Coelho claims 2nd EOS win in Germany

Bruno Coelho will go into the final round of the Euro Offroad Series in Austria as championship leader after the Xray driver secured his second win of the season in Germany today.  Top Qualifier for the third round, the World Champion would after a fraught A2, take the overall win ahead of Marc Rheinard with a near perfect drive in the closing race of the championship’s successful first visit to the Muelheim-Kaerlich venue.  For defending 4WD Champion Lee Martin his challenge for a required A3 win lasted just 3-laps as a mistake dropped him down the field, the winner of the season opener at the Nurburgring having to settle for the final step on the podium.

With a mistake in A1, from which he recovered to retake Martin for the win, and two mistakes in A2 that dropped him to third, Coelho said ‘that was easier cause they (Martin & Rheinard) flipped’.  He continued, ‘I started with new tyres and was trying to get them broken in as quickly as possible so it was difficult at the start but Lee made a mistake and then Marc and it was only ’cause of this that the win looked easy’.  With two perfect scores, both wins including the bonus championship TQ point, the Portuguese driver, who has a third from the opening round, said today’s result puts him in a good position for the season final as it puts all the pressure on Martin, the only driver who can deny him winning the title in his rookie season.

Commenting on what has been by far his best EOS weekend having won 2WD yesterday, Rheinard said ‘A 1 & 2 is not bad’. On A3, the 4-time on-road World Champion said, ‘when Lee crashed I tried to catch Bruno.  My car was awesome but I hit a curb and it was game over.  I think I had a real good chance to fight with him for the win but one mistake was too much’.  With Yokomo the only manufacturer to mount any kind of challenge on Xray who made up half the 4WD grid, Rheinard was happy with the YZ-4’s performance this weekend saying, ‘Overall we have made a big step forward with our 4WD’ and he believes they should be even stronger for the next EOS.

Having secured back to back 2WD titles a round early yesterday with his second place finish, Martin would see his aspirations for a consecutive title double take a knock today.  The British driver needed a minimum of a win going into A3 to get better than a third overall.  Putting in the fastest lap of the race the third lap in he said his ‘car felt really good’ and he ‘wasn’t trying super hard’.  Coming off the step off on lap 4 however he said his car would bounce on landing leading to it to grip rolling sending him into the pack. Having led Yokomo to become a title contender, he said ‘there is a small area we need to improve and if we sort it we will be stronger for the last round’.  He added, ‘for a new platform we are close if not on par with our rivals but if we can get that extra little bit the car will be super dialled’.

A driver who endured a tough 2015 season, Hupo Honigl would be ‘super happy’ to finish fourth on his Xray debut.  The Austrian said the ‘Top 3 were just faster’ but added ‘I couldn’t ask for more and with less pressure from my side I really am looking forward to the next race’.  The pressure the former 2WD race winner was referring to was wanting to show he was still there as a driver in terms of being able to run at the front, something which eluded him during his stint at Serpent.  Behind Honigl, his team-mates Martin Wollanka and Martin Bayer would complete the Top 6.

View complete event results here.

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Rheinard handed A2 win as Coelho hits Martin

Marc Rheinard was handed the win in A2 at the Euro Offroad Series as Bruno Coelho clashed with race leader Lee Martin on the penultimate lap.  Sitting in a somewhat distant third when Top Qualifier Coelho got into the back of the leading Yokomo, Rheinard would slip through two recovering cars to go to the front holding off Martin to win by 7/10ths with Coelho completing the Top 3.  The result means it is all to play for at Round 3 in A3, with Coelho, Rheinard and Martin in it for the overall in Germany.

Securing his first ever EOS win yesterday when he headed a Yokomo 1-2 in 2WD, Rheinard said ‘I was just driving around in a solid third position and then I was in the lead’.  Starting the second encounter on new tyres, the German said this meant he couldn’t keep pace with the leaders. With the leaders gapping him he said he ‘didn’t expect such a big crash’ that it would allow him to take the lead. With his YZ-4 improving as the tyres came in he said he was able to see off his team-mate.  A bit surprised to find himself in the hunt for the win with the championship’s two main protagonists, the touring car ace said his approach for A3 would be to ‘still back off and wait’ on something to happen in front of him.

Commenting on the race, Martin said ‘It sucks for me, that should have been a win and would have put me in a good position for A3 but now with Marc & Bruno having a 1 & 3 each a win is the minimum I need in A3.’  Asked about Coelho’s move he said ‘he came in way too hot and cleaned me out’.  Changing to a different front drive shaft in his YZ-4 he said they worked ‘ok’ but with a little too much initial steering they will tweak the set-up to get the best from them.  Also looking for a bit more top speed he will also make a setting change on his RC Concept speedo.

Giving away the lead to Martin on lap 4, Coelho said in that incident his XB4 jumped the roller off the main straight ‘strange’ causing the car go flipping across the track on landing.  Chasing down Martin, setting a new 18.530 fastest lap in the process, the World Champion would clash with his rival at the same piece of track.  On the incident with Martin he said, ‘I touched him in the rear. It was my fault and I waited’.  Looking to A3, the current EOS championship standings leader said ‘maybe 3rd time lucky and I can do the race with no mistake’.  Behind Coelho in third, Michal Orlowski would take his Schumacher from 7th on the grid to fourth ahead of the Xrays of Martin Bayer and Hupo Honigl.

View complete event results here.

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Chassis Focus – Joel Valander

Chassis: Xray XB4 ’16
Motor: Hobbywing 5.5T
ESC: Hobbywing V3.1
Batteries: Vampire 4600mAh
Radio/Servo: Sanwa/Highest
Remarks – Young Finnish driver Joel Valander made his first EOS A-Main appearance here in Muelheim-Kaerlich driving an Xray XB4 ’16. Equipped with 12° aluminium c-hubs he also uses graphite arms and rear aluminium hubs.

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