RD2 at Arena33 – sunny weather and awesome racing
From the 12. – 15. August 2021 the second round of ETS Season #14 2021/22 took place at Arena33 again. With RD1 at the same venue only 4 weeks prior to RD2, we saw 173 drivers attending the race in Andernach – a great turnout in the main time of summer holidays in Europe and some still ongoing Covid-19 problems.
Let us take you back to Andernach to review the action on track and some interesting facts from ETS RD2 Season #14 2021/22!
Drivers loved “clockwise racing” at Arena33
Compared to RD1, the running direction changed from anti-clockwise to clockwise this time for a completely new Arena33 experience. Most of the drivers really liked it and their feedback from the track was amazing with the long sweeper at the end of the straightway and the even more challenging infield section.
Phil Richter announced the event
With Scotty Ernst still not able to fly over from the United States because of the Covid-19 caused travel restrictions, Phil Richter from Berlin took over the announcer`s position at RD2 from Uwe Rheinard who did it most of the time during RD1. Phil really enjoyed this experience as he always dreamed about the chance to announce an ETS event and he did an amazing job. Always up to date, always on schedule, and with an entertaining way for all drivers. He worked great together with ETS time keeper Hartmut Wenzel, Referee Franz Heinsbroek and Patrick Beck who announced some heats as well.
We all wait for the return of Scotty Ernst to our ETS races but in the meantime we are happy to have such great options in our ETS family!
Pullstart.TV with different camera positions
With the Pullstart.TV live streaming system in use at Arena33 for the first time during RD1, the camera positions and angles got improved for RD2. The main goal was a better experience for everybody watching their friends racing from home and together with the also updated microphone position for the announcer it was a great overall experience. Pullstart.TV is a great system for all ambitioned RC clubs who are interested in installing a live stream to their facilities.
Driver and Team top performances
Most of the top drivers of each class attended RD2 at Arena33. All, excluding the world class modified Xray factory drivers Bruno Coelho and Alexander Hagberg. Unfortunately, they still were not able to travel to Germany because of the Covid-19 travel restrictions in their home country Portugal. We really hope to finally see them with us for RD3 in the Netherlands again as they are an important part of the Xray team in the Modified class.
All drivers and teams performed on the highest level again but let`s see who did an extraordinary job at ETS RD2!
Mugen Seiki`s Ronald Völker continues winning
In the Matrix Modified class, Ronald Völker is still on a high with his new Mugen Team as he was able to TQ and win the event at Arena33 for a third time in a row. He won the last 4 ETS races (2 for Yokomo, 2 for Mugen Seiki) and is the dominant force right now. Another indication for the strong performance of the actual Mugen Seiki touring car are Völker`s teammates Robert Pietsch (car designer) and Eric Dankel who both qualified for the Main again after they achieved the same at RD1 a few weeks ago. Both showed great pace over the whole weekend and they will be in the mix in Apeldoorn again for sure!
In the ProStock class, the newly crowned German 13.5T Stock champion Tim Benson managed to qualify for the A-Main again without being at Arena33 on Thursday during free practice – not bad at all Tim Benson! Ingo Braun reached the Infinity 40+ Masters A-Main again with his Mugen car after bumping up from the B-Main.
The new Mugen car continues to impress, and everybody is looking forward to RD3 where all eyes will be on the Mugen Team and their car`s performance on the different track of AMCA Apeldoorn.
Terrific Duchet wins again for Xray
Alexandre Duchet was on a mission again at Arena33. He was dominating RD1 in July at the same track and the changed driving direction seemed not to impress him a lot. Duchet continued where he stopped last time – dominating! He secured pole position and won A1 and A2 ahead of his teammate Jan Ratheisky who was driving amazing as well. Duchet and Ratheisky got serious help from their Xray colleague Lukas Ellerbrock who surprised with a strong TQ run in Q3 and some amazing racing in the finals. Overall, it was a very successful weekend for Xray in the ProStock class with maximum points for championship leader Duchet with Ratheisky joining him on the podium. Lukas Ellerbrock finished fourth making it 3 out of the top 4 for Xray.
In the modified class, Oliver Havranek was the fastest for Xray after qualifying fourth and he achieved his best result at the ETS so far with finishing fifth overall in the end. A great performance from the young Slovakian driver. Antoine Brunet, who was the top driver for Xray at RD1 where he finished second on the podium between Völker and Rheinard, had a harder time this weekend. But he still made the A-Main and finished sixth behind his teammate Havranek in the end. Marco Kaufmann took the Bump-Up opportunity as he won B-Main number one to take the last spot on the grid for the triple Matrix Modified A-Mains.
In the Infinity 40+ Masters class, Xray booked another win during ETS RD2 with Danish driver Caspar Morgen securing pole position in qualifying and a well-earned win after taking A2 and A3 in front of runner up Werner Schmitzer.
Jan Ratheisky showed once again that he is the master of Formula racing with another win in front of his long time rival David Ehrbar with his EF1 car and his Xray teammate Lukas Hock from the Czech Republic. Hoch was able to fight with Ehrbar for second during the whole weekend with the better end for David.
Xray also was very successful in the Hobbywing Frontwheel class, where the reigning German national champion Stefan Schulz was on a mission at this weekend. Schulz dominated almost every run and he drove to a well-deserved victory in front of Steven Olsen who won ETS RD1 at Arena33.
Awesomatix on every podium
When we continue with the Awesomatix team, we first look on their top star Marc Rheinard. He was as close to Mugen’ s Völker as nobody else during the whole weekend and he was able to TQ RD2 of qualifying when Ronald had some issues. So Rheinard seems to be there whenever Völker struggles – but that simply does not happen very often. Two weeks ago, at the German nationals in Bernau, Rheinard was able to put huge pressure on Völker and he was all over him in the finals with the better end for pole setter Völker. But this will give some hope to Rheinard for RD3 in Apeldoorn where nobody knows if the Mugen ace will dominate in the same way as at Arena33.
With the absence of Rheinard`s teammate Lucas Urbain, Michele Manzo was the second Awesomatix driver in the Matrix Modified A-Main
In the prestigious Xray ProStock class, Awesomatix had 5 cars in the Main – more than any other brand. Simon Lauter was the top gun for Awesomatix during RD2 at Arena33 as he was able to split the Xray duo of Duchet and Ratheisky in qualifying lining up second on the grid. In the finals he showed great racing and looked like the only one able to attack Xray. But after a mistake by himself in A1 his fight for the podium lasted until the end of A3 which he was able to win in front of Xray`s Ratheisky. The Awesomatix drivers fished in this order: Simon Lauter(3), Max Mächler (5), Olivier Bultynck (6), Frederik Mikkelsen (9) and Pawel Staszewski who made his first ETS A-Main finished on P11.
Thomas Bemmerl made himself the favourite for the overall championship title in the 17.5 Stock class after he won again with his Awesomatix car at Arena33. Bemmerl seems to be the master of this track as he won all three ETS races on the new track surface of Arena33 so far. Can he carry over his form to Apeldoorn for RD3? We will find out pretty soon!
With Daniel Pöhlmann (4), Roman Borschel (5), Maximilian Unterschütz (6), Philipp Hagnauer (7), Felix Schneider (8), Wolfgang Hößle (9) and Fabien Valantin (10), Awesomatix was the dominant force in the 17.5 Stock class with 8 cars in the final. Frank Fuchs finished on a strong P3 in the Infinity 40+ Masters class and Steven Olsen placed his Awesomatix FWD car in second spot of the Hobbywing Frontwheel class to round up the great weekend for Awesomatix.
Yokomo`s Prümper back on the podium
After a long time, Yannic Prümper found his way back to the ETS podium where he finished third overall in the Matrix Modified class. But it was not an easy way as Yannic started from P5 into the finals and had to work his way by Havranek and his Yokomo teammate Krapp. With Christopher Krapp being faster as Prümper in qualifying, he made a small mistake in A3. This allowed Prümper to snatch away the podium from Krapp in A3 where Prümper was able to put a beautiful pass on Oliver Havranek. With third and fourth overall, Yokomo is still the biggest contender of Mugen, Awesomatix and Xray and they have high expectations for the next race in Apeldoorn.
Enrico Jung managed to qualify directly for the ProStock finals this time, after he did it with the Bump Up here at RD1 for the first time in his ETS career. He started from the sixth position, had some great battles on track and finally finished 10th overall for Yokomo. A result he will try to improve at ETS RD3.
A strong driving David Kuschnarew was the Top Seed for 17.5 qualifying and he started from the second position behind race winner Thomas Bemmerl into the triple A-Mains. Kuschnarew, who finished 11th here at ETS RD1 looked really strong and was almost on the same pace as the race winner which he showed with taking A3 to secure his second overall position.
If you want to see more of David Kuschnarew`s Yokomo car, check the “Under the Hood” report of his BD10LCR and our Image Gallery!
Orlowski and Lindegaard for Schumacher
Michal Orlowski from Poland was again in the mix with his Schumacher touring car. He worked together with his father as always and managed to lay down some great runs in qualifying to line up sixth on the grid. The end, Michal finished the race in seventh position, and he once again showed the potential of his car and his amazing driving skills.
In the ProStock class, Danish driver Nicolai Lindegaard qualified for the triple A-Mains again after he was able to do the same here at ETS RD1 in Andernach – the track seems to be a good one for Lindegaard and his Mi7 car. This time he finished seventh overall in the Xray ProStock class – a great result for Nicolai!
Other highlights
As always during an ETS race, there are even more highlights than only the results of the top teams.
Dominik Ruf is somebody to talk about as he drove a great race in the 17.5 Stock class with his Tamiya TRF 420 – a car that is still very fast even if it is not so much around in the pits anymore. But his result shows that you can go fast with a lot of different brand cars when you just invest enough time and setup work into it. Dominik did great and finished on a strong third place in the 17.5 Stock final where he was the only Tamiya fighting with 8 Awesomatix and a Yokomo in the finals.
Ladies Power at the ETS
We also want to look on the results of the Ladies at ETS RD2. It is always great to see some girlpower on the rostrum. Elena Fuchs finished 16th and Jasmin Donath 20th in the Stock 17.5 class and Susanne Reile came in on P39 in Hobbywing Frontwheel. Manuela Borrmann crossed the line in P22 in the Scorpion Formula class. Congratulations, it is great to see all of you racing with us!
Thanks to a lot of people
Last but not least we want to thank all helping hands who worked hard around the whole event, in the kitchen, the cafeteria, around the track, in the race direction, the technical inspection and in the media team. We also like to thank all our wonderful sponsors – without you the ETS would not be possible!
Anther thank you goes out to Hoffmann`s Ice cream service who was on track every day with their amazing ice cream!
ETS RD3 Season #14 2021/22 in Apeldoorn, NED
The ETS circus travels to the Netherlands now where we will race from 16. – 19. September 2021 on the amazing ground of the AMCA Apeldoorn. The track is amazing there and a guarantee for some amazing ETS racing action.
We hope you liked this small recap of our beautiful weekend in Andernach, from ETS RD2 Season #14 2021/22 – see you in Apeldoorn!
