Coelho wins A1 at EOS

Bruno Coelho led an Xray 1-2 in the opening A-Main of 4WD at the Euro Offroad Series in Germany, the Top Qualifier taking the win ahead of team-mate Daniel Kobbevik.  With championship leader Michal Orlowski shading him in the early part of the race a bobble by the Schumacher driver gave Coelho just a little breathing room.  That advance was to come in handy as the leader had a bobble of his own but with luck definitely on his side his XB4 somehow managed to land on its wheel with the only damage being his lead being reduced by only half a second.  Settling back into his rhythm, Coelho would finally take charge of the race when Orlowski had a second, more costly error.  This error would allow Joona Haatanen through to second but the Finn gave it up with a mistake on the wall that promoted Kobbevik to second and allowed Orlowski through to third.

‘It was a super intense final as expected. We all had the same pace, me, Orlowski, Joona and Daniel. There was no way to pull away, only mistakes made the difference’, was how Coelho summed up the first A-Main encounter.  The former World Champion added, ‘I had one moment. I got the jump wrong and the car jumped crazy but luckily it landed on four wheels’.  Seeking the first win of his campaign 4WD this weekend, he continued, ‘the car is working well so I’m looking forward to the next one but I expect it will be more intense than the first one’.

Kobbevik said, ‘I kept it clean. I’m very happy with the result’.  The Norwegian continued, ‘I was fourth almost the whole run but in the end Michal and Joona did mistakes and I was able to take advantage. I was right there with them for all the race but I was patient and it paid off’.  He concluded, ‘I think it is very difficult to pass so I will do the same thing again next one and try make a clean race’.

Summing up his race, Orlowski said, ‘It started off pretty good. I could feel Bruno was nervous and I tried to put pressure on him but there was a whole train behind us so I couldn’t attack too much’.  Taking the wins at the Nurburgring and in Warsaw, he continued, ‘I then had a bobble which cost me a lot of time.  Bruno had a bobble too and got lucky but I tried to get as close to him as possible but made an error.  It’s a high pace track which makes it hard not to crash and crash into others.  I have a new set of tyres for the second main so I will be going for it’.

A somewhat frustrated Haatanen said, ‘I crashed at the wall when I hit the inside. It was a stupid mistake.  I knew Bruno was faster and I couldn’t catch him so I should have settled for the second place and stayed there’.  Looking to A2, the Associated driver concluded, ‘I need to drive a big more sensible in the next one’.

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Chassis Focus – Joona Haatanen

Chassis: Team Associated B64
Motor: Reedy Sonic 5.0
ESC: Reedy BlackBox 510R
Batteries: Reedy Zappers SG2 3900 mAh
Radio/Servo: Sanwa/Reedy
Tires: Schumacher (handout)
Body: JConcepts F2

Remarks – Qualifying 3rd for today’s EOS final, Finnish ace Joona Haatanen has found a new form with the B64. His car is equipped with a 3d printed rear chassis brace, a steel plate that adds 27g of weight in front of the servo and a brass front centre suspension mount. Joona is also using graphite arms, while some parts are still the pre-production version this being the very first B64 car he has built specifically for EOS races.

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Coelho Top Qualifier at EOS Daun

Bruno Coelho is the 4WD Top Qualifier at EOS Daun, the Xray driver securing his second consecutive TQ of the season ahead of reigning champion Michal Orlowski.  Having taken last night’s second qualifier, Coelho locked up his 11th EOS career 4WD TQ when he took the fourth & final qualifier in the fastest time of the weekend giving him the tie-breaker over his main rival Orlowski who topped Q1 & 3.  Looking like the only other driver who might potentially challenge the Top 2 in the finals, Joona Haatanen will start third. Behind the Finn, a make or break final qualifier from star of the weekend’s 2WD action will see Daniel Kobbevik line up fourth on the grid ahead of HB Racing’s David Ronnefalk and the Yokomo of yesterday’s 2WD winner Lee Martin.

Summing up his Q4 run, Coelho said, ‘I was on new tyres and the car was very good now. It felt much better’.  Chasing his first 4WD win of the season, the former champion continued, ‘Now it’s finals and everything is still open as we saw in 2WD with Michal.  This is a fast track and easy to make mistakes.  Also starting first you have to be more careful at the start.  Starting second you just follow. I will try to keep calm and make no mistakes’.

Looking for his fourth win in as many races, on the final qualifier Orlowski said, ‘Bruno drove better than me and was a bit quicker. Once he passed me I tried to put pressure on him for a mistake but he drove well. Still I have the pace to win. It should be a good fight between me and him’.  The Schumacher driver, who took the win here last year from 2nd behind Coelho and also repeated the feature in Warsaw this season, added, ‘I have a good record from 2nd on the grid.  It’s a shame to miss the TQ point by 7/100th in Q2 but now I’m focused on getting maximum points from the final’.

Enjoying a particular strong 4WD showing this weekend, on his final qualifier 2WD podium finisher & Round 1 race winner Haatanen said, ‘I was on new tyres and the car felt good but after 2-minutes something got stuck in the car and I couldn’t move. I lost a lot of time’.  No sure what caused the lock-up, the 15-year-old said, ‘we will try to find the problem. We are going to open all the gearboxes’.  Looking to the final, his 3rd place a new best starting position in 4WD, he said, ‘it will be a good race now that I have the pace. I will try to keep up with Bruno and Michal and see what happens’.

‘I needed that to be a safe run to make the A-Main’, was Kobbevik’s reaction to his P3 in the final qualifier.  With a DNF from Q1 and a P10 in Q3, the Norwegian continued, ‘With only one score I really needed a good run so it’s good to start 4th. It could have been much worse’.  Switching the diffs on his car from front to rear the Xray driver said this made him ‘more comfortable with the car’.  Aiming for a podium double weekend, having finished 2nd in 2WD, he concluded, ‘I will just try to be as good as I can and try to put in clean races in the finals’.

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Orlowski takes Q3 at EOS Daun

Michal Orlowski has started out the final day of the Euro Offroad Series in Daun, Germany, in the best way possible by taking the third round of 4WD qualifying. Having taken yesterday’s opening qualifier but having had Q2 snatched from him by Bruno Coelho on the last lap, the Schumacher driver would top Q3 by over 4-seconds from Coelho with Joona Haatanen, a challenger for the TQ until being hit by another car, completing the Top 3. Joel Valander would put in a clean run to set the fourth fastest time with Neil Cragg making it a positive morning for the Associated team ending up 5th fastest from the second fastest heat.

Describing his run at ‘decent’, Orlowski explained, ‘I was on my 3rd run with the same tyres and the first run of the morning is always sketchy. I felt I drove better yesterday. My first few laps were sketchy and I lost a bit of time at the beginning’.  Chasing his 3rd consecutive win of the season, the reigning champion continued, ‘After the first few laps I was driving pretty good but I had traffic again like in Q2 and rolled over trying to avoid hitting it and lost the lead but then Joona also encountered traffic problems and it worked out for me but I didn’t beat Bruno’s time’.  With Coelho having the advantage of the fastest time going into the final qualifier, Orlowski said, ‘I will be on new tyres for the last round and will try to secure the TQ.  This will mean my tyres are also bedded in for the final. Hopefully I will not repeat 2WD’ – the 2WD Top Qualifier making a mistake on the opening lap and ending up with only 4th overall after the triple Mains.

Summing up his performance, Coelho said, ‘The round was OK but the car was really slow now.  I used the tyres from Q1 & 2 and maybe that was not the correct choice.  I had no traction.  When I punched it for the jumps I was losing traction’.  He continued, ‘I had to open twice for Joona because I didn’t have the speed, and I had one mistake which cost me around 1-second.  I will put on new tyres for the last one so it should be better’.

Haatanen explained, ‘that was my third run with the same tyres and the car felt very good.  We added 1/2 mm under the steering rack and the car felt easy to drive and fast’.  Asked about AE’s marked 4WD improvement this weekend, the Finn replied, ‘I don’t really know what has changed but we have gone through the car and come up with something that has made the car much better to drive’.  Having run at the top of the timing screens in Q3, he said, ‘I heard I was leading but then I caught traffic and one of them pushed me into the wall.  Still it was good to fight for the TQ.  I will put new tyres on for the next one and see what happens but hopefully I can get another good run’.

Managing a best run of 9th in Q2 yesterday, Valander was pleased with his run saying, ‘I tried to have a clean run because I expected others to make mistakes as it was the first run of the morning. I’m happy to get fourth place’.   The Finnish Xray driver continued, ‘I had a couple of bobbles and had to give way to Joern (Neumann) but I made no major errors over the run’.  Looking to the final qualifier, he said, ‘I think I will put a little more glue on the side walls because I think have too much steering’.

Looking at his watch and joking ‘you do know it’s Sunday’, a reference to his 4WD performances not normally attracting attention from Red RC, Cragg said, ‘Actually I’m pretty pleased with that to be honest’.  He added, ‘It no secret we struggle in 4WD and we were quite far off the pace at the start but we’ve made quite a lot of changes every run and the car & driver are getting better each run’.  On Q3 result, Q1 starting with a P12 and Q2 a P8, he said, ‘I had to deal with some traffic but 5th is a good result for 4WD.  I hope I can get another good run. Let’s see what we can do’.

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