All change for EOS Round 2 in Berlin

It is all change for this weekend’s (Jan 30 – Feb 1) second round of the Euro Offroad Series as the championship returns to Berlin for a second year. Following a successful first visit to the German capital city last year, the first change is the venue with the race moving to a larger, more modern, building to better cater for the 200 plus entries. Having partnered up with Schumacher as official tyre supplier for Season #4, which got underway in Poland last October, another change for Round 2 is the switch over to pre-glued handout tyres for everyone. The third change comes in the form of the track action after the 2015 brought about one of the biggest team driver line up changes in years.

The championship’s most successful partnership, that of Joern Neumann and Durango, is no longer following the manufacturer’s decision to dissolve its factory race team meaning the German will race his home event without a chassis sponsor. The benefit of being a free agent is that the undefeated 3-time 4WD Champion can choose which ever cars he feels is going to better his chances of adding to his tally of being the championship’s most winning driver. Also effected by the Durango decision, multiple podium finisher Michal Orlowski, will line up in new team colours with Schumacher, who having lost both Tom Cockerill & Round 1 star Carson Wernimont, have snapped up the talented 13-year old.

One of the key instigators in the creation of the EOS, Hupo Honigl will also be representing a new team at Round 2. The Austrian, who last season finished third in the 2WD standings after a successful campaign with Team C, joins Serpent giving the electric offroad newcomer its first full factory representation in the championship. Another manufacturer to be represented for the first time with a factory presence this weekend is HB who have signed EOS regular David Ronnefalk, the Swede having previously been Kyosho’s lead charger.

Team C, while losing Honigl, have gained former 1:8 Offroad World Champion Robert Batlle. Having previously raced in the EOS for 2WD Champions Team Yokomo, the Spaniard did not contest Round 1 and will be hoping to mark his return to championship with a strong debut for his new team.

Having got his 2WD title defence off to the perfect start when he dominated Round 1, Naoto Matsukura will not make the trip to Germany, the Japanese ace having only just signed for Kyosho after his shock departure from Yokomo. Still Yokomo will be contenders for another win through 2WD World Vice-Champion Lee Martin. Finishing on the podium in Poland, the British driver will be looking to claim his first EOS win for Yokomo and while without Matsukura as a team-mate will again have designer Shin Adachi on hand who is travelling from Japan for support as well as racing himself.

One of only three drivers to have enjoyed wins in the EOS in 2WD & 4WD buggy, Martin Bayer is the only front runner who travels to Round 2 without a change of chassis sponsor or loss of a prominent team-mate. Championship Runner-up in 4WD, the Xray driver will be hoping for a strong showing having missed out on the podium at Round 1 and will be spurred on by his battle with Neumann for the win at the DHI Cup earlier in the month.

EOS #4 kicks off at Poland’s largest hobby exhibition

Season #4 of the Euro Offroad Series kicks off this weekend (24-26 October) at Poland’s largest hobby exhibition with the 1:10 Offroad championship’s international entry set once again to showcase r/c racing in front of over 40,000 show goers. The third year running that the EOS season will commence in the city of Poznan as part of ‘Hobby’, it will be the first time that the entry for the championship’s buggy classes will be headed by separate drivers. Chasing a fourth consecutive title, Joern Nuemann heads the 4WD Buggy entry while his 2WD Buggy Championship nemesis Naoto Matsukura makes the trip from Japan for the first time to one of Poland’s oldest cities.

The most winning driver of the EOS, this weekend marking the 12th race since the establishment of the championship in 2012, Neumann faces his toughest start to a season yet with Round 1 attracting a heavily loaded entry. Racing alongside 13-year-old Durango team-mate Michal Orlowski, the national star claiming the first of two 2013/14 podium finishes at his home race, Neumann’s biggest challenge will come from outside the Durango squad with Xray, Yokomo, Schumacher and Team C all upping their campaign’s for Season #4.

With an impressive record of 10 wins from 11 races in 4WD Buggy, Neumann’s biggest challenger in that class is set to again come from Xray and Martin Bayer. The Czech driver became the first & so far only driver to deny the German a victory, forcing the championship decider to go to the final race. Bayer, who also managed Xray’s first 2WD win last season, will be joined this year by 1:8 European Championship Runner-up Martin Wollanka. The Austrian only did the final 2 rounds last year but showed good speed with a number of A-Main appearances.

The first time Neumann wont start out as the defending champion of 2WD Buggy, it is offroad’s original class that has the greatest number of potential winners. Last year ever round produced a different winner with Hupo Honigl winning the season opener before switching to Team C and coming very close to a debut win with his new team at Round 2. Newly crowned Touring Car World Champion Matsukura would take that win enroute to securing Yokomo’s first EOS title and the Japanese manufacturer for whom he also 4WD Top Qualifier at the season finale is back in force. After a development year with his new Yokomo team, Lee Martin starts his first full EOS campaign as a serious title threat and both drivers will have the support of designer Shin Adachi, the accomplished Japanese driver also on the Poznan entry list.

Securing his first EOS TQ at the event last year in 2WD, this time round Schumacher’s Tom Cockerill will have the benefit of a quick team-mate. Driving on a carpet surface track for the first time at the Season #3 finale in Austria, emerging US talent & 1:8 Offroad World Championship podium finisher Carson Wernimont makes a very welcomed return and is sure to be a big asset to the British manufacturer’s expanded squad. With Horizon Hobby, Xray, Kyosho & Team Durango being joined by Serpent, Yokomo and Schumacher as primary sponsors of this year’s EOS, a big change for the 2014/15 season is the change to Schumacher’s Mini Pin tyre, a tyre widely acknowledged by racers across Europe as being superior for indoor offroad competition use. A three day event, Friday will be made up of practice from all class with Saturday set to decide the 2WD Round 1 winner before switching to 4WD for Sunday’s race action.

Xray Primary Sponsor of EOS

Xray are excited to announce that they will partner with Uwe Rheinard & Scotty Ernst as a primary sponsor of the European Offroad Series (EOS) for the 2014/2015 season. The Xray factory team consisting of Juraj Hudy, Martin Bayer, Martin Wollanka, Miguel Matias, Mike Gosvig, Lorenzo Crolla & their young talent Malin Karlsen will be available during the entire season at all the races to provide technical and set-up support. As with previous years the spare parts availability and service will be arranged at every event by the national distributor so look out for the Xray service centre loaded with all spare parts under the Xray tent, which is also where Xray drivers can collect their free promo package at each race.

Schumacher to provide traction for EOS Season #4

Schumacher is to provide traction for the new season of the Euro Offroad Series with the announcement that the British company’s famed Minipin tyre has been selected as the controlled rubber for the high profile championship.  A tyre widely acknowledged by racers across Europe as being superior for indoor offroad competition use, the deal is set to prove very popular with racers with most already having extensive knowledge of how their cars run on the tyre.

Keen supporters of the EOS for past two seasons, sending factory driver Tom Cockerill to races and new US signing Carson Wernimont to the 2013/14 seasonal finale, Schumacher will also become a primary sponsor of the upcoming season.  Primary sponsors last season, EOS race winners Team Xray have also been confirmed as continuing to sponsor the series with both Yokomo, the reigning 2WD Buggy Champions and Serpent upgrading from Associate to Primary sponsors for the 2014/15 championship.

Round 1 of the EOS will again kick off in Poznan, Poland, with racers getting the chance to race in front of the 40,000 people who attend Hobby – Poland’s largest hobby exhibition.  Taking place from October 24-26, registration for this popular event is open via the MyRCM (www.myrcm.ch) website.

Tyre information –

2WD Buggy
Rear – Schumacher Minipin yellow U6608 + Schumacher inserts U 6734
Front – Schumacher low profile cut Stagger yellow U6770

4WD Buggy:
Rear – Schumacher Minipin yellow U6608 + Schumacher inserts U 6734
Front – Schumacher Minipin yellow U6607 + Schumacher inserts U 6746

Short Course 4WD
Schumacher SC U6767 front + rear with Schumacher inserts U6784

Anticipation high for first EOS visit to Hudy Arena

There is an air of high anticipation ahead of the third round of the Euro Offroad Series as the 1:10 electric offroad championship travels for the first time to the Hudy Arena in Slovakia this weekend (7-9 March). Widely reputed as the greatest r/c venue in the world by anyone who has had the opportunity to visit the 25,000 square metre facility which is also home to the Xray factory, over 260 drivers will get the opportunity to be part of what is only the second major international event to be hosted at the Hudy Arena, the first being last season’s Euro Touring Series finale.

Round 2 of the series in Berlin saw wins for both Yokomo’s Naoto Matsukura in 2WD and defending champion Joern Neumann in 4WD. Only Matsukura’s second appearance in the championship the Japanese ace will be looking to keep his 100% winning record intact this week as will Neumann who in 3 seasons of EOS has never been out qualified or beaten in 4WD. This weekend the Team Durango driver chases his 10th consecutive TQ and win.

While a completely new indoor track layout has been prepared just for the EOS visit, the Hudy Arena is where Team Xray has carried out the majority of the development work on the XB4 platform. With Martin Bayer knocking on the door of a first EOS win for both the European Champion and Xray in Berlin, this weekend should see the strongest challenge yet from the team. While Bayer, who sits second in the current championship standings behind Neumann, says a win at the home track would be special he also feels it might take away from that first win as rivals will see it as having been down to home advantage. Neumann, is not concerned about it being Bayer’s home race saying there is more pressure on the Czech driver than there is on him to maintain his unbeaten record but the German is confident he can take his winning tally to double digits.

Making his debut for Yokomo at Round 2, 2WD Buggy Vice-World Champion Lee Martin will be aiming to build on his promising first outing, the British ace qualifying 2nd in 4WD and 5th in 2WD. In Slovakia, Martin will have the added benefit of the presence of the team’s new head of offroad development Shin Adachi who is making the trip from Japan. In terms of high profile drivers Yokomo will again have an impressive line up with Martin & Matsukura once again being joined by 1:8 Offroad World Champion Robert Batlle and ETS Champion Ronald Volker, who qualified 4th in Berlin in 4WD, and touring car ace Yannic Prümper.

Having come so close to repeating his season opening 2WD Buggy victory, a last lap mistake in A3 costing him the overall win, Team C’s Hupo Honigl can again be expected to be a major contender this weekend. Finding a new level of motivation since his switch to Team C for the 2014 season, the Austrian has prepared well for Round 3 having already made a trip to the Hudy Arena for pre-race testing.

Kyosho’s challenge for a first EOS will again come from 1:8 Offroad European Champion David Ronnefalk. Showing good pace at Rounds 1 & 2, the 17-year-old Swede was frustrated with his results to date and is determined to make up for that this weekend. Making his first EOS appearance since taking a 2WD podium at the season finale two years ago, Marc Rheinard will travel to Trencin. Struggling for form in the ETS, the 3-time Touring Car world Champion will be hoping the switch to offroad will prove less frustrating than recent touring car outings. Another Touring Car ace who will be in action at the Hudy Arena is Team Associated’s Juho Levanen. Despite feeling under weather on his EOS debut in Berlin, the Finn managed a Top 5 run in the third round of 2WD qualifying and so should be one to watch this weekend.

Xray Factory Tour at EOS Rd3

Participants of the 3rd round of the 2013/14 Euro Offroad Series, that will take place at the Hudy Racing Arena, are invited to take a unique tour through the Xray manufacturing facility. The guided tour takes place on the 6th and 7th of March. If you are interested, simply add yourself to the event on Facebook. Due time limits the entries for this tour are limited and the deadline to sign-up is February 28th.