EOS win #9 for Neumann

Despite facing by far his toughest opposition yet at a Euro Offroad Series race, Team Durango’s Joern Neumann remains unbeaten in 4WD Buggy after he secured win #9 at Round 2 of the series today in Berlin.  Taking a relatively easy win in A1, the German faced intense pressure second time round from Team Xray’s Martin Bayer but a last lap coming together allowed him to take the Leg and with it the overall win.

‘Next time 10’ was Neumann’s reaction to what he said was by far the most pressure he has come under since he began his reign as the 4WD master of carpet surface tracks which are the norm for indoor racing in Europe.  Top Qualifier for the race, he said like at last weekend’s DHI Cup where he took a third consecutive win Bayer and himself had the same speed.  Commenting that Bayer’s Xray ‘seemed to have a little more steering’ than he had but his DEX410 was very easy to drive.

‘Very close but second’ was how Bayer summed up the entertaining 5-minute encounter. Getting passed the No.2 starting Yokomo of Lee Martin at the second corner, the driver who took the European Championship title off Neumann last Summer, said it was really good to be able to battle with his rival from the first lap.  Descibing it as an ‘amazing race’, the Czech ace said the track this weekend made it really difficult to pass and that was why he went large at the Durango Double. Unfortunately he collided with the rear of the Durango in mid air and had to wait to allow Neumann to resume the lead which he would hang on to over the remainig half a lap of the race.

Starting from 5th on the grid Naoto Matuskura finished both legs third.  The Japanese ace who took the overall 2WD buggy win earlier in the day, said his starting position left him too much to do to try and battle for the lead.  Posting the fastest lap of the race, the World Championship runner-up said he also needs to improve his B-Max 4 which he feels is lacking pace in the low speed corners.

Yokomo team-mate Martin who fell back to 5th and 4th respectively in the opening two legs said he ‘can’t get the sweet spot’ in terms of set-up.  His first time with the B-Max 4 on a high grip track he said he needs more time to work on set-up and find something that will give the car a better balance between front and rear.

4WD Buggy A-Main Leg 2 Result
1.(1) Joern Neumann (DE) – Team Durango – 16/5:10.170
2.(3) Martin Bayer (CZ) – Team Xray – 16/5:12.099
3.(5) Naoto Matsukura (JP) – Yokomo – 16/5:12.594
4.(2) Lee Martin (GB) – Yokomo – 16/5:15.014
5.(6) Hupo Honigl (AT) – Team C – 16/5:16.057
6.(9) Robert Batlle (ES) – Yokomo – 16/5:16.474
7.(4) Ronald Volker (DE) – Yokomo – 16/5:20.700
6.(7) Renaud Savoya (FR) – Team Xray – 16/5:29.142
7.(8) Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho – 15/5:03.260
8.(10)Peter Pinisch (AT) – Team Associated – 8/2:42.019

4WD Buggy A-Main Leg 1 Result
1.(1) Joern Neumann (DE) – Team Durango – 16/5:09.311
2.(3) Martin Bayer (CZ) – Team Xray – 16/5:10.341
3.(5) Naoto Matsukura (JP) – Yokomo – 16/5:15.315
4.(6) Hupo Honigl (AT) – Team C – 16/5:18.692
5.(2) Lee Martin (GB) – Yokomo – 16/5:23.417
6.(7) Renaud Savoya (FR) – Team Xray – 15/5:01.635
7.(8) Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho – 15/5:03.684
8.(10)Peter Pinisch (AT) – Team Associated – 15/5:04.033
9.(4) Ronald Volker (DE) – Yokomo – 15/5:04.962
10.(9)Robert Batlle (ES) – Yokomo – 15/5:11.603

View the complete event results here.

View the event image gallery here.

Chassis Focus – Hupo Honigl

Car: TeamC TM2 V2
Motor: DualSky 6.5
ESC: DualSky
Batteries: H-Speed
Radio/Servo: Futaba

Making his race debut with his new ride, Hupo has declared himself very satisfied with the performances of the TM2 V2 having only tested for a couple days back home prior to coming to Berlin. The buggy he is using is pretty stock apart from the addition of some weight to the front end. Compared to the previous version, the V2 has more steering in the faster corners as well as more forward traction.

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Matsukura takes first A-Main at EOS

Naoto Matsukura took a tone to tone victory in the first A-Main at the Euro Offroad Series in Berlin but the Japanese ace almost threw it away in what was a clearly dominant performance. Top Qualifier for the 2WD Buggy encounter, the Team Yokomo driver had a commanding lead over the No.2 starting Durango of Joern Neumann but with three laps to go he made a mistake that required marshaling. However such was his lead over the three way battle for second place that even with the loss of 4-seconds he was able to hold on to take albeit a narrow 6/10ths of a second win over Neumann with Hupo Honigl third and Lee Martin fourth.

Setting the fastest lap of the race, Matsukura broke clear of the high quality field but as the attention focused on the battle behind him he said his right eye watered up leading to his error as he struggled to see. Relieved to have gotten away with the incident, he said lowering the rear camber link on his B-Max 2 for the final cured the understeer he had in the final qualifier. Very comfortable with the speed and consistency of the car he is confident going into tomorrow second A-Main when he hopes to wrap up his second EOS win in as many appearances in the championship.

‘I tried my best’ was how Neumann summed up the race. Saying he almost got lucky with Matsukura’s mistake he admitted there was nothing he could do to keep up with Matsukura. Also admitting former team-mate Honigl was faster than him he said the Austrian just couldn’t find a way passed. Running a fresh set of the series’ handout Pro-Line tyres the German said this was maybe not the best option. Able to match Matsukura on outright speed, his fastest lap being a 21.095 compared to the 1:12 World Champions 21.087, he said he just lacked overall consistency.

Honigl clearly enjoyed his race but was a little frustrated at not being able to get by Neumann. The Austrian said the three different brands of cars in the battle for second had advantages on different sections with his DualSky TM2 V2 so much faster than Neumann’s DEX210 in the fast corners. Really happy with the set-up of his Team C chassis the winner of the EOS season opener said he will leave it as is and just hope tomorrow he can find some way to get passed Neumann.

Martin also struggled with the lack of opportunity to overtake saying if he had have made a move he would have taken them out. Even when Neumann clipped the piping forcing Hupo to check up he said he couldn’t avoid making contact with the Team C. Unlike the 3 drivers that finished ahead of him who will not change their set-up for A2, the World Championship runner-up plans to try a softer oil in the shocks of his Viper powered B-Max 2 to make it more reactive.

After a superb performance in Qualifying in which he TQ’d Q3 to secure 3rd on the grid it was a ‘terrible race’ for Team Xray’s Martin Bayer. On the opening lap the Czech driver landed his XB4-2 out of lane and up against the track piping. Losing over 4-seconds and dropping to last he then had issues with the braking on his buggy eventually crossing the finish line seventh.

2WD Buggy A-Main Leg 1 Result
1.(1) Naoto Matsukura (JP) – Yokomo – 15/5:03.444
2.(2) Joern Neumann (DE) – Team Durango – 15/5:04.099
3.(4) Hupo Honigl (AT) – Team C – 15/5:04.612
4.(5) Lee Martin (GB) – Yokomo – 15/5:05.779
5.(6) Tom Cockerill (GB) – Schumacher – 15/5:07.792
6.(7) Christopher Krapp (DE) – Kyosho – 15/5:09.176
7.(3) Martin Bayer (CZ) – Team Xray – 15/5:14.374
8.(9) Yannic Prumper (DE) – Yokomo – 14/4:56.201
9.(10)Kev Lee (GB) – Team C – 14/5:01.019
10.(8)David Ronnefalk (SE) – Kyosho – 7/2:38.684

View the complete event results here.

View the event image gallery here.