very strong contenders on track as the fight behind him will be a real hard one.
Here is, how the drivers will line up for the Hobbywing Frontwheel A-Main (Bump up driver to be decided in the first B-Main).
Clean Sweep from Reile earns him well deserved pole position
Q3- Dominik Reile will start from pole position into the triple A-Mains of the Orca 17.5 Stock class. He won the third round of qualifying with his Awesomatix A800MMX again and continued to look very dominant on track. With the TQ already in the bag after three rounds of qualifying, Reile is the top favourite for the win at ETS RD2 in Austria. The running order in Q3 was the same as it was in the previous runs with Daniel Pöhlmann and Jasmin Donath taking second and third again. Henrik Heitsch and Lutz Jentsch
Q4 – Nothing new here as Dominik Reile posted another TQ run – his fourth in a row! But this time, Jasmin Donath was in second place right in front of Daniel Pöhlmann, Henrik Heitsch, And Wolfgang Swoboda. Jasmin will start third on the grid behind Pöhlmann and Reile and all eyes will be on the young lady in the finals. Will she be there when something happens in the front – we will find out about it very soon!
Here is, how the drivers will line up for the Orca 17.5 Stock A-Main (Bump up driver to be decided in the first B-Main).
Overall TQ for Mateo ahead of Thalheimer and Stankowitz
Q3 – Mirco Thalheimer (Xray) was right back in the groove in the third qualifier of the ToniSport 40+ Masters class. Thalheimer, who also won Q1, recovered from an unlucky second round of qualifying with this win and took the round from Toni Mateo, Flavio Paladin, Manuel Stankowitz and Ulrich Dinger. Thalheimer had everything under control with his Xray in this one and took the win with 1.9 seconds ahead of Toni Mateo (Awesomatix). But the decision for the overall TQ will come down to the last round of qualifying and Toni Mateo still has a good chance as his Q2 winning time was faster compared to both TQ runs of Thalheimer.
Q4 – The decision for the overall TQ went down to the line in Q4 between Mateo and Thalheimer. Toni Mateo had a great run and posted the fastest TQ run of the weekend. With this result to his favour, Toni Mateo will line up first on the grid for the triple A-Mains of the ToniSport 40+ Masters class ahead of Mirco Thalheimer. Mugen Seiki driver Timm Ohlef had a fantastic last heat of qualifying, posting the second quickest runtime of the weekend coming out of the second fastest group. A great success for Ohlef which brought him up to P7 on the grid at his first 40+ Masters appearance. Manuel Stankowitz, Thomas Oehler and Flavio Paladin completed the top 5 in the last round of qualifying here in Austria.
Here is, how the drivers will line up for the ToniSport 40+ Masters A-Main (Bump up driver to be decided in the first B-Main).
Stiebler earns first ever ETS TQ in Formula qualifying
Q3 – Andreas Stiebler (Schumacher) took another impressive win in Q3 of the Scorpion Formula class on Saturday morning. This time, his gap was 2.9 seconds over second placed Xray driver René Kölbel. Herbert Weber finished third, ahead of Michal Wojcik and Robert Kampehl who completed the top 5.
Andreas Stiebler stopped in the ETS media centre for a quick chat after he secured his pole position in Q3:
It feels great to finally TQ an ETS event. I was close to that in the past but in never happened. This weekend I was fast right from the beginning, and I am really proud of the pace I showed in qualifying. For the finals, my plan is to get a good start and some decent first laps. I hope that I can pull away a little from the others to control the race and I will give my all to win here in my home country.
Andreas Stiebler (AT), Schumacher
Q4 – After Andreas Stiebler sealed the deal in Q3, there was still a nice battle going on for the remaining A-Main spots behind him. This time, Stiebler was taking the win as well with Kölbel, van Gog, Wojcik, and Kampehl making the top 5 once again. Even if Stiebler was in kind of “ a world of his own” in qualifying, it is always a different story to bring home a win in the finals. Can he do it? Can Stiebler take his first ETS win some weeks after his fellow countryman René Kölbel achieved the same in the Netherlands? Let`s find out very soon!
Here is, how the drivers will line up for the Scorpion Formula A-Main (Bump up driver to be decided in the first B-Main).
A1 will be on the line in the afternoon, so make sure to check our page again if you like to know who got the perfect run in the first of the triple A-Mains in all of our 6 ETS racing classes! Our “LIVE” section will keep you up to date as we are presenting two different live streams from ETS RD1 Season #15 2022/23. To get quickly to the results of all classes simply navigate to the “RESULTS” area on our landing page!
Long time ARC driver Henrik Heitsch is debuting the new ARC A10 touring car this weekend here in Aigen. The new A10 was released shortly before the race, and Henrik was involved in testing of the A10 together with his european team mates. Henrik is racing the A10 in the Orca 17.5 Stock class this weekend, while his teammate Lars Hoppe is competing in the Awesomatix Pro Stock class with the new ARC car.
When we take a closer look on the A10, we quickly realise that ARC`s newest car has not a lot to do with the previous R12 models. The A10 comes with a new chassis layout, features long lower arms made from carbon fiber and a completeley re-designed suspension geometry for the actual demands of touring car racing. The A10 kit includes a caster gauge, body stoppers in the front and state of the art horizontal body mounting posts in the rear of the car. Henrik is running his A10 out of the box with aluminum spool outdrives and blue aluminum shims from torpine being the only option parts on his ARC car.
The first two rounds of qualifying here in Austria are in the books. Race control decided to run two complete rounds of qualifying on Friday because of rain in the weather forecast for Saturday morning. To have the best possible chance to run all heats in dry and good conditions, this decision was the right one for sure. As everybody expected, the racing was intense, close, and thrilling through all classes. Let`s find out who scored the best results on Friday evening at the MAV Aigen-Schlägl.
Matrix Modified
Yokomo`s Krapp takes Q1 while Axon`s Sobue wins Q2 and is overnight TQ at ETS RD2 in Aigen-Schlägl
Q1 – Christopher Krapp took the opening round of Matrix Modified qualifying here in Aigen-Schlägl. While his Yokomo teammates Yannic Prümper and Loic Jasmin not being able to race this weekend, it was all about Chrissi Krapp to show what the new BD11 can do on a different track as Apeldoorn. And Krapp and the BD11 delivered in Q1. Christopher drove flawless and took the first qualifier with 0.3 seconds ahead of Awesomatix factory driver Marc Rheinard. Ronald Völker (Mugen Seiki) finisher in third position, another 0.153 seconds behind Rheinard. Völker posted the fastest lap of the race (16.025) and top seed Akio Sobue had the second fastest laptime on his favour (16.067) as he finished fourth overall for the round. Lucas Urbain scored a solid fifth place with his Awesomatix A800MMX.
Our media team talked to a very exhausted RD1 TQ Christopher Krapp directly after the heat:
Wow, that was a hell of a race. It was super warm on the driver stand and it was so demanding to stay focussed on these hot conditions. In the first couple of laps, I struggled a little bit with the feeling of my car but once I noticed that it is really fast on pace, I got comfortable with it and was able to push a lot. In the end I heard that I was right in the mix for the win, and I could see that I came a little closer to Ronald who was driving in front of me. In the end, I am super happy about the result in the first qualifier, and I hope that I can keep up this great pace with my Yokomo BD11.
Christopher Krapp (DE), Yokomo/Racing Performer
Q2 – The second round of qualifying was the show of Akio Sobue, Marc Rheinard and Marco Kaufmann. Christopher Krapp (Yokomo), who took an impressive win in Q1 was missing a bit of pace and had to open for Rheinard (Awesomatix)on track after some laps. Behind them on track (visual), Akio Sobue was on a mission and was on top of the board after the first minute of the race. The distance between him and Marc Rheinard was very close all the time as they battled it out until the finish line with the better end (0.3 seconds) for Japanese Axon driver Sobue. Marco Kaufmann (Xray) had an amazing run to third place for the round and was super happy after the race.
Akio Sobue is now leading the pack overnight in the Matrix Modified class with Christopher Krapp in second, and Marc Rheinard in third position. Marco Kaufmann is fourth and Ronald Völker fifth. ETS reporter Patrick Beck talked to Akio Sobue about his day and especially about his strong run in Q2:
It was not easy to drive as the track was super-hot. In these conditions, it is hard to push and look after the tires in the same moment. We made some small changes to our Axon TC10/2 to adapt it to the track conditions here in Aigen and it seems to work very well. Also, the Orca power is fantastic and helps me to go fast. Tomorrow I try to post another TQ run as I really want to fight for the win this weekend!
Mächler is overnight TQ after winning Q2 while Lauter and Mikkelsen are 2nd and 3rd
Q1 – The first round of Awesomatix Pro Stock qualifying saw Simon Lauter posting the fastest overall runtime with his A800MMX. It was a real nail biter as Max Mächler was leading the race most of the time until we entered the last minute of the heat. Simon Lauter closed the gap tenth by tenth and took the win by only 0.016 seconds from Mächler – what a race! Frederik Mikkelsen had a great run to P3, and Alex Kunkler and Olivier Bultynck completed the top 5.
Q2 – The second round was almost as exciting as the first was – with the better ending for Max Mächler and his Awesomatix A800MMX. Mächler took the win with 0.4 seconds from Frederik Mikkelsen, while Tim Benson finished third. Round 1 TQ Simon Lauter lost a lot of time in lap number 10 and dropped all the way down to ninth place for the heat. Awesomatix driver Alex Kunkler (4th) and Xray`s Stefan Schulz completed the top 5 in Q2 of the Awesomatix Pro Stock class.
With his Q2 time being 2.7 seconds faster than Lauters TQ time from Q1, Max Mächler is the leader in the Pro Stock class here in Aigen on Friday evening and earns the “overnight TQ honours”. Something which must feel really nice and satisfying ahead of a very competitive Saturday for sure.
Max Mächler had the following words for us after Q2:
My day, and especially the day for our complete Awesomatix team, was very good. I am happy that I was able to challenge Simon (Lauter) again as he is a sensational good driver. For tomorrow I will go “All-In” again and then we will see where I will line up for the finals. The track is great, the whole event as well, and that is the most important thing for our great sport!
Dominant Schulz leading FWD after two rounds of qualifying
Q1 – Stefan Schulz was able to TQ RD1 of qualifying in the Hobbywing Frontwheel class. He had a perfect run and was pretty much driving his own race out front. Schulz also posted the hot lap of the race with a 22.003 leaving all the others way behind. Awesomatix A800FX driver Steven Olsen (hot lap 22.229) crossed the line in second place and was four seconds behind Schulz – something that we haven`t seen for a while in the FWD class. Toni Rheinard had a solid run to P3 with his Awesomatix A800FX (hot lap 22.412) and Kevin Sparbier (Mugen Seiki) and Ulrich Dinger (Awesomatix) completed the top 5 in the first qualifier.
Q2 – In the second round of qualifying, we saw almost the same race: Xray driver Stefan Schulz started first out of the gate and took the win with a gap of 4.5 seconds over Robin van Gog. A dominant show from the reigning FWD champion in today`s two rounds of qualifying. Kevin Sparbier, Ulrich Dinger, and Jacques Libar completed the top five for the round.
In the overall ranking list, we see double TQ Stefan Schulz leading after day 1 in front of Steven Olsen, Robin van Gog, Kevin Sparbier and Ulrich Dinger. We had a quick chat with Stefan Schulz at his Marshall position under the burning sun here in Aigen-Schlägl and asked him about his dominant performance:
In practice, I was not 100% happy with the handling of my car. But as soon as I had the set of racing tires on my car it was much better. I used some balancing clay to get the set of tires balanced as good as possible and that was a good move, I think. I am also running the Blitz YRS body shell which I have a better feeling with here on the track. It is not really faster compared to the Gorilla which I normally use, but I just have a better feeling while pushing the car around the track with the YRS. With two TQ runs in the bag I am looking forward to another great day of racing tomorrow!
Dominik Reile is the overnight TQ after taking Q1 and Q2 from Pöhlmann and Donath
In the first round of Orca 17.5 Stock qualifying saw Dominik Reile laying down the fastest overall run. Top Sees Daniel Pöhlmann finished second in Q1 ahead of fast girl Jasmin Donath in third. It was a close first qualifier where Reile also posted the fastest lap of the round (19.615). Daniel Pöhlmann finished the run one second behind Reile and had the second fastest lap to his favour (19.731).
Q2 – In Q2, Dominik Reile was on a mission again and took the round again from Daniel Pöhlmann who booked another second place. Behind the leading duo of Reile and Pöhlmann, it was again Jasmin Donath with another strong third place for the round. With two third places out of the first two rounds of qualifying, Jasmin has booked the A-Main for a second time in a row now and she will have a happy evening for sure. Henrik Heitsch and Wolfgang Swoboda finished fourth and fifth for the round.
The overnight rankings are showing Dominik Reile in front of Daniel Pöhlmann, Jasmin Donath, Henrik Heitsch and Joshua Winkler now with a clear advantage for Reile who is only one heat win away from sealing the overall TQ here in Aigen. Asked about his day he told us:
First of all, I like to say that the track here in Aigen is even better for 17.5 Stock racing than it looked like on the pictures which I saw before. I really like the feeling which you have on track with the elevation changes and curbs. It is important to get into the rhythm here from lap number one to make sure that you don`t overshoot the downhill corners. Today went really well for me and my goal is to seal the overall TQ with another heat win tomorrow morning.
Thalheimer wins Q1 while Mateo fights back in Q2 to take overnight TQ honours
Q1 – In the ToniSport 40+ Masters class we saw Xray`s Mirco Thalheimer taking the opening round of qualifying in a super-close race from Mugen Seiki driver Thomas Oehler. Toni Mateo finished third, with Werner Schmitzer and Flavio Paladin completing the top 5. The top 5 crossed the line within 2 seconds showing once again that the ToniSport 40+ Masters class is super competitive here at the ETS.
Q2 – The second round then saw Mirco Thalheimer struggling a little in the opening laps of the heat. The same problem had Thomas Oehler as well who dropped back in the beginning too. Meanwhile it was Toni Mateo from Gran Canaria taking the lead which he never lost until the end of the run. He took the win in Q2 with 0.6 seconds ahead of Manuel Stankowitz and Flavio Paladin.
With Mateo having a third place from Q1 and the TQ from the second round, he is sitting in P1 overnight with Mirco Thalheimer (TQ and 4th) in second and Manuel Stankowitz in third. Toni Mateo told our race reporter after Q2:
I had a clean run in the last round and used my second set of new tires as well. With rain on the forecast for tomorrow, I am sure it was the right decision to do so. The facility here is nice and the track also. I normally prefer more technical tracks, but this one is also very good. I expect some very close remaining qualifiers tomorrow and the most important thing is to avoid any mistakes as it is almost impossible to recover afterwards.
Stiebler is the man to beat in Formula after two strong TQ runs
Q1 – Andreas Stiebler (Schumacher) took RD1 of qualifying mid-day and was running strong. His gap over second placed René Kölbel (Xray) was at 3.1 seconds which is quite a lot in a five-minute run at the ETS. Behind Stiebler and Kölbel, Robin van Gog finished third right ahead of Luka Jovicic and Robert Kampehl.
Q2 – The second round saw Stiebler taking another win with his Icon 2 Formula car from Schumacher. The gap to René Kölbel was 3.1 seconds again and it seems like Stiebler is the top favourite for pole position now. Second placed René Kölbel had a little more pressure as he had to defend second place against Robin van Gog and Herbert Weber. Luka Jovicic finished fifth in Q2 of the Scorpion Formula class.
We had the chance to talk to overnight TQ Andreas Stiebler in the ETS media center:
Beside the crazy hot weather conditions, my day was very close to perfection. I had two good runs with my Schumacher car, and I hope that I can continue like this tomorrow. The car felt good on track and as I have never been TQ or at least a race winner at the ETS, I will try my best to achieve something good in the next two days. Fingers crossed!
Now, all racers are hoping for dry weather conditions on Saturday morning where Q3 and Q4 is scheduled. The forecast was not ideal, but sometimes the luck is on the racer`s side and the bad weather just passes by on a different corridor! On our website you will not miss anything as you can find our livestream options in the “LIVE” section. To get quickly to the results of all classes simply navigate to the “RESULTS” area on our landing page.
After two rounds of controlled practice here in Aigen-Schlägl, we are heading straight into qualifying! The lap times had been super close between the top drivers on the track of the MAV, even if it is not easy to drive fast on it. Qualifying will be a different story as drivers have to manage their tires during the entire run. The drop in performance is noticeable from the first to the last lap, and we are looking forward to finding out who found the best driver and car setup for this situation in Austria!
Matrix Modified
Axon`s Sobue is top seed in the modified class
Akio Sobue had an excellent last round of seeding practice on the track of the MAV Aigen-Schlägl. He came out of practice as the fastest driver with an almost non existing gap of 0.010 seconds ahead of Marc Rheinard and his Awesomatix A800MMX. A great comeback for Akio to the ETS, and for the Axon TC10/2 routing car platform he is racing here together with Hayato Ishioka. Rheinard himself had another small gap (0.030 seconds) to the third placed driver Ronald Völker (Mugen Seiki). Christopher Krapp (Yokomo) was fourth fastest and Marco Kaufmann (Xray) finished his seeding practice in fifth place.
Qualifying starts immediately after practice and we will see two rounds happen on Friday, caused by a wet weather forecast for early Saturday morning. Who will take pole position after qualifying in the Matrix Modified class? Will it be Sobue, will it be Rheinard, will it be Völker – or will somebody else of the very strong field have the best pace over 5 minutes? We will find out about it very soon!
The Top 5 after controlled practice (3 consecutive laps)
1. Akio Sobue (JP) 48.599 (Axon/Orca) 2. Marc Rheinard (DE) 48.609 (Awesomatix/Orca) 3. Ronald Völker (DE) 48.639 (Mugen Seiki/LRP) 4. Christopher Krapp (DE) 48.670 (Yokomo/Racing Performer) 5. Marco Kaufmann (DE) 48.776 (Xray)
Lauter tops practice in Aigen ahead of Mächler and Mikkelsen
The Awesomatix Pro Stock class saw reigning champion Simon Lauter on top after seeding practice. It was a very close finish for Lauter as he was only 0.040 seconds ahead of Max Mächler on the three-lap pace. Frederik Mikkelsen from Denmark was also showing a great speed and was another 0.038 seconds behind second placed Mächler. Toni Rheinard is sitting fourth and Tim Benson will start from fifth place into qualifying. With the top 7 being Awesomatix A800MMX cars (Kunkler 6th ad Bultynck 7th), Enrico Jung is the best placed “non Awesomatix driver” in eight place with his Yokomo BD11.
The Top 5 after controlled practice (3 consecutive laps)
1. Simon Lauter (DE) 52.941 (Awesomatix/LRP) 2. Max Mächler (DE) 52.981 (Awesomatix/Sunpadow) 3. Frederik Mikkelsen (DK) 53.019 (Awesomatix/LRP) 4. Toni Rheinard (DE) 53.098 (Awesomatix/LRP) 5. Tim Benson (DE) 53.229 (Awesomatix/Nosram)
The newly crowned European Champion Stefan Schulz (Xray) was topping the time sheets in the Hobbywing Frontwheel class and is our top seed for qualifying at ETS RD2 in Aigen. Schulz showed why he took the ETS title in this amazing racing class last season and improved his times in the second, and last, round of seeding practice on Friday afternoon. Right behind Schulz it was Steven Olsen (Awesomatix) in second position followed by a hard pushing Toni Rheinard (Awesomatix) in third. These three drivers looked strongest since the start of the event, and we can expect a close fight for TQ between them in qualifying. Jacques Libar and Jasmin Donath (Awesomatix) rounded out the top 5 in the FWD class.
The Top 5 after controlled practice (3 consecutive laps)
1. Stefan Schulz (DE) 1:06.856 (Xray) 2. Steven Olsen (DK) 1:07.421 (Awesomatix) 3. Toni Rheinard (DE)1:07.485 (Awesomatix) 4. Jacques Libar (NL) 1:07.884 (Xray) 5. Jasmin Donath (DE) 1:08.047 (Awesomatix)
Pöhlmann setting the pace in super-hot seeding practice conditions
It is a very hot day here in Aigen-Schlägl with temperatures around 30 degrees in the shadow. A big challenge for drivers. Cars. And especially the race tires. Daniel Pöhlmann was very fast in these hot conditions and will start into qualifying from the first spot after scoring the three fastest consecutive laps with his Awesomatix A800MMX. He was followed by his hardest rival and friend Dominik Reile in second, and Jasmin Donath in third. Jasmin picked up the pace here run by run and it looks like she is in contention for another top result after making it onto the podium at RD 1 in Apeldoorn. Wolfgang Swoboda improved as well into fourth position while Tristan Bergheim completed the top 5 in the Orca 17.5 Stock class. Next up are two rounds of qualifying in the afternoon which will give us an even better view on the “real” pace of everybody.
The Top 5 after controlled practice (3 consecutive laps)
Thalheimer still ahead of some very strong competitors
In the ToniSport 40+ Masters class it was still Mirco Thalheimer on top of the field with his Xray X4 car. He outpaced Awesomatix A800MMX racer Manuel Stankowitz by 0.163 seconds over three laps and he can make himself some serious hopes to claim pole position here in Aigen. Behind the leaders Thalheimer and Stankowitz, it was Mugen Seiki driver Thomas Oehler who made his way up to third spot. Toni Mateo from Gran Canaria is sitting fourth and Ronald Arts from the Netherlands in fifth position. As in all other classes, the start of qualifying will mix up everything as the drivers will change their goal from “doing three good laps” to the mission of “doing a clean 5-minute run”. Let`s see who will be the top qualifier (TQ) after the upcoming four rounds of 40+ Masters qualifying.
The Top 5 after controlled practice (3 consecutive laps)
1. Mirco Thalheimer (DE) 59.196 (Xray) 2. Manuel Stankowitz (DE) 59.357 (Awesomatix) 3. Thomas Oehler (DE) 59.541 (Mugen Seiki) 4. Toni Mateo (ES) 59.643 (Awesomatix) 5. Ronald Arts (DE) 59.801 (Awesomatix)
Andreas Stiebler from Austria was able to carry his form from free practice directly into the two rounds of seeding here on Friday in Aigen-Schlägl. The Schumacher driver is the top seed for qualifying with a comfortable looking gap of 0.60 seconds ahead of the competition. René Kölbel (Xray) is sitting in second place and will try to hunt Stiebler down in qualifying with third placed Infinity driver Robin van Gog right in tow. Herbert Weber (Xray) and Robert Kampehl (Exotek) completed the top 5 after seeding practice in the Scorpion Formula class.
The Top 5 after controlled practice (3 consecutive laps)
1. Andreas Stiebler (AT) 1:00.431 (Schumacher) 2. René Kölbel (AT) 1:01.054 (Xray) 3. Robin van Gog (NL) 1:01.058 (Infinity) 4. Herbert Weber (AT) 1:01.176 (Xray) 5. Robert Kampehl (DE) 1:01.898 (Exotek)
We are looking forward to the start of Qualifying here at ETS RD2 where we expect some great action and close fights for the A-Main spots in all classes. We will see two rounds of qualifying coming up today as the weather forecast shows rain coming up for Saturday morning until lunchtime. Let`s hope On our website you will not miss anything as you can find our ETS livestream as well as our PullstartTV livestream in our “LIVE” section. To get quickly to the results of all classes simply navigate to the “RESULTS” area on our landing page.
Enjoy ETS RD2 in the Austria together with us – no matter where you are!
Enjoy a ride aroud the track of the MAV Aigen-Schlägl with media team member Hanno van den Boogaard`s camera car. This season, the Tamiya TT-02S received a small update with a super lightweight camera for better quality and handling on track as well.
German racer Sören Sparbier is debuting the new released Serpent Medius X20`23 touring car in the Awesomatix Pro Stock class here in Aigen/AUT. Sören was involved in the testing stages of the new platform as well and had a pre-production car which he raced with during the last months. But now, after the realeae of the car, he is running a production kit for the very first time.
The Medius X20`23 is a completeley new designed car and features long carbon fiber wishbones, double rod upper arms, a new aluminum gear differential and motor mount, as well as the option to run a floating or fixed shock tower. The car looked very promising during testing and Sören also made the A-Main at ETS RD1 in Apeldoorn with his prototype car so it looks like a very good new 1:10 scale touring car from Serpent!
