Last weekend I have traveled with my team mate Miguel Matias to the European Championship 1/10 warm-up. The race was held in UK in a small city Retford organized by Robin Hood Raceway club. All weekend was very cold and super windy and several times during the race came light rain but the club crew was ready for this and every time covered the track. So the track was dry during the entire weekend despite the rain. On Friday we started with 6 rounds of practice in 4WD and then followed by 2WD practice.
(click to enlarge)
As we have no 1/10 outdoor dirt tracks in my country this was the race for me after a long time in the dirt. After a longer break racing outside I had to prepare for this race well and the preparation paid off. Since the early practice rounds both cars were handling very well and as such I had to adjust only small details.
(click to enlarge)
Saturday we had 2WD qualification and race on schedule. In qualifications I finished 8th despite the performance and speed was there for a much better position but the traffic and few mistakes cost me several places. In the A-main finals I was again fully competitive, the car was handling great and speed was good enough just the traffic did not allow for much passing and as such I have finished 8th.
(click to enlarge)
Sunday was the 4WD day and I was really looking forward. The XB4 felt great from the early beginning and I had several runs with a very top pace and was fighting for TQ several times but once again traffic and small mistakes did not allow me to qualify better than 5th. I have concentrated and prepared well for the A-main as I knew I have the speed and great handling car so I just needed also a bit of luck to be able to pass the drivers.
(click to enlarge)
In the first A-main I was very fast and had the luck on my side and after mistake free run I have won the first A-main run. In the second final I did my best but I could not finish better than 3rd. The last A-main final should decide the overall winner. I was trying to give the best to take the win but some traffic slowed me down and as such I was able to finished 2nd. With the 1st and 2nd best place results I have finished overall 2nd which is still great result. We have worked hard the entire weekend and tested a lot of set-up ideas and I am confident we are prepared well for the upcoming Euros. Will see you soon there.
(click to enlarge)
Final results 4WD:
1. Lee Martin 2. Martin Bayer - XRAY XB4
3. David Ronnefalk
4. Neil Cragg
5. Marc Rhienard 6. Miguel Matias - XRAY XB4
7. Jorn Neumann
8. Chris Doughty
9. Michael Orlowski
10. Tom Cockerill
