Coelho wins EOS season opener as Xray fill 2WD podium in Poland

Bruno Coelho will leave Poland as a somewhat surprise leader of the Euro Offroad Series 2WD standings after taking the overall win at the Season #7 opener. With 2WD Buggy far from being RC racing’s versatile super star’s favourite category, the Xray driver took victory in A3 to wrap up his third consecutive overall 2WD win of the championship.  Also Top Qualifier in Warsaw, the reigning 4WD champion has registered the maximum points possible. Behind, Martin Bayer and first time EOS visitor Ty Tessmann would make it an all Xray podium denying Michal Orlowski a repeat of his home double victory he took last season.  With the Schumacher driver finishing 4th, his title predecessor Lee Martin would finish 5th with the result highlighting the progress Xray have made with their 2WD.

Reacting after his A3 win, having thrown away the lead in A2, Coelho said, ‘that was a very nice final’.  He added, ‘I just had a small mistake at the beginning when I didn’t jump the double but I was able to build up a lead and then just controlled the race ahead of Lee to the end’. He continued, ‘this is not my class and it was very difficult for me last year to stay in the Top 5 but now we have all cars in the Top 3. The car improved really a lot. Last year Lee and Orlowski were on the top but now it is not just me but also Martin and Ty on the podium and I think this means something about the progress we have made with the 2018 car’. He concluded, ‘the car is faster and more consistent and really comfortable to drive.  I hope it is like this the next race but we are on a good way’.

‘Extremely happy’ was how Bayer summed up his team’s result.  In charge of Xray’s Offroad programme, he added, ‘It’s an amazing result.  The first round and the first time we fill the podium’.  On his own personal performance he said, ‘I’m super happy.  All weekend I have been sick so to bring home second is great. It a great way to start my season and now its time to have fun in 4WD’.  That remark coming off the fact that Xray was the dominant force in the class with him winning the closing race of the season in Austria.

Summing up his first EOS experience, Tessmann said, ‘I’m pretty happy with the result’.  The 2014 1:8 Offroad World Champion continued, ‘For the third (A-main) I ran the same tyres again so I knew it would not be quite as good (as A2) so I tried not to crash because from previous experience I knew there would be a lot of crashes’.  Getting a fourth for the round, which together with his P2 from A2 was enough to secure the podium, he added, ‘I rotated the tyre side to side and they felt fresher and I think the differences between runs I was feeling before was just between new and used tyres’.  Asked if he felt 4WD would be his stronger class, the event now switching over to 4WD, he replied, ‘everyone is telling me the track is going to be very difficult in 4WD so we will see.  I have no expectations as I don’t have much experience (of racing on carpet)’.

‘It is really frustrating how it went’, was Orlowski’s view of A3.  The Warsaw teenager said, ‘Bayer was really slow and I found a place to pass him but then he tipped my rear wheel and my run ended there’.  Crashing on the 3rd double as a result of the contact, on the overall result he said, For sure it was not what I wanted.  Xray had good pace this weekend but I think I could have challenged them for the win but they played team work in the finals so Bruno was more out in front’.  He concluded, ‘At least one positive from today is that we know we have good pace for the next race’.

View complete event results here.

View the event image gallery here.