Orlowski takes Q2 ahead of Rheinard

Michal Orlowski has taken the second round of qualifying at the Euro Offroad Series this morning at the Nurburgring.  The Schumacher driver was fastest from last night’s 2WD race winner Marc Rheinard with Hupo Honigl completing the Top 3.  For reigning champion Bruno Coelho it was not the morning the practice top seed was hoping.  The fastest car on the track, he would make ‘too many mistakes’ leaving him with a P9 for the round.  It would also be a tough round for last night’s Q1 pace setter Lee Martin as he struggled to set the 11th fastest time.

‘It was a good run. The car very good from the beginning because I was on used tyres’, was how Orlowski summed up the qualifier.  Adding ‘it was a safe run’, the former European Champion said, ‘I thought I heard Scotty (Ernst) say Marc (Rheinard) had crashed so I started to cruise towards the end as I thought I had a big gap but he hadn’t crashed and it was only .8 at the finish’. Looking to Q3, the teenager said, ‘I’ll leave the car the same and see what happens’.

Rheinard said his P2 was ‘pretty ok’ but added, ‘my car was pretty hard to drive’.  The Yokomo driver continued, ‘I know it is difficult for everyone but my car was not the same left and right and I lost some time when it got up on 2-wheels’.  After his retirement from Q1 with a broken idler gear, the German said, ‘I needed a clean run after yesterday so it was a good start to the day but Bruno is the quickest only he crashes too much’.  Asked about his run, team-mate Martin said, ‘the car felt completely different to yesterday and I crashed many times.  I’ve got to look over it as it felt like a different car’.  Shortly after the Brit would report back that the rear rollbar had been mistakenly left off.

Finishing a considerable 6-seconds off the TQ pace, Honigl said, ‘I think it was pretty good but I think the car can do a lot more’. Also racing in Mod Truck today, the Xray driver continued, ‘I have raced multi class very often but this track is very difficult and makes switching back & forth more challenging.  The difference in driving style between the classes is a lot more than normal’.

Honigl’s team-mate Kaja Novotny would post the fifth fastest time.  Czech National Champion in both 2WD & 4WD Buggy, the 20-year-old was pleased with his result which was one better than his opening qualifier.  Having had just one small moment at the table top, he said while he was overall very happy with his XB4 it had ‘a little too much steering’ and that was something he hoped to dial out for the penultimate qualifier.  Behind Novotny, Finland’s Joel Valander would complete the Top 6 also at the controls of an Xray.

View complete event results here.

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