Coelho takes Q1 despite mistake

Bruno Coelho has taken the the opening round of qualifying at the Euro Offroad Series in Poland despite an error in the middle of the five minute qualifier that cost him almost 2-seconds. Dropping to fifth but recovering to go back to the top of the timing screens, the reigning champion would head an Xray 1-2 from Martin Bayer by 1.5 seconds, Bayer himself recovering from a crash on his third lap.  Lee Martin would ensure it wasn’t a complete Xray white wash, the Yokomo driver posting the third fastest time with the next best no Xray being his team-mate Marc Rheinard, who having been on he TQ pace for a time finished up 8th struggling with how his car was landing the jumps.  For second seed Michal Orlowski his opening qualifier was short lived as he retired after just two laps as the ‘screws in the gear were left loose’.

‘It was not perfect’ was Coelho’s reaction after the qualifier.  The reigning champion and current points leader thanks to his Nurburgring victory,  continued, ‘I flipped once and had many mistakes touching the boards’.  Flipping his XB4 after a bad landing he said, ‘luckily the marshal was quite close so I did not lose a lot of time’.  Setting the fastest lap of the qualifier, he reiterated, ‘the car is working very well’ concluding, ‘I just need to make no mistakes’.

‘Very good, second is very good’, was how Bayer summed up the first qualifier.  Making a mistake just before the wall section that required his XB4 to be marshalled, the Czech driver was more than happy that ‘the speed is there’.  For Q2 he said the only thing he needs to change is to ‘cut out the mistake’.

Reviewing his performance Martin said, ‘just as they called me in the lead I grip rolled off the straight but 3rd is not bad to start with’.  The former Champion added, ‘I thought we could have got more but it was not to be, but another good run and we are in the Main’.  On his RC Concept powered YZ4 he felt ‘the landing could be better’ with it also ‘sometime want(ing) to get up on two wheels’, something he said is preventing him from driving as fast as he wants to.  For Q2 he will consider glueing his tyres more.  Rheinard said his example ‘just doesn’t land’.  The German said he needs to get the jump perfect or else the car bounces, with any over jump into a flat landing ending in the car getting out of shape.  Looking to his mechanic Thomas Pumpler for a solution, ‘Pumpi’ said he will fully refresh the shocks but leave the oils and springs unchanged.

Posting a P4 for the round, 18-year-old Valander described the run as ‘really good’.  The Finn said ‘I was just looking for a clean run so I’m really happy with 4th’, adding ‘I might have lost a bit of time as I was getting a little excited at the end’.  Pleased with his XB4, he said having rebuilt his diffs after practice they felt completely different to drive adding the car was ‘a lot better’.  Looking to Q2, he said ‘I’m just going to try keep it on its wheel, so let’s see’. Behind Valander, Kája Novotný posted a P5 with the 20-year-old Czech Champion setting the second fastest lap time in the process, while Hupo Honigl completed the Top 6.

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Advantage Coelho after 4WD seeding at EOS Poland

Bruno Coelho holds the early advantage on the Euro Offroad Series’ return to Poland with the reigning champion topping seeding in Warsaw.  The Xray driver set the pace in both rounds of controlled practice, with his CP2 pace the quicker to leave him top of the time sheets by 0.242 of a second from 2WD top seed Michal Orlowski.  Having set the pace in the single round of 4WD free practice, Martin Bayer would end practice third with his CP1 time when he was second fastest to Coelho.  Outside the Top 3, Marc Rheinard would take his Yokomo to 4th ahead of team-mate & reigning champion Lee Martin with Kája Novotný 6th as Xray filled 6 of the Top 10 spots.

‘Very good as always’ was how Coelho summed up his car’s performance in practice.  Leaving his Hobbywing powered XB4 unchanged over the three 5-minute runs, the only thing he would do is fit a new set of the pre-glued Schumacher handout tyres.  Commenting on what is one of the tighter tracks to appear in recent times on the EOS, the World Champion said ‘it’s quite strange’ to drive in 4WD adding ‘it’s super fast’.  He continued, ‘There are no (corner) dots so you have to run very close to the pipe and when you touch them the car gets stuck in them’.   Looking to qualifying, which in a change to the regular EOS schedule will see 2 rounds run tonight, the Portuguese ace said, ‘it all looks good for qualifying’ pausing before adding ‘I hope’.

‘It’s going alright’ was Orlowski view of his 4WD practice.  The Polish teenager said having started out with a lack of steering which he said was down to his Schumacher not having enough rear rotation they improved the car each run.  Switching to a stiffer rear spring for CP2 he said that gave the car more rotation describing it now as ‘very good and consistent’.  Looking forward to qualifying, the former European Champion said it was ‘very difficult to not traction roll’ with the track having ‘a lot of 180 (degree corners)’.

Rheinard was rather upbeat by his performance saying ‘it was pretty good actually’ adding ‘we are getting close to the Xray boys’.  Running a different diff set-up in the XB4 to the season opener he said this is working better, with the car ‘easier to drive’.  Changing to a softer rear sway bar after the free practice the German said this improved the car in that it kept the buggy more on the ground under power.  Declaring qualifying will be ‘all about not crashing’ he said his aim for Q1 would be to ‘just try to make a clean run’.

Opting to try Rheinard’s set-up for the final practice, Martin said his YZ4 was ‘a little better to drive’.  The Brit added, ‘it still lacks a little slow corner speed but it’s not bad and it’s pretty consistent’.  Planning to ‘change just one small thing’ for Q1 he will overall leave it as it is for the opening qualifier.

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Orlowski tops 2WD seeding at EOS

Having kicked off his home event with the fastest time in free practice, Michal Orlowski went on to top 2WD seeding for Round 2 of the Euro Offroad Series in Warsaw, Poland.  Fastest in the first of the two controlled practices from Bruno Coelho, the Schumacher driver went quicker in CP2 with a ‘lucky’ last lap that denied Marc Rheinard from topping times.  Running two cars in the second practice but losing the front wheel off his better car after just a lap, Coelho would end up third having to count his CP1 time. Behind, Lee Martin would be one of only 4 drivers in the Top 10 to improve in CP2 with that time leaving the reigning champion 4th for the seeding ahead of fellow countryman Neil Cragg, with Martin Bayer completing the Top 6.

‘Finally we found a better set-up for the car’ was Orlowski’s reaction to topping the final practice.  With his KF2 SE running with a more forward motor position he added, ‘it still has the speed but it’s now less edgy’.  Making a change to the car after free practice for CP1, he said laying down the rear shocks more that was what gave him the car set-up he was after.  Calling his final lap ‘lucky’, when asked why he said’ ‘I didn’t see I did anything better but it was much faster’.  An 18.443 lap time it would be almost 4/10th quicker than his rivals best lap of the tight technical track.  Having felt he didn’t have enough brakes in free practice, he said while it was better it was probably more down to the fact he was getting used to them adding they’re still off what he would like.  With attention now turning to 4WD practice and two 4WD qualifiers tonight, a change to the normal EOS schedule, he said, ‘hopefully we can carry this on into qualifying tomorrow’ adding ‘we will think about a set-up change but I’ll probably stay the same’.

‘It was OK’ was Rheinard’s reaction to finishing 3/10ths off Orlowski.  The Nurburgring winner ran a different battery position in the final practice but said he is not sure he will stay with it for qualifying.  Asked why, the Yokomo driver replied, ‘It pushes a little in the fast corners’ exit but overall we have a good car for qualifying’.

Starting out he had ‘bad luck’, Coelho corrected himself saying, ‘It was not bad luck, it was my mistake. I forgot to tighten the wheel’.  Starting out the practice with his ‘old car’, when he made the switch over to his second car with which he set his CP1 time, the front right wheel departed the buggy on the second run down the straight forcing him to revert back to the old car with which he could only post the 7th fastest time of the round.  Describing the car from which he lost the wheel as ‘much faster’, when asked about if his lack of brakes in free practice had been cured he said ‘It was now ok’ adding ‘I think it was a change to the diff that fixed it’.

Reigning champion Martin described his P4 in seeding as ‘not too bad’.  The Yokomo driver continued, ‘I can run a pretty good time and just need to find a few tenths here and there’.  Elaborating he said, ‘I don’t think it’s hugely me and I can find some (time) by turning up the power a little’.  With his electrics ‘already getting a bit warm’ he said I’m going to need more air holes in the body’.  In terms of his RC Concept powered YZ2 set-up he concluded, ‘I think we’ll leave it for tomorrow’.

Summing up his controlled practice, Cragg said, ‘the first one was really good for the 5-minutes and the car felt dialled.  In the second one, the first 2-lap felt pretty dialled but then I drove too hard and hit every pipe around the track. I’m really disappointed with myself’.   He added, ‘the car is really good but I need to not crash’.  Looking to qualifying, his day already done as he is not racing 4WD this weekend, the reigning European Champion said, ‘we need to find 1/10th a lap and I think that’s going to come from a combination of both the car and driver’.  Cragg’s  young team-mate Joona Haatanen would finish the seeding 9th fastest ahead of the Serpent of former champion Joern Neumann.

Setting the 6th fastest time ahead of his team driver Hupo Honigl, Bayer summed up his practice performance as ‘pretty good’.  Trying a different, stiffer shock set-up than free practice, the Czech driver said this ‘was better’ making his XB2 pretty easy to drive.  Feeling he could do with ‘a little more rotation for the 180 corners’ adding the amount he feels he is lacking is ‘tiny’ he said they will try something ahead of Q1 to try find this.

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Orlowski tops free practice in Warsaw

Michal Orlowski topped 2WD free practice on the Euro Offroad Series’ return to Poland with the Schumacher driver setting the fastest 3-consecutive laps over the two rounds.  Racing at Warsaw Moto Show in the capital city, Orlowski was fastest from a trio of Xray’s with Martin Bayer heading Bruno Coelho and Hupo Honigl.  Winner of the season opener in Germany, Marc Rheinard would post the fifth fastest time with Team Associated’s Neil Cragg completing the Top 6 ahead reigning champion Lee Martin, Martin having broke early in the first practice.

Runner-up at the season opener at the Nurburgring in September, Orlowski said his car ‘feels really good’ but added it was ‘a little edgy and twitchy’.  Since Round 1 his Cougar KF2 SE now features the motor more forward mounted in the car and he said they ‘need to find a better set-up’ for this adding ‘I don’t want to reduce the speed’.  The Warsaw teenager also reported feeling he didn’t have enough brake but changing his speedo between round he said it didn’t improve things.

‘Pretty good’ was how former 2WD race winner Bayer summed up his free practice.  Running his ‘basic Hudy Arena set-up’, the Xray Offroad team-manager said he was ‘just trying to learn the track and see where (he) can push’.  Describing his XB2, which is running the same as Coelho, he said he feels ‘so far ok’.  On the track the Czech driver said ‘I like the jumps and that the track is not as open as Round 1’.

Coehlo, who has yet to register a 2WD win in the EOS, was pleased with his own driving said he is ‘driving the track well’ but like Orlowski felt a lack of braking cost him a better time.  The 4WD World Champion said he had eliminated the problem being electrical, feeling it was possibly diff related.  Pleased with the feel of his Hobbywing powered XB2 around the tight track, he said the lack of brakes was losing him a lot time in the 180 degree corners.

On setting the fourth fastest time, Honigl said, ‘I am not quite as familiar with the track as in Germany’.  Adding ‘my car is good, I just need to learn the track’  he admitted the layout in Warsaw is ‘not really the type of track he likes as you have to push too much’.  Describing the track as ‘good but different’ for him it has ‘no flow’ but he hopes to build on his early pace.

Championship leader thanks to his TQ and win at the season opener, Rheinard said his pace ‘was OK but (he) couldn’t make three laps without crashing’.  Describing the track as ‘pretty tricky’ he added, ‘it’s not easy to go fast and not crash’.  On his YZ2 he said while it’s ‘not 100% it’s not bad and (they) are still trying stuff’ but for now his focus is on getting ‘more out of myself’.

‘Not too bad’ was how Cragg summed up his two practice runs adding the track is ‘the most different layout’ he has experienced in his three previous EOS outings.  Feeling his ‘driving could be better’, the reigning European Champion said while they have good pace it’s hard not to crash and he will try to make the car a little easier to drive.  Although predicting ‘quite a lot of crashes’ due to the track being tight he added it’s a ‘pretty cool layout’.

Commenting on his free practice, Martin said, ‘I broke in the first one which was not good’.  Managing to run all of FP2, the British driver described his car as feeling ‘quite OK but needs a little more rotation’ adding ‘I didn’t string 3-laps together’.  Trying to put pace into context, he said, ‘many drivers look pretty fast for one lap but they’re making lots of crashes so over 5-minutes so I don’t know’.

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Track Focus – Warsaw Moto Show

Venue – Ptak Warsaw Expo
Race Hosts – ATA
Country – Poland
Location – Warsaw
Direction – Clockwise
Surface – Carpet
No. of EOS Races hosted – 0

After a one year break, Poland is back on the Euro Offroad Series calendar hosting Round 2 this weekend and ATA’s Niko Triandafilidis has again come up trumps with securing an exciting new venue at which to showcase RC racing.  Having hosted the season opener for three consecutive seasons as part of the Hobby & Gaming Show in Poznan, Niko has again been able to get the EOS run as part of Warsaw Moto Show at the impressive Ptak Warsaw Expo in the capital city.  The biggest Exhibition and Congress Centre in Central Europe, it is located just 10-minutes from the airport and 15 minutes from Warsaw city centre and it is hoped that that this is the first of a long run visit for the EOS to the show, it being one of three races on the Season #6 calendar that showcase the hobby in front of a public audience. Attracting 250 plus entries, the weekend will not just showcase some the best RC racers in the World to the expected 15,000 show visitors but it will also give Poland’s next generation of RC racers the chance to be part of their first international RC event.  All racing Tamiya Fighter buggies, these 4 to 11-year-olds will race just after lunch on Saturday and Sunday.

Located in one of Ptak Warsaw Expo’s six halls that provide a total exhibition space of 143,000 square meters, the track covers an area of 30m x 20m.  A home race for Warsaw resident and EOS front runner Michal Orowski, the Schumacher driver summed up the track as ‘pretty difficult’.  Describing the quad section which most drivers can triple as ‘really nice’, he added a good landing into the following corner was key to a good lap.  Also liking the track’s wall feature, he said the corner table top leading onto the straight was important to get right in terms of carrying speed onto the straight.  Reigning 4WD Champion and Round 1 winner Bruno Coelho was also positive about the track layout, describing it as ‘super technical’ but adding ‘I like it a lot’.

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