Neumann finally produces TQ run at EOS Berlin

After a bad opening qualifier at the second Round of the Euro Offroad Series Joern Neumann claimed his first TQ run of the Berlin event when he topped the penultimate qualifier from Q1 & 2 pace setter Lee Martin.  Improving from 25th fastest in the first qualifier to record the second fastest time in Q2, the defending champion finally hit the top of the time sheets outpacing Martin by just over a second to record the new fastest TQ pace.  With 2 of the four qualifiers to count, it means the final round will see Neumann go head to head with Martin for the overall TQ honours.  Behind them after also having a bad opening qualifier Team C’s Robert Batlle repeated his Q2 result by claiming another 3rd fastest time.

Finishing Q2 7/10ths off Martin, Neumann said a combination of his tyres being on their second run and him gluing up the tyre walls had gave him a better car although his run contained a mistake that cost him over 2-seconds.  Setting the fastest lap, the difference in outright pace to Martin just 0.008 of a second, he said while surprised at how well the car ran on new tyres he is very confident for the final qualifier as ‘the second run is always better.

Describing Q3 as ‘pretty close’, Martin said he was trying to gauge himself against Neumann so as not to push too hard and risk making a mistake.  Feeling he had done enough to secure the round and the overall TQ he said his rival had started the heat faster than he thought and was more in front on time than he had realised.  Improving his car for Q2 he said it was a little loose but a camber link adjustment for Q3 had helped but he added the biggest difference comes from deciding whether to run new or used tyres.

Having made ‘too many mistakes’ in the opening round Batlle said his improvement in Q2 & 3 came simply from ‘better driving’.  Leaving his TM4 unchanged he said he is having a problem with the car losing forward traction towards the end of the run but added at least things are going better than 2WD, where he ended in the B-Main, as his two Top 3 runs lock the Spaniard into the A-Main.

Hupo Honigl set the fourth fastest time.  Having been on a good run in Q2, he would suffer a diff clamp failure on his DEX410 which would put him out after 2-minutes.  Opting to run his tyres again for a third time he said this left the car with understeer but needing a result following his DNF he opted for a safe run so as to lock in an A-Main start, the EOS race winner another driver to find himself in the B-Main yesterday in 2WD.

Another driver to retire in Q2, due to a broken drive shaft, Martin Bayer posted the 5th fastest time in Q3.  The Xray driver struggled with an aggressive car in Q1 and changed the set-up for Q2 but never got to see how the changes worked as he lasted just one lap.  Staying with the set-up for Q3 he said it was too easy to drive and ‘weak in the 180 corners’.  Asked about changing his car for Q4 he said ‘I have to as I am not so fast right now’.  Behind Bayer, team-mate Martin Wollanka completed the Top 6.

Third fastest in Q2 having improved his HB D413 with heavier oil in the front diff, David Ronnefalk was on another good run until he hit the upside down Yokomo of Shin Adachi on the straight.  Rolling his car in the impact and needing to be marshalled he lost 4-seconds over the next two laps to end up 8th fastest behind Team Associated’s Joakim Nicolaisen.  Planning to go up in the rear diff oil for Q4 and having set of second run tyres the Swede is confident he can improve on his current mid pack grid position.

View the complete event results here.

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Chassis Focus – Martin Bayer

Chassis: Xray XB4 2015
Motor: LRP
ESC: LRP
Batteries: LRP
Radio/Servo: Futaba/Savox
Remarks – The Czech driver is running a new 3mm chassis on his 4wd buggy here in Berlin. The chassis, meant to be used on high traction surfaces, will be soon available as an option part. His car also features 12° aluminum caster blocks and aluminium rear uprights.

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Martin tops opening 4WD qualifier

Fresh from his win in 2WD yesterday Lee Martin has topped the opening round of 4WD qualifying at the Euro Offroad Series in Berlin.  The Yokomo driver was one of the few drivers to complete an error free 5-minutes to top the times from Team Associated’s Patrick Hofer and his Yokomo engineer Shin Adachi by a clear 6.8-seconds.  For defending champion Joern Neumann, who struggled in 2WD, it was not the start the German was looking for as he struggled with the high traction to end up only 25th fastest.

Asked about his run Martin said, ‘My car wasn’t brilliant to be fair as it was a little difficult to drive but seemingly no more than everybody else’s’.  While he said he expected to have more steering in the morning his MuchMore powered B-Max 4 wanted to oversteer and while the track normally changes over the day he said he would be asking Adachi to tweak the set-up for the next one.

Running in the B heat, Hofer summed up how pleased he was with his opening qualifier by describing it as ‘a good morning’. The Swiss National Champion said ‘I just ran a clean heat with no mistakes’. In terms of his B44.3, the 22-year-old said the rear was being a little loose and for Q2 he will go up in the diff oils.

Just missing out on making it a Yokomo 1-2 on the time sheets by 0.004, Adachi said he ‘just drove easy and got lucky’.  Having run his car with just one set of pins removed, the Japanese driver said based on the steering he had in 2WD A-Main yesterday he knew traction had come up since Friday and so he removed a second row for Q1.

Setting the fourth fastest time, Xray’s Martin Wollanka described the opening qualifier as ‘difficult’ as his XB4 had ‘lots of steering’ due to the high traction the track has developed since practice.  Having to drive safe he was ‘very happy’ with his result but said for Q2 he will have to try to make the car easier to drive.

Feeling under the weather due to a head cold, Serpent’s Hupo Honigl described his run as ‘too safe’ adding he ‘drove too careful & slow mainly because I am not feeling well’.  Expecting ‘super high traction’, the Austrian changed the set-up on his Durango, him running the DEX410 as he waits on Serpent’s new SRX4, but went too much leaving him with understeer.  He will go back to his practice set-up for Q2.

Completing the Top 6, HB’s David Ronnefalk said his D413 was really good at the start but got ‘more difficult’ towards the end of the run.  Running a Top 3 pace, half way in he would make a mistake resulting in a loss of 6-seconds.  Putting the drop off in performance down to his diff oils going soft as the run progressed he will go up with them for Q2 saying ‘hopefully that will make it better’.

Martin Bayer would take his Xray to the 7th fastest time.  Having enjoyed a successful debut in 2WD yesterday when he took his team’s new XB2 to a podium finish, the Czech driver having been very happy with his 4WD on Friday, this morning it had way too much steering.  Not expecting the track to change so much as it didn’t feel to have done so in 2WD, Bayer ran an ‘aggressive set-up’ on his LRP powered XB4 but says he needs to change that for Q2.

Having topped seeding practice Neumann said his Durango was ‘very edgy’ leading to two mistakes one of which the marshal didn’t see costing him over 10-seconds.  He said the problem was down to fresh tyres and the change of carpet around the track.  Describing the grey carpet as having no traction he said the black, a piece of which is located at the end of the straight, has ‘super high grip’.  For Q2 he will glue the side walls of his front tyres.

View the complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

Video – 2wd Buggy A-main Leg 2 & 3

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lhbm3YWK7_w[/youtube]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCpLxYDSPf0[/youtube]

Martin takes significant first Yokomo win at EOS

Lee Martin took a significant first major victory for Yokomo today at the Euro Offroad Series in Berlin, the British ace winning 2WD from David Ronnefalk and Joern Neumann with wins in the opening two A-Mains.  A previous EOS race winner with former team Tamiya, the win is an important one, not just as the team debuted their all new YZ-2 at the German event but also as its the team’s first outing since the shock departure of reigning champion & Round 1 double winner Naoto Matsukura. Taking maximum points for the round, as he also collected the Top Qualifier bonus point, the win places the World Championship runner-up as a major contention to help Yokomo retain it’s title in the increasingly competitive championship.  Today’s A-Main was the first time drivers from 10 different nationalities lined up to race for the win.

Having had his shocks rebuilt by Yokomo engineer/team-mate Shin Adachi, who also put his YZ-2 in the A-Main, Martin said he had a better car for the second leg.  Chased initially by Ronnefalk, the only driver to challenge his domination of the weekend, once the Swede made a mistake on lap 7 of 16 he said he knew he could control the race for his first international win a year.  The perfect way to mark a year on from when he signed with the Japanese manufacturer, he said on a personal level the win was good way ‘to silence all the doubters’.  With it ‘now all to play for’ in terms of the championship title he continued ‘why win one when you can win 2’.

Winning A3 easily to take the overall runners-up spot Ronnefalk said while he came here for the win having taken the Team C to victory at the DHI Cup he was still happy as the race marks his best ever EOS finish.  Matching Martin in terms of pace, the 18-year-old, who hopes to contest at least one of the remaining two rounds of the championship with a 2WD chassis from his new HB team, said he made a couple of mistakes too many.  Highlighting in particular his last lap error in Q4 with cost him the overall TQ, he said starting from pole position would have made for a different story.  Still the 1:8 European Champions said ‘Lee drove really well and deserves the win’.

Having qualified 5th on the grid, Martin Bayer was clearly delighted with his podium finish. ‘I’m super happy, it feels like a win’.   The result came to the Czech ace when he got by Neumann in A3 to finish the leg second. A previous winner in the class he said to race a car that had only come out of the production machines 70-hours ago and be be able to fight for the podium was ‘amazing’.  Having taken his previous win with an adapted 4WD chassis, the XB4-2, this weekend Xray debuted their first built 2WD creation, the XB2, and ‘having been out of contention in 2WD’ he was ‘hugely motivated’ by the potential of the new car.  Xray had two XB2s in the Main with Martin Wollanka taking his example to 5th overall.

Crashing on his own in A2 while running second leading to his Yokomo getting collected by another car resulting in broken servo, Neumann would also lose out on second in A3 with a mistake, this time at the wall section.  Allowing Bayer to pass this would cost the German a podium finish.  Summing up his 2WD performance, the 6-time race winner it was not his weekend and struggling from the start with a lack of steering his biggest issue causing him to drive too aggressively.  Putting the 2WD result behind him he said ‘4WD will for sure be better’.

View the complete event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

Chassis Focus – Robert Batlle

Chassis: Team C TM2 V2
Motor: Muchmore
ESC: Muchmore
Batteries: Muchmore
Radio/Servo: Futaba/Xpert
Remarks – Newly signed Team C factory driver Robert Batlle is competing here in Berlin with a pretty stock version of the V2 buggy. In terms of optional parts he has chosen to use a front aluminium bulkhead as well as a LMR Avior wing.

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