Neumann maintains EOS winning streak

Team Durango’s Joern Neumann maintained his winning streak in the TLR/Spektrum Euro Offroad Series as he held off an impressive challenge from series debutant Naoto Matsukura in Langenfeld, Germany, the defending champion securing his fifth straight victory at the event which was hosted just 10-minutes from his house.  Going down to the third & final leg, after each driver notched up a win & a second each in the opening two finals, there was drama on the first laps as the pair tangled with Matsukura having to wait on Neumann who was swallowed up by the pursuing pack.  While Neumann was able to recover to take the win ahead Team Xray’s Martin Bayer who led for 4-laps, the reigning Japanese National Champion could only recover to 4th eventually finishing 6th.  Repeating his Leg 2 third place finish in the closing race, TLR’s Darren Bloomfield completed the overall Top 3 to claim his first EOS podium.

After the podium presentation a relieved looking Neumann said that this was by far the hardest win in the EOS and he was delighted to keep his perfect record of TQ’ing & winning all five events since the inception of the series intact.  Impressed by the speed of Matsukura who before this weekend had never raced on a carpet offroad track, Neumann said that to maintain his run of victories is going to get harder with Yokomo expected to attending the rest of the series.  Apart from the challenge mounted by Matsukura, the European Champion said he had to battle with the set-up on his Speed Passion powered DEX410, the mixed surfaces of the track making the window in which the hand out dBoots tyres suited his buggy very critical.

Having tasted victory when he stood on the top step of the 2WD Buggy podium earlier in the day, Matsukura said he was ‘still happy’ with second overall in 4WD saying it was a ‘good race’.  Keen to highlight it was his first race on carpet the 19-year-old, who is 3-time back to back World Champion in 1:12, said he is going to practice before the next round and with a bit more track time he is confident he can do the double in Austria.

Running a buggy that was designed two decades ago, Bloomfield was surprised to come away with a podium finish saying he wished he could have driven his 2WD buggy as well.  The 1:8 Offroad European Champion had a funny moment in the opening A-Main, with all the buggies set on the grid ready for the start Race Director Scotty Ernst noticed that British driver had not checked in on the timing monitor.  Getting him to drive over the loop to ensure the transponder was working, when it failed to register the body was removed from the buggy to check that everything was connected only to discover Bloomfield had forgot to transfer the transponder back over from his TLR22 which he raced earlier in the day.

Making the international race debut of Xray’s XB4, which is the Slovak company’s first entry into the EP offroad market, Martin Bayer will be encouraged by his second in Leg 3 which secured him fifth overall.  With the Czech ace set to be joined by Renaud Savoya for the rest of the series he will be looking to build on what was a promising first EOS outing for the Juraj Hudy designed buggy.

4WD Buggy Overall Result
1. Jörn Neumann (DE) – Durango – 2 pts
2. Naoto Matsukura (JP) – Yokomo – 3
3. Darren Bloomfield (GB) – TLR – 6
4. Hupo Honigl (AT) – Durango – 7
5. Martin Bayer (CZ) – Xray – 8
6. Tom Cockerill (GB) – Schumacher – 9
7. Lee Martin (GB) – Tamiya – 12
8. Dustin Evans (US) – TLR – 12
9. Michal Orlowski (PL) – Durango – 13
10.Oliver Speith (DE) – Durango – 17

4WD Buggy A-Main Leg 3 Result
1.(1) Jörn Neumann (DE) – Durango – 15/5:07.945
2.(6) Martin Bayer (CZ) – Xray – 15/5:13.797
3.(7) Darren Bloomfield (GB) – TLR – 15/5:18.252
4.(4) Hupo Honigl (AT) – Durango – 15/5:21.538
5.(9) Tom Cockerill (GB) – Schumacher – 14/5:01.950
6.(2) Naoto Matsukura (JP) – Yokomo – 14/5:04.041
7.(8) Michal Orlowski (PL) – Durango – 14/5:07.017
8.(10)Oliver Speith (DE) – Durango – 14/5:07.185
9.(3) Dustin Evans (US) – TLR – 14/5:15.940
10.(5)Lee Martin (GB) – Tamiya – 12/5:02.582

Complete event results can be found here.

View our event image gallery here / Videos to follow later today.

Neumann back in business in Short Course

Having had their domination of 4WD Short Course ended at the opening race of the 2012/13 season in Poland by Team Losi Racing’s Dustin Evans, Durango’s Joern Neumann retook control of the truck class in Langenfeld wrapping up the overall win early thanks to wins in Leg 1 & 2 of the finals.  Having set the pace in 3 of 4 qualifiers on Saturday, the Top Qualifier took his DESC410 to a tone to tone wins allowing him to sit out Leg 3.

Having failed to make the start of the opening A-Main after suffering a broken servo saver during his warm-up laps, Evans headed a Losi 1-2-3 in the third encounter finishing 5-seconds in front of team-mate Oskar Levin and Bjorn Prumper. The result gave Evans second overall with Levin securing the final step on the podium on what was his EOS Short Course debut.

4WD Short Course Overall Result
1.(1) Joern Neumann (DE) – Durango – 2 pts
2.(2) Dustin Evans (US) – Losi – 4
3.(5) Oskar Levin (SE) – Losi – 4
4.(3) Hupo Honigl (AT) – Durango – 6
5.(4) Bjorn Prumper (DE) – Losi – 6
6.(7) Torben Højfeldt (DK) – Durango – 10
7.(6) Kaja Novotny (CZ) – Durango – 11
8.(10)David Bender (DE) – Losi – 13
9.(9) Gerd Strenge (DE) – Durango – 13
10.(8)Nicolas Evens (BE) – Losi – 15

Complete event results can be found here.

View our event image gallery here.

Matsukura wins Leg 2

The winner of 4WD Buggy at the second round of the TLR/Spektrum Euro Offroad Series will be decided in the the final race of the weekend after Team Yokomo’s Naoto Matsukura took the win in Leg 2 of the A-Main ahead of Top Qualifier & Leg 1 victor Jörn Neumann.  The Japanese driver, who is chasing a double win on his EOS debut having won the 2WD Buggy title earlier, took control of the race at the start of the 2nd lap when defending champion Neumann got out of shape at the double just after the loop.  Dropping down the field, the German recovered to finish second, a massive 10-seconds behind Matsukura while TLR’s Darren Bloomfield held off an entertaining challenge from fellow country Lee Martin to complete the Top 3.  Equal on points going into the deciding leg with a win & a second a piece a win would secure the overall victory in Langenfeld for either driver, with anything less allowing Neumann to maintain his undefeated run as his Leg 1 race time is the faster of the two.

4WD Buggy A-Main Leg 2 Result
1.(2) Naoto Matsukura (JP) – Yokomo – 15/5:02.821
2.(1) Jörn Neumann (DE) – Durango – 15/5:12.570
3.(7) Darren Bloomfield (GB) – TLR – 15/5:13.201
4.(5) Lee Martin (GB) – Tamiya – 14/5:13.657
5.(4) Hupo Honigl (AT) – Durango – 15/5:20.792
6.(8) Michal Orlowski (PL) – Durango – 14/5:00.956
7.(3) Dustin Evans (US) – TLR – 14/5:03.147
8.(6) Martin Bayer (CZ) – Xray – 14/5:03.971
9.(9) Tom Cockerill (GB) – Schumacher – 14/5:18.414
10.(10)Oliver Speith (DE) – Durango – 13/4:58.849

Complete event results can be found here.

View our event image gallery here.

Neumann wins opening 4WD encounter

Joern Neumann has won the first leg of the 4WD Buggy A-Main at the Euro Offrad Series in Langenfeld, the expected challenge from Naoto Matsukura failing to materialise after a mistake by the 2WD Buggy class winner gave the Team Durango the break he needed to take control of the race.  In the end the German took the win by a comfortable margin ahead of the Yokomo driver with his own team-mate Hupo Honigl completing the Top 3.

Neumann, who has yet to be beaten in the EOS in 4WD Buggy, said in the end the race was easy but prior to Matsukura’s mistake the 6-time Japanese National champion had him under pressure so he is taking nothing for granted going into the second leg.

Having just scrapped into the A-Main, Schumacher’s Tom Cockerill driving the British company’s new Cat K1 put in a very strong race coming from ninth on the grid through to finish 4th.  Responsible for designing the buggy, Cockerill said it has been working well all weekend but this was the first time he managed to run 5-minutes without any major mistakes.

4WD Buggy A-Main Leg 1 Result
1.(1) Jörn Neumann (DE) – Durango – 16/5:20.673
2.(2) Naoto Matsukura (JP) – Yokomo – 15/5:07.159
3.(4) Hupo Honigl (AT) – Durango – 15/5:10.457
4.(9) Tom Cockerill (GB) – Schumacher – 15/5:13.330
5.(3) Dustin Evans (US) – TLR – 15/5:16.236
6.(6) Martin Bayer (CZ) – Xray – 15/5:17.328
7.(7) Darren Bloomfield (GB) – TLR – 15/5:28.373
8.(5) Lee Martin (GB) – Tamiya – 14/5:04.172
9.(10)Oliver Speith (DE) – Durango – 4/1:32.097
10.(8)Michal Orlowski (PL) – Durango – 0:00.000

Complete event results can be found here.

View our event image gallery here.

Leg 3 win nets Evans runner-up spot

Team Losi Racing’s Dustin Evans cruised to victory in the final Leg of the 2WD A-Main at the second round of the TLR/Spektrum Euro Offroad Series to take the overall Runner-up spot at the German event behind Naoto Matsukura with defending champion Joern Neumann having to settle for the final step on the podium.

Starting behind Neumann, who was effectively on pole position as Matsukura having wrapped up victory in Leg 2 sat out the final, Evans took control of the race on lap 3 following the first of a serious of mistakes by the Team Durango driver.  Once in front the American’s Orion powered TLR22 was able to pull clear as the rest of the pack fought over second, his team-mate Darren Bloomfield coming out on top of that battle to claim a TLR 1-2 finish.  After the race Evans said he needs to find a way to get into the zone quicker on carpet as his final race is always his best.

Despite setting the fastest lap of the race a run of poor laps at the end of the 5-minute encounter dropped Neumann from second to sixth, Tamiya’s Lee Martin, Kyosho’s Christopher Krapp and his own team-mate Hupo Honigl the benefactors. In the championship standings the result sees Neumann’s advantage over Evans reduced by a point but with Matsukura set to contest the rest of the title fight looks set to really hot up.

Overall Result 2WD Buggy
1. Naoto Matsukura (JP) – Yokomo – 2 pts
2. Dustin Evans (US) – TLR – 4
3. Jörn Neumann (DE) – Durango – 4
4. Darren Bloomfield (GB) – TLR – 7
5. Lee Martin (GB) – Tamiya – 7
6. Oliver Scholz (DE) – Team C – 10
7. Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho – 10
8. Hupo Honigl (AT) – Durango –  11
9. Tom Cockerill (GB) – Schumacher – 16
10.Otto Ausfelt (SE) – TLR – 16

2WD Buggy A-Main Leg 3 Result
1.(3) Dustin Evans (US) – TLR – 15/5:17.640
2.(6) Darren Bloomfield (GB) – TLR – 14/5:01.291
3.(4) Lee Martin (GB) – Tamiya – 14/5:01.628
4.(8) Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho – 14/5:02.746
5.(5) Hupo Honigl (AT) – Durango – 14/5:04.810
6.(2) Jörn Neumann (DE) – Durango – 14/5:05.932
7.(7) Oliver Scholz (DE) – Team C – 14/5:08.352
8.(9) Otto Ausfelt (SE) – TLR – 14/5:09.297
9.(10)Tom Cockerill (GB) – Schumacher – 14/5:15.781
10.(1)Naoto Matsukura (JP) – Yokomo – DNS

Complete event results can be found here.

View our event image gallery here.

Matsukura wins 2WD Buggy on EOS debut

Making his debut in the ‘TLR/Spektrum Euro Offroad Series presented by Horizon Hobby’ Team Yokomo’s Naoto Matsukura has made an instant impact on the series with the Japanese ace backing up his Leg 1 win yesterday with another impressive win in Leg 2 this morning to wrap up the overall win in 2WD Buggy. Having TQ’d the biggest class of the EOS, 140 drivers contesting 2WD Buggy at the second round of the series in Langenfeld, Germany, the 4-time Japanese National Champion once again led the high quality international field from tone to tone even with a mistake on lap 13 of 15 which cost him around 2 seconds.  Such was his lead Matsukura still took the win by over a second from defending champion Joern Neumann for whom this is only his second ever defeat in the class, Tamiya’s Lee Martin the only other driver to beat the German which was incidentally also at the second round of the season.  Setting the fastest lap in Leg 2 Team Losi Racing’s Dustin Evans had to settle for third, a mistake on his final lap allowing championship standings leader Neumann back through to second.

Having never raced on a carpet offroad track Matsukura was delighted to take the win adding that it was the ‘perfect result’ for the new B-Max2 MR.  The 19-year-old said the second Leg was a lot more difficult than Leg 1 in which he put in a flawless drive admitting that his nerves got the better of him resulting in his crash three laps from the finish.  With one win out of the way the World Championship finalist said he now wants to go for the double, his B-Max4 lining up second behind Neumann for this afternoon’s 4WD Buggy A-Main finals. Team Yokomo’s first experience of the Euro Offroad Series and obviously encouraged by their pace especially considering how much more experience their rivals have with racing on European style Indoor offroad tracks team manager Robert Itoh said he hopes to be able to have Matsukura contest the rest of the series.

Set to go head to head with Evans in the third leg to decide who will get the overall runners-up spot, Neumann said his Durango was difficult to drive in Leg 2 but ultimately he just made too many mistakes.  Planning to run a harder rear shock set-up on his DEX210 the winner of the season opener said he hopes this will be enough to keep Evans, who set the fastest lap in Leg 2 and starts directly behind him, at bay.

Evans said his TLR22 is the best it has ever been on carpet but he just can’t seem to run a mistake free run on the high grip surface.  Following Matsukura’s mistake, the 2011 US National Champion who was running second at the time said he went all out for the win but over did it.  If he can eliminate the mistakes he said he knows he has the speed to beat Neumann.

2WD Buggy A-Main Leg 2 Result
1.(1) Naoto Matsukura (JP) – Yokomo – 15/5:19.430
2.(2) Jörn Neumann (DE) – Durango – 15/5:20.640
3.(3) Dustin Evans (US) – TLR – 14/5:00.960
4.(4) Lee Martin (GB) – Tamiya – 14/5:02.273
5.(6) Darren Bloomfield (GB) – TLR – 14/5:04.825
6.(8) Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho – 14/5:08.745
7.(10)Tom Cockerill (GB) – Schumacher – 14/5:13.602
8.(5) Hupo Honigl (AT) – Durango – 14/5:15.140
9.(7) Oliver Scholz (DE) – Team C – 13/5:01.414
10.(9)Otto Ausfelt (SE) – TLR – 12/4:23.604

Complete event results can be found here.

View our event image gallery here.