Matsukura takes first A-Main in Slovakia

Naoto Matsukura moved one step closer to making it three from three as he won an action packed first A-Main of 2WD Buggy at the Euro Offroad Series in Slovakia tonight.  Top Qualifier for the third round of the championship, the Japanese driver took the win from David Ronnefalk and Martin Bayer, the latter really putting it up to the Yokomo driver over the first two laps before a mistake on lap 3. While the Berlin winner would take a comfortable win over Ronnefalk’s Kyosho who in turn had a good gap over Bayer it was the battle for third that provided the entertainment.

Fist pumping the air it was clear Matsukura was relieved to take the opening win having clearly struggled to match Bayer at the start. Describing traction as being lower than qualifying, he said he struggled for the first half of the race as his B-Max 2 suffered more understeer than normal. Able to build up a gap he said it was only in the last two minutes that he felt he had full control of the race.

Ronnefalk said by the time he got up to second the gap was too much to pull back even though he was able to run a faster lap of the race than Matsukura.  Taking risks over the table top he said he did close the gap somewhat but after catching some track tape that caused him to spin out he decided to settle for second knowing that following all the ‘carnage behind’ he had a comfortable gap over third.  Describing his RB6 as ‘awesome’ the Swedish teenager said based on how A1 went he is really looking forward to tomorrow’s two encounters.

Having found a way passed Matsukura on the first pass over the table top to take the lead, Bayer was understandably disappointed with third.  A mistake by Matsukura at the double before the corner table top looked to give the Xray driver an early break but in the same second Bayer would turn too early and get caught up in the corner marker losing over 6-seconds.  Dropping back to 5th, a coming together with defending champion Joern a lap later caused him to have to wait on the German leaving him last.  Setting the fastest lap of the race, and benefiting from key errors by Peter Pinisch, Lee Martin & Tom Cockerill, Bayer would recover to third, a result he said considering all that happened was ‘OK’ but still nothing like what could have been where it not for his ‘stupid mistake’ on lap 3.

Already a winner this season, Hupo Honigl would finish fourth. Starting third the Team C driver said an early error cost him dearly as he was never able to recover the lost ground.

2WD Buggy A-Main Leg 1 Result
1.(1) Naoto Matsukura – Yokomo – 13/5:15.981
2.(4) David Ronnefalk – Kyosho – 12/5:01.890
3.(2) Martin Bayer – Xray – 12/5:05.317
4.(3) Hupo Hönigl – Team C – 12/5:07.909
5.(10)Tom Cockerill – Schumacher – 12/5:08.192
6.(5) Lee Martin – Yokomo – 12/5:09.393
7.(7) Peter Pinisch – Team Associated – 12/5:12.728
8.(8) Joern Neumann – Durango – 12/5:18.268
9.(9) Miguel Matias – Xray – 12/5:18.595
10.(6)Martin Wollanka – Xray – 4/1:42.360

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Chassis Focus – Naoto Matsukura

Chassis: Yokomo B-Max 2 MR
Motor: Yokomo 6.5
ESC: Yokomo
Batteries: Yokomo
Radio/Servo: Sanwa
Remarks – Very happy with the performances of his mid-motored buggy here at the Hudy Arena, 2wd Top Qualifier Matsukura said his setup is “super different” from the one he used to TQ and win the previous EOS encounter in Berlin. In terms of electrics he went for a short LiPo pack and a 6.5 motor instead of the 7 turns he used in Germany, while on the car the main changes have been thicker shock oils, the LMR Electra wing and the B-Max4 II rear arms used to obtain a wider and safer rear end.

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Three 2WD TQ’s in a row for Matsukura

Naoto Matsukura is Top Qualifier for 2WD Buggy at the Euro Offroad Series in Slovakia, the Japanese ace maintaining his 100% qualifying record as he claimed his 3rd pole position in as many appearance in the championship.  The Team Yokomo ace secured the overall TQ at the Hudy Arena after topping the fourth & final qualifier from Martin Bayer, who earlier claimed his first EOS TQ in 4WD,  with Q2 pace setter Hupo Honigl third, this also being the order in which they will line up on the grid for the triple A-Main.  Proving to be a tough weekend for defending champion Joern Neumann, the final qualifier was his best but starting 8th on the grid the German is unlikely to be challenging for his first 2WD win of Season #3.  Having TQ’d the penultimate round of qualifying to put himself in contention for the pole position, a costly early mistake by David Ronnefalk left him nowhere in Q4 but the Swede will still line up a competitive 4th.

Targeting his third win, Matsukura was pleased to secure the overall TQ but was cautious about predicting he would have an easy race.  Setting the fastest lap of the race as he did in all four qualifiers, the 1:12 World Champion said Bayer’s pace is very strong and he expects the Czech driver to push hard on a track where mistakes are very easily made.  Unfortunately for Matsukura’s team-mate Lee Martin Q4 saw a DNF due to a broken caster block and the British driver starts 5th.

Honigl, who won the season opener, said while his Team C may have lost a little pace to his rivals as the track has lost some of its traction, he is pleased to be starting third.  With two sets of the series Pro-Line controlled tyres scrubbed in the Austrian is confident, him proving in Q2 that his TM2 V2 is better on second run tyres.

Describing his final qualifier as ‘shit’, him losing 9-seconds on 1 lap, Ronnefalk said at the start of the run he was able to run with Matsukura and Bayer so he knows he has the speed.  The Swede is very happy with his RB6 saying that the finals are down to him, driver costly errors having been common theme today for the 17-year-old.

Neumann said his final qualifier was a ‘mistake free, clean run’ but his DEX210 is ‘way too slow’.  The three time back to back EOS champion said he has no steering and considering this making the A-Main this weekend is a result in itself.  Starting from the back end of the grid, the European Champion says he doesn’t expect to he’ll be standing on the podium for a third time this season.

2WD Buggy A-Main Grid
1. Naoto Matsukura – Yokomo – 310 pts
2. Martin Bayer – Xray – 308
3. Hupo Hönigl – Team C – 307
4. David Ronnefalk – Kyosho – 304
5. Lee Martin – Yokomo – 303
6. Martin Wollanka – Xray – 301
7. Peter Pinisch – Team Associated – 298
8. Joern Neumann – Durango – 297
9. Miguel Matias – Xray – 296
10.Tom Cockerill – Schumacher – 295

2WD Buggy Q4 times
1. Naoto Matsukura – Yokomo – 13/5:18.392
2. Martin Bayer – Xray – 13/5:19.375
3. Hupo Hönigl – Team C – 12/5:02.310
4. Joern Neumann – Durango – 12/5:02.641
5. Martin Wollanka – Xray – 12/5:03.144
6. Peter Pinisch – Team Associated – 12/5:03.160
7. Miguel Matias – Xray – 12/5:03.633
8. Marc Rheinard – Tamiya – 12/5:05.005
9. Joakim Nicolaisen – Team Associated – 12/5:05.917
10.Martin Kreil – – 12/5:06.487

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Bayer benefits from last lap Ronnefalk error in Q3

With 2WD Buggy qualifying resuming at the Hudy Arena, it was 4WD Top Qualifier Martin Bayer who took Q3, the Xray driver benefiting from a last lap error by David Ronnefalk.  Despite losing over a second after casing the double just before the timing loop and rolling, Ronnefalk still claimed second only 2/10th off Bayers TQ time.  Making a vast improvement over yesterday’s opening two 2WD qualifiers, Schumacher’s Tom Cockerill posted the third fastest time for the round putting the Top Qualifier of the season opener back in the hunt for a starting position in the A-Main.

Ronnefalk said his Orion powered RB6 ‘was amazing for 4 minutes & 40 seconds until (he) screwed up’.  Describing the mistake as ‘not good’, the 17-year-old Swede said the mistake most likely cost him a chance of the  overall TQ as even if he manages a clean final qualifier he will need to do so in a quicker time that that set by Naoto Matsukura on Q1 yesterday.  It was a poor resumption of 2WD qualifying for two time EOS 2WD Top Qualifier Matsukura as the Yokomo driver, who found the track to have less grip than yesterday, posted only the 8th fastest time.

After a terrible day yesterday in his strongest of the two main EOS classes, Cockerill said he ‘rolled the dice and for once it went in his favour’.  Making a huge set-up change to his Cougar, he reverted to the set-up with which he won the DHI Cup earlier this year which vastly improved the car for the tricky track.  A clean run the British racer said he will run the car as is in the final one as such were his results yesterday he still needs another good round to make the A-Main.

Setting the fourth fastest time was Team Yokomo’s Lee Martin.  The former EOS race winner, he said a new set-up improved his Yokomo but it now needs further adjustments in other areas ‘to get it to work properly’.   Going into the final qualifier the Brit is confident his buggy will be the best its been all weekend.    Behind Martin, Team Associated’s Juho Levanen and Peter Pinisch had their best showings so far as they took their Centro converted B4s to the 5th & 6th fastest time respectively.  For Q2 pace setter Hupo Honigl the qualifier lasted only 2-minutes as he broke a the front shock tower mount on his Team C.

2WD Buggy Q3 times
1. Martin Bayer – Xray – 13/5:19.560
2. David Ronnefalk – Kyosho – 13/5:19.762
3. Tom Cockerill – Schumacher – 13/5:24.551
4. Lee Martin – Yokomo – 12/5:00.583
5. Juho Levanen – Team Associated – 12/5:02.379
6. Peter Pinisch – Team Associated – 12/5:04.877
7. Oskar Levin – Team C – 12/5:06.073
8. Naoto Matsukura – Yokomo – 12/5:07.943
9. Joern Neumann – Durango – 12/5:08.013
10.Renaud Savoya – Xray – 12/5:08.508

View the complete event results here.

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Bayer is 4WD Top Qualifier at EOS

Martin Bayer has become only the second driver to TQ 4WD Buggy at a Euro Offroad Series race, the Team Xray driver topping the final round of qualifying at the Hudy Arena to take the honour of overall Top Qualifier ending Joern Neumann’s domination of the class.  The fourth & final qualifier saw a 1-2 for the Xray team as Renaud Savoya posted the second fastest time securing the French ace fifth on the grid.  A bad round for the only driver able to challenge Bayer for the TQ, Naoto Matsukura was only 16th fastest but the hard charging Japanese ace will start 2nd on the grid with Neumann lining up third.

‘Finally’ said a clearly delighted Bayer, the Czech ace having come so close to toppling Neumann at round 2 of the championship in Berlin.  Describing his XB4 as ‘so good and so easy to drive’, something he highlighted by being the only driver to run 14 laps of the track doing so in the final qualifier, he said it was ‘just amazing’ to claim his first TQ and do so at his home track.  Having been the driver to end Neumann’s two year reign as European Champion, Bayer said it was also a pretty good feeling to be the first to beat him in the EOS albeit it for now just qualifiying. Looking to tomorrow’s triple A-Main, he said he has no reason to make any set-up changes to his buggy adding that he just aims to make the most of the starting with a clear track in front  of.

Crashing on his open lap of the deciding qualifier, Matsukura said once again it was the driver that was the weak link.  Confident his B-Max4 has the speed to win, he said while he would prefer to be starting from pole he doesn’t see his No.2 position as a major issue saying it was ‘no problem’ and that he is going to ‘push Martin hard’ tomorrow, confident he will be able to get passed the Xray.

Trying a different set-up for the final qualifier Neumann said it didn’t work and his DEX410 was sliding everywhere.  Posting only the 7th fastest time, the German who has won all nine rounds of the EOS held to date over the past three seasons described Bayer’s pace today as ‘crazy fast’ adding he has no match for his rival.  Looking to the finals he said starting third may not be so bad and maybe its his luck that Matsukura is starting second as he could benefit from the Japanese drivers ‘aggressive style’.

Lining up fourth on the grid, helped by a third in Q4, Team Yokomo’s Lee Martin said he is just not fast enough to contend for the win this weekend.  Driving his Viper powered B-Max4 he said it feels like the pace is ‘OK’ but if he tries to push any harder it feels likes its going to crash and for this reason he admits he is ‘scared’ to go that little bit extra.

Savoya said the diff change made to his Orion powered XB4 was a big improvement.  Having tried it in practice he said it didn”t work but running it in combination with a longer wheel base it make the buggy a lot better.  Planning to stick with this set-up for the final,  the relative novice to 1:10 electric offroad said he is pretty confident with a podium his target for tomorrow.

Despite posting the 4th fastest time in 3 of the 4 qualifiers, suffering aDNF in Q2, Hupo Honigl starts 6th.  The Team C driver  said on first run tyres his buggy is ‘OK’ but on used it is difficult to drive.  The Austrian said while Bayer & Matsukura are in a different league he said the battle for third overall is wide open especially judging by the number of mistakes drivers have been making during qualifying.

4WD Buggy A-Main Grid
1. Martin Bayer – Xray – 310 pts
2. Naoto Matsukura – Yokomo – 308
3. Joern Neumann – Durango – 306
4. Lee Martin – Yokomo – 304
5. Renaud Savoya – Xray – 303
6. Hupo Honigl – Team C – 302
7. Miguel Matias – Xray – 300
8. David Ronnefalk – Kyosho – 298
9. Oskar Levin – Team C – 297
10.Robert Battle – Yokomo – 292

4WD Buggy Q4 times
1. Martin Bayer – Xray – 14/5:20.092
2. Renaud Savoya – Xray – 13/5:06.545
3. Lee Martin – Yokomo – 13/5:07.006
4. Hupo Honigl – Team C – 13/5:08.636
5. Miguel Matias – Xray – 13/5:08.793
6. Oskar Levin – Team C – 13/5:12.455
7. Joern Neumann – Durango – 13/5:14.867
8. Ales Bayer – Xray – 13/5:16.330
9. Martin Wollanka – Xray – 13/5:16.928
10.Robert Battle – Yokomo 13/5:17.121

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Chassis Focus – Jorn Neumann

Chassis: Team Durango DEX410 V4
Motor: Orion
ESC: Orion
Batteries: Thunder Power
Radio/Servo: Futaba
Remarks – Unbeaten in the class at the EOS, the German Durango driver is running a pretty stock DEX410 with his standard carpet setup that allowed him a continuous stream of victories, but that’s not performing too well here at the Hudy Arena. After trying both a softer and a harder setup trying to get more grip and traction, with that not making any difference he played a bit with tire preparation hoping to improve the feeling with his 4wd buggy, that is now quite loose and difficult to drive.

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