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Marc Rheinard (Germany)

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Ronald Volker and Akio Sobue completed the podium at the 21st running of the Reedy Race of Champions, both drivers registering wins in the 12th and final round of racing at the legendary race’s final farewell to the Tamiya Raceway track.  With Marc Rheinard wrapping up his 7th Reedy Race title with a win in the penultimate round of racing, the final series of races was about deciding the podium with the first race up the important one in the fight for 3rd.  Contenders Sobue, Viktor Wilck and Christopher Krapp lined up together with Wilck also having an outside chance of taking second overall from Volker but his main focus was on keeping the final podium position he had held all day.  Starting on the front row, Sobue got the perfect start to take the lead and while Wilck tried to chase him down he couldn’t get by the Infinity driver. With Krapp having a rough race behind them, Akio would get the win snatching 3rd overall from Wilck on tiebreak.  With that position settled, the final race would see Volker and Rheinard line-up on the same grid and having duelled it out for the win all weekend until Volker suffered a DNF this morning, it would be a fitting end to the event as the pair but on a world class duel that highlight exactly why the Tamiya track has been such a hit with drivers.  Coming through the field, they battled over the win with Volker putting a great pass on Rheinard even complimenting his rival afterwards on his ‘nice move’ on him.  While Rheinard will go down as the last driver to win the Reedy Race at the Tamiya track, Volker has the claim of winning the last ever race.

‘That was a perfect finish to the event’, was Rheinard’s reaction to his battle with Volker.  He continued, ‘Ronald made a mistake and I got by and then somehow we both got to the front.  It was a good fight and it was a nice move he made on me’.  With Rheinard rolling as they touched he said, ‘it was definitely fair and a perfect way to sign off racing at this track.  I took the overall win and he took the last race win so we both have a special memory of the track’.

Asked about the race, Volker diverged for a moment saying, ‘I’m more sad at realising during Scotty’s (Ernst) speech that this is the last time here.  This was one of my first overseas races I made and I always loved it here and the track’.  Coming back to the race, the Yokomo driver who started 6th said, ‘I was staying patient behind the others and then tried to set-up a pass but Marc went by.  Then we ended up toe to toe in P1 and 2. I enjoyed that round a lot, it was the first time this year we had that situation. Considering I was not able to win because I had 3 bad runs today I am satisfied with the win and the pass’.

Claiming his first Reedy Race podium at Tamiya Raceway, but his second podium having previously done so at Norcal, Sobue was happy with his event saying, ‘today was a good comeback after a bad day yesterday, 3 wins and one second was a good day for me’.  The Infinity driver continued, ‘I have to congratulate my team-mate for his win, he is the best Reedy Race driver’.

Summing up his fourth place overall, Wilck said, ‘Ahh, a bummer. I knew I had to beat Akio to be on the podium.  He got by Julian (Wong) at the start so I didn’t he didn’t hold him up at the start and he drove without mistakes so I couldn’t get hold of him to attack’.  The Serpent continued, ‘that’s racing. I was third last year tied on points and this year I’m fourth tied on points’.  Behind the Swede, Krapp would finish 5th with Jilles Groskamp completing the Top 6 of the 24 invited drivers.

While no new or temporary home has been decided yet for the next Reedy Race of Champions, one driver who will be invited to race the with the best drivers in the World is Gonzalo Cortes.  Taking the TQ in the Open class, the Team Associated driver won the opening two A-Mains to secure the overall win with victory in A3 giving the Serpent of former Open Champion Felix Law second while Christian Lopez completed the podium. In the the other two classes, Eric Anderson took the 17.5 Stock Expert win for Awesomatix while German visitor Thomas Oehler took his ARC to victory in the 17.5 Stock Sportman class.

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Marc Rheinard has bid farewell to the iconic Tamiya Raceway with a 7th Reedy Race of Champions title. Having come into the final day of the event, at a track many believe is what makes the unique format race so special, after starting the day with a win the Infinity driver wrapped things up in the penultimate round of racing.  His 5th Reedy win at the track, which will disappear later in the year and become a storage facility, Rheinard’s man rival Ronald Volker needed a win in the 11th round after suffering a DNF a round early.  With Rheinard up in the first race of the round, he made that quest even more difficult for his fellow countryman by taking his sixth win of the 21st running of the unique heads up racing event. For Volker, his disappointing day continued as he could only manage 5th in his race behind Viktor Wilck handing Rheinard the title and the honour of being the last Reedy Race winner at the Tamiya track.

‘I knew I had a pretty good chance in the last two races and Ronald had to win at least to beat me.  I won my one and he finished fifth.  It was not an easy race but everything worked out perfect today’.  With a 50% winning rate over the 10 times at which the race has been held on the Tamiya track he said, ‘for me this is one of the best tracks and it is a shame it is gone for the Reedy Race. It was this track that made the race so special’.  He continued, ‘I’m happy that I can call myself the last person to win the Reedy at this iconic track. It’s also a nice feeling to take my 7th Reedy title’.

‘This was not my day’, was an understandably disappointed Volker’s reaction after conceding the title.  The former 3-time Champion continued, ‘in that race I started last, was still last after 1/2 a lap and then somehow got collected to be even more last by quite a big gap.  The track conditions were difficult but the car was great again.  My pass on Viktor was a lap too late. I didn’t know we got caught on the line.  If I had got him I would already be 2nd overall although that was not my goal’.  With Wilck having a chance of denying him second overall he said’, ‘I just need to better my fifth but because I race last I will know what I need to do’.  He concluded, ‘Anyway finishing second wasn’t my goal arriving at the track this morning. There was not much more I could do for today and my congratulations to Marc’.

With his advantage over Akio Sobue and Christopher Krapp down to a single point, Wilck said, ‘with this tyre and the temperature my car was pushing too much’.  Asked about his battle to hold onto the final podium step, the Serpent driver replied, ‘I just need to beat Akio and Krappi’.  With all three running in the same race in the 12th & final round, he continued, ‘I start behind Akio and ahead of Krappi so we will have to see how it goes’.  On his slim chance of taking 2nd from Volker, he said, ‘Ronald also has a tough heat so who knows’.

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Marc Rheinard is looking good for his 7th Reedy Race of Champions title after the 10th round of racing saw the Infinity driver claim a 2nd place while rival Ronald Volker suffered a mechanical DNF.  Having eked out a 1-point lead with a win in the previous round, the duo lined up in the same race with Volker starting third and Rheinard 7th but unfortunately for Volker his race would last only 7-laps while he was running 2nd.  Having just put in the fastest lap of the race, the Yokomo driver suffered a front drive shaft failure, the World Champion conceding afterwards the his title hopes are now over despite two races remaining.  For Rheinard, who just ran out of time to put a move on race winner Rick Hohwart, the result gives him a two point point advantage meaning Volker needs to win the remaining two races.  In the other battle of this, the final running of the Reedy Race at the iconic Tamiya Raceway which will no longer be after September, it was also a bad round for Volker’s team-mate Christopher Krapp. In a fight with Viktor Wilck for the final podium place, he momentarily took the lead from Akio Sobue only to make a mistake and end the race 6th. Sobue would take the second win of the morning ahead of Wilck, moving the Infinity driver into contention for the overall podium.  In the opening race of the round Brandon Clements took full advantage of his pole starting position to register his first win of the event ahead of fellow Americans Julian Wong and Sam Isaacs.

‘Not perfect but still good points’, was Rheinard’s view on his latest race.  Chasing the legacy of being the last driver to win the Reedy Race at Tamiya Raceway, a track that has given him 4 of his 6 Reedy titles, he said, ‘I took it easy at the start but someone hit me in the front. I eventually got to second and tried to catch Rick but ran out of time’.  With his 2nd place one of his current drops, he continued, ‘Ronald had a DNF, so it gives me a 2-point lead at least’.  Asked if he was thinking about the title win yet, the 3-time Touring Car World Champion replied, ‘I will just drive the next one and see, I start again from the back’ – his starting position for the penultimate round P5.

A clearly frustrated Volker said, ‘the car was awesome. We changed to a softer rear spring but the front drive shaft gave up’. A 3 time winner of the Reedy Race, his last title coming in 2016, he continued, ‘It basically ended my chance for the win. I can only battle for the podium now’.  Team-mate Krapp was also looking dejected after his race.  The 2016 Reedy Race runner-up said, ‘It was stupid on my side. I passed him (Sobue) already but my line was not normal and I hit the kink’.  He continued, ‘my pace was awesome and I could pass every corner. Anyway there is still two more race to come and it is wide open.  I will try to stay calm and see what happens’.

On his race, Wilck said, ‘we changed back the set-up and the car was much better. I got the most out of the heat’.  Starting from 6th on the grid, the Swede added, ‘When Chrissy went out I didn’t want to crash with Akio and drove to save the second place points’.  For the next round, he will again start in the same race race as Krapp, lining up fifth as his rival again starts on the front row.

Moving up 2 places in the standings and ahead of Krapp with his third win of the weekend, Sobue said, ‘today is not so bad, I am having my best results today’.  He continued, ‘my car feels so so, it was better yesterday but I was unlucky’, this a reference to him going out of the lead of the day’s final race when his camber link came out.  The Japanese driver added, ‘I want to get on the podium but all the Infinity team are in the next one but I want to win this because in the last round I am racing against Viktor and Christopher’.

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It was a contrasting start to the final day of racing at the 21st Reedy Race of Champions for joint overnight points leaders Marc Rheinard and Ronald Volker. Reigning Champion Rheinard would have the perfect start coming up the grid to claim his fifth win of the event while Volker dropped to third from a front row starting position.  In the first race of the day, early contact at the front of the grid allowed Rheinard to shoot into the lead and pull clear of the field with his race time now giving the Infinity driver the tiebreaker – the combined time of his fastest three races.  For Volker, he started alongside pole sitter Jan Ratheisky but the Xray driver drove a great race keeping the World Champion at bay.  Ratheisky’s second win of the event, this one clearly meant a lot to the friendly German. Struggling with his Yokomo in the cold overcast morning conditions at Tamiya Raceway, Volker then got off line allowing team mate Christopher Krapp to slip through for second.  The result means with three races left, and drivers two permitted drops taken out, Rheinard holds a 1-point advantage.  In the other race of Round 9, Akio Sobue took his second win of the event ahead of a Brandon Clements who had a great battle with Randy Caster, Ryan Cavalieri and David Jun.

‘I couldn’t have asked for a better start’, was Rheinard’s reaction to his 3.6-seconds win over Meen Vejrak and Jilles Groskamp.  Chasing his 7th Reedy Race title, he continued, ‘I got lucky in the start. I think Jilles and Andy touched, I’m not sure but I benefited from it and once in front I just tried to keep it on the track and take the win’.  Checking the latest points standing and in particular keen to see the tie break time, which Volker held at the end of Day 2, he said, ‘I didn’t take any risks but I knew I had to go for a better time and it worked well’.

Commenting on a disappointing start to the day, Volker said, ‘that was the first time my car wasn’t to my liking. It came a a bad time’.  He went on, ‘I struggled for overall grip and couldn’t put enough pressure on Jan to pass while he was defending well as expected.  I could at least have been second but made a mistake and got dust on my tyres and lost second.  At least I gave it to Christopher’.  Set to start Round 10 third on the grid with Rheinard lining up 7th in the same race he said, ‘for the next race we will make changes but we need to wait to see if the sun comes out’.

Krapp, who is in a battle with Viktor Wilck for the final podium position said, ‘they were important points to get second.  I got a good start right away and my car was again on point so overall it was good for the podium’.  Set to start his next race on the front row the Yokomo driver said, ‘finally I got a front row race but it will be a tough one with Akio, Meen and Viktor in the same race.  The main goal will be to take points from Viktor’.  Commenting on the first race of the day, Wilck said, ‘that was not good’.  Finishing 4th, the Serpent driver said, ‘we changed the flex and it was way to loose so I couldn’t fight’.

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Bruno Coelho has extended his points lead in the Yokomo Euro Touring Series, the Xray driver today becoming the first double winner of Season #11.  With the fourth round marking the ETS’ return to Motodrom Andernach in German, rain forecast for Sunday led to the decision to condense the event to run over two days. Initially it looked like Coelho’s first time to the tight technical track was going go give his rivals the opportunity to reduce his lead as he struggled to find a set-up for the layout.  Come qualifying however things changed with him TQ’ing the opening qualifying on Saturday but it was Q2 in the evening that ultimately decided the event.  On a TQ run, in what would be the rocket round, Naoto Matsukura touched the curbing on the last lap which was enough for the Infinity driver to hand Coelho the TQ by 5/100th of a second.  This all but decided the TQ, Matsukura starting today’s action by topping Q3 the time that was no match to the Q2 pace of the night before while Viktor Wilck claimed the final qualifier.  In the opening final, Matsukura clearly had the quicker car but he couldn’t find a way pass until a late mistake by Coelho made him open the door.  With both drivers making mistakes in A2 they finished as they started, meaning A3 wold decide it.  Again Matsukura pressured the reigning champion who jumped the curbing in the centre chicane which was his queue to take the lead but both cars touched, with Wilck coming out the main benefactor and taking the A3 win.  For Coelho luck was again on his side as his A2 win was the faster, giving him the overall win ahead of Matsukura while Marc Rheinard completed the podium ahead of Wilck.

‘This was a super hard race.  Not all the time do you need to be unlucky, in Madrid I was dominating but then in the finals I was unlucky, today I was lucky’, was how Coelho summed up his 12th ETS career win.  With the result doubling his lead over Rheinard in the standings to 8-points, he continued, ‘for sure this is a very important race for the championship.  I had never been here before while others had plenty of experience of the track from the past.  It a very difficult track so I’m very pleased to get the win’.  On the A3 decider, he said, ‘we tried something and the car was very good at the beginning but then it started to push.  I made a mistake at the chicane and he crashed me I got a body tuck and he crashed me again.  I am not saying he crashed me on purpose but the luck was on my side’.

Matching his previous best result on his first outing of the current ETS season, Matsukura said, ‘he made a mistake at the chicane and I think I can go but I collected him’.  Finishing out last season also with a second behind Coelho in Ettlingen, the former World Champion said, ‘There was a little mistake from me at the start but I could easy catch him so we showed our car is good.  If I could have got stopped and not touch Bruno I had the chance to win’.  With an ETS victory still eluding him, he concluded, ‘I’m happy with the car this weekend and we are ready for the next ETS’.

Summing up his podium finish, Rheinard said, ‘this was the maximum I could do after A2. It is just shit we didn’t win, Naoto was quicker than Bruno, luck was on his side.’  After the disappointment of the first asphalt round in Madrid last month, he said the podium was ‘a definite improvement’ and while ‘for sure Naoto is fast I was not as quick’.  The German concluded, ‘I know we still have work to do for the next round’.

Taking a popular A3 win, Wilck said, ‘with the lower temperature the car works again.  I could keep a little with Naoto & Bruno’.  Benefiting from their contact, the 3rd place qualifier continued, ‘It is just a shame I spun in A1 & 2 because it could easily have been a podium this weekend’. His best result for quite some time, the Serpent driver said, ‘for sure this was a step forward and hopefully we can continue it in 2-weeks time at the Reedy Race, they are similar tracks’.  Behind Wilck, Freddy Südhoff took his Awesomatix to 5th followed by the Yokomo of Ronald Volker, the World Champion having a difficult weekend.

With Formula decided in A2, going the way of Jan Ratheisky, the Xray driver would make it a double as he won A3 of Pro Stock to claim the overall win.  Behind, A1 winner Mustafa Alp would make it an Xray 1-2 with Max Mächler completing the podium.  In the 40+ Masters class, Top Qualifier Thomas Oehler finally managed to stay in front to win A3 from Christian Drießle and Beni Stutz which is how the would line up for the podium.

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Chassis – Xray T4 2018
Motor – Hobbywing G3 4.5T
ESC –Hobbywing XR10
Batteries – Sunpadow 5600
Tires – Volante (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/BR1
Bodyshell – Montech Racer

Remarks – The ETS Madrid winner, Alex’s T4 2018 is equipped with a long list of options.  He is running low friction belts, solid axle steel outdrives, aluminium steering bell cranks, progressive shock springs and graphite front C-hubs.  Also new on the car for the Andernach to coincide with him joining team-mate Bruno Coelho’s BR1 brand is the BC-1863X servo which has been specifically designed for the T4 platform.

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Chassis – Awesomatix A800X
Motor – Muchmore (handout)
ESC – Muchmore (handout)
Batteries – LRP Graphene2 8000 StockSpec
Tires – Volante (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/MKS
Bodyshell – Protoform Type S Pro-Lite

Remarks – Winner in Madrid, in Andernach Max is running a number of new parts on his A800X.  A new front carbon bumper plate with bulkhead support offers better protection in case of crash.  Also on the car is the all new IFJ / IRJ driveshaft system for a more free drive train and less chatter in the suspension. The car also features new upper link holders with different width and angle, called AM19-4X.  To suit the Andernach track, Max’s car features a front braces & standard top deck that has been cut to achieve more steering/flex. Max has chosen to also use the optional bell crank steering.

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Chassis – Xray T4 2018
Motor – Muchmore (handout)
ESC – Muchmore (handout)
Batteries – EZ Power 8200
Tires – Volante (handout)
Radio/Servo – KO Propo
Bodyshell – Montech Racer

Remarks – Dominating proceedings in Andernach, multiple Pro Stock Champion Jan Ratheisky is running his T4 2018 from Xray with a number of option parts. Switching to softer swaybars for the tricky and technical track his car features aluminium steering links, carbon battery stops, low friction pulleys, aluminium diff bearing hubs and a 7075.it plate under the electronics for additional weight.

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Michal Orlowski (2WD)

Schumacher Cougar KC – LRP X22 6.5T – LRP FlowX – LRP Lcg 3500mAh – Aerox body – Sanwa transmitter – Sanwa Servo

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Michal Orlowski (4WD)

Schumacher CAT L1 – LRP X22 5.5T – LRP Flow X  – LRP 3500mAh Ultra LCG – Aerox body – Sanwa transmitter – Sanwa Servo

Michal Orlowski has pulled off the championship double at the Euro Offroad Series season finale in Germany.  Have retained his 2WD title yesterday at Arena33, the Schumacher driver won the opening two A-Mains of 4WD to take both the first ever outdoor EOS encounter and the overall title.  Only the third driver in the championship’s history to do the double, the Polish driver would definitely earn the victory. With himself and Top Qualifier Joern Neumann pulling clear of the field in A2, they would battle hard with the team-mates clearly given free reign to battle irrespective of the title being at stake for Orlowski.  A mistake by Neumann which would collect Orlowski’s car would see the later go to the front with the German putting him under immense pressure over the final 2 laps with them drag racing one another to the line.  With a 0.092 margin it was Orlowski who took it which together with his much easier A1 win took the vital overall win that was his only option in terms of taking the title from defending champion Bruno Coelho. Both drivers would end the season on the same points but Orlowski’s win gave him the tiebreaker – 3 wins over Coelho’s 2.

‘I have been volunteer marshalling all weekend, this is the karma’, was Orlowski’s reaction to his second title in 2 days.  The 16-year-old continued, ‘I cant thank enough everyone around me.  Trish, Jurgen, my dad, they have been with me every EOS race and I wouldn’t be were I am now without them’.  With today’s race victory his 4th in 4WD, he said, ‘I had a good night sleep for today. Qualifying went well.  2nd is good for me and then myself and Joern had a great fight.  I was lucky in the first one but in the second one we broke away. Joern was pushing hard after his mistake and I could feel the pressure for sure’.  With Neumann only joining the team from the second round of the EOS and getting his first win for more than 3-years in 2WD yesterday, long time Schumacher driver Orlowski said, ‘Joern was very quick here and I’m looking forward to the competition.  We showed here our car is really good and I think there will be even more competition next season between us’.

Not even making the podium on the championship’s first astro turf event, Coelho believes they lacked preparation for the race.  He said, ‘for sure I’m not happy with the result but I can’t ask for more.  I couldn’t practice for the race because of my schedule. I had no time other than 2-days before in Vienna. I also missed one race because of the TITC’.  Having been the first driver ever to hold an ETS, ENS and EOS title all at the same time, he continued, ‘this one is already done so we need to focus for next season. One year ago and even the first race of the season our car was so much quicker but the other brands caught us so we need to improve.  Qualifying third, he said, ‘In qualifying I was lucky, the traction was different but in the finals I need to force a lot to follow them and which I can’t do without mistakes’.

Winner of A3 to make it a 1-2 for Schumacher at Arena33, Neumann summed up the result as, ‘Pretty good, a 1-2 for Schumacher in the race and 1-3 in the championship’.  Having had mistakes in A1 & 2, both of which cost him the lead, he said, ‘In the last main I drove at only 85% be be safe and make no mistakes’.  Summing up what was effectively on a part season as he didn’t attend Round 1 and then only got hold of his new Schumacher cars in January, he said, ‘this season I didn’t do the first race and then have all new cars I need time to tune them to my liking and we got there this weekend.  You can see the improvements each race. At the Hudy Arena I got a podium, then in Wels I got second and here I got the TQ and second.  I think next season both me and Michal will be very strong’.

Completing the podium and another driver to join a new manufacturer in 2018, Martin Wollanka claimed Sworkz’ first ever EOS podium at only his second attempt.  Debuting for the team at previous round in Austria, where he finished 5th, the Austrian was strong throughout the weekend in Andernach. Opening with a 3rd in A1 he would back that up with second in A2.  Fourth in A3, he would tie on points with Team Associated’s Neil Cragg who took 2nd in A3 but with his A1 time 6/10th quicker he denied the 2WD Vice Champion his first EOS podium finish in 4WD.  ‘Super happy’ with his podium finish, Wollanka, who is currently running a prototype buggy said he is looking forward to a full season of EOS with the production car’.

View complete event results here.

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Chassis: Team Associated T6.1
Motor: Reedy 6.5T
ESC: Reedy Black Box
Batteries: Reedy Zippers 5800 mAh
Radio/Servo: Sanwa/Reedy
Tires: Schumacher (handout)
Body: Kit
Remarks – Finnish rising star Joona Haatanen is attending the support Mod Truck Class here at the Arena33 in Andernach behind the wheel of Team Associated’s latest Truck release T6.1. Sharing most of the platform with the B6.1 buggy, Joona’s example is equipped with a front brass bulkhead and a steel weight plate under his electrics.

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Chassis: Yokomo YZ-4 SF
Motor: Scorpion 5.5T
ESC: Scorpion Vanguard
Batteries: Yokomo 5000 mAh
Radio/Servo: Sanwa/Xpert
Tires: Schumacher (handout)
Body: Kit/LMR 27 V.2 Rear Wing
Remarks – Team Yokomo lead driver Lee Martin is here at the Arena33 running a pretty standard version of the Japanese YZ-4SF. Sporting a setup obviously adapted for a surface Lee is used to but different to the usual EOS carpet, his car is only equipped with Titanium Screws and turnbuckles and an aluminium servo mount.

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Michal Orlowski has taken an important A1 victory at the EOS finale in Germany, the Schumacher driver going to the front on the opening lap after a mistake by team-mate & Top Qualifier Joern Neumann.  Chased by title rival Bruno Coelho, the Pole then got a further break when the defending champion traction rolled allowing Orlowski to take control of the race and even survive a small mid race roll.  With Neumann and Coelho’s incidents dropping them down the field it would be 6th place starter Martin Wollanka who would finish second.  The Austrian would see off a strong challenge from Neil Cragg who completed the top 3 ahead of AE team-mate Joona Haatanen, Neumann and Martin.

Needing to take the overall win today to do the title double, Orlowski said, ‘Joern got a good start and had a small gap on me I and I had a small gap on Bruno but Joern then had a small error and the pipe caught his car and the marshal didn’t see him.  I knew Bruno was behind me so I kept cool but then he made a few mistakes and dropped back so I could make a small gap.  I had a small roll before the double but apart from that I could drive my own race and that’s what I will try & do again (in A2)’.

‘That was very good’, was how a pleased looking Wollanka summed up his second place.  The Sworkz team driver continued, ‘I got places because some guys ahead made mistakes and then I could over take Lee.’  Only his second EOS outing with his new team and preferring to do his talking on the track, he concluded, ‘the car is perfect’.

Cragg described his A1 as ‘pretty good that’.  He continued, ‘I had a bobble while running second which let Wollanka through.  He drove a good race to be fair. I put him under a lot of pressure but he drove well and I couldn’t get by’. Openly admitting 4WD is not his discipline, he concluded, ‘we’re not fast enough to win but maybe we can get a sneaky podium today’.

View complete event results here.

View the event image gallery here.

Schumacher will start 1-2 on the grid for the Euro Offroad Series championship deciding 4WD A-Main, with Joern Neumann continuing his reign at the EOS’ first ever outdoor event at Arena33.  Top Qualifier and winner of 2WD, the German claimed the 4WD pole with his second TQ run in the fourth & final qualifier while, having TQ’d Q3, title contender Michal Orlowski will start 2nd.  The only other driver with a TQ run but having a fraught Q4, defending champion Bruno Coelho will line his Xray up third ahead of the Associated of Neil Cragg and Yokomo of Lee Martin.

Pulling off an impressive save at the front double in Q4, Neumann said, ‘other than my moment at the double it was a clean run but there is something in the jump since they added the new carpet. I think something might be broken underneath’.  With the race organisers now working on the jump ahead of the finals, he continued, ‘The Schumacher car is super fast and Michal & me are 1-2’.  Asked about tyres, given that it was a factor in 2WD, the former champion replied, ‘tyres are no problem.  I ran third run tyres in qualifying and have one set with one run and one brand new set.  The car is very good on tyres’.  Asked about the finals and the fact his team-mate is vying for the final win he said, ‘I will just drive and if he is faster he (Orlowski) will overtake’.

Commenting on his qualifying, Orlowski said, ‘It was good to get the TQ in the third one, the feeling of the car was much better.  The last one I was very unlucky in the double. I was feeling very good but the car just kicked and I had no chance to save it’.  He continued, ‘many guys are crashing there. The up ramp is not flat and its causing the cars to go sideways in the air’.  Suffering a rip yesterday, a second piece of EOS carpet was placed over the damaged area to allowing racing continue and since then some drivers are having issues.  Asked about the title, the 2WD Champion said, ‘I need a win.  Bruno is starting behind me and I hope he will play fair like I did with Neil (Cragg) in 2WD. Joern is fast but I am too. I got the fastest lap in the last one’.

Pulling up in the final qualifier, Coelho said, ‘that was a disaster qualifying run. I had so many mistakes’.  He continued, ‘Orlowski made a mistake in front of me and I was trying to see where his car was going to end up but ended up crashing and it was game over for me’ – Landing wide he would get stuck behind the track piping.  Asked about the championship and challenge from Orlowski he said, ‘for sure he will force for the win and he has Neumann in front.  I’m not sure if, like we do sometimes, they will play like a team like (Ronald) Volker did last weekend. We will see’.  The reference to Volker is from the ETS in Madrid when the World Champion opened for team-mate Christopher Krapp in A3 to try and help him take the overall win.

‘A pretty outstanding result’, was how Cragg described his P4 starting position.  The British driver continued, ‘the car has been good and the driver has been good.  There is no pressure on me that’s on the other guys going for the championship. Hopefully I pick up the pieces and sneak a podium out of it’.  Posting Top 3 runs in Q1 & 2, on the last two qualifiers he said, ‘I had good pace in the third one but had too may crashes so I got 8th or something.  The pace was decent in the last one and I didn’t crash which got me 4th which was not too bad at all’.

View complete event results here.

View the event image gallery here.