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Video – 4wd Qualifying Rd1

Posted: 24 Mar 2018 12:48 PM PDT

Orlowski takes opening 4WD qualifier

Posted: 24 Mar 2018 12:30 PM PDT

Michal Orlowski is clearly looking on target for another double this weekend at the penultimate round of the Euro Offroad Series, the Schumacher driver capping off his 2WD winning day with a TQ run in the opening 4WD qualifying. Top Seed for qualifying, he would top the first of the four qualifiers ahead of Bruno Coelho, the Xray driver having a costly mistake 5-laps into the heat. Behind, Daniel Kobbevik completed the Top 3 ahead of Joern Neumann and the weekend’s 2WD Top Qualifier Neil Cragg.

Continue reading this report here or view our complete event coverage here.

Orlowski takes opening 4WD qualifier

Posted: 24 Mar 2018 12:28 PM PDT

Michal Orlowski is clearly looking on target for another double this weekend at the penultimate round of the Euro Offroad Series, the Schumacher driver capping off his 2WD winning day with a TQ run in the opening 4WD qualifying. Top Seed for qualifying, he would top the first of the four qualifiers ahead of Bruno Coelho, the Xray driver having a costly mistake 5-laps into the heat. Behind, Daniel Kobbevik completed the Top 3 ahead of Joern Neumann and the weekend’s 2WD Top Qualifier Neil Cragg.

Laying down the fastest lap on his run, Orlowski said, ‘I had a rough start. My first 1 or 2 laps were not the best but once I concentrated a bit more it was good’. He continued, ‘I’m very happy with the car. It was the same as we ran it in practice and I am having fun out there with it’. Asked about his 21-second lap late in the run he replied, ‘when I heard I’d done a 19.2 lap I got a bit too excited and landed side ways after the triple and rolled which cost me about 2-seconds’.

‘It was an OK round but I flipped one time which cost me 2 or 3-seconds, I had to be marshalled’, was how Coelho described the first 4WD qualifier. The reigning champion said, ‘everything is super tight but Orlowski is super fast and it will be difficult for sure to beat him. We need to work on our car for tomorrow to try and catch him’.

Team-mate Kobbevik said it was ‘a good first round’ but added his car was ‘a bit difficult to drive’. Putting the more difficult car compared to practice down to new tyres and the later timing of the run making for a colder track, the EOS Poland podium finisher said he just ‘tried to stay clean’ and while the run contained ‘a few small mistakes but nothing major’. Looking to Q2, he said, ‘I think I will leave the car the same’.

‘It was a good run only I crashed twice’, said Neumann after Q1. The multiple former champion continued, ‘and still I got 4th place which shows the car has very good speed’. Planning to run his Schumacher unchanged for the morning, he said his car has so much traction on new tyres and because of his aggressive driving style he is not getting the best out of it were as Orlowski’s smoother driving style allow him to get 100% from new tyres. He plans to look a a possible change to the set-up for the next run on new tyres but he is confident of a good Q2 on used tyres saying ‘I will try to make another good run and secure a good starting position for the final then maybe we can do changes in Q3 & 4 to test’.

Summing up his somewhat surprise 5th, Cragg said, ‘It was a pretty decent run, thats all I can say about it really’. The Associated driver went on to say, ‘5th in the round was about the best I could have done because I feel years behind the others. I felt all of my 34-years in that run. We have improved the car a little bit again so we are getting there. Making the A-Main would be good result to leave with’.

View complete event results here.

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Orlowski tops 4WD seeding

Posted: 24 Mar 2018 10:24 AM PDT

Having earlier in the day claimed his second 2WD win of the Euro Offroad Series season, Michal Orlowski has got the 4WD action underway by topping seeding in Austria. Fastest after the 3-rounds of free practice, the Schumacher driver went even quicker in controlled practice topping the times from Bruno Coelho and team-mate Joern Neumann with EOS returnee Martin Wollanka having a good showing on his first Sworkz appearance to post the fourth fastest time. Based on drivers’ best 2-consecutive laps, Orlowski’s advantage was considerable with a time almost 4/10th quicker than that of reigning champion Coelho.

Summing up practice, Orlowski said, ‘the car performed very well all practice. We just made a few tweaks because we need more steering’. He continued, ‘I will leave it the same as it is for qualifying, just check over everything and hope for clean runs like I have had in practice. I’m very consistent out there’. Setting his quickest time in CP1, he said, ‘my times for both runs were very similar’ but being on new tyres for the first one he concluded, ‘new tyres were the difference I guess’.

Improving on his time in CP2, Coelho had little to report after practice. The reigning champion, who was absent from the last round in Slovakia, said, ‘I haven’t made any changes to the car and just used the practice to adapt my driving style to 4WD after racing 2WD’. He added, ‘to make 5-minutes without mistakes will be hard, the track is even faster with 4WD than 2WD’.

‘I started 3rd quickest and after 5 rounds I was still 3rd’, was Neumann’s summary of practice. The German added, ‘we improved the car round by round but the other two improved too’. Like Orlowski, Neumann is running the production version of the new CAT L1 having ran a car that was 80% pre-production at EOS Slovakia. Asked if he planned any further set-up changes he replied, ‘I will leave it the same but will adjust the speedo for more power’.

Qualifying fourth in Wels last year, his final EOS race for Xray, Wollanka was very happy with his P4 seeding saying, ‘It’s going very good for my first race with the new car’. The Austrian said the only change he made was to the roll centre and ‘playing with tyres’ was the main work he carried out. Happy he now has his tyre pin cutting figured out he plans to leave his car unchanged for Q1 which brings Day 2 of EOS Wels to a close.

Fifth fastest ahead of team-manager Martin Bayer, Xray’s Daniel Kobbevik said his 4WD was ‘going ok’. Finishing 5th in 2WD, the young Norwegian said they ‘made a lot of changes’ to his XB4 over practice resulting in a car that was ‘more stable now’. Asked how the track suits 4WD, he replied, ‘It’s going to be difficult to have 5-minutes without mistakes’. Continuing their difficult weekend, Yokomo’s Lee Martin would seed behind the two Xrays with the 7th fastest time ahead of Hupo Hönigl, Wilhelm Skjöldebrand and Elias Johansson.

View complete event results here.

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Chassis Focus – Bruno Coelho

Posted: 24 Mar 2018 08:45 AM PDT

Chassis: Xray XB2 ’18
Motor: Hobbywing Xerun V10G3 6.5T
ESC: Hobbywing Xerun XR10 Pro
Batteries: Sunpadow 4000 mAh
Radio/Servo: Sanwa/Br1
Tires: Schumacher (handout)
Body: Standard Lightweight
Remarks – Portuguese ace Bruno Coelho again managed to bring his Slovakian made XB2 on the podium at the 4th Round of this season’s championship finishing 3rd overall. His buggy is equipped with the new front and rear lower shock towers, front shorter shocks and the multi-position aluminium uprights that are part of the just released ‘carpet upgrade kit’. Using full front graphite suspension and steel differential gears, Bruno completes his car with a Hiro Seiko set of titanium screws.

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Chassis Focus – Michal Orlowski

Posted: 24 Mar 2018 08:31 AM PDT

Chassis: Schumacher Cougar KC
Motor: LRP X22 6.5T
ESC: LRP Flow X
Batteries: LRP 3500mAh Ultra LCG
Radio/Servo: Sanwa
Tires: Schumacher (handout)
Body: Aerox
Remarks – Michal Orlowski moved one step closer to his title defense taking the win here in Wels with his Cougar KC. His buggy was equipped with a lower wing mount taken from the previous KR kit, titanium screws and turnbuckles and a carbon chassis. 5° Aluminium C-Hubs, full LRP electrics and an Aerox bodyshell complete the Pole’s winning package.

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Orlowski takes 2WD win at EOS Austria

Posted: 24 Mar 2018 07:01 AM PDT

Michal Orlowski has moved a step closer to retaining his 2WD title in the Euro Offroad Series after securing the overall win at the penultimate round of the championship in Wels, Austria today. One of 5 drivers in contention for the win going into A3, the Schumacher driver came out the winner to secure the second consecutive win of his title defence campaign. Beating Top Qualifier Neil Cragg to the A3 and overall win, Orlowski’s only remaining title challenger is the Associated driver. Completing the podium at the Modellbau Wels Hobby Exhibition, 3rd place put an end to reigning 4WD Champion Bruno Coelho’s hopes of also adding a 2WD title to his list of achievements. The Xray driver would tie on points with Joona Haatanen but with a quicker time for his second place in A3 he denied the young Associated driver his first podium of the season.

Continue reading this report here or view our complete event coverage here.

Orlowski takes 2WD win at EOS Austria

Posted: 24 Mar 2018 06:53 AM PDT

Michal Orlowski has moved a step closer to retaining his 2WD title in the Euro Offroad Series after securing the overall win at the penultimate round of the championship in Wels, Austria today. One of 5 drivers in contention for the win going into A3, the Schumacher driver came out the winner to secure the second consecutive win of his title defence campaign. Beating Top Qualifier Neil Cragg to the A3 and overall win, Orlowski’s only remaining title challenger is the Associated driver. Completing the podium at the Modellbau Wels Hobby Exhibition, 3rd place put an end to reigning 4WD Champion Bruno Coelho’s hopes of also adding a 2WD title to his list of achievements. The Xray driver would tie on points with Joona Haatanen but with a quicker time for his second place in A3 he denied the young Associated driver his first podium of the season.

‘We just missed the TQ but it’s been a good weekend and we have a big (points) advantage going into the final race’, was Orlowski’s reaction to his 5th EOS 2WD career win. Summing up A3, he said, ‘It started off good and I didn’t crash at the first jump (something he did in A1). I was behind Neil and didn’t want to push at the start but I could see he was pulling away so I had to push more and started to put lots of pressure on him. I could see he was getting nervous and got really close coming onto the straight so I was on his inside for the sweeper. We jumped side by side and he made a pressure mistake’. He continued, ‘then I had Bruno behind me but I knew even if he won and I was second I would still take the overall win so there wasn’t really any pressure on me. I also wanted to try help Joona get on the podium but unfortunately he lost it on the tie break’. With Cragg able to deny him the title if he can win at the season finale, which will see the first ever EOS event outdoors and on Astro Turf , Orlowski said, ‘It is a different surface but I think we will be good on this because Trish (Tristram Neal) has a lot of experience but so do Neil and Lee (Martin) because they have raced all their lives on astro but I am up for the fight for the win’.

‘Well, well, well. I’m disappointed not to win but I’m still happy with second’, was Cragg’s thoughts after losing out on the win. One of this season’s three winners so far, he continued, ‘I had this conversation with Lee (Martin) before coming out here that at the end of the day racing against Orlowski you’re racing against the best 2WD carpet racer in the World so to TQ and finish second is nothing to be sniffed at. He had me under immense pressure in the last final’. On being the only remaining challenger to Orlowski in the title fight he said, ‘We’re still in with a fighting chance which if you had have told me at the start of the season I would have thought you were crazy’.

Coelho described A3 as an ‘OK final’. Posting the fastest lap, the Portuguese said his car once again dropped pace towards the end of the race adding, ‘we need to find what the problem is’. Coming up one place short on remaining in the title chase, on the season final, he expects a difficult race. Taking place at Arena33 in Germany, he said, ‘I’m not sure I have the time to go there to practice and I think the others will go there. It will be a big advantage to have run there before the race. The last time I raced on Astro was the Worlds (Yatabe Arena 2015) but that was indoor so very flat but the EOS is outdoor and I think the surface will be more bumpy’.

‘Fourth is not good. I had the same points as Bruno but at least I got away from finishing 6th’, was Haatanen’s view on his result. Having finished 6th in the opening three races of the season and then started the weekend by seeding 6th, the 14-year-old said the result was ‘for sure an improvement’ on the previous races adding the new B6.1 was a big step forward and ‘much better’. Summing up the third A-Main in which he finished 3rd he said, ‘It was ok but I had many little mistakes, no crashes, but it allowed the Top 3 to get away and I couldn’t catch up again’.

View complete event results here.

View the event image gallery here.

Video – 2wd A-main Leg 3

Posted: 24 Mar 2018 06:21 AM PDT

Orlwoski wins mistake filled A2

Posted: 24 Mar 2018 05:40 AM PDT

Michal Orlowski has won the second A-Main of 2WD at the Euro Offroad Series in Austria which saw four different race leaders all of whom seemed to not want to win as the each gave away their leads with mistakes. In the end the race came down to a showdown between Orlowski and Finnish star Joona Haatanen, with the Associated driver relinquishing the lead when he came up short on the triple allowing Orlowski back into first position which this time he held to the finish. Having benefited from a clean A1 to take, Top Qualifier Neil Cragg looked on to repeat the result but it all went wrong on lap 5 as he got it wrong allowing Bruno Coelho to catch him before a mistake at the tabletop allowed the Xray driver through. Coelho’s lead was short lived as on the next lap he got stuck in the wall section allowing Haatanen to the front. For Coelho the race would go downhill as he retired while running 6th, with Cragg coming back to complete the Top 3 with everything to play for A3.

Continue reading this report here or view our complete event coverage here.

Orlwoski wins mistake filled A2

Posted: 24 Mar 2018 04:40 AM PDT

Michal Orlowski has won the second A-Main of 2WD at the Euro Offroad Series in Austria which saw four different race leaders all of whom seemed to not want to win as the each gave away their leads with mistakes. In the end the race came down to a showdown between Orlowski and Finnish star Joona Haatanen, with the Associated driver relinquishing the lead when he came up short on the triple allowing Orlowski back into first position which this time he held to the finish. Having benefited from a clean A1 to take, Top Qualifier Neil Cragg looked on to repeat the result but it all went wrong on lap 5 as he got it wrong allowing Bruno Coelho to catch him before a mistake at the tabletop allowed the Xray driver through. Coelho’s lead was short lived as on the next lap he got stuck in the wall section allowing Haatanen to the front. For Coelho the race would go downhill as he retired while running 6th, with Cragg coming back to complete the Top 3 with everything to play for A3.

‘I must say I got way lucky I got this win’, was how Orlowski summed up his race. The reigning champion and current championship leader, he continued, ‘I was on Neil for the first two lap but then jumped the triple too far but everyone started crashing out’. With his winning time slower than that of Cragg in A1, something that could prove vital for a tie break situation, he said, ‘I lost a lot of time with stupid mistakes but I’m still happy to take the win’. Looking to the deciding final, he concluded, ‘5 guys can take the (overall) win so I think it’s going to be a very interesting A3’.

Summing up his race, Haatanen said, ‘Overall it was pretty good to finish in the Top 3’. He added, ‘Again I had a pretty good start. Neil made a mistake and Bruno crashed which gave me the lead but on the second last lap I was short on the triple. I was trying to be safe because Michal was catching me’. Looking to the concluding race of 2WD, he said, ‘I had new tyres for this one and this is when my car is best, I like that it is a little more aggressive on new tyres. I will use the same set for A3 and will try to go for a good result’.

‘I’m happy to get back up to third because means we at least got a podium which is a decent result’, said Cragg after his race. The UK driver said, ‘I had one crash at the table top, I over jumped it, and the marshal put me back in track in traffic and I came off worse again. It was nobody’s fault but it cost me a lot of places. There were so many crashes out there’. Looking to A3 when he has the chance to secure his second EOS career win he concludes, ‘I’m going out to try and win the day with a win’.

View complete event results here.

View the event image gallery here.

Video – 2wd A-main Leg 2

Posted: 24 Mar 2018 04:38 AM PDT

Cragg wins A1 with ease with rivals all crashing

Posted: 24 Mar 2018 04:22 AM PDT

Neil Cragg claimed an easy win in the opening A-Main of 2WD at the Euro Offroad Series this morning, the Team Associated driver having an easier than expected race from pole position as all his rivals made errors. In the end the British driver finished almost 7-second clear of second place Daniel Kobbevik who put in a clean run to come through from 6th on the grid. Having looked like he might mount a challenge on Cragg, two mistakes at the same spot on the track left Bruno Coelho to complete the Top 3 ahead of a recovering Michal Orlowski. Starting second on the grid, the championship leader crashed just after the start over the double leaving him to complete lap 1 down in 8th.

Continue reading this report here or view our complete event coverage here.

Cragg wins A1 with ease with rivals all crashing

Posted: 24 Mar 2018 03:48 AM PDT

Neil Cragg claimed an easy win in the opening A-Main of 2WD at the Euro Offroad Series this morning, the Team Associated driver having an easier than expected race from pole position as all his rivals made errors. In the end the British driver finished almost 7-second clear of second place Daniel Kobbevik who put in a clean run to come through from 6th on the grid. Having looked like he might mount a challenge on Cragg, two mistakes at the same spot on the track left Bruno Coelho to complete the Top 3 ahead of a recovering Michal Orlowski. Starting second on the grid, the championship leader crashed just after the start over the double leaving him to complete lap 1 down in 8th.

‘If only life was always that easy’, was Cragg’s reaction to his win. Finally claiming his maiden EOS victory this season at the second round in Germany, the former World Champion continued, ‘I’m super happy. I just let the guys crash behind me and drove easy’. Running new tyres, he said, ‘hopefully the car will be super dialled again in the next’. Asked about Coelho closing in on him in the middle part of the race, he joked, ‘He’s pretty fast I’ve heard’, continued, ‘I knew he has crashed a lot so I wasn’t that worried and that’s what happened’.

‘I’m very happy’, was how Kobbevik summed up his impressive drive, the up & coming 13-year-old having a train of offroad racing’s top drivers behind him. The Xray driver said, ‘My approach to the race was to stay clean and make no mistakes. The start was a bit messy and I dropped back a bit but I came back again and took advantage of everyone else’s mistakes’. The Norwegian concluded, ‘I will try to do the same in the next one’.

Commenting on his race Coelho said, ‘I made a good start but then Orlowski had a mistake in the first corner. I didn’t know where his car was going to end up so I was careful passing him but Joona just went by full power. I was behind him for a couple of laps but then he made a mistake so I was up to second. I tried to catch Neil but made the same mistake twice in the same spot. I traction rolled at the single in the middle. The car was perfect everywhere else’. Another driver on a brand new set of the championship’s controlled Schumacher tyre, he said, ‘I hope it will be better there in the next one’.

Explaining his race, reigning champion Michal Orlowski said, ‘I over jumped the double at the start. I was worried about doing it before the race’. Dropping back to 8th he continued, ‘I somehow got back to fourth but I still have a new set of tyres so I think that will give me an advantage in the next one’. Behind Orlowski, Yokomo’s Lee Martin completed the Top 5 ahead of Haatanen who was the only driver to post a 19-second lap time just before his earlier mistake.

View complete event results here.

View the event image gallery here.

Cragg is 2WD Top Qualifier in Austria

Posted: 23 Mar 2018 12:35 PM PDT

Neil Cragg is the 2WD Top Qualifier for the penultimate round of the Euro Offroad Series in Austria tomorrow. The winner in Germany, the Associated driver went into the fourth & final qualifier as one of four drivers in contention for the overall TQ but in the dying seconds of the top heat the British driver managed to out pace Bruno Coelho for his second TQ of the day and his third EOS career TQ. Behind, championship leader Michal Orlowski will line-up second, a mistake on the table top ending his quest for the bonus championship point while Coelho’s second in the final qualifier salvaged him 3rd on the starting grid ahead of Q3 pace setter Joona Haatanen.

Continue reading this report here or view our complete event coverage here.

Avid XB8 carbon rear chassis braces

Posted: 23 Mar 2018 12:30 PM PDT

Avid have introduced a rear carbon fibre chassis brace set for the Xray XB8 and XB8E buggies. The 1.5mm parts are designed to stiffen up the rear of the car for high traction surfaces and included in the set are two braces as well as three stainless steel screws and nuts. The set fits all 2016 to present XB8 and XB8E kits.

Source: Avid [avidrc.com]