Martin & Honigl complete 4WD Buggy Podium

Lee Martin and Hupo Honigl completed the podium in 4WD Buggy at the finale of the Euro Offroad Series in Germany, the same order the drivers would finish in the overall standings of the TLR/Spektrum sponsored championship.  With Neumann sitting out the third & final leg of the A-Main having completed a clean sweep of overall wins in the class by dominating the earlier legs, it was Martin who took the early lead of the closing 5-minute encounter ahead of Honigl but swapping the lead twice in the end it was the latter who took the win.

Afterward Honigl said the win was a nice way to end what had been a tough event.  After messing up his final qualifier yesterday that cost him a potential 2nd on the grid behind his Durango team-mate, the multiple former European champion said he got hit so many times in the opening two legs he couldn’t keep count.  Admitting he would never have been able to challenge Neumann for the win, had he started second he believes he would have been better poised to hold on to his second spot in the championship standings.

Summing up the weekend as frustrating in which he failed to deliver the challenge expected for the 2WD Buggy title, Tamiya Racing Factory’s star offroad driver Martin said his TRF511X ran out of tyres in the closing race.  Holding on to finish second ahead of Schumacher’s Tom Cockerill, who posted the fastest lap of the leg, the British driver said on carpet it was always going to be a tall order to beat Neumann’s 4WD Durango and so to finish second was the best he could have expected.  With two dirt events planned for the extended four round second season of the EOS, the British Champion said next year will be a more level playing field.

The inaugural TLR/Spektrum Euro Offroad Series presented by Horizon Hobby has enjoyed a very successfully first season and with the final race attracting over 180 entries who got to race in front of tens of thousands of visitors to Europe’s largest hobby show.  Created by Scotty Ernst & Uwe Rheinard with the enthusiastic backing of Team Losi Racing, Spektrum, Horizon Hobby, dBoots and associated sponsors Pro-Line and Vampire Racing, the future of the burgeoning race series looks very bright.  Already the date for the start of the second season of EOS has been set with the Polish Hobby Exhibition in Poznan the venue for Round 1 over the weekend of October 26-28.

4WD Buggy Overall Result
1. Joern Neumann (DE) – Durango – 2pts
2. Lee Martin (GB) – Tamiya – 5
3. Hupo Honigl (AT) – Durango – 7
4. Mike Truhe (US) – TLR – 7
5. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – 7
6. Yannic Prumper (DE) – Yokomo – 8
7. Tom Cockerill (GB) – Schumacher – 10
8. Darren Bloomfield (GB) – TLR – 10
9. Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho – 10
10.Brent Thielke (US) – Associated – 16

4WD Buggy Leg 3 Result
1.(4) Hupo Honigl (AT) – Durango – 16/5:18.645
2.(3) Lee Martin (GB) – Tamiya – 16/5:20.407
3.(8) Tom Cockerill (GB) – Schumacher – 15/5:01.277
4.(7) Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – 15/5:02.383
5.(10)Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho – 15/5:07.828
6.(5) Darren Bloomfield (GB) – TLR – 15/5:12.505
7.(2) Yannic Prumper (DE) – Yokomo – 15/5:14.684
8.(6) Mike Truhe (US) – TLR – 16/5:17.445
9.(9) Brent Thielke (US) – Associated – 14/5:02.824
10.(1)Joern Neumann (DE) – Durango – DNS

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Video – 4wd A-main Leg 2

Neumann pulls off ‘clean sweep’ in 4WD Buggy

As predicted following the trouncing of his rivals in yesterday’s 4WD Buggy qualifying, Joern Neumann has won 4WD buggy at the finale of the inaugural Euro Offroad Series completing a clean sweep of the championship with three TQ starts and three wins from the three races.  Starting the German event from pole, Neumann was in a completely different league winning the first A-Main from Team Losi Racing’s Mike Truhe by a massive 16-seconds and Leg 2 by 11-seconds from Team Yokomo’s Yannic Prumper.

Such has been Neumann’s dominance this weekend in Dortmund, the European Champion has been given the nickname ‘Yawn’ Neumann in reference to his domination that has made proceedings rather boring in the 4WD Buggy class.

Having won the morning’s 2WD Buggy action to claim the overall EOS title from Team Losi Racing’s Dustin Evans and Tamiya’s Lee Martin, Neumann next went on to wrap up the 4WD Short Course title from his Durango team-mate Hupo Honigl for a hat trick of championship titles in the first running of the all new electric offroad championship which is set to expand to four events for its second season.

With Neumann sitting out the third A-Main, the race should provide some exciting racing with Prumper, who is essentially the pole sitter, Team Losi Racing team-mates Truhe & Bloomfield along with Tamiya pairing Lee Martin & Marc Rheinard all in with a shout at taking the second step on the podium.

4WD Buggy Leg 1 Result
1.(1) Joern Neumann (DE) – Durango – 16/5:04.255
2.(6) Mike Truhe (US) – TLR – 16/5:20.150
3.(7) Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – 15/5:01.813
4.(5) Darren Bloomfield (GB) – TLR – 15/5:01.873
5.(10)Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho – 15/5:03.957
6.(2) Yannic Prumper (DE) – Yokomo – 15/5:05.150
7.(8) Tom Cockerill (GB) – Schumacher – 15/5:09.335
8.(4) Hupo Honigl (AT) – Durango – 15/5:10.937
9.(9) Brent Thielke (US) – Associated – 15/5:22.296
10.(3)Lee Martin (GB) – Tamiya – 6/2:03.228

4WD Buggy Leg 2 Result
1.(1) Joern Neumann (DE) – Durango – 16/5:05.760
2.(2) Yannic Prumper (DE) – Yokomo – 16/5:16.619
3.(3)Lee Martin (GB) – Tamiya – 16/5:19.478
4.(7) Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – 15/5:01.373
5.(6) Mike Truhe (US) – TLR – 15/5:06.996
6.(4) Hupo Honigl (AT) – Durango – 15/5:07.100
7.(9) Brent Thielke (US) – Associated – 15/5:08.439
8.(5) Darren Bloomfield (GB) – TLR – 15/5:11.628
9.(8) Tom Cockerill (GB) – Schumacher – 6/2:04.479
10.(10)Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho – 2/0:47.946

View complete event results here.

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Video – 4wd A-main Leg 1

Video – 2wd A-main Leg 3

Neumann is 2WD EOS Champion

Joern Neumann is the 2WD Buggy Champion of the TLR/Spektrum Euro Offroad Series presented by Horizon Hobby after a faultless drive in the third A-Main secured the Team Durango driver the overall win in Germany and with it a second buggy title for the German ace ahead of US Champion Dustin Evans and European Champion Lee Martin.

Having made hard work of the opening two A-Mains, Top Qualifier Neumann, who at the preceding round in Belgium became the first ever EOS Champion when he claimed the 4WD Buggy title early, made up for his earlier errors with a clean tone to tone victory ahead of Team Losi Racing’s Darren Bloomfield and Durango team-mate Hupo Hönigl.  Commenting on his win Neumann said he aired on the side of caution for leg 3 opting to ‘drive safe’ rather than fast and with no mistakes the win ‘was easy in the end’.  The fastest man all weekend in Dortmund in terms of outright pace that safe driving was reflected on the time sheets as for the first time his Speed Passion powered DEX210 didn’t record the fastest lap, that honour instead going to Evans. Delighted to do the championship double, the World Championship runner-up said he is already looking forward to next year’s EOS and to defending his titles.  With the buggy classes sewn up he is now focused on doing the hat trick this afternoon as he chases the 4WD Short Course championship crown.

Evans, who only managed 5th in what was a chaotic race behind Neumann, said that having missed the opening round of the series in the Czech Republic it was always going to be an uphill battle to try and win the title so he had to be happy with taking the runners-up spot.  Making the podium in both races he contested, he was very happy to have been as competitive as he was considering that the astro turf and carpet surfaces were alien to him.  Planning to test on a local carpet touring car track back in the US, he said he will be better prepared for next year’s series which will expand to four rounds, two of which the organisers are striving to run on dirt.

Making his EOS debut, and his first buggy outing in seven months, Rheinard was very happy to take the second step on the podium at the Intermodellbau Hobby Show event which has given great exposure to the sport with very large crowds of visitors enjoying the action. Feeling a pass by Bloomfield in the third A-Main, which destroyed his race, was a little rough, the 3-time reigning Touring Car World Champion said he never expected to end up on the podium in 2WD so overall he was very happy with the result.  Asked if he would like to return next year he said it was dependent on Tamiya but he would himself like to have a go at the full series.

2WD Buggy Overall Result
1. Jörn Neumann (DE) – Durango – 2 pts
2. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – 4
3. Dustin Evans (US) – TLR – 4
4. Darren Bloomfield (GB) – TLR – 5
5. Hupo Hönigl (AT) – Durango – 7
6. Oliver Speith (DE) – Kyosho – 11
7. Lee Martin (GB) – Tamiya – 11
8. Mike Truhe (US) – TLR – 14
9. Paul Bradby (GB) – Associated – 14
10.Oskar Levin (SE) – TLR – 18

2WD Buggy Leg 3 Result
1.(1) Jörn Neumann (DE) – Durango – 16/5:17.415
2.(3) Darren Bloomfield (GB) – TLR – 15/5:03.051
3.(6) Hupo Hönigl (AT) – Durango – 15/5:05.572
4.(10)Oliver Speith (DE) – Kyosho – 15/5:09.154
5.(4) Dustin Evans (US) – TLR – 15/5:09.576
6.(8) Paul Bradby (GB) – Associated – 15/5:12.368
7.(5) Lee Martin (GB) – Tamiya – 15/5:16.935
8.(2) Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – 15/5:17.860
9.(7) Mike Truhe (US) – TLR – 15/5:19.593
10.(9)Oskar Levin (SE) – TLR – 14/5:06.764

View complete event results here.

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