Neumann takes Leg 2

After a messy performance in the opening 2WD A-Main at the EOS finale, Joern Neumann got the job done in Leg 2 but it was another far from perfect run by the German who again allowed Leg 1 winner Marc Rheinard by after a mistake of his own doing on lap 4.  The champion elect managed to retake his fellow countryman 7 laps later when the lead Tamiya got out of shape coming onto to main straight and the pair touched.  Unfortunately for Rheinard his buggy got beached on the track barrier losing him 2 seconds and allowing Team Losi Racing’s Dustin Evans through to finish second with Neumann taking the win by just over a second.

Neumann, who is running a 5.5T Speed Passion motor in his DEX210, said he just gave too much throttle coming into the double single and over jumped the double hitting the single causing his buggy to land on its roof.  Regarding his pass on Rheinard the 21-year-old said he didn’t believed he touched the Tamiya and that the coming together was a result of Rheinard having already lost the TRF201.  The Reedy Race Champion said if thought he had hit Rheinard, with whom he is good friends off the track, and caused him to get out shape he would have waited and let him back through.

Having tried a new set of front tyres on his warm-up laps Rheinard switched back to a mixed set of used tyres having picked the best two tyres from his qualifying sets.  The Touring Car ace, who is enjoying better success here on his first offroad outing since last year’s European Championship in France than he has of late in touring cars, said after the incident on the straight he expected Neumann to wait but added it wasn’t a big issue as he had not made the best entry onto the straight and the current European 4WD Buggy Champion was by far the quickest man on track.

Finishing 2nd Evans said he messed up his race with a mistake of his own on lap 4 that resulted in everyone bar Schumacher’s Tom Cockerill, who was marshalling at the double single, to miss Neumann’s mistake that allowed Rheinard into the lead.  Evans said a change of oil and piston in the rear shocks after Leg 1 had made the 22 safer to drive without losing him any speed and added the plan for the 3rd leg, which will decide who between Rheinard, Neumann and himself takes the overall win for Round 3, is to go all or nothing.

2WD Buggy Leg 2 Result
1.(1) Jörn Neumann (DE) – Durango – 16/5:18.538
2.(4) Dustin Evans (US) – TLR – 16/5:19.570
3.(2) Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – 16/5:20.278
4.(6) Hupo Hönigl (AT) – Durango – 15/5:04.772
5.(7) Mike Truhe (US) – TLR – 15/5:06.070
6.(5) Lee Martin (GB) – Tamiya – 15/5:07.160
7.(3) Darren Bloomfield (GB) – TLR – 15/5:09.757
8.(9) Oskar Levin (SE) – TLR – 15/5:14.795
9.(8) Paul Bradby (GB) – Associated – 15/5:16.813
10.(10)Oliver Speith (DE) – Kyosho – 14/5:03.962

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Rheinard wins opening 2WD A-Main

The surprise of qualifying, putting his Tamiya second on the grid of world class offroad drivers, World Touring Car Champion Marc Rheinard has won the opening leg of the 2WD Buggy A-Main at the finale of the inaugural TLR/Spektrum Euro Offroad Series in Dortmund, Germany. The German driver was handed the lead of the race on the first run through the double double after Top Qualifier & title hopeful Joern Neumann flipped his Durango off the second double luckily landing on his wheels but dropping him to third behind Team Losi Racing’s Darren Bloomfield.  A second mistake by Neumann and then an incident first with Dustin Evans and later with Lee Martin, the other two title protagonists, allowed Rheinard to eventually cross the line 2,5 seconds clear of Evans with Bloomfield taking third just in front of Neumann.

Rheinard described his win as ‘lucky’ saying his Vega converted TRF201 lacked steering after he gambled on running used front tyres.  Caught up quickly by Neumann, who like the previous two days of action at the Intermodellbau Hobby Show would set the fastest lap, the Tamiya Racing Factory driver said defensive driving was the only way he could keep his fellow countryman behind him.  Eventually Rheinard got his big break on lap 12 of 15 when Neumann tried a move down the inside on Evans that resulted in the TLR22 needing to be marshalled. Neumann waited but the incident cost Evans, who was in striking distance of the Tamiya, 5 seconds and any chance of the win.

Neumann said his opening mistake was his own doing and his Speed Passion powered DEX210 is easily up to the job but he really needs to improve his driving in the remaining two legs.  Dropping from second to fourth when he was hit by Martin the lap following his coming together with Evans, the Reedy Race Champion put both incidents down to close racing.

Evans was clearly frustrated at being hit by Neumann.  The US Champion said he was patient when he was third behind the German and he should of done the same as the pair were clearly quicker and going to find a way passed Rheinard.  Starting from fourth on the grid, Evans said if he can get a clean run he is confident he can challenge for the win in Leg 2 as changes to his Orion powered 22 had improved it a lot since qualifying.

Finishing third 2.2 seconds behind his Team Losi Racing team-mate, who started one place behind him on the grid, Bloomfield said he got lucky as changes to his Orion powered 22 made the rear a little too soft.

2WD Buggy Leg 1 Result
1.(2) Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – 15/5:03.465
2.(4) Dustin Evans (US) – TLR – 15/5:06.133
3.(3) Darren Bloomfield (GB) – TLR – 15/5:08.398
4.(1) Jörn Neumann (DE) – Durango – 15/5:08.697
5.(5) Lee Martin (GB) – Tamiya – 15/5:10.540
6.(6) Hupo Hönigl (AT) – Durango – 15/5:13.459
7.(10)Oliver Speith (DE) – Kyosho – 15/5:14.355
8.(8) Paul Bradby (GB) – Associated – 15/5:17.012
9.(7) Mike Truhe (US) – TLR – 15/5:19.244
10.(9)Oskar Levin (SE) – TLR – 15/5:21.245

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Overall TQ puts Neumann on target for EOS 2WD title

Joern Neumann is Top Qualifier for tomorrow’s title deciding A-Main after the Team Durango ace set a new fastest time in the final round of 2WD Buggy Qualifying at the TLR/Spektrum Euro Offroad Series finale in Dortmund, Germany.  A major boost for the championship protagonist, whose two title rivals will start the deciding race from the middle of the grid, the German claimed pole position on tie break with Marc Rheinard and Darren Bloomfield thanks to his Q4 time which was just .065 shy of being the only 16 lap run of the event.

Very happy to claim the extra championship bonus point that goes with taking overall TQ honours, Neumann was even more happy to finally put together a clean round.  The fastest man on track every round, mistakes meant the 21-year-old ended up with 2nd, 3rd and 4th fastest time in the opening three rounds.  Expecting his greatest challenge this weekend to come from Lee Martin following his win at the preceding round in Belgium, Neumann said he was happy to have Rheinard and Bloomfield start behind him as it gives him a buffer over Dustin Evans & Martin who start 4th & 5th respectively.  Aware of the potential challenge that could come from Rheinard, whose touring car driving skills are an advantage on the carpet track, Neumann said he is very comfortable with the handling of his Speed Passion powered DEX210 and should he come under any pressure he is confident he can safely defend.

Never expecting to find himself in the hunt for the overall TQ of an international 2WD Buggy race going in to the final qualifier, Rheinard was very happy to find himself 2nd on the grid.  The 3-time reigning Touring Car World Champion said his dBoots tyres reached their best in the final qualifier but added if he can prepare the extra set issued to all A-Main drivers correctly he is planning to give Neumann a run for his money tomorrow.  Tamiya Racing Factory team-mate Martin wishes he could switch position with Rheinard.  The reigning European Champion said his Vega converted TRF201 feels good and has put his below par performance down to him not gelling with the track layout.  Although he faces a major task tomorrow if he is to deny Neumann the overall title, the Englishman said all he needs to do is repeat what Evans pulled off in Belgium when he won the second A-Main from 5th on the grid.

Lining up behind his Losi/Orion team-mate Bloomfield, who was the most consistent driver in qualifying before breaking his 22 in Q4, Evans said he was frustrated to be starting 4th having enjoyed a TQ run in the second qualifying.  Although he finished runner-up in Belgium from 5th on the grid, the US Champion said the track at the Intermodellbau Hobby Show is a much tougher challenge and so such a result is only going to be possible if other make mistakes.

Two big name casualties of the final round of qualifying were Associated team-manager Brent Thielke whose idler gear stripped and needing a good result the DNF dropped him to 12th in the qualification ranking.  The American will start 2nd in the B-Main behind factory Schumacher driver Tom Cockerill who lost out on the final A-Main grid position on a tie break with Oskar Levin and 16-year-old local kid Oliver Speith whose mid motored Kyosho will carry the No.10 tomorrow.

2WD Buggy A-Main Grid
1. Jörn Neumann (DE) – Durango – 1 pts
2. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – 1
3. Darren Bloomfield (GB) – TLR – 1
4. Dustin Evans (US) – TLR – 2
5. Lee Martin (GB) – Tamiya – 5
6. Hupo Hönigl (AT) – Durango – 7
7. Mike Truhe (US) – TLR – 8
8. Paul Bradby (GB) – Associated – 9
9. Oskar Levin (SE) – TLR – 13
10.Oliver Speith (DE) – Kyosho – 13

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Surprise TQ run from Rheinard

Touring Car World Champion Marc Rheinard pulled off a surprise TQ run in the penultimate round of 2WD Buggy qualifying at finale of the Euro Offroad Series in Dortmund, Germany. The Tamiya driver topped the time sheets from Team Losi Racing’ Darren Bloomfield and Durango’s Hupo Hönigl while the three title contenders Joern Neumann, Dustin Evans and Lee Martin made mistakes, the latter’s error resulting in a broken shock tower.

Rheinard, who joked he can’t remember the last time he TQ’d a round in Touring Cars, said starting last after his DNF in the previous qualifier he just aimed to run an error free 5-minutes and helped by the mistakes of others the end result was a TQ run in a class that is the least favourite of those in which he competes.  Team-mate Martin was on for a potential Top 3 time but with less than a minute to go caught one of the hay bails on the edge of the table top causing his Tamiya to rotate upside down and break the front shock tower on landing.

Bloomfield, who is full of praise for the power delivery and feeling he is getting from his new Team Orion electrics, said fresh tyres improved his TLR22 allowing the Brit to post his fastest 5-minute run.  Unfortunately for team-mate Evans, who TQ’d the preceding qualifier and felt he had got a handle on the controlled dBoots tyres, he was wrong and going for an extra run on his first set of tyres didn’t pay off as they were passed their best.  Struggling for pace the American eventually finished 7th after a mistake on lap 10 lost him 5-seconds but he said a top result was already out the window after lap 2.

Recording his best qualifier Hönigl said both his LRP powered DEX210 and driver were much better this time round and was very pleased with third.  Fourth fastest for the round, Durango team-mate Neumann got caught out by fresh tyres, the German having two bad laps as he struggled with his buggy being very edgy.

Completing the Top 6 were Team Losi Racing drivers Mike Truhe and Oskar Levin, the young Swede who was one of the stars of qualifying at the opening EOS event finally getting in a solid run.

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Evans takes Q2

Team Losi Racing claimed a 1-2 in the second round of 2WD Buggy qualifying at the Euro Offroad Series Finale with Dustin Evans topping the time sheets from this morning’s Q1 top qualifier Darren Bloomfield.  Having clipped down the pins on his front tyre for Q2, Evans said his Team Orion powered TLR22 was much more comfortable to drive although still a bit edgy but with the natural wear he said it’s only going get better for Q3.  The American Champion said cutting the pins has given him valuable information as to how he needs to prepare his dBoot tyres for the finals.

While Evans got his tyres close to the optimum performance, by the end of the 5-minute qualifier Bloomfield was starting to run out of front tyres.  Making changes to his set-up to improve the mid corner steering on his 22, the British driver said he could feel the tyres going away but the lack of pins didn’t effect his overall performance much as he set his fastest lap of the run on the final lap.

Making a mistake three laps into the run, which saw the Top 10 for the round run 15 laps, Neumann posted the 3rd fastest time.  Following his mistake he dropped behind Evans and shadowing his title rival for the rest of the run the Team Durango driver said afterwards they were both running almost an identicial pace. Like in Q1 the German once again set the fastest lap of the round being the only driver to navigate the challenging track in 19 seconds.

Lee Martin once again set the fourth fastest time with his Tamiya.  The Belgian EOS race winner said his Speed Passion powered TRF201 buggy is getting better with each run but is still hard to drive fast.  Planning to make the chassis heavier for Q3 he hopes this will help keep it planted more through the corners.  Team-mate Marc Rheinard who was 5th in Q1, managed only 5 laps after a lead came off his Speed Passion motor.

Going for a safe rather than fast run Team Losi Racing’s Mike Truhe set the 5th fastest time for Q2 followed by Team Associated’s Paul Bradby.  Bradby, who was joined in the Top 10 by both his AE team-mates Brent Theilke and Tony Truman who set the 9th & 10th fastest time respectively, said he needs to improve the reaction of the rear big bore shocks on his car so as to get C4.1 to settle quicker.

In between the Associated squad, with the 8th fastest time, factory Schumacher driver Tom Cockerill said his improvement was simply down to better driving.  Making one mistake the Englishman said he doesn’t know exactly where he is losing time but he feels the SV2 is not aggressive enough but thinks he will stick with having a safe set-up and focus on getting a clean run.

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Bloomfield tops opening Qualifier

Darren Bloomfield has topped the opening round of 2WD Buggy qualifying at the TLR/Spektrum Euro Offroad Series presented by Horizon Hobby.  The Team Losi Racing driver took his Team Orion powered 22 to a fastest time of 15 laps in 5:09.191 to take the first of the four scheduled qualifiers ahead of the three title protagonists, Joern Neumann, Dustin Evans and Lee Martin who took the next three positions on the time sheets at the Dortmund event.

Describing his run as ‘kind of safe’, Bloomfield said the run was not very fast but was clean and this played in his favour as the others suffered crashes.  In terms of his buggy, the British 1:8 Offroad National Champion said overall it felt pretty good but for Q2 he will raise the rear links so as to try and make it ‘pivot’ better in the corner.

The fastest man in yesterday’s practice, Neumann said his run started well but a coming together with Bloomfield’s team-mate Mike Truhe on the penultimate lap cost the German 3-seconds and ultimately the TQ for the round.  The Reedy Race Champion said his Speed Passion DEX210 feels really good, endorsed by his fastest lap of Q1, and added once he can get a clean run he is confident he has the edge over his rivals.   Team-mate Hupo Honigl, who was sixth fastest, said he should have done the morning’s free practice as after running 4WD for the second half of yesterday’s practice day he didn’t re-adapt to his LRP powered example of the 2WD buggy but added he thinks it was good to drive and everything should be fine for Q2.

Evans said he was actually happy with third considering how hard his buggy was to drive.  Very edgy, the US Champion said he is still struggling with how sensitive the front tyres are to the handling of the buggy.  This led to a crash by the Team Losi Racing driver early in the run but Evan hopes that by clipping down the pins on his front set of controlled dBoots tyres he will have a safer buggy for his next qualifier.  Truhe was another to get caught out by his tyres. Running a used set in the morning practice he was very comfortable with his buggy he switched to a fresh set for his opening heat but said it was very edgy.  With just a minute to run the American had a ‘huge’ crash on the straight which cost him 8 seconds after which he said he was left frustrated leading to further mistakes dropping him to 8th for the round.

Tamiya Racing Factory’s Martin was much more positive this morning after a tough opening day yesterday. The European Champion had to come through traffic due to starting 8th and with too much steering on his Vega converted TRF201 he suffered an early mistake.  Set to start 4th for Q2 having set the fourth fastest time ahead of team-mate Marc Rheinard, the winner of the preceding round of the EOS said he is in better form and feeling more connected with the track today and so the day should get a lot better.  Rheinard said he buggy was ‘fine’ and he just needed to cut out crashes after he put his buggy, which is Martin’s spare mid motor mounted chassis, on its roof which cost him 3 seconds.

Paul Bradby was fastest of the Team Associated squad as he took his C4.1 to seventh just ahead of team boss Brent Theilke.  Bradby, who along with Thielke is running in the second fastest heat grouping, said he struggled a little with traffic but said it was own fault for being too slow in timed practice yesterday.  Happy with his buggy he said it was down to him to drive it.  Just missing out on making 15 lap with a 5:00.889, Theilke said Q1 was his first clean run since arriving in Germany and he was happy to take 8th for the opening round.  Starting 8th in his heat, he said once he passed some traffic he was out on his own and he was not sure how hard to push as he had no one to pace himself against.  Starting 2nd behind Bradby in Q2 he said he should be able to judge his pace better and hopefully improve his time.  Changing the set-up on his C4.1, which is belonging to Neil Cragg, three times before his opening qualifier Theilke switched to big bore shocks and was happy with their performance.

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