Wollanka wins A1

Martin Wollanka has won the opening 4WD A-Main of the Euro Offroad Series at the Nürburgring, the Xray driver benefiting from a second lap clash between Top Qualifier Lee Martin and Bruno Coelho.  Leading for the rest of the race the Austrian would back off over the closing laps but almost went too slow with HB’s David Ronnefalk catching and passing him two corners from home.  However it was Wollanka who came out of the final corner in the dash to the line to win.  Behind them Tom Cockerill, who started 7th would complete the Top 3 with Coelho and Martin coming home 6th and 8th respectively.

Commenting on his win, the Austrian who in the opening qualifier posted his first ever TQ run, said ‘I had luck at the beginning’ continuing ‘I have never had a better car’.  Admitting to think ‘shit here comes Ronnefalk’, he said he maybe drove the last lap too safe but in the end it all worked out.  Looking to A2 he said ‘a lot of people make mistakes, so I will just drive the best I can and see what happens’.

Having not been at the races until the final two qualifiers Ronnefalk said ‘I’m happy to be in the final first of all and considering where I have been at all weekend second is a great result’.  Starting 6th on the grid the Swede said he ‘hoped something would happen up front and it did’.  In contention with second he said when his pursuer Michal Orlowski made a mistake giving him a comfortable gap he set about chasing down Wollanka.  On making the pass on the Xray driver he said he was surprised he pulled it off and then overshot the next corner allowing Wollanka back by. Still he was pleased to have turned up for the races.

Lee Martin said there was little to say about the race other than he was ‘taken out and ended up last with no penalty given’. He added ‘it is a shame that this is allowed happen’ and maybe he needs to drop a banana skin from the back of his car to be able to try to take out the driver behind him before they do it to him again.

Giving his side of the incident Coelho said ‘for me I’m not sure but it felt side by side’.  Waiting on Martin to pass him he said he lost too much time to recover and he hoped for a better A2.

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