Orlowski shutdown hands Martin A1 win

There was a dramatic finish to the opening 2WD A-Main at the Euro Offroad Series in Austria when with half a minute to go race leader Michal Orlowski suffered an electrical shutdown that would hand Top Qualifier Lee Martin the win. Having gone to the front with an impressive pass on Martin’s Yokomo through the table top on lap 9 of 16, Orlowski had taken control of the race but with 2-laps remaining at the very same spot he took the lead the Schumacher driver’s buggy would come coasting to a halt. Passing the dead buggy Martin would go on to win by a massive 7-seconds from fellow countryman & 8th place starter Simon Moss with Joern Neumann completing the Top 3.  For second place starter David Ronnefalk a first lap coming together would drop him to the back of the field with the Swede opting to pull off after 4-laps to save tyres.

Commenting on the race, Martin said said he could have been a bit more aggressive with Orlowski when the Polish driver made his pass.  Not at all surprised by Orlowski’s impressive pace, the Vice-World Champion wasn’t going to make both of them to crash trying to block the move knowing there was still plenty of time in the race to have a go back at him.  However he said he couldn’t get close enough to the 13-year-old as he ‘drove really well’.  With Orlowski clearly quicker after the single single and at the end of the straight, Martin said he would work on trying to improve his line there for A2.

Getting by Ronnefalk on the opening lap, Orlowski said at first he was happy to settle for second but seeing he was faster than Martin he started to push harder.  Knowing he was faster through the section leading to the main straight he said he made the decision a lap earlier that there was where he would make his move.  Getting passed to a huge roar from the large crowd of show onlookers, he said once he opened up a gap he just tried to control the race to the finish feeling very comfortable out front.  With the battery initially suspected as the cause of the shut down, the multiple EOS podium finisher said when they turned off and back on the electrics everything worked perfectly fine again.  For A2 he will fit all new electrics.

Moss said he ‘just stayed out of trouble’ and ‘it work out all right’.  The Schumacher driver said he thought he was battling with Neumann for fourth not third and ultimately second.  While happy with second he said he would have been equally as happy to finish third had it meant his team-mate had got the win.  For A2 he said he would just try again to stay of trouble and see what happens.

Neumann said he got delayed at the start when Yannic Prumper who started in front of him crashed and this allowed Moss to get by.  Posting the fastest lap of the race, the German said he was encouraged by his pace describing it as good for what they have got in terms of chassis configuration.  Looking to A2 he said the speed is now good but starting from 6th on the grid it is always going to make it difficult to get a good result.

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Martin is Top Qualifier in Austria

Lee Martin is the 2WD Top Qualifier for Round 3 of the Euro Offroad Series in Wels, Austria.  The Yokomo driver, who now moves a step closer to securing his first EOS championship title, claimed the top spot on the grid for the A-Main when he posted his third TQ run of the day in the fourth & final round of qualifying at the ‘Modellbau Wels’ hobby show.  With only HB’s David Ronnefalk able to deny Martin the extra bonus championship point for claiming the overall TQ, the British ace wouldn’t have to rise to the challenge with the Swede crashing after just two laps.  Happy to run second behind star of event Michal Orlowski, Martin would on the penultimate lap be gifted the final qualifier as the young Schumacher driver made a mistake.  Ending the round second fastest, the incident would also cost Orlowski 2nd on the grid to Ronnefalk who only posted the 10th fastest time of Q4.

His second consecutive 2WD TQ of EOS Season #4, Martin said going into the final qualifier his focus was Ronnefalk and once he saw his rival crash the pressure was off. Admitting that Orlowski pace this weekend is very strong, he said once Ronnefalk’s challenge was over he just focused on putting in a clean run having in the previous qualifier thrown away a TQ run with a mistake.  He said while both Orlowski and Ronnefalk had faster lap times he said he ‘would like to think (he) had a fast lap there if (he) needed it’.  Asked about the finals, the Berlin race winner said the fast nature of the track layout meant passing was going to be a ‘risk versus reward’ situation.  He also added that he had his reservations about the the first lap over the corner table top as drivers try to best cut the corner.

Using the final qualifier to scrub in a set of the championship handout Schumacher tyres, Ronnefalk said he thought a few hard warm-up laps would have been enough to break in the tyres but that wasn’t the case.  Struggling with his Red Workshop B52 Associated conversion being ‘very hard’ to drive on lap two he traction rolled off the track losing 4-seconds with a mistake on the next lap costing him a further 4-seconds.  Once the tyres came in, the 19-year-old, who set the fastest lap of the round, said the car was very good with him feeling he has ‘a good change now for the finals’.  Describing the car as ‘fast and good to drive’ he said ‘the first final should be interesting’.

Starting from third on the grid after throwing away a TQ run when he cut the corner table top too much and his rear wheel caught the wood, Orlowski said he ‘hope(d) overtaking is not too difficult’.  Clearly enjoying how his Cougar KFII is performing this weekend, the 13-year-old said the plan for the finals was to just ‘push hard’.

Starting fourth on the grid will be Martin Bayer.  Fifth fastest in the final qualifier the Xray driver said his XB2 was ‘way too easy to drive’ causing him to over drive it resulting in small mistakes.  Admitting Martin had great consistency and Orlowski & Ronnefalk are very fast, he said he hoped to be able to fight with them but added it would be a challenge.  Set to make a rear set-up change he hopes a more aggressive car will give him the speed he needs.

Behind touring car ace Yannick Prumper, Serpent’s Joern Neumann starts 6th.  Copying team-mate Hupo Honigl’s set-up for Q3 he said the buggy is much faster.  Asked how he feels he can do in the final from the middle of the pack, the German said maybe with some luck he could hope for a Top 3 finish.

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Ronnefalk TQ’s third 2WD qualifier

David Ronnefalk snatched a last lap TQ run in Q3 of 2WD at the Euro Offroad Series when Michal Orlowski found himself caught up in someone else’s mistake.  Losing over 2-seconds in the incident Orlowski would hold on to hold on to claim 2nd as he did in the previous qualifier.  The pace setter in Q1 & 2 with two faultless drives, Yokomo’s Lee Martin looked on target to wrap up the overall TQ until his first driver error of the day dropped him almost 4-seconds to leave him finish the round 3rd quickest. Ronnefalk’s TQ run puts the Swede in contention to claim his first ever overall EOS TQ in the final round of qualifying but in order to do that he needs to run a faster time than Martin’s Q2 pace.

Having started off only 17th fastest in the opening qualifier, Ronnefalk improved in Q2 to finish 3rd. Looking to get his Associated based Red Workshop B52 conversion to rotate more in the corners, the HB driver went to heavier oil in the rear diff for Q3, the change resulting in having to not push as hard in the corners.  With a Top 3 starting position in the A-Main secured, the 19-year said with the car easier to drive he would leave it unchanged and instead try to to better his grid position through another clean run.

On target to TQ the round, Orlowski said he was just lacking in the luck department.  ‘Super happy’ with how his Cougar KFII has been running this weekend, with him leaving the set-up unchanged since practice, the 13-year-old found himself with nowhere to go on his final lap when another buggy slid on its roof right across his path. Collecting it, he too also ended upside down and needing to be marshalled.  Finishing 1.3 seconds off Ronnefalk, the Polish ace said it would have been nice to TQ but I know I have the speed and with a bit more luck everything should fine.

Another driver to leave his car unchanged all morning other than have Yokomo engineer Shin Adachi rebuild his shocks, Martin said he just messed up his line through the single single and on the landing caught a dot which sent the car bouncing off the boards on the opposite side of the track.  Setting the fastest lap of qualifying in Q3, with a 19.371, he said his YZ-2 was good and the error was simply down to himself.

Just out for fun, Yokomo touring car ace Yannic Prumper would set the 4th fastest time with his YZ-2 which he built and set-up as per the manual.  The German who hasn’t contested an offroad race for over a year said it was a pretty clean run and 4th was about right in terms of where his pace is at.

Enjoying his first Top 10 run, Adachi was happy with his run to the 5th fastest time, less driver errors the reason for his improvement.  Here to support Yokomo drivers, the popular Japanese driver said he is very happy with how the entire team are performing this weekend and the fact that they are all pretty much running their cars unchanged every run.

Completing the Top 6 just ahead of Serpent team-mates Joern Neumann and Hupo Honigl, Xray’s Martin Bayer said the qualifier started out really well until a mistake which dropped him around 3-seconds.  While he would like to find some more corner speed from his XB2, he said without the mistake his pace would have been good and he hopes to keep the next one clean having had a 2nd in Q1 and a 4th in Q2.

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Martin takes opening qualifier at EOS Austria

Having topped 2WD practice yesterday at the Euro Offroad Series Lee Martin picked up where he left off as he took the first of the the four rounds of qualifying in Austria.  Just missing out on a 16-lap run, the Yokomo driver was almost 3-seconds clear of the field with Xray’s Martin Bayer posting the second fastest time.  Posting the fastest lap of the opening qualifier, Schumacher’s Michal Orlowski completed the Top 3 despite two incidents. Also suffering errors, it wasn’t a good start to the day for Berlin podium finisher David Ronnefalk as ‘too many stupid mistakes’ left the HB driver 17th fastest.

Describing his Muchmore powered YZ-2 as ‘really nice to drive’, Martin said he ‘didn’t push hard (and) just kept it on the straight & narrow for the 5-minutes’.  Complimenting Orlowski on his early pace, the British ace expects the Polish star ‘is going to be quick all day’ adding the 13-year-old is ‘obviously enjoying the track layout’.  For Q2, the Round 2 winner who could wrap up his first EOS title with a win today said he will leave his buggy unchanged with the focus to ‘keep doing runs like that’.

Bayer was very happy to open qualifying with 2nd having only been 9th fastest yesterday in practice.  Giving a lot of thought last night to possible set-up options for his new XB2, the Czech driver said he changed a lot on the buggy this morning for Q1.  Taking the ‘everything or nothing’ gamble with that set-up, he said it proved a good decision with the balance change a big improvement.  ‘Still lacking a little stability’ he said he has a few ideas he will try for Q2 to try cure this.

A driver who is clearly very comfortable at the controls of his Cougar KF II, Orlowski would lay down the early TQ pace in the top heat until he had bad luck when he had a coming together with Xray’s Martin Wollanka.  Losing 5-seconds due to the incident he would also have a mistake of his own and considering the time lost he said ‘third is still a very good’.  Running a carbon chassis on his buggy, which his team-mates have now switched to for qualifying, he said he knows the speed is there and his plan is to leave everything as is and instead just drive it without making any mistakes.

Running his Yokomo unchanged as to how he put it on the track yesterday morning for the first practice, touring car ace Yannic Prumper would end Q1 4th fastest.  The German said other than popping a wheelie on the main straight that cost him about a second the rest of the run went well with him describing his YZ-2 as ‘easy to drive’.  Another touring car ace joining the EOS weekend, ETS Champion Ronald Volker would set the 11th fastest time having had a couple of bad laps.

Describing his Cougar KF II as ‘just a little easier to drive’ following the switch to the carbon chassis, Simon Moss opened qualifying with a strong 5th despite getting out of shape due to one of Ronnefalk’s errors.  BQ in Berlin, the British driver was ‘pretty happy’ with his start to the day adding he feels he has Top 6 pace.  Adding he is very happy with his new Tekin electrics, for Q2 he will stay with the same set-up and focus on registering another good round.

‘No mistakes and I finished 6th, I think that’s the fastest I can go’ was how Joern Neumann summed up his performance.  Running his Serpent unchanged from practice, the German said the issue is a lack corner speed something he was unable to cure with set-up changes in practice yesterday.  Planning to discuss the issue with team-mate Hupo Honigl he said he will look at coming up with a set-up change they can try for Q2.

Behind Neumann, young Hungarian driver Barnabas Toth put in ‘a safe run’ to post the 7th fastest time. The 16-year-old Yokomo driver said he was a little cautious due to changing back to 2WD, having finished out yesterday with 5-rounds of 4WD practice, but the transition back was ok.  Planning to push harder for the next one he will also make a front end set-up change to try and find more steering.

Making his first international race appearance with Schumacher Peter Pinisch would run the 8th fastest time.  Following Orlowski in terms of set-up, the Austrian said his buggy is ‘ok’ and its more his driving that needs work as he tries to adapt it to the Cougar KF II having been a long time Associated team driver.  Behind the Austrian Yokomo’s Bjorn Prumper and Team Associated’s Patrick Hofer would complete the Top 10.

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Chassis Focus – David Ronnefalk

Chassis: Red Workshop B52
Motor: Orion
ESC: Orion
Batteries: Orion
Radio/Servo: Ko Propo

Remarks: With team Hot Bodies not having a 2WD car yet, here in Wels David is running a pretty unique example of the French-made Red Workshop B52. The car features an Associated B5 front end, while the whole drivetrain comes from the B44. In the rear end we see a majority of B5 parts mixing together with some handmade ones such as the front arm holder and camber link plate, while the gearbox is still from the B44. Some 3D printed parts are also featured on the buggy, such as the side guards and the rear upper plate.

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Chassis Focus – Martin Bayer

Chassis: Xray XB4 2015
Motor: Orca
ESC: Orca
Batteries: Orca
Radio/Servo: Sanwa/Savox

Remarks: Having recently made the switch from LRP, Martin Bayer is here in attendance at EOS Round 3 with a fully Orca equipped XB4 2015 that also sports some option parts, such as aluminium rear uprights and front C-Hubs with a 12° caster angle instead of the stock 9°. The aluminium ackermann plate is also optional and staying in the steering area, the servo mount is floating just like on the T4 touring car.

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