October 22, 2017

Chassis Focus – Bruno Coelho

Chassis: Xray XB4 ’18
Motor: Hobbywing 5.5T
ESC: Hobbywing Xerun XR10 Pro
Batteries: EZ 4900mAh Graphene
Radio/Servo: Sanwa/Savox
Tires: Schumacher (handout)
Body: Standard
Remarks – Reigning 4WD EOS and World Champion Bruno Coelho is running the latest ’18 update of the successful Xray XB4. His car is equipped with a WTF fan and Hiro Seiko titanium and aluminium screws. As for option parts, the Portuguese is using graphite arms, aluminium steering rack, front ECS driveshafts and 12° C-Hubs.

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October 22, 2017

Chassis Focus – David Ronnefalk

Chassis: HB Racing Prototype
Motor: Team Orion 5.5T
ESC: Team Orion R10Pro V2
Batteries: Team Orion 4500mAh
Radio/Servo: Sanwa/Highest
Tires: Schumacher (handout)
Body: JConcepts
Remarks – Swedish ace David Ronnefalk is making his comeback here at the EOS running a prototype buggy from HB Racing. Sharing the plastic parts with the 413 – although the compound is now harder – the rest of the car is quite different from its predecessor, with particular attention paid to weight distribution. The chassis is narrower and features plastic side guards, while the layout now resembles that of HB’s 1/8th electric car. David’s mentor and mechanic Adrien Bertin let us know that this version is a hybrid, and that further tests are going to be carried out on dirt in the next weeks, while the car is expected to hit the market at the beginning of 2018.

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October 22, 2017

Coelho wins A1 from Kobbevik

Bruno Coelho has taken an easy win in the first A-Main of 4WD at the Euro Offroad Series in Poland.  The Xray driver quickly pulled clear of the field from his TQ starting position to have an uneventful race.  Behind the reigning champion however there was plenty of action with Daniel Kobbevik picking up the pieces after errors by his more senior rivals.  David Ronnefalk would complete the Top 3, the 1:8 World Champion showing good pace against Ty Tessmann and Martin Bayer but coming together with the latter during the 5-minute encounter.

‘It was a very good final without mistakes’, was how Coelho summed up a rather lonely A1.  Yesterday’s 2WD winner, he continued, ‘I forced at the beginning to try pull away from Bayer and then I saw behind me there was many making mistakes and this allowed me to pull clear after which I could just control my race’.  On target for his second ever EOS weekend double, something he achieved at Arena 33 last season, the World Champion said his plan for A2 is to, ‘try to do the same in the next one’.

Taking a very popular result with his P2 from 5th on the grid, 12-year-old Kobbevik described the result himself as ‘very good’.  His best A-Main leg finish, the Xray driver who set the second fastest lap time to Coelho added, ‘I had good pace and the other drivers were fighting each other and I was able to pick up places when they crashed’.  With this his first EOS race with Xray, having signed for the Slovakian manufacturer back in June, the Norwegian said he hopes for more of the same in A2.

Ronnefalk was pleased with his performance as he continued to be the only challenger to the Xrays.  ‘It was good, the car felt really good’ was how the Swede summed up his race.  He continued, ‘I got by Ty when he made a mistake at the loop. My car was really easy to drive and was fast so I could close the gap to Bayer.  Then he had a mistake but I could react fast enough to get by and we both ended up on our roofs.  That let Ty and Kobbevik get by.  I passed Ty when he rolled but the gap to second was too big so I just drove to keep third to the end. It was good point for the first one and I think if I can put pressure on them in the next one a podium is possible for sure’.

‘It was a little bit rough for me, I had a few mistakes on my own’, was Tessmann’s reaction to finishing 4th over a second back on Ronnefalk.  The North American offroad star said, ‘I had new tyres on for that one and it was a little aggressive but I just didn’t drive good’.  Looking to A2, the former 1:8 World Champion said, ‘I have second run tyres for the next two (finals) so the car should be good and hopefully I will drive better too’.

View complete event results here.

View the event image gallery here.


October 22, 2017

Coelho to start title defence from pole

Bruno Coelho is to start his 4WD title defence from pole with the Xray driving securing the overall 4WD TQ in Warsaw, Poland.  The Portuguese driver went into the fourth & final qualifier with only team-mate Martin Bayer able to deny him from becoming Top Qualifier for a second time at the Euro Offroad Series season opener.  Setting the TQ pace from team-mate Ty Tessmann he however suffered a CVD failure on his final lap allowing Tessmann post his first TQ run of his EOS debut weekend.  Behind, David Ronnefalk would back up his P3 in Q3 with a second for the round.  This result will see the HB Racing driver start as the best non Xray driver in 4th behind Bayer and youngster Daniel Kobbevik, Xray having a total of six cars in the A-Main.

Putting his front CVD failure down to a broken bearing following contact with the boards, Coelho said up to that his ‘car was very good’ and he was just controlling his pace by watching where Tessmann was.  On the finals, the back to back champion who is chasing his 7th 4WD EOS career win said, ‘I know the car is good so I will just try to drive clean runs and not make any mistakes’.

Enjoying a very competitive weekend in Warsaw, Bayer said, ‘I tested a few things in Q3 & 4 but will go back to the Q1 & 2 set-up.  It was much easier to drive’. Winner of the final round of last season’s championship, the former European Champion added, ‘Ty is very fast so we will see, but I feel ok for the finals’.

Tweaking his car set-up and making further speedo adjustments, Tessmann said the changes where ‘all in the right direction’. Running new tyres he said as expected the car was a little bit aggressive but ‘it still felt good’.  Asked of his expectations for the 4WD finals compared to 2WD in which he claimed a podium finish, the Canadian said, ‘I think it should be a little more interesting because everyone can push a little bit harder’.

‘All good’ was Ronnefalk summary of qualifying.  After a slow start yesterday, the Swede said, ‘now today we worked on the shock package and for the last one it was better. We were only 3/10ths behind so its pretty close. With three good drivers with a good car ahead of us I think its been a good result’. Running a prototype of HB Racing’s upcoming new 4WD kit release, he added, ‘there are a few small details we need to work on and we need to gain more experience with the new chassis layout we have here but that will come as we get a few more races under our belt but I hope we can mix it with the Xray’s today’.

View complete event results here.

View the event image gallery here.