Orlowski secures overall TQ at EOS Slovakia
Michal Orlowski has secured the overall TQ at the Euro Offroad Series in Slovakia, the Schumacher driver delivering a second TQ run in the all counting fourth & final qualifier at the Hudy Arena. With four drivers in contention to become the 2WD Top Qualifier at the 3rd round of the championship, it was Orlowski who came out on top producing the fastest time of the day and bettering Martin Bayer’s previous quickest time from Q3 by 4-seconds to claim the first TQ championship point of his 2WD title defence. Behind him, but unable to match Orlowski’s 13 lap pace, Neil Cragg would post the second fastest time of Q4 but with Bayer having a faster TQ time, it meant the Associated driver lost out on the tie breaker and will start tomorrow’s finals 3rd on the grid. Completing the Top 3 for the final qualifier ahead of Bayer, the Xray driver’s challenge ending with a mistake on his 3rd lap, Lee Martin makes it four different manufacturers represented at the front of the grid, a result not expected at the home of Xray.
Commenting on his third EOS career TQ, all of them in 2WD, Orlowski said, ‘I was on new tyres so the car felt really good and I started off really fast. Bayer and Neil crashed on the same lap and I thought I had a big gap so I started to do some slow laps but I didn’t have as big a gap as I thought and had to do some fast laps again but I had control of the race’. He added, ‘I feel I still have more pace up my sleeve and going into A1 the tyres are very good as they will be on their second run which is their best. The car is very good and easy everywhere on the track so I feel good for tomorrow’.
Bayer said, ‘I knew when I saw Michal was on new tyres the pressure was on so I pushed hard and ended up making a stupid mistake. I was maybe a little ahead at the start but after the mistake it was over’. Having taken his Q3 TQ, being the first driver to break 13-laps, he added, ‘new tyres are just better and used are just too slow to compete with someone on new tyres’. A former winner of his home race, he concluded, ‘maybe starting second is better as I will shake less’.
‘I’m pretty pleased with that. I came out as hard as I could as I knew Michal was on new tyres, Maybe I went a little too hard as I crashed in front of the drivers’ stand’, was Cragg’s reaction after the final qualifier. The British driver continued, ‘Starting out 3rd I can’t argue with that’ and when asked his thoughts on tomorrow’s finals concluded, ‘It should be fast and furious as always’.
Another driver on new tyres for the final qualifier, Lee Martin said, ‘the car was good in the end but it took a while for the tyres to scrub in. Once I got some confidence it was pretty good’. The Yokomo driver said, ‘I still need corner speed but we have a practice in the morning which is good so we can try some stupid shit and see if it works’. Asked what racing he expected in the finals he replied, ‘the total opposite has happened to my predictions at all the previous races but the track is big and open which doesn’t normal highlight good racing’.
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Chassis Focus – Neil Cragg
Chassis: Team Associated RC10B6.1
Motor: Reedy Sonic 6.5T
ESC: LRP Flow X
Batteries: Reedy 4000mAh
Radio/Servo: KO/Reedy
Tires: Schumacher (handout)
Body: Kit
Remarks – Winner of the last EOS encounter in Daun, Neil Cragg is debuting Team Associated’s RC10B6.1 Buggy. The new car features an updated gearbox that allows a differential height adjustment and makes maintenance easier thanks to quicker diff access. The chassis is some 2mm shorter than the previous version and the front shock tower has also been updated. Neil is using a complete aluminium steering system, aluminium uprights and 67mm driveshafts. A Pro-Line front wing and steel chassis weight complete the option part list.
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Bayer takes Q3, all to play for in final qualifier
Martin Bayer finally delivered a TQ run at the EOS third round to set the stage for a ‘winner takes all’ final qualifier at the Hudy Arena. Bayer became the third different driver to post a TQ run in 2WD qualifying, topping Q3 ahead of Q2 pace setter Michal Orlowski. Having topped the opening qualifier and lost out on a repeat of that with a last lap mistake in Q2, Neil Cragg struggled as he ran out of tyres in the penultimate qualifier leaving Associated team-mate Joona Haatanen to take up the mantle and put in his first Top 3 run. With 2WD qualifying set to be concluded tonight in Slovakia, it is a potential four way shout out to become the overall Top Qualifier with Lee Martin joining Bayer, Cragg and Orlowski as potential pole sitters for tomorrow morning’s triple A-Mains.
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Orlowski snatches close Q2 in Slovakia
Michal Orlowski has taken the second round of qualifying at EOS Slovakia, a late push from the Schumacher driver paying reward helped by a bad last lap from Q1 Top Qualifier Neil Cragg. With Cragg the leader for most of the 5-minutes having seen off the pressure of Martin Bayer until the Xray driver had a small but costly error, the Team Associated driver looked to have another TQ run in the bag but a rough last lap allowed both Orlowski, who just set his fastest lap of the heat on his penultimate lap, and Lee Martin to jump ahead. With the Top 3 very closely matched, the separation between the trio half a second, for Bayer, his mistake would leave him 4th as again he couldn’t deliver on his blistering seeding pace.
Commenting on his TQ run, Orlowski said, ‘In the end it went well. I don’t know what I did but my first lap was slow and it put me on the back foot but towards the end I started to push hard because I knew the gap was very close and I got it on the last lap’. The reigning champion who took the win at the Hudy Arena last year continued, ‘the car felt good and I had no major mistake but now I am not sure what to do for the next one, whether to go with used or new tyres. I need to think about it’.
‘We are getting close’, was Lee Martin’s reaction to a much improved performance. Changing both springs and the diff on his Yokomo to get more corner speed, he said, ‘It was better but I still need a bit of 180° corner speed and now in the high speed corners the front is washing out. It is a like an F1 car that has lost its front wing but we are getting closer to where we need to be at. I will just tweak a few things for the next one, nothing too crazy’. On his own driving the British driver said, ‘I had two iffy laps that cost me half a second, Orlowski had bad laps at the start, me in the middle and then Neil at the end, we’re all pretty close’.
‘That was bloody close’ was how Cragg summed up Q2. The ETS Daun winner continued, ‘It was a dialed run until the last lap when I had a bobble which cost me the TQ’. Leading away the heat for the second qualifier, the Brit said, ‘I knew I had to start fast as Bayer was going to come out swinging. I stayed ahead and was pretty happy about that’. Looking to Q3 he concluded, ‘The car is pretty dialed and the driver is 99% there’.
Bayer said, ‘I tried to make super luck but ended up with bad luck’. He continued, ‘I made a stupid mistake at the double single before the straight and it cost me two & a half seconds. It was only a tiny small mistake (his car landing inside the piping) but it cost me a lot’. With two rounds of qualifying remaining to make up for his errors in his opening two attempts, the Xray Offroad team manager said, ‘the speed is there and the car is good. I just need to calm things down and do nothing crazy’. Behind Bayer, EOS Poland podium finisher Daniel Kobbevik completed the Top 5.
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Cragg TQs opening qualifying at Hudy Arena
Neil Cragg has TQ’ed the opening round of 2WD qualifying at the Euro Offroad Series in Slovakia. Only 7th fastest in practice, the Team Associated driver put in a faultless drive to top the times ahead of Martin Bayer after a late mistake from the top seed. Behind them, Kája Novotný recovered from a first lap error to complete the Top 3, his Xray posting the fastest lap of the opening qualifier. For Michal Orlowski he too would have to recover from a costly mistake at the same place as Novotný, getting by Lee Martin in the final minute to open his qualifying with a P4.
‘That was a bit more like it’, was Cragg’s reaction to taking the TQ, the British driver initially thinking he had got a P2 for the round. He continued, ‘I am really pleased to be honest. I made no mistake and changed the car back to my German set-up which gave it ridiculous corner speed’. He said however, ‘the flat landings now worry me but I can’t get one without the other. I can’t find a happy medium but I would always go for the corner speed. I just need to be careful on the landings’.
‘Argh, a mistake, I was too nervous’, explained Bayer. ‘I made a mistake and to try and come back I tried to force but kept hitting the track markers so I got slower and slower’. The Xray driver continued, ‘All 10 drivers are covered by 7-seconds (over 5-minutes) which is not normal. Even the best laps are very close. I will try not to make mistakes in the next one’. Novotný said, ‘I had a horrible first lap. I made a mistake at the corner table top and was lucky to get out of there but it cost me 3-seconds otherwise it was a good run’.
Pleased with how he ended his run in terms of his driving it was the early part of the heat that was the problem for Orlowski. ‘I made two costly mistakes at the table top but I managed to get my head down and started putting in good laps. It was not the best start but we have good pace now and I feel confident with the car’, said the Schumacher driver. For Q2 the Pole concluded, ‘I will stay with the same set-up and get more confident in my driving and not crash’.
‘No progress has been made yet’ was Lee Martin’s reaction to getting a P5 for Q1. Having struggled with a lack of corner speed in practice, the Yokomo driver continued, ‘Marc (Rheinard) tried a different spring and went a bit faster so I am going to try that for the next one. I might try a different diff too’. Suffering two ‘little errors’ over the 5-minutes the European Champion said, ‘the big problem is just corner speed’. Behind Martin, Adam Izsay completed the Top 6 followed by Joona Haatanen, Hupo Hönigl and Jörn Neumann.
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