Orlowski Top Qualifier at EOS Daun (2WD)

Michal Orlowski is the Top Qualifier at the first EOS encounter of 2019, the Schumacher driver wrapping up his second consecutive pole position of Season #8 with a third TQ run in the fourth & final round of 2WD in Daun, Germany.  After a long 14.5 hour day at the track, the shoot out for the overall Round 3 TQ came down to Orlowski and Daniel Kobbevik, the latter having TQ’d the first qualifier of the day.  Unfortunately for Kobbevik, the challenge for his first EOS TQ was short lived as he traction rolled his Xray just before the wall before opting to pull up as he couldn’t better his already impressive P2 starting position for tomorrow’s A-Main grid.  While team-mate Bruno Coelho would set the early pace, once again an error would prevent the EOS Poland winner from converting his speed into a TQ run. Posting the fastest lap of the heat, he would recover to take a P3 behind Joona Haatanen while up front Orlowski topped the times by 1.8-seconds.  While it was a bad closing round for Lee Martin, the Yokomo driver will line-up third ahead of Coelho and Haatanen.

Commenting on the result, Orlowski said, ‘this is my second TQ in a row. In Warsaw I wasn’t able to convert it into a win but I’m aiming to to make it happen tomorrow’.  The reigning back to back 2WD champion added, ‘I think all the drivers were feeling sleepy on the driver stand after a long day and I’m happy to not have made any mistakes.  I used my normal tyre strategy so we have tyres ready for tomorrow’s first final so let’s see how it goes’.

‘I needed to try’, was Kobbevik’s reaction after the heat.  The 14-year-old explained, ‘I traction rolled before the wall.  I knew I needed a clean run to improve so then I pulled up. There was no need to continue’. One of the rising stars of the EOS, the Norwegian driver added, ‘I am super happy to start 2nd tomorrow. I hope I can make the podium. I think it will be difficult to beat Michal because he is super fast but anything can happen’.

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Another TQ run for Orlowski in Daun

Michal Orlowski has posted another TQ run at the Euro Offroad Series third round, this time the Schumacher becoming the first driver to record 14-laps around the uniquely shaped, large indoor carpet track in Daun, Germany. Having taken Q2 after a late error by Q1 pace setter Daniel Kobbevik, Orlowski took a convincing TQ in the penultimate round able to focus solely on his own driving  as both Kobbevik and Xray team-mate Bruno Coelho made early errors.  Behind Orlowski, Lee Martin secured the second fastest time denying Schumacher a 1-2 with Joern Neumann topping the second fastest heat to get a 3rd for his efforts.  Coming into the weekend sharing the points lead with Orlowski, Joona Haatanen would enjoy his best run posting a P4 time ahead of Hupo Honigl, who running in the second fastest heat would end up the fastest Xray for the round ahead of Coelho and Martin Bayer.

‘That was a decent run’, was how Orlowski described his latest TQ run with only Kobbevik now remaining as a potential rival to denying the reigning champion pole position for tomorrow’s triple A-Mains.  The Polish teenager continued, ‘my far felt very mellow.  It was very comfortable to drive and when Daniel & Bruno made mistakes at the beginning I just did my own thing and stayed calm. With that run, now only Daniel can beat me for the TQ’.  Looking to the final qualifier, he said, ‘I think we will go with new tyres for the last one to break them in for the finals. The car will be edgy for the start but I know my pace is there to finish the heat strong’.

Summing up his second P2 run of the day, Martin said, ‘I made a pretty big mistake but would have had to drive pretty hard to keep up with Orlowski so I’m happy with 2nd’.  The Yokomo driver added, ‘a few people are very fast but they are struggling to hold it together.  I m going to go harder in the last one and see how it goes’.

Neumann said, ‘I still crashed two times and lost maybe four seconds’, explaining, ‘I jumped the centre table top too short and the rear flipped over’.  The former multiple EOS Champion added, ‘the car is alright but running in the second fastest heat it is difficult to know how hard to push.  It’s easy to go faster when the other guys around you are going the same speed but with this 3rd place I just need another good round to secure 4 or 5th on the grid for the final. Fighting for first would have been better’.

‘That was better than the previous two rounds’, was the reaction of a much happier looking Haatanen, the Associated driver  adding, ‘I made a couple of small mistakes and lost some time but overall it was a much better run’.  He added, ‘I was fighting with the car and just didn’t have the speed but we went with harder oil in the shocks and for less rear toe in for Q3 and the car was much better. For the last one we will go with even less toe-in as I still have too much compared to everyone else’.

Happy to take his best run so far in Q3, Honigl said, ‘my car is perfect but I am just driving with no confidence. I can’t use the  car as I want so I am not getting the maximum from it’.  A veteran of the Euro Offroad Series, the Austrian RC distributor added, ‘I am so busy outside of racing and because of that I am finding it hard to focus’.

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Orlowski snatches Q2 after last lap error from Kobbevik

Michal Orlowski has TQ’d the second round of qualifying at EOS Daun, the Schumacher driver benefiting from a last lap error from Q1 winner Daniel Kobbevik.  The Xray driver was on target to make it two from two but the table top was his undoing as he took too tight a line that resulted in contact with the corner wall that cost him over 3.5 seconds. This allowed both Orlowski and Bruno Coelho, thanks to his last lap being his fastest, to post quicker times with Kobbevik ending up 3rd.  Behind, there was a big gap back to 4th placed Lee Martin, the Yokomo driver having his own costly error half way through the run that cost him almost 4-seconds.  8/10th behind, HB Racing’s David Ronnefalk would pull a 5th from the round with Joel Valander rounding out the Top 6.

Commenting on his TQ run, Orlowski, who made two mistakes in the opening qualifier, said, ‘That was a good run. The car felt very good and I made no major mistakes although I had a rough first lap’.  He continued, ‘I was battling with Bruno and he made a mistake and when the marshal went to his car I couldn’t see so clipped his car and lost around half a second. Without Daniel’s mistake on the last lap it would definitely have been very close.  The pace is very high and you have to push to keep the 22-second laps going. It’s tough but it’s going good so far’.  Asked about tyre wear, the World Championship Top Qualifier replied, ‘it’s low so it’s no issue. We will stick to our normal strategy and run the first set of tyres 3-times and then put on new ones on for the last qualifier like aways’.

‘Another mistake’, was Coelho reaction after the 5-minute encounter.  The Xray driver went on, ‘I was battling with Daniel and then on the single after the table top my car jumped weird. I was unable to correct it and flipped and lost time’.  Pleased with his car, the Portuguese driver explained, ‘everyone is so close. You have to take risks to fight for the TQ.  Also Orlowski was coming after being slow at the start so I was forcing more to get time and that led to a small mistake’.

‘Not so good’, was how Kobbevik summed up Q2.  The 14-year-old continued, ‘I’m happy to have good results from the first two rounds and already have good points but my mistake on the last lap cost me another TQ run’.  He explained, ‘At the table top I came up too tight. It was just the one mistake but it was too big.  The speed is there so I will try to keep it going’.

Explaining his error, Martin said, ‘I touched the pipe and my front wheel wouldn’t free up so I lost a ton of time’.  The Yokomo driver added, ‘the car is nice to drive. I could push it harder but it gets a little out of my comfort zone but I think I might try it anyway for the next one’.

On his much improved Q2 performance, European Champion Ronnefalk said, ‘that was not bad. It started out really good but then I had a mistake coming down the wall and lost a couple of seconds.  Towards the end of the heat I was driving pretty strong and making no mistakes so I could make back a few places.  I knew Lee (Martin) was too far ahead so 5th overall was decent’.  In terms of his car, the Swede is running a prototype, he said ‘it is not yet fast enough to win or get in the Top 3 but I’m aiming to finish in the Top 5.  We are trying a few things on the set-up to learn and if we can tune the set-up a bit more a Top 5 should be achievable’.

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Kobbevik takes opening qualifier at EOS Daun

Daniel Kobbevik has backed up his Top 3 practice form at the Euro Offroad Series in Germany taking the opening round of 2WD qualifying in Daun.  The Xray driver produced a clean 5-minute run around the large high speed track layout to top the times from Lee Martin by one and a half seconds.  Despite a 3-second error after he had just went by Kobbevik, who started the heat in front of him, Bruno Coelho come out of the round with a P3.  Another to suffer costly mistakes was Top Seed Michal Orlowski, the Schumacher driver twice making errors that cost him a total of 6-seconds leaving him fourth ahead of an under the weather Martin Bayer.  Finding himself in the second fastest heat after a disappointing controlled practice, Jörn Neumann completed the Top 6 despite a blotch on his run when he crashed twice on the same lap that added 4-seconds to his time.

‘I’m super happy’ declared Kobbevik on reacting to his TQ run.  The Norwegian’s first race outing in over 2-months, he added, ‘I was struggling a bit at the start because of being on new tyres and this made the car difficult to drive but then I got faster and faster but it was making no mistakes that gave me the TQ’.  Having delivered a podium finish at the season opener in 4WD but chasing that same honour in 2WD, looking to Q2, the teenager said, ‘I will just try to do the same. I hope it will be easier at the start now that the tyres are broken in’.

Martin summed up his Q1 performance with ‘it was fine’.  The Yokomo lead driver continued, ‘the car got a little soft in the end and I couldn’t push the last minute’.  The former Champion added, ‘I went relatively clean and there isn’t much else to report really’. For Q2 he will, ‘stiffen up the car to make it better at the end of the run’.

Explaining his P3 run, Coelho said, ‘I started behind Daniel and once I felt comfortable with the tyres I started to push.  When I caught Daniel he let me by but just after I passed him I crashed at the table top and lost 3-seconds’.  Chasing a second 2WD win of Season #8, the overall title still eluding the 2-time 4WD Champion, he concluded, ‘I am happy with our car. Daniel was 1st and I was third with a 3-second error showing it’s working well’.

Orlowski said, ‘The car felt good. We moved the battery back to forward position but I made two errors and lost a lot of time. Otherwise everything was very good’.  The reigning champion added, ‘I jumped the last roller on the inside and got caught in the pipe and then I got the double double wrong and ended up out on the straight. They were two costly mistakes but I know I have the pace so I will go back out and do my own thing’.

‘For how I feel 5th was not a bad result’, was Bayer’s reaction after Q1.  The head of Xray’s offroad programme, continued, ‘Since I arrived yesterday I having been feeling sick and all my reactions are slower. When I need to correct the reactions are not there’.  With the race attracting a record entry, Bayer said he was also not happy having to start 11th in the fastest heat saying it was an extra distraction’.  The Czech driver concluded, ‘hopefully I feel better tomorrow but for now I will just try to survive the rest of the day’ – Day 1 not set to conclude until just after 22:00 local time.

‘Sixth was actually a good opening round.  I crashed once, well twice on the same lap so it could have been quicker’, was how Neumann summed up Q1.  The Schumacher driver added, ‘the car is driving good but if I could get a bit more off power steering it would be perfect. I will discuss with Trish (Tristram Neal) what we can change to get this for the next one’.

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Orlowski fastest in practice at EOS Daun (2WD)

Practice for Round 3 of the Euro Offroad Series in Daun, Germany, saw reigning champion Michal Orlowski set the fastest time in controlled practice.  The Schumacher driver set the 2WD pace with his time from the first of the two practices from Lee Martin, the Yokomo driver putting in his best three consecutive laps in the second of the runs.  Young Norwegian star Daniel Kobbevik would complete the Top 3 ahead of Xray team-mate Bruno Coelho. Having claimed his maiden EOS victory at the event last year Neil Cragg was fifth fastest with Associated team-mate and joint championship points leader Joona Haatanen rounding out the Top 6.

Summing up his controlled practice pace, having started the day 4th fastest in the single round of free practice, Orlowski said, ‘It was really good and I’m glad the car works very good now’.  Explaining his fastest time coming in the first controlled round, the Pole said, ‘I moved battery position from back to front between the rounds and preferred how it was before. I will go back to the position it was in the first qualifier’.  Going into the weekend searching his first 2WD win of the season, he concluded, ‘I think I have learned the track already.  The key to the TQ is going to be no mistakes’.

‘Pretty good’, was how Martin described practice.  The British driver added, ‘the car is consistent and the lap times are pretty good but it’s going to be quite difficult being punched on this track for 5-minutes I think. A pipe or ripple in the carpet can catch you out.’  One of a number of drivers who came into the event directly from racing on dirt at the Reedy Race of Champions last weekend in California, he said, ‘It’s a little different from last week but the car is pretty good. We’ll tweak it throughout the day and try make it easier to drive but I think it’s the track that can catch you out especially the double double’.

Describing the track as a ‘cool layout’ and liking its ‘high speed’ flow, Kobbevik said, ‘I’m happy with how it’s going so far. I haven’t raced since the last EOS (Poland back in November).  The car is working well and the only thing I’ve done was change the battery for each run’.  Looking to the first qualifier, all four rounds on today’s schedule, the 14-year-old said, ‘I will leave the car as it is and just try to drive more smooth for the 5-minutes’.

The 2WD winner at Round 2 in Warsaw, Coelho said, ‘Controlled practice didn’t start too good. I hit a board and broke the steering so I missed the first run.  I suffered from missing that track time in the second run and could only make 3 or 4 consecutive laps without mistakes’.  The Portuguese driver added, ‘the car is very good and for the first qualifying I will work on trying to make no mistakes’.  Asked about the track layout, he replied, ‘It is very fast.  The table top is quite difficult to get the landing right but overall I like it (the layout)’.

‘I am really pleased with the 2nd practice’, was how Cragg summed up controlled practice.  The former World Champion continued, ‘we made a few changes to the car after the first one and it was much better’.  He explained, ‘the car was decent before but we did some work on the shocks for the flat landings and that improved it a lot’.  Asked if he planned more changes for Q1 he replied, ‘I’ll probably leave it for the first one and see how it goes’.

Winner of the season opener, claiming his first EOS victory at the Nurburgring back in September, Haatanen said, ‘After the Reedy Race I am just getting used to being back on carpet but I think it’s going not too bad’. The Finn added, ‘the car feels OK so I just need a little more time to learn to drive on carpet again. We are getting there’.

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