Michal Orlowski bounces back in Q3

Michal Orlowski bounced back in Q3, following a bad start to 4wd qualifying at the Euro Offroad Series in Warsaw, to take the top spot, and importantly in the fastest time of the 3 rounds so far. Bruno Coelho, who took both rounds yesterday evening, would claim 2nd in front of Jorn Neumann, with British Yokomo driver Paul Crompton in 4th just ahead of a greatly improved Wesley van Helmond. Happy to get his qualifying back on track the Warsaw native said ‘I got what I couldn’t get in Q1’ a mechanical error putting him out of the lead in the opening qualifying run. Continuing ‘the car felt really good, I will stay with the same setup for Q4 and try to take the TQ from Bruno’, ending by saying ‘I think we are in the game now.’

Still sitting in provisional pole thanks to his TQ runs in Q1 and 2, Bruno Coelho had to settle for 2nd this round but put the pace difference down to the tires, saying ‘I think it was ok, I was on used tires, they are already very used since I ran them since the practice.’ His run also contained a number of errors saying ‘I made two mistakes and I lost 3 or 4 seconds’, the difference separating the front pair some 4 and a half seconds at the end of the 5 minutes.

Jorn Neumann was another who ran on heavily used tires for this round saying ‘I was on 3rd run tires, I think the same as Bruno, we had similar pace so I’m pretty happy with that. Michal was on new tires, it’s always a little faster.’ Asked for what changes the Schumacher driver plans for the final qualifying round he simply said ‘I think I go for new tires and we have the advantage.’

Despite showing good pace in practice, Yokomo driver Paul Crompton was having a difficult qualifying up until Q3, when he was able to put it together and stick in a top 4 run. Asked to explain his change in fortunes, he remarked ‘I just kept it on its wheels, didn’t make any mistake,’ explaining further ‘I needed a run because yesterday was pretty bad.’ Completing the top 5, Dutch driver Wesley van Helmond kept it tidy to post his best run so far, with Martin Bayer and Lee Martin completing the top 7 for the round.

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Q2 Update

Bruno Coelho has taken another TQ in the 4wd class as the Xray driver led home the Schumacher pairing of Jorn Neumann and Michal Orlowski, the trio separated by 8 tenths of a second at the end of the 5 minute run. Q1 runner up Daniel Kobbevik was 4th this round, less than a second in front of Lee Martin, with Neil Cragg the top Associated driver in 6th. Tomorrow morning see’s two more qualifiers, with a driver’ 2 best runs used to determine their starting order for the triple mains in the afternoon.

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Coelho kicks of 4wd with TQ in Round 1

Qualification in 4wd kicked off with Bruno Coelho taking the top spot ahead of Xray team mate Daniel Kobbevik. Michal Orlowski headed the times until 3 and a half minutes in, when landing off the right side double the car went straight on, a loose screw the culprit. His Schumacher team mate and 2nd seed after controlled practice, Jorn Neumann ended 3rd with Joona Haatanen and Lee Martin completing the top 5 for the round. Winner in the 2wd class, which took place earlier today, Bruno, who lost time early in the run, said ‘I did a very big mistake in the beginning, I flipped and I lost 2 or 3 seconds, then I pushed maximum until the end and was able to catch Neumann, and I think then Orlowski stopped.’

Daniel Kobbevik, who scored his first 2wd podium earlier in the day reported his first qualifier as ‘good, only one mistake on the table top but it was a good run.’ The Xray driver continued ‘I was starting 4th and I finished second so I am happy with that.’ Looking for his first class round TQ, the young Norwegian remarked ‘I have been very close to the TQ many times now, it would be cool to take one qualification.’

With Orlowski having to pull up early the Schumacher honours were left to Jorn Neumann to uphold and he would take 3rd for the round. The former champion said ‘It was a good start. Sometimes the car was on two wheels because it wanted to traction roll if I pushed too hard so we are working on that for the next qualifiers.’ Running on new tires, the German expects the 2nd round to be an improvement, saying ‘When the car is on new tires it is pretty edgy so next run should be better.’

Team Associated’s young Finnish star Joona Haatanen was only 6 tenths back on Neumann but was content with his run declaring it ‘not too bad’. Explaining his strategy going into qualifying he said ‘I drove my race tires in the controlled practice because my car was not too good on new tires, super edgy to drive, so that’s why I think I had an advantage to drive easy in the first qualification.’ Former champion Lee Martin completed the top 5 for Yokomo with Xray designer and multiple race winner Martin Bayer in 6th.

In the 10.5 4wd buggy class Marcel Röttgerkamp took the first round of qualifying from 2wd stock class winner Sven Rudig, while Mirko Morgenstern was 3rd, only one tenth in front of Stephan Eberding in 4th.

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Bruno Coelho emerges victorious in Poland

Bruno Coelho has taken the overall victory in 2wd at the Euro Offroad Series in Poland after a mistake by pole man Michal Orlowski enabled the Xray driver to take the lead and subsequent win. Leading for the first 4 laps, the reigning Champion’s race would come undone as he got stuck up on the hairpin on the left side of the track. Coelho got hooked up on Orlowski’s car but was able to get free, inheriting him the lead and dropping the Schumacher driver back to 5th. He would eventually retire 5 laps later, breaking his car following a hard hit with the barriers at the wall ride as he tried to recover lost ground. Lee Martin would finally show some of his qualifying pace to take 2nd for the round but it was too late to salvage a top result and the battle for the final podium spot was between the two young guns, Daniel Kobbevik and Joona Haatanen, the former coming out best as he took 3rd in the final main. Talking with Bruno, he said ‘I had a small mistake in the beginning I touched the board, the car was again a little bit strange. Then I caught Orlowski very fast and he got stock on the corner and I got stuck to him but I was able to get away’ continuing ‘I had a little bit of pressure from Lee Martin after, but I was able to pull away slowly and manage the win.’

Despite leaving Warsaw with the lead in the 2wd series standings, Orlowski summed up his day by saying ‘Slightly disappointed, the car has been great since first practice, but overall it’s a good result. Tomorrow when I wake up i’ll think about the 2wd and think it’s good for the championship getting the TQ and second.’ On the deciding 3rd A-main he commented ‘Bruno was quicker in the final, I made too many mistake trying to push too hard. It was one to win, but not this time. We will keep fighting. Onto 4wd’, drivers attention now switching to 4wd with 2 of the 4 qualifiers being run today following practice.

A very pleased looking Kobbevik said, ‘I’m very happy, it was a very good run, I did one mistake but I was faster. I needed to push to beat Joona, if not he would be on the podium, I am very happy.’ The Xray driver continued by saying ‘It’s my first podium in 2wd, I have 3 podiums in 4wd, so it was good to have one in 2wd as well now.’

In contrast, Joona Haatanen who was championships leader coming in to Rd2 following his win at the season opener in Germany, was extremely disappointed. ‘All mistakes that’s all, and then I couldn’t catch Daniel anymore. He drove good, clean. I just made too many mistakes thats all.’

In the 13.5 2wd buggy class it was a reverse of the top 2 in A2 as Pawel Ntkovca took the win ahead of Sven Rudig but the German would take the overall victory on tie break from Ntkovca courtesy of a faster time. Juraj Hudy would complete the podium in 3rd. Having wrapped up the win early in the 2wd Stock truck class Bartosz Zalewski was 2nd in A3, but with Rudig taking the win he would secure the overall runner up spot with another German, Mirko Morgenstern in 3rd.

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