Neumann takes first qualifier at EOS Austria
Having topped yesterday’s practice, this morning Joern Neumann picked up where he left off setting the fastest time in the opening round of 2WD Buggy qualifying at the TLR/Spektrum Euro Offroad Series in Leoben, Austria. Describing the run as ‘close’ referring to the impressive pace of Team Xray’s Martin Bayer, the German outpaced the Czech driver by just under 1-second with Team Durango team-mate Hupo Honigl completing the Top 3.
The defending champion, Neumann said he was able to push his Speed Passion powered DEX210 really hard but on two occasions he pushed it too hard, flipping the buggy with it needing to be marshaled once. Planning to give himself a little more steering for Q2, he said also hoped to tidy up his driving as Bayer, who also made a mistake while swapping the TQ pace, was looking like a serious threat on this his 2WD debut in the EOS.
Bayer said his mistake cost him a TQ run but he was very happy with his opening performance. Running a TLR22, as Xray only have a 4WD Buggy, he said by the end of the run his diff didn’t feel to good so he will rebuild it for Q2 but in terms of the buggy set-up he will leave it as is. Team-mate Renaud Savoya, who has opted to run a Kyosho RB6 in 2WD, said he thought his run was OK as he was sixth fastest in the Top heat but he would only end up 11th overall. Describing his run as very consistent he said the buggy was easy to drive but lazy and he will make changes to make it more aggressive for Q2.
Feeling very much under the weather, so much so that last night he went to the local hospital, Honigl described his run to the 3rd fastest time as ‘maximum steady’ adding that he is so full of drugs he didn’t push and just tried to stay on the racing line for 5-minutes. For Q2 the Austrian said he hopes to drive with a bit more aggression.
Setting the fourth fastest time, factory Kyosho driver David Ronnefalk said his Orion powered Ultima RB6 has been good since he put it on the track here at the impressive MRC Bruck/Mur facility but one mistake cost him a chance at a 14 lap run, only the Top 2 managing this. Happy that the speed is in his buggy to run at the front he said his aim for Q2 is a safe run which would allow him to push and take more risks in Q3 & 4.
Fellow Swede Oskar Levin set the 5th fastest time. Running in the second highest heat, the Team Losi Racing driver said while the 3-consecutive laps used to seed the heats wasn’t good for him he always knew that over 5-minutes he had a good buggy. Putting in a clean run, the 18-year-old said the only change he will make for Q2 is a small bump steer adjustment as he wants to get another strong points haul on the board which if he can do will allow him to ‘go big’ in the final two qualifiers.
Driving a Durango, Team Xray’s Jiri Mara completed the Top 6 ahead of German National Champion & Team C driver Oliver Scholz. For 1:8 Offroad World Champion Robert Batlle the first qualifier didn’t start well. In the warm-up a 30g gram weight at the front of his Yokomo came off and got jammed in the steering. Late to the start, the Spaniard then rolled at the second corner requiring to be marshaled. This left him right on the tail of Round 1 podium finisher Michal Orlowski costing both drivers some time and then passed by Neumann he lost further time when he got caught up in the two mistakes the Durango driver was to make during his TQ run.
2WD Buggy Round 1 Qualifying Top 10
1. Joern Neumann (DE) – Durango – 14/5:19.619
2. Martin Bayer (CZ) – Team Xray – 14/5:20.613
3. Hupo Honigl (AT) – Durango – 13/5:01.503
4. David Ronnefalk (SE) – Kyosho – 13/5:01.796
5. Oskar Levin (SE) – TLR – 13/5:03.449
6. Jiri Mara (CZ) – Team Xray – 13/5:04.137
7. Oliver Scholz (DE) – Team C – 13/5:04.362
8. Bjorn Prumper (DE) – TLR – 13/5:04.411
9. Peter Pinisch (AT) – Associated – 13/5:05.250
10.Patrick Hofer (CH) – Associated – 13/5:05.464
Complete event results can be found here.
View our event image gallery here.
