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News  Racing
XB4, XB2 and XT2 win at EOS R5, Germany |
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| Race Report by Magne Kobbevik |
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We went to the Arena33 for EOS R5 last weekend. Unfortunately right from the begging the rain hit us all. This was a challenge for everybody, but it became an extra challenge for us, since we did not bring the dirt car, so we had only carpet car with pretty extreme setup for high grip. And we knew that this was going to be a battle that we for sure would have huge problems with qualify top 5. All top 5 cars with XB2, we had all different setup. So very difficult to give each other feedback to test on the other cars, so everybody was on their own.
But again all the talk in the pit with the Team and trying to help each other out was good, and it did not matter who had the best car, it was about helping all to get best possible car to drive. Off course there is frustration, but to be a part of this is amazing. After the qualies done we had Bruno starting from 4, Daniel from 7, Hupo 8, Martin 9 and Max 10, so 5 cars in A-main.
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| All the mains had different grip and it was about staying alive out there. We had picked up as much grip as we could with the car we drove, and we could just hope for more traction from the track. So for Daniel he worked out with a 5th and a 4th place after the two first A-mains, and we had the shocks in the rear in first A-main, we did not have enough steering, Martin already had them in front, and even if in total it was not that big difference. So we had nothing to loose on going forward with shocks as well. And in A-main two, we got more corner steering, car was more edgy to drive, but possible to do faster laps and taking spots. so again from 7 at grid, we got a 4th place. Still not where we wanted to be but a 4 is better to work with than a 5th. For A-3 we cut down wing more, ride hide down. We knew we needed at least a 3rd place to get on podium, and some luck with which driver that came in front. It´s a difficult game, and we had good pace this final, we could follow and challenge, conditions had again changed and it was very edgy, but our setup choices had this time got in our advantage so we could fight for the win. You need luck and you need to drive well, and the combination of all that ended in a victory in A-3. So second on podium was a fact. We placed 5x XB2 in the main, that´s pretty good! |
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| 2WD Buggy Results |
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1. Michal Orlowski
2. Daniel Kobbevik â“ XRAY XB2
3. Joona Haatanen
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Then over to 4wd, and that seemed to be a lot better start for us, and we were all pretty confieent with the car except that even if it felt like going fast, the lap times said something different, so we needed to improve the setup, but conditions change and we struggled a little, it did not help that in qual 3, the rain came after 2 minutes, so laptimes was added with seconds, and then second best heat, was suddenly the fastest heat, that messed up the ranking a little, but that´s the way EOS system works, so then we had to take that as a challenge as well. Then the rain came....
We prepared for going home early this night, since no more racing. Then we had the Schumacher guys behind us and saw them go out testing with rain tyres, saw Team Associated going out testing, what do you do? Of course dinner plans and whatever you had in mind is getting blowed away in 1 second and we need to test as well to be prepared for next day.
You know you will have a lot of questions from other drivers the next day what to do, so we needed to be as prepared as possible. So late night Saturday we had to stop when it was not possible to see the car at track anymore. Back to track 07:00, meeting all other teams ready to fight. We tested car in morning and found a setup that worked really good for the wet conditions. And it started to dry up, but we still took the gamble if it could possible come rain, it did not, and car was almost not possible to drive. So we started 6 from grid after qualies was done. Bruno started 3, Adam 7, Martin 8, Hupo 9. Track was more and more grippy and it was insane traction. And no more rain. First A-main, Daniel was almost taken out twice in the start off the final and got stuck behind that car for couple off laps and then Michal, Jorn, Bruno and Wesley got away, but managed to make a pass and started to close in to the guys in front. Schumacher boys was crazy fast this race, Came close to drag race with Wesley but was beaten on the line, so 5 in first main, Bruno was 3.
A-2 came and it was to many small mistakes that cost time and Daniel ended 6. Bruno had a very good drive and came second behind Michal. A-3 was up and Bruno had to win and he also had to have a better total time than Jorn and Michal. Final started and just after first jump combo there was some trouble and Jorn could go away from rest of the field. Bruno and Daniel were moving away from rest of the field, but the chance to catch up with Jorn seemed not possible. So it ended with another second place for Bruno and third for Daniel. In total Bruno took 3rd on podium, and Daniel came 5. Hupo 7, Martin 8, Adam 9. Again we placed 5 XRAY cars in the main.
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| 4WD Buggy Results |
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1. Jorn Neumann
2. Michal Orlowski
3. Bruno Coelho â“ XRAY XB4
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| Hopefully we will be able to fight more for the win next EOS. Big congratulations to the rest of the team â“ we got 3 wins in Stock classes and Max Gotzl and Jens Becker scored P2 and P3 in Stadium Truck Modified! |
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| 4WD Buggy Stock Results |
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1. Tim Kunz â“ XRAY XB4
2. Simon Stegmeier â“ XRAY XB4
3. Christian Stanglmeier â“ XRAY XB4
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| 2WD Buggy Stock Results |
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1. Christian Stanglmeier â“ XRAY XB2
2. Tim Kunz â“ XRAY XB2
3. Marcel Rottgerkamp
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| Stadium Truck Stock Results |
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1. Jens Becker â“ XRAY XT2
2. Christophe Dupuis
3. Sven Rudig
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| Stadium Truck Modified Results |
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1. Jorn Neuman
2. Max Gotzl â“ XRAY XT2
3. Jens Becker â“ XRAY XT2
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Overall it was a good weekend at Arena33, we learned a lot. See you all at next EOS in Austria!
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