Orlowski delivers in Q3
With Lee Martin taking the opening two 2WD qualifiers at Round 2 of the Euro Offroad Series in Slovakia, in Q3 it was last season’s winner Michal Orlowski who would force the overall TQ to be decided in the fourth and final qualifier at the Hudy Arena. Having lost out on the TQ in Q1 with a last lap mistake and then making a mistake while setting the pace in Q2, Orlowski would manage a clean 5-minutes on his third attempt to top the times with a new fastest time just 0.045 up on Martin. Behind them Bruno Coelho would as he did in Q3 again complete the Top 3 ahead of Xray team-mate Martin Bayer who was only 10th in the previous two qualifiers due to mistakes.
‘Finally I got a run with no mistakes’ was how Orlowski summed up his TQ run, the 14-year-old adding it was ‘a tough last lap’. Running on the rear wing of Martin’s Yokomo for most of the run, the Pole would twice on the final lap get his KF2 up on two wheels but luckily managed to save it each time. While this allowed Martin to pull 9/10ths back he would just hold on to his lead to force the overall TQ decision to go to Q4. Top Qualifier in Trencin last year enroute to his first EOS win, Orlowski is up for the challenge saying his ‘car is great’ and its down to him to ‘just drive better’.
Describing his Q2 TQ run as ‘boring’ Martin said ‘that one was exciting’. Starting first but getting up on two wheels early and allowing the second place starting Orlowski to close the gap he said they were so evenly matched he couldn’t get a gap again on his rival adding ‘there is no risk or reward section on the track’. The first and only driver to run a 23-second lap, he said Orlowski’s last lap bobble gave him a chance to sew up the TQ but admitted his own final lap felt a bit scrappy even though it would turn out to be his second fastest of the qualifier. Shadowed by Orlowski it was clear to see that each driver had a section of track where they were faster than the other. Able to open a small gap in the fast sections but with Orlowski able to come right back at him in the slow stuff, Martin said his rival was using ‘more punch that (him)’ something that was not in his own style of driving. Saying opening with 2 TQ runs always makes the third qualifier harder but with a good car he is confident for Q4.
Top Qualifier at the season opener on his international 1:10 Offroad racing debut, Coelho said his performance was ‘OK but not perfect’. After throwing away a potential TQ run in Q1 with a mistake he opted to just drive a safe Q2. Getting a third from that approach, he would push harder in Q3 but again would suffer a mistake, this time on only the second lap with over 4-seconds lost. Almost assured of third on the A-Main grid, for Q4 he will again opt to push for a fast run while aiming to eliminate those single big mistakes. Commenting on his P4 in Q3, Bayer summed it up with ‘getting better’. On his disappointing opening two qualifiers, the 2014 EOS Slovakia 2WD winner said he just didn’t make clean runs due to stupid mistakes of his own doing. In Q3 he would also suffer a mistake but losing 3-seconds he said getting caught up in traffic led to this error. Currently lying 8th overall, he said he is happy with how his XB2 is working adding I just need to try and keep it clean for the last one.
Continuing his impressive showing Joona Haatanen would back up his P4 in the opening two rounds with fifth in Q3. The rising Finnish talent and EOS regular’s best qualifying performance to date, the 12-year-old would just miss out on a 13-lap run due to a spin on his penultimate lap. Happy with his modified B5M, which features a lot of hand made parts, he feels he could do with more power but putting the suggestion to his father to adjust his Reedy speedo settings he said he was overruled by his father and so he will run everything unchanged for Q4. Behind Haatanen, who is a previous EOS finalist, Ales Bayer would complete the Top 6 for Q3.
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