Day 1 of EOS finale ruled by Neumann

Joern Neumann made his intentions for the finale of the TLR/Spektrum Euro Offroad Series very clear on the opening day of the event after he backed up his run to the fastest time in the morning’s 2WD Buggy practice to top 4WD Buggy and Short Course this evening in Dortmund, Germany.   Topping 2WD Buggy from Team Losi Racing’s Dustin Evans, Neumann posted the three fastest consecutive laps in the 4WD class ahead of team-mate Hupo Honigl meaning the German will carry the No.1 race number on all three of his Durangos in qualifying tomorrow.

Fastest by 7/10th of a second from Honigl in 4WD Buggy, Neumann said his DEX410 was easy to drive with his standard carpet set-up needing little or no adjustment over the five practice rounds and he added that he just hopes he can do the same tomorrow as he goes for the perfect score.  Having TQ’d and won in the Czech Republic and Belgium, which already gave him the honour of becoming the first champion of the EOS, the German’s motivation this weekend in 4WD Buggy is to complete the clean sweep.  Neumann said his buggy has always been strong on carpet and it was just up to him now to deliver the result.

Honigl said he was pleased with his day and pace despite breaking a few things, something he was not alone in doing.  The Austrian, who is in a battle with his team-mate for the overall 4WD Short Course title, said the breakages were nothing to worry about and he is looking forward to qualifying getting started.

The surprise of 2WD Practice, Marc Rheinard again showed well in 4WD, setting the third fastest time.  A former European Champion of the class, the Tamiya Racing Factory star said the surface suited his driving but added that the key to qualifying was going to be about who can do the full five minutes without a mistake rather than who can run the fastest lap. Setting his fastest time in the first of the two timed practice runs, the Touring Car World Champion ran a brand new set of the series’ controlled dBoots tyres in the final practice run which he said made his TRF511 edgy.  Having not run or touched the buggy since his last main at last year’s World Championship he said he just put fresh oil in the shocks this morning and switched from a 6.5T to 5.5T Speed Passion motor.

Team-mate Lee Martin summed up the day saying he just wanted to ‘deleted today and start fresh tomorrow’.  The reigning European Champion was clearly frustrated with his performance today which got off to a poor start when he managed only the 8th fastest time which is not a good start to his challenge against Neumann and Evans for the overall title.  The day didn’t improve much for the British ace who enjoyed a double win at his National Championship opener last weekend as he broke his Tamiya in the first timed practice and then lost a wheel nut at the start of the second.  Eventually he managed the 5th fastest time despite discovering afterwards he had put on the wrong set of tyres which he had not yet finished gluing.

In between the two Tamiyas, Darren Bloomfield said his XXX-4 was ‘surprisingly good’. Setting the fourth fastest time in the first timed round after the front diff loosened on his second run, the Team Losi Racing driver said he did not think he would be able to make the aging chassis much better.  A buggy which first hit the market in the 90s, team-mate Mike Truhe took his example to the 8th fastest time while Evans, whose main focus is on the 2WD title, posted the 11th quickest time.

Setting the sixth fastest time Paul Bradby was top Associated.  The former World’s finalist said he did little with his Reedy powered B44.1 over the five practice rounds and it was a case of just driving it as the buggy felt OK given the high bite track conditions.   Team boss Brent Thielke continued his learning experience as he got his first sample of 4WD on carpet.  The Californian was surprised by how little a difference there was between his 2WD and 4WD on the track compared with the difference he is used to racing on dirt.  Running the same set-up as he used at the Reedy Race the only changes he has made was to fit a front sway bar and go up 5 weight in shock oil.  With his first day of EOS action in the bag Theilke said he is having fun and in particular happy with his 4WD performance as he will be in the second highest heat grouping together with fellow American Evans.

The Top 10 featured a number of drivers better known for racing Touring Cars rather than offroad. Factory drivers Yannic Prumper, who drives for Yokomo, and Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp, who recently won a round of the Euro Touring Series, set the 7th and 9th fastest times respectively with up & coming 10-year-old Polish talent Michal Orlowski completing the Top 10 at the controls of his Tamiya. Elsewhere Schumacher designer Tom Cockerill, who qualified third in Belgium, ended the day down in 17th.  After a poor run in the first timed run, the British driver made a sudden exit from the final round when on the opening lap he tried to clear the table top but the Cat SX touched the jump spinning it onto its roof resulting in the front shock tower being sheared clean off on the landing.

Tomorrow’s schedule will see the day kick off with 2WD qualifying before switching to 4WD in the afternoon with the best 2 of 4 rounds counting towards the grid for Sunday’s Mains.

View complete event results here.

View our complete event gallery here.