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Outgoing champion Dario Balestri signed off the Euro Nitro Series season finale in Germany with a win leading home team-mate Carmine Raiola for an Infinity 1-2.  Qualifying 3rd on the grid, the World Champion spent the first half of the race behind his team-mate but spilt fuel on the gearbox would put an end to Raiola’s challenge for his first ENS career win.  Qualifying 2nd and 3rd on the grid, Raiola and Balestri initially pursued Top Qualifier Simon Kurzbuch until the newly crowned champion flew off the track on the entry to the straight.  Unfortunately while the Shepherd driver survived the impact, his race would come to a premature end as he succumbed to gearbox issues eventually calling it a day at the half hour mark.  Behind the two white Infinitys, only 6/10th off Raiola, Merlin Depta would take his Serpent to the final step on the podium ahead of team-mate Dominic Greiner with ARC’s John Ermen completing the Top 5 in Ettlingen.

Claiming his 4th 1:8 ENS career win and his third at the Ettlingen track, Balestri summed up the final as ‘a clean race’.  The Italian added, ‘At the start Carmine was really fast. I followed him but at the same time tried to manage the tyres. Our strategy was to stop for fuel earlier than him and then push hard in the second part of the race.  Unfortunately he had a gearbox problem. Without this it would have been a better race’.  Coming straight into the season finale on the back of racing in Japan at the opening of the impressive new Infinity International RC Speedway, he concluded, ‘I am happy to finish the season with a win. Now its time for some holiday before the World Championships’.

Asked about his final, Raiola said, ‘It was OK. Fuel got in the gearbox so one time it worked, one time it did.  I also lost time in my tyre stop but it was a good clean race’.  Backing up his first podium of the season which he claimed at the previous round in Austria, the Italian added, ‘we should really good speed here so everything is ready for the World Championships’.

Reacting to his first podium of the season, Depta said, ‘It was a good race. I had a little incident with John (Ermen) when I tried to pass him when he was a lap down and spun out. It could have ended worse but in the end to finish behind two professional drivers is not the worst outcome’.  Asked if his strategy went as plan the German replied, ‘yeh it was good. We changed the full set at half time.  Klaus (Lechner) was amazing. His pitstops were flawless’.

In the 1:8 40+ A-Main, the title still to be decided at the season finale, there was an exciting finish to the race as John Lenaers got by Top Qualifier Andreas Giesa in the closing laps.  For Giesa however 2nd was enough for the Shepherd driver to clinch the title from Andrea Hächler, who finished today’s race in 3rd. Having to do a gear change during the final leaving him 8th in the final, ENS Aigen winner Alain Levy completed the overall championship points podium.

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Patrick Nähr has secured his first ENS career win, the Shepherd driver leading a 1-2 finish for his team at the season finale in Ettlingen, Germany.  Only returning to competitive racing this season after a break due to work commitments, Nähr would have a great battle with Melvin Diekmann as the German duo each looked to lay claim on their first ever win of the championship.  As the race concluded Diekmann, who led for quite sometime, had the faster car but trying to make a pass on the penultimate lap he made contact with his team-mate.  Waiting for Nähr’s car to be returned to the track he himself went off the track putting an end to what was building up to be a thrilling finish to the sixth season of the ENS.  Qualifying 3rd and 4th respectively, Nähr & Diekmann found themselves at the front after an unfortunate incident between Top Qualifier Jilles Groskamp and Thilo Tödtmann.  Having engine issues in the warm-up, Groskamp started the race ok with Tödtmann on his bumper but the engine flamed out 3-minutes into the race and with nowhere to go Tödtmann ran into the rear of it causing a pivot ball to come off.  Both would rejoin and Tödtmann challenged for the podium on the final lap but missed out to Leo Arnold while Groskamp got 6th.

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

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Patrick Nähr has secured his first ENS career win, the Shepherd driver leading a 1-2 finish for his team at the season finale in Ettlingen, Germany.  Only returning to competitive racing this season after a break due to work commitments, Nähr would have a great battle with Melvin Diekmann as the German duo each looked to lay claim on their first ever win of the championship.  As the race concluded Diekmann, who led for quite sometime, had the faster car but trying to make a pass on the penultimate lap he made contact with his team-mate.  Waiting for Nähr’s car to be returned to the track he himself went off the track putting an end to what was building up to be a thrilling finish to the sixth season of the ENS.  Qualifying 3rd and 4th respectively, Nähr & Diekmann found themselves at the front after an unfortunate incident between Top Qualifier Jilles Groskamp and Thilo Tödtmann.  Having engine issues in the warm-up, Groskamp started the race ok with Tödtmann on his bumper but the engine flamed out 3-minutes into the race and with nowhere to go Tödtmann ran into the rear of it causing a pivot ball to come off.  Both would rejoin and Tödtmann challenged for the podium on the final lap but missed out to Leo Arnold while Groskamp got 6th.

Reacting to his win, Nähr joked, ‘Now my nerves are OK again’.  He explained, ‘we planned for longer fuel stops but after 15-minutes it flamed out in the middle of the track which was not in our plans’.  Only returning to racing at the second round of this year’s championship, he continued, ‘After 20-minutes we changed all four tyres but the second set was not good.  The car was difficult to drive. It was not easy.  My car was better in qualifying than in the final’.  On his battle with team-mate Diekmann he said, ‘My tyres were blank and Melvin had changed twice so he had more speed’.  Becoming only the 9th different 1:10th race winner in the ENS’ 24-race history, Nähr said it felt good to take a major international race win again with his last being when he won the European B Championship back in 2011.

Summing up his race, Diekmann said, ‘The beginning was very good and then we had some luck with Thilo and Jilles’ problem. Our plan was to change only the right side tyres but during the stop they saw that the left side was too small to get to the end so then in the middle of the race we had to stop again to change all four’.  He continued, ‘during this stop the body tucked on the right side and I had to pit for my father to pull out the body so we lost more time. I had fresh tyres so I pushed as hard as I could but I lost time battling with Leo (Arnold).  When I did get passed I was able to catch Patrick but then I touched him so it was on me to wait then  I was out of time.’.  Equalling his best ENS result, he concluded, ‘Overall it was a very good race, but tough, and it was a great result for the Shepherd team’.

After a weekend that started out with him seeding in the second fastest qualifying heat, Arnold was pleased with finish on the podium.  The Xray driver said, ‘the event started bad so 3rd is a good result.  I did three races this season and finished all of them on the podium and today’s result secures me 2nd in the overall championship. I’m happy for this’.  Starting 7th on the grid, on today’s race the ENS Bologna Top Qualifier said, ‘the engine went rich after 5-minutes I had to race 40-minutes like this which was hard in the straight. I also had to make 2-more (fuel) stops than planned because of this’.

A disappointed Groskamp explained, ‘I think we had dirt in the fuel or dirt in the carb and then we couldn’t tune the engine in the warm-up.  3-minutes into the race it suddenly flamed out. We changed the plug but it was very rich and I had to pit a few times to lean it out and once we found the right tuning it went perfect for the next 40-minutes’.  Losing his overall championship podium with today’s result, the former champion concluded, ‘We should have been right there today and I also feel sorry for Thilo, he was very fast this weekend’.

Setting the fastest lap of the 45-minute final, Tödtmann said, ‘Jilles had a flame out and stopped when I hit him the pivot ball came off.  I rejoined 3-laps behind and caught back 2-laps.  I changed only the right side tyres and Leo changed all 4 so he had more tyres. I tried to attack on the last lap but we crashed and it wasn’t fair so I waited. It was a very hard 45-minutes’.

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PSM have announced the release of their new DTC Delta Traction Characteristics aluminium main chassis plate for the Team Associated B74 buggy. Developed to improve the B74’s performance, especially in medium to low grip track conditions, the DTC chassis features delta shaped pockets to provide soft torsional flex characteristics along with consistent performance. The soft flex allows the buggy to generate more mechanical grip, which is very helpful in low grip conditions and/or when running on tight and technical tracks. A special coating process provides a stealth black look along with super smooth surface finish. An additional PTFE coating makes for optimised surface gliding characteristics. The chassis features a unique LCG weight distribution system, which allows the owner to add up to 24 optional weight inlays, a total of 34g, at predefined locations with out modifying the torsional characteristics of the chassis or adding up to its original thickness. Thanks to this the driver can fine-tune the balance the chassis pretty easily. The additional brass weights are available in gold or silver colour, depending on the driver’s colour taste.

Source: PSM [psmfactory.com]

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Euro Nitro Series Champion Simon Kurzbuch will see out his successful 2019 campaign by starting the final race of the season at Ettlingen in Germany from pole position.  The Shepherd driver secured his 15th ENS career TQ by taking the fourth & final qualifier as his only remaining challenger Carmine Raiola posted the third fastest time, over 2-seconds down on the Swiss ace. Raiola’s team-mate Dario Balestri would push Kurzbuch hard in Q4 heading his rival a number of times before traffic ended the Italian’s chances.  Ending up tied on points, Raiola’s Q1 TQ run gives him second over his Infinity team-mate who will start third. Winner of the season opener in Italy, Dominic Greiner will start the scheduled 45-minute final from P4 with Serpent’s new 989 ahead of the ARC of former ENS race winner John Ermen with Jeffrey Rietveld completing the top half of the grid.

Reacting to his TQ, Kurzbuch said, ‘all day the car was really good and the second engine delivered what we expected’.  Leading the opening qualifier before suffering an engine failure in the final 20 seconds, the ENS’ most successful driver said, ‘we came into the weekend with a good starting point and from the first practice the car was perfect’.  Looking to tomorrow’s final, the schedule brought forward due to rain being forecast for Sunday, he said, ‘set-up wise I will change nothing.  We have data for the tyre wear and also it helps that we know that we are already champions.  The pressure is off so I can enjoy the race but I still want to win’.  The former World Champion added, ‘It’s 2-months to the Worlds so we will take tomorrow as important practice to try and improve everything more’.

Claiming his best qualifying position of the season with P2, having qualified 3rd at all previous rounds, Raiola wasn’t overall pleased with his performance.  The Aigen podium finisher said, ‘the first 2-minutes is OK but then I start to lose out to the first two (Balestri & Kurzbuch)’.  Asked his plan for the final, the Italian said, ‘I will have to take a risk to stay with the other two.  Maybe I will try to make 5-minutes (fuelling) and one tyre change’.

Commenting on his Q4 performance in which he set the fastest lap, Balestri said, ‘I just need to be faster in the traffic’.  He continued, ‘the speed is there to race with Simon tomorrow as always but we will try to make his life not so easy’. Asked his thoughts on the final, he replied, ‘first of all we have to see if it is dry or not but we will refresh the car, the car is fine, and then we need work on our tyre strategy’.

While Jilles Groskamp wrapped up the overall 1:10 TQ in the penultimate round, Thilo Tödtmann sent out a strong message in the final qualifier that he plans to take the fight to the Infinity driver in tomorrow’s 45-minute final. Continuing to be the outright fastest driver around the Ettlingen track setting yet another fastest lap in Q4, the Shepherd driver posted a TQ run ahead of team-mate Melvin Diekmann to secure second overall on the grid.  While retiring with a diff problem right after the start of the final qualifier, Patrick Nähr will start third followed by Diekmann with the Top 5 competed by Milan Holthuis.  Top Qualifier at the season opener, after a difficult start to the weekend which put him in the second fastest heat grouping Leo Arnold will start 7th.

In the 40+ 1:8 class, it will be Andreas Giesa who starts on the pole, the German taking the opening three qualifiers.  Topping Q4 from reigning champion Arie Manten, John Lenaers will start second ahead of Michael Pätz, Rudi Scherer, Manten and ENS Aigen winner Alain Levy.

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Jilles Groskamp is to start the Season Finale of the Euro Nitro Series in Germany tomorrow from pole position.  The former champion claimed his first overall TQ of the 2019 championship when he made it three out of three in the penultimate round of qualifying at Ettlingen after Thilo Tödtmann’s challenge for pole ended in traffic.  On a TQ run, just as the heat reached 3/4 distance Tödtmann passed the slower car of Quentin Leroux only to be hit by the French driver at the following corner, the contact leading to the Shepherd driver’s car coming to a stop.  This allowed the Infinity of Groskamp to go to the top where he would stay to finish half a second up on Shepherd team-mates Patrick Nähr and Melvin Diekmann.

Reacting to what is only his second ever ENS TQ, Groskamp said, ‘I was a bit lucky Thilo crashed but you first have to finish to finish 1st’.  The Dutchman continued, ‘My car was easy to drive but Thilo was faster but he didn’t keep it on the track and I did. We still have to make the car faster so I will try something in the final qualifier’.  The former Electric Touring Car World Champion said his tyre choice for Q3 was ‘probably not the best decision’ explaining, ‘I thought re-run tyres would be faster than new so I went out on used and they weren’t.  We still have to find our way on a few points but qualifying is done and we can work on the finals’.  He concluded, ‘It is always nice to get a TQ’.

Explaining his unfortunate exit from Q3, Tödtmann said, ‘Quentin opened for me and then the next corner he hit me. I don’t think he did it on purpose’.  The German added, ‘the TQ is not important but the championship point it carries is. Myself and Melvin are battling for third in the championship (tied on points) so it would have been a help. One positive of the run was that I copied what Melvin did for Q2 and changed to a stiffer rear roll bar which helped a lot. The track is getting more grip every time’.

Enjoying an improvement in his finishing position with each round, Nähr said, ‘It’s going a lot better than yesterday and the day before. We changed the rear roll bar to harder one for Q3 and the car was more stable.  For the last one I will change a harder rear diff which I hope will give me more steering in the long corner at the end of the straight’.

The driver to lead the rear roll bar change when he was first to try it in Q2, Diekmann said it allowed him to challenge Groskamp for the second round TQ but leading the heat he said the nerves got the better of him and he put his car on the grass, eventually finishing with a P4.  Confident he could challenge for the TQ in Q3, unfortunately his engine ran very rich and he will now switch it out for his final qualifying attempt.  Currently holding fourth on the grid, the German joked, ‘I’ve saved the best for last’.

In the third of the 1:8 qualifiers it was a repeat of Q2 with Simon Kurzbuch again fastest from Dario Balestri,  this time the Shepherd driver having 1-second advantage over the Infinity ace who managed the fastest lap.  Dominic Greiner made it three different manufacturers in the Top 3, his Serpent 6/10th off Balestri followed by Lars Hoppe and John Ermen.  Q1 winner Carmine Raiola had another disappointing run finishing outside the Top 10 but with 2 of four to count he will be hoping to end the day as he started it and deny Champion Kurzbuch the final TQ of the season.

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With an engine failure stopping him in his tracks in the opening qualifier at ENS Ettlingen, Simon Kurzbuch bounced back to take the second round ahead of his great arch rival Dario Balestri.  Also having a troubled Q1, Balestri would finish 6/10ths of a second off the Shepherd driver’s TQ pace in a heat that would see Q1 TQ man Carmine Raiola have his turn of bad luck. Struggling with a rich engine his race came to an end when he stripped a gear with a minute to go.  While Dominic Greiner would set the 3rd fastest time in the top heat, it was to be John Ermen who completed the overall Top 3, the ARC driver’s time in the second fast heat demoting the Serpent driver to fourth with Lars Hoppe rounding out the Top 5.

‘A very good result in contrast to the previous one’, was how a pleased looking Kurzbuch summed his Q2 performance.  The Swiss ace, who shares the most number of Ettlingen wins with Balestri as the only two drivers to win here, said, ‘the car was really good like it was in the first one.  We will try for two more TQ runs now. That is the goal’.  Running on used tyres for the second of the four qualifiers, the already confirmed 2019 Champion said, ‘it doesn’t make much difference because of the long warm-up’ – the drivers getting a 4-minute warm-up prior to the 4-minutes of qualifying.  Asked about Q3, he replied, ‘we will leave everything the same for the next one and see what happens’.

Balestri said, ‘It was ok, we got points’.  Having topped seeding, the World Champion said, ‘the problem is in the heat before I hit Gruber in the pit lane and now the car is different. I have to check to see what happened and if there is something bent’.  Asked what had changed from practice, the two time Ettlingen 1:8 winner replied, ‘I am missing grip’.

Initially thinking he was fourth for the round, on discovering his Top 3 run, Ermen said, ‘I am even happier to post a 3rd position’.  One of the great characters of the onroad nitro scene, the Dutchman put his Q2 improvement down to changes made to his car.  ‘We did a small set-up change and it made it a lot easier to drive but it was also still fast to drive’.  One area he hopes to improve on for the remaining qualifiers is his driving.  He explained, ‘I was following behind Rick (Vrielijnck) and I struggled to hold my pace so I lost time in the final segment of the run.  We started the heat very close to each other and I was just not hitting my apexes but to overtake you have to be in a really good position and I was not able to get that.  I will change nothing on the car for Q3 and just focus on my driving’.

In 1:10, Q2 was a repeat of the opening round.  Once again Infinity’s Jilles Groskamp held off the Shepherd of Thilo Tödtmann albeit by a slightly bigger margin this time 8/10ths of a second.  Former European B Champion Patrick Nähr completed the Top 3 ahead of fastest man on the track Melvin Diekmann.

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Carmine Raiola has TQ’d the opening round of qualifying at the ENS Season Finale in Germany, the Infinity driver cutting things ultra close and running out of fuel crossing the loop.  Fourth fastest in practice, the Italian looked to be battling for second position with Dominic Greiner in the first of the four qualifiers as already crowned champion Simon Kurzbuch set the pace out front. However with less than 20-seconds on the clock, Kurzbuch would suffer an engine failure allowing Raiola to secure a TQ run by 1/10th of a second from Greiner.  Having topped seeding ahead of Merlin Depta, last year’s race winner Dario Balestri hit problems before the run had even started. Coming down pitlane after completing his warm-up, the Infinity driver hit the bottom of the lowly held Shepherd of Toni Gruber which pulled the trim tab from the body.  While his mechanic tried to fix it back into position the body was ripped and it came undone again causing Balestri to have a high speed off on the entry to the main straight while holding P2.  In the end he would finish 4th behind Depta, who completed the Top 3 with the fastest lap of Q1.

‘Not bad considering I had a flame out on the last lap’, was Raiola’s reaction to making it an impressive Q1 for his team as Jilles Groskamp took the opening 1:10 qualifier.  The ENS Aigen podium finisher explained, ‘I was on new tyres and this is why the fuel was so close but on used tyres for Q2 we should be OK’.   In terms of his car’s performance he said it was good for the first three minutes but then in the last minute started to loose traction.  Asked if he would change anything for Q2, he replied, ‘I will start on old tyres so I don’t want to change anything so I have a good back to back test of the difference in tyre sizes’.  Asked about his own personal performance he said, ‘I had two mistakes. Small mistakes but still mistakes so I hope to have none next time’.

The 1:10 winner in Ettlingen last year, Greiner summed up the first of the day’s qualifiers, all four rounds on today’s schedule due to rain being forecast for Sunday, by saying, ‘It was close in the end but overall I’m happy with a 2nd’.  The Serpent driver continued, ‘(the engine) went rich in the middle and then lean again and I had to be careful with the throttle. I ‘m not sure why the tuning changed. Maybe its the tank’.  On his car’s performance, the winner of the season opener in Bologna, said, ‘It was a little difficult to drive.  It was loose so we need to try and make it more stable’.

Pleased with his P3 run to back up his practice form, Depta said his Serpent is ‘super hard to drive’ adding ‘I think that’s because the traction is not there.  The others are not so much faster so its the same for everybody’.  With limited racing mileage this season due to the growth of his Merlin McFly brand and machining business, he expects the traction to improve over the remaining qualifiers and believes he has a good car for this.  The German was a little critical of the start, Balestri’s dramas not helping, saying, ‘there was a big rush out the pitlane at the start and a lot cars exited the pits together but no one went to put gaps between each of us. It was a little messy’.  Asked about tyres for Q2, Depta said he will be on fresh tyres for each qualifying admitting, ‘I’m slower on used’.

View the complete event results here.

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Jilles Groskamp claimed a super close opening qualifier at the Season Finale of the Euro Nitro Series in Ettlingen Germany.  Racing for the newly crowned champions Infinity, the 2019 1:10 Champion Teemu Leino opting to focus on 1:8 this weekend, Groskamp swapped the lead at the top of the timing screens each lap with Shepherd’s Thilo Tödtmann, with the former champion just doing enough on the final lap to take it by 0.054 of a second.  With rain on the horizon for Sunday forcing an early start to qualifying, all four rounds to be run today, behind Groskamp & Tödtmann it was practice Top Seed Melvin Diekmann who completed the Top 3, 1.3-seconds further back, just ahead of Shepherd team-mate Patrick Nähr. Second fastest in practice, Infinity’s young Dutch talent Milan Holthuis posted the 5th fastest qualifying time.

‘It was close.  I knew from practice Thilo was going to be fast’, was Groskamp’s reaction to Q1.  The Dutch ace continued, ‘we changed the whole set-up for the first round (of qualifying) and it was a big step forward. We had struggled in practice’.  Fourth fastest in seeding, he said, ‘the set-up is still not perfect but it is the best set-up we have ran so far.  I’m happy to take the first round but we have to change something to make it faster for the next one’.  Asked what he wanted to improve he replied, ‘it is still a bit tricky to drive especially at the end of the straight.  The balance is ok but we could do with finding a bit more stability’.

Summing up the first of the four scheduled qualifiers, Tödtmann said, ‘It was OK. Everything went as planned except for two small mistakes on the penultimate lap which cost me the TQ’.  Somewhat a home track for the Shepherd team whose base is not too far away, the German continued, ‘It’s impossible to test here outside of a big race weekend because the traction is so low but you could say I like this track’.  Asked about Q2, he said, ‘I will go with everything the same.  Everyone is so close as always on this track that tomorrow (Finals day) will be about tyre wear and fuel consumption which I’m sure Jilles is working on already’.

Diekmann said, ‘I was a bit nervous for the first 3-laps but then I got into a flow.  I lacked steering at the start but it got better as the run went on but in the last minute I had too much steering which made the car very tricky to drive’.  Asked how he hope the rectify this issue for Q2, the German responded, ‘we will try a harder roll bar in the rear and hope this improves things’.

View the complete event results here.

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Ronald Volker and Alexander Hagberg have completed the podium at the Season Finale of the Yokomo Euro Touring Series in Slovakia.  With newly crowned Champion Bruno Coelho securing his fourth win from the six races in A2, the final race of the 12th season of the ETS was to decide who joined the Xray driver on the podium at the Hudy Arena.  Effectively starting on pole as Top Qualifier Coelho sat out A3, Hagberg led away the field from Ronald Volker, the latter having finish the opening two encounters in P2.  On the first run down the main straight Volker would pull off a spectacular high speed pass on Hagberg and once in front the Yokomo driver never looked threatened for the win.  At the end the German would finish 1.5-seconds clear of Hagberg who in turn was over 2-seconds ahead of Christopher Krapp.  Winner of the Season opener, the result secured Volker his third P2 race result with Hagberg third and Krapp fourth.

Speaking after the race, this season’s Vice Champion Volker said, ‘I was really desperate to save my P2 and the pass was great.  I had nothing planned.  I just pulled the trigger and it work out.  Then I tried to pull away so as not to give the opportunity to come back at me’.  The former Champion continued, ‘Overall the season was better than the previous one.  We had a chance to fight for the overall title.  It always comes down to the fine details and that is what we need to improve.  Thanks to Hayato and Jurgen for all the support, and all the rest of the team’.

Posting the fastest lap of A3, Hagberg said, ‘I changed my car (for A3) and it wasn’t as good at the start.  I couldn’t do anything  to challenge Ronald’.  Only his second podium of the season, his other being at the Season opener, the former ETS race winner continued, ‘I wanted to win (A3) but still a podium finish is a nice way to end the season’.

With all the class winners except Pro Stock being decided in A2, it was their A3 that would provide the main action.  Starting from the TQ, Simon Lauter led away resisting pressure from No.2 starting Dominic Vogl.  The Awesomatix due pulled clear of the field with Vogl looking menacing as he shadowed Lauter.  With three laps to go they came into the front chicane before the loop and with Vogl braking later they made contact but immediately the Austrian handed the lead back to Lauter.  Vogl wasn’t finished yet however and on the final lap got the inside on the leader through the sweeper exiting the straight with the two touching on the exit of the sweeper but it was a racing pass and Vogl could hold on for the win, which being 2-seconds quicker than Lauter’s A2 win, giving him the overall win.  The meaning of the win clear from Vogl’s roar of celebration on the drivers stand.  Having clinched the overall title in Apeldoorn, Lauter would finish his campaign with second with A1 winner Olivier Bultynck completing the podium.

In Formula, David Erbhar won A3 to join newly crowned Champion Jan Ratheisky on a podium which was completed by Matej Dobnikar.  Søren Boy Holst won A3 of 40+ Masters to finish runner-up to Alexander Stocker while in Stock 17.5 Cham Dassanayake and A3 winner Marwin Riedelbauch joined inaugural champion Daniel Pöhlmann on the podium.

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Chassis – Yokomo BD9
Motor – Racing Performer M4 4.5
ESC – Racing Performer RPX 2
Batteries – Racing Performer 6000
Tires – Volante (handout)
Radio/Servo – Sanwa/Power HD
Bodyshell – Protoform Type S

Remarks – Just missing out on the podium here at the Hudy Arena, Christopher was running a new prototype RTC rear suspension on his otherwise kit standard BD9.  The German said the idea of the RTC is that give them more toe gain.  One optional and the car is the carbon battery mount and Christopher has swapped out the standard kits screws for titanium ones.

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Joern Neumann has made it back to back wins in the EOS taking the 4WD win today in Austria in A2, but the biggest prize goes to Bruno Coelho as he wraps up the season with the 4WD Championship title.  Having taken the TQ and then the A1 win after an exciting battle with Coelho, Neumann had a much easier A2 after an early mistake from the number 2 starter that effectively dropped him to last.  With Coelho out of the equation, Neumann was chased by his team-mate Michal Orlowski.  Needing to win today to retain his 4WD title, a mistake from the 2WD Champion on the penultimate lap allowed Neumann to cruise to the finish for the overall win on the championship’s first visit ERT Steyregg.  The result also meant that irrespective of the A3 outcome, Coelho was champion again for a third time and Orlowski’s quest for a repeat title double where over.  With a rain shower that arrived during the third B-Main delaying A3, the astro surface meaning the track was ready to go back racing once the rain had passed, Coelho went on to cap off his title winning season with the win over Orlowski.  Overall this meant Coelho split the Schumacher drivers to claim 2nd on the podium.

Reacting to his title win, Coelho said, ‘It was a super tight championship. We came into the last race with just 2-points separating us. Myself and Michal had very good battles.  I think the last race was not perfect for him but I also had bad races at the back’.  He continued, ‘the team worked hard for this race and they came here to test.  I think to finish 2nd in the 2WD championship showed the World we have done and taking the 4WD title today the team is super happy. Now we look forward to the Worlds’.

Summing up his strong finish to the season having won both the astro turf rounds, Neumann said, ‘my finish to the season was very good. I’m very happy.  4WD on astro is very good for me and next year we need to improve on carpet’.  Joking, ‘if they change to all astro next year we should be ok’,  the former 3 time 4WD champion having had more experience with the Schumacher this season had helped as he ‘knew what to change for the different conditions’.  Asked about A2, the German said, ‘Bruno crashed early on so I had a big lead and cruised to the finish’.

Having wrapped up the 2WD title a round early, on his 4WD campaign, Orlowski said, ‘I’m disappointed obviously.  I felt we had the pace to win every time but small stuff happened and this time we came up short’.  The Polish teenager continued, ‘we were very close the last round and had the pace at Hudy Arena but we found a problem with the car after the race.  Today I felt we had pace and the car felt great and getting four cars in the final shows how good our car is.  For now I am disappointed but in a week I will think about the Worlds.  Finishing second in 4WD (championship standings) only motivates me more for next season. I believe we have the best package out there on all surfaces’.

In the new for Season #8 4WD 10.5 class it was a dominant campaign from Tim Kunz as he took the TQ and win at all 5 races he contested. Well known RC distributor Sven Rudig would finish runner-up with Marcel Rotterkamp third overall.  In the Mod Truck category Joern Neumann is the champion for Schumacher from Xray’s Max Gotzl and ERT Steyregg’s own Philipp Marzinger.

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Chassis: Schumacher CAT L1
Motor: Team Orion 4.5T
ESC: Team Orion HMX
Batteries: Team Orion 4000 mAh
Radio/Servo: Sanwa/Highest
Tires: Schumacher (handout)
Body: Aerox Lightweight

Remarks – Former Champion Jorn Neumann took his Schumacher L1 to a second consecutive EOS win in the last round of the Championship in Steyregg, Austria. Having sealed the win taking the first two legs of the A-Main, his car is configured for dry conditions, and is equipped with the new HD top deck, 8 degrees aluminium caster blocks, Carbon suspension arms and Kashima coated shock bodies.

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Joern Neumann has won an exciting opening A1 at the EOS Season Finale in Austria.  Starting from the TQ, the Schumacher driver was under intense pressure from Bruno Coelho off the start, leading to a mistake from the German midway through the race that let the Xray driver through.  Once in front however, it was Coelho’s turn to face the pressure as Neumann came back at him forcing him into also making a mistake. While Neumann would get caught up in that mistake, he came out of it in the lead which he would hold on to until the finish. Joona Haatanen would also get by Coelho but they quickly touched and Coelho had to wait to let the Associated driver through which dropped them both one position.  Unfortunately for Haatanen he would make mid air contact with Hupo Honigl and drop from 2nd to fourth on the last lap while Coelho went from P5 to second.  Putting in a clean race, Schumacher’s Wesley van Helmond would come through from 6th to complete the Top 3 with his team-mate Michal Orlowski continuing to have a tough time as having made his way up to 2nd had a mistake and ended up 6th.

Agreeing it was an exciting race, Neumann said, ‘I felt Bruno was much quicker than me in the first few laps and I hit the pipe and he passed me. Then when I was behind him, he must have felt I was much faster and had a crash.  It seems on this track it is easier to follow than lead’.  Chasing his second consecutive EOS win in the 4WD after a long period without wins, Neumann is hoping he can seal the overall win in a A2 saying, ‘the car is good, everything is good so I will go the same again and try to stay in front’.

‘A very intense final’, was how Coelho summed up the opening A-Main.  Looking more and more likely to secure the overall title here in Steyregg, he continued, ‘who is at the back is faster and that race was proof of this. I looked faster than him when I was behind but when I passed him it looked like I forgot the layout of the track. It is much easier to follow’.  The former World Champion added, ‘Like I said before everything can happen. I was maybe 5th starting the last lap but then I was second.  It’s still all open’.

Asked about his race, van Helmond said, ‘I  don’t really know what happen that I ended up 3rd.  The car is good and I had a clean run. I had just one small mistake that’s all’.  Looking to A2, the Dutch driver said, ‘I followed the rest and the rest made mistakes so I will try to put in another clean run and see what happens’.

Describing his race, Haatanen said, ‘the start was pretty good and I was right behind Bruno and Joern.  Then Bruno had a mistake and I got by but something happened between us and we crashed. He had to let me go but Hupo got by and then on the last lap we hit in the air and I ended up 6th’.  The Team Associated driver concluded, ‘what happened out there was my own stupid mistakes and without them I would have had an easy 2nd.  I believe the car is good but I still want something better for the bumps’.

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For the second race in succession it is Joern Nuemann who is the 4WD Top Qualifier at the Euro Offroad Series. The Schumacher driver secured the TQ from title favourite Bruno Coelho in the final round of qualifying in Austria with the Q4 time giving the German pole on the the tie break by 3/100ths of a second.  Coelho would end up qualifying with a P4 run after mistakes in the second half.  Behind the two former champions it will be Joona Haatanen who will start third on the grid.  The Team Associated driver enjoyed his best run in Q4 to set the second fastest time ahead of Schumacher’s Wesley van Helmond.  With Hupo Honigl lining up 4th on the grid, reigning champion Michal Orlowski will have his work cut on to retain his title from 5th on the grid, the Schumacher driver needing the win to take the championship.

‘Not the best run but the others (drivers) were even worse’, was Neumann’s reaction to taking Q4.  With the drivers set to go straight into their finals tonight at ERT Steyregg due to heavy rain being forecast for Sunday,  the EOS most winning driver said, ‘I just need to keep it on its wheels to fight for the win.  Of course Bruno is very strong here but I think I can match him for the win.  The track is quite difficult so it is easy to make mistakes and be overtaken but I hope that doesn’t happen’.

Coelho summed up Q4 as ‘a tough qualifier’.  The Xray driver continued, ‘I started slow as to make no mistakes and when I saw Joern, who was the only one who could TQ, flipped I tried to calm down my driving but he came back strong. I tried to keep pace with him but I flipped and he passed me.  As we seen in 2WD everything is still open but starting first is beneficial to Joern. I will try to put pressure on him at the start to try get him to make a mistake’.

Qualifying in the same position as he did for 2WD yesterday, Haatanen said, ‘the car is quite good so I can’t complain’.  On his P2 run in the final qualifier,  the Finnish said, ‘it was a good run but on the last couple of laps Joern got by’. Asked about his approach to the finals, he replied, ‘If I have the pace I will try to make a pass or if not I will wait like I did in 2WD yesterday’, the teenager taking A2 after the two leaders made mistakes.

With victory the only way he can close the deficit on Coelho in the championship standings, a win today would be his third of the season and this would give him the title on the first tie breaker, Orlowski said, ‘I’m starting 5th but I have the pace to win’.  Again retiring from the final qualifier with the same drive shaft issue as he had in Q2 after a roll, the 2WD Champion said, ‘the drive shaft came out which was bad luck and in Q3 I had trouble with traffic but we still have a chance in the final. I need to win so that’s what I am aiming’.

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Joern Neumann has TQ’d the second round of 4WD qualifying at EOS Austria, the Schumacher driver quickest from Q1 winner Bruno Coelho by 9/10th at ERT Steyregg.  Returning to his former championship winning form at the previous round of the championship at Arena 33 where he took the TQ & Win, Neumann took over the TQ pace in the later half of the run helped by a bad lap from Coelho and a fastest lap time that was 2/10ths faster than that of the championship leader.  Both factory Schumacher drivers would show great pace with Orlowski setting an almost identical fastest lap time to his team-mate but much earlier in the heat, before a mistake resulted in the Pole retiring after he popped a rear ball cup.  Also showing very strongly in the early part of the qualifier, Joona Haatanen would finish with some difficult laps but his early pace meant he would still stop the clock with the 3rd fastest time.

Commenting on his TQ run, Neumann said, ‘It took a couple of laps to adapt to the high traction but then it was good’.  The multiple former champion added, ‘because we had to stay in silver (compound) tyres we changed to a harder front spring and ran a little lower ride height. It worked good’.  With the announcement that with the track now dry drivers will have to run the yellow compound handout Schumacher tyre for Q3,  Neumann is confident that will suit his car even better adding they just need to ‘make small changes, nothing major’.

Coelho said, ‘we change the car for the dry conditions but didn’t go 100% with the set-up and we should have had, especially for the silver tyre’.  The Xray driver continued, ‘I was on two wheels everywhere and trying to fight with Joern but at the end he was quicker’.  Asked about switching to the yellow compound the former World Champion said, ‘we should be good. We’ll get the car ready for that’.

‘Now I had even more speed’, said a pleased looking Haatanen.  The Team Associated driver went on, ‘I ran a harder spring in the rear and went higher with the diffs which made the car more stable and improved the corner speed.  The Silver (compound) was too soft and towards the end the car wanted to flip so I had a couple of mistakes on my last few laps’.  Looking to the penultimate qualifier he said, ‘the car will be much better on yellows and I’m ready to mix it for a TQ run’.

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Having dominated yesterday’s 2WD qualifying, taking all four rounds, Bruno Coelho has got 4WD underway at the EOS Season Finale in Austria with a TQ run.  Setting the pace in practice, the championship leader topped the times from Round 5 winner Joern Neumann by 1.2-seconds with 2WD podium finish Hupo Honigl completing the Top 3.  With the  astro turf track getting drier and drier each run after over night rain all drivers reported Q1 conditions as tricky.  The only driver who can challenge Coelho for the 4WD title, reigning champion Michal Orlowski set the fourth fastest time with Joona Haatanen opening qualifying with a P5.

Summing up his TQ run, Coelho said, ‘I had a mistake and got stuck on the pipe but luckily everyone had mistakes’.  The driver who holds a 2-point lead in the championship standings continued, ‘the car is working good but the conditions are changing every hour. It’s getting drier and drier so you don’t know what to expect for the next one’.

‘Tricky, tricky conditions. The car was very edgy’, was Neumann reaction to Q1.  The Schumacher driver continued, ‘overall second was a better start to 2WD when I crashed too many times’.  With drivers running the silver compound of the EOS’ Schumacher handout tyres, the German said, ‘If we change to yellow I will leave the car the same but if we continue on silver I need to change the set-up’.

Describing his P3 effort as ‘very good’, Honigl said it was hard work out on track. ‘I ran my complete dirt set-up on the car but the track dried up so it was super difficult and I drove super careful’.  Looking to Q2 the Austrian Xray driver said, ‘I need to change my set-up for the next one’.

2WD Champion Orlowski said, ‘the track changed quite a lot. There was a lot of grip in some place and not a lot in others.  The pace was good but I made a mistake’.  Matching title rival Coelho on wins this season, with 2-each, the Schumacher driver continued, ‘we will change quite a lot on the car now.  The rain is coming so it’s a tough one to hit the right right set-up’.

‘Not too bad but I had a few mistakes’, was Haatanen’s summary of his first of four qualifying attempts.  The Team Associated driver continued, ‘we changed the car for Q1 and it was much better and it has put us on the right way with set-up, but the grip got higher so the track was difficult but still we got a Top 5 out of it’.  For Q2, the Finnish teenager plans to raise the diffs higher for less roll and may also try a different spring.

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