Exciting finals round out the action in Ettlingen
The first ENS event of the 2023 season concluded on Sunday with the upper finals. There was action all the way through, with the longer nitro finals meaning that anything can happen!
1/8 Scale
Greiner wins “super crazy” final
Dominic Greiner emerged as a somewhat surprise winner after 45-mintues of action in the 1/8 Scale Class final. With the top three qualifiers leading the field off, Toni Gruber had issues early on, dropping him down the order as his car had to be worked on in the pit lane. Greiner was next to hit issues, with a flame out seemingly dropping him out to contention for the win, giving Simon Kurzbuch a huge advantage at the front.
However, Kurzbuch too hit problems, and needed to have his car brought back to the pits by a marshall to get a change of glow plug. This now meant Merlin Depta led a large portion of the race, the driver who has moved to Capricorn this year showing a new energy both on and off the track! But later on, he too hit problems as a small mistake saw him on the grass, losing a wheel and a flame out. Through all this, Greiner had managed to work his way back to the front of the field, and now found himself in a battle with Jilles Groskamp, Rick Vrielijnck and Alex Thurston. Simply put, Greiner had the speed to keep moving up the places, both on track and through the pit stops.
Gruber was also being fast on the track, and he also moved into this battle, eventually ending up in third overall as Groskamp had done enough to secure second.
Greiner, for whom this marked his official debut with Max Power engines, described it as a “super crazy” race, but noted that whilst there were a lot of issues for a lot of drivers, there was some luck which allowed him to get back to the front. Groskamp, who had a rather unspectatcular race on his drive to second, put this down to a good strategy for tyre and fuel milage, himself also making an engine change this year to run SMJ-Kabuto engines.
1/8 Scale A Final Result
1 Dominic Greiner (DE – Capricorn/Max Power
2 Jilles Groskamp (NL) – Infinity/SMJ-Kabuto
3 Toni Gruber (DE) – Capricorn/Ielasi Tuned
4 Tobias Hepp (DE) – Capricorn/Max Power
5 Alex Thurston (GB) – Capricorn/Ielasi Tuned
6 Teemu Leino (FI) – Infinity/Max Power
7 Rick Vrielijnck (NL) – Infinity-RickV Concept/Max Power
8 Simon Kurzbuch (CH) – Mugen/Hasi Tuned
9 Merlin Depta (DE) – Capricorn/OS Speed
10 Timo Schroeder (DE) – Shepherd/Hasi Tuned
11 Oliver Kraehemann (CH) – ARC/Hasi Tuned
12 Lars Hoppe (DE) – Shepherd/Reds Racing
Link to the results on MyRCM: https://www.myrcm.ch/myrcm/report/en/70178/308679
1/10 Scale
Diekmann cruises to Ettlingen victory
Melvin Diekmann wrapped up his second ever ENS victory at Ettlingen, after what had looked to be a close battle with Milan Holthuis came to an end after less than 15 minutes. Holthuis, who was running in second and constantly within a few seconds of pole-sitter Diekmann, suffered a flame out by seemingly running short on fuel. Troubles getting re-started cost him over a minute in the pits, leaving him at the back of the field.
This meant Diekmann had a lead of over a lap now over Capricorn team-mate Quentin Leroux, the French driver getting past third-placed starter Leon Fuhrmann on the opening lap. Fuhrmann had been keeping Leroux honest but unfortunately an issue for the German youngster at around half distance dropped him back.
This meant the third-place battle now became between Spaniard Raul Amella and French driver Basile Concialdi. The two swapped positions as the pit stops cycled through, and as the race concluded, Concialdi made it two French drivers on the podium, as he and Leroux notched up their first ever top-3 finishes at the ENS.
However, no doubt about the winner – Diekmann was in a league of his own, eventually ending up a massive three laps up on the whole field – a great way to kick off his 2023 ENS campaign!
1/10 Scale A Final Result
1 Melvin Diekmann (DE) – Capricorn/ONE
2 Quentin Leroux (FR) – Capricorn/ONE
3 Basile Concialdi (FR) – Infinity/OS Speed
4 Raul Amella (ES) – Capricorn/ONE
5 Tim Benson (DE) – Capricorn/Orcan
6 Patrick Fankhauser (CH) – Infinity/OS Speed
7 Christoph Rohrmoser (AT) – Capricorn/ONE
8 Leon Fuhrmann (DE) – Capricorn/FX
9 Bernd Rausch (DE) – Shepherd/OS Speed
10 Alexandre Cazaux (FR) – Capricorn/ONE
11 Juan Hidalgo (ES) – Serpent/Novarossi
12 Milan Holthuis (NL) – Infinity/Ielasi Tuned
Link to the results on MyRCM: https://www.myrcm.ch/myrcm/report/en/70178/308677
1/8 +40 Masters
Mueller takes first ENS Victory
After being close a number of times in the last few years, Germany’s Torsten Mueller finally got his first win at the ENS, in the 30-minute long Masters A Final. The pole sitter, Lars Haugen, sadly hit issues early on, which led to a race-long fight between Mueller, Daniel Toennessen and the Belgian duo of Peter Thys and John Lenears. As the race progressed, it did seem as though Mueller had enough pace and the right strategy to keep him at the front.
Toennessen would occasionally take the lead during the pit stops, with both Lenears and Thys also regularly in the mix. Mueller crossed the line first to huge cheers from his team and supporters, with Toenessen finishing up in second, about five seconds behind. Lenears won the fight with his countryman to take third overall, with Thys having to settle for fourth.
Masters A Final Result
1 Torsten Mueller (DE)
2 Daniel Toennessen (DE)
3 John Lenears (BE)
4 Peter Thys (BE)
5 Remy Hasler (CH)
6 Arie Manten (NL)
7 Alain Levy (FR)
8 Christian Wurst (DE)
9 Luca Martinelli (CH)
10 Michael Salven (NL)
11 Roy Bakker (NL)
12 Lars Haugen (NO)
Link to the results on MyRCM: https://www.myrcm.ch/myrcm/report/en/70178/308678
1/8 Sport
Grauer wins Sport Class opener
Joachim Grauer took the win in the Sport class. After a ‘pilot’ race held at the 2022 season finale, this event was the first full event for the new class. With 15 entries, it’s already off to a great start and Grauer was very happy to be the first person on the winners list!
Dutch driver Luigi Pili took second place, but the star of the race was American driver Jacob Lecroix. Jacob started tenth on the grid and gradually moved up through the field during the 30-minute race to finish up on the podium. With six racers making the trip over from the USA, the ENS team wanted to especially thank them for coming, and know they will enjoy celebrating with Jacob on the long journey home!
Sport Class A Final Result
1 Joachim Grauer (DE)
2 Luigi Pili (NL)
3 Jacob Lecroix (US)
4 Gert-Jan Van Schaik (NL)
5 Felix Burke (DE)
6 Nick Zuend (CH)
7 Lars Schaefer (CH)
8 Markus Friedrich (DE)
9 Sascha Ehlert (DE)
10 Martin Wenger (CH)
11 Jan-Simon Knispel (DE)
12 Aaliyah Wagner (DE)
Link to the results on MyRCM: https://www.myrcm.ch/myrcm/report/en/70178/308676
With the first round of the series completed, racers are already looking forward to Round 2, which takes place at the famous Apeldoorn circuit in the Netherlands, in the middle of August. See you there!