Whilst today is set aside for 4WD practise sessions all day, we take a look back at the 2WD event in its entirety.
Thursday means the start of the 4WD event here in Austria. Whilst the drivers have a day of practise ahead of them, let's take a look back at the complete story of the 2WD event..........
After losing the intended “qualifying” day to rain, the organisers had compacted the time schedule down to make sure they could run a complete European Championships in just one day. Straight out of the box, Lee Martin (GBR) showed he meant business by TQ'ing the first round of qualifying. Hupo Honigl (AUT) finished second and Jorn Neumann (DEU) third..
Into round two and with just three rounds of qualifying to be run, the best two scores would count so Lee knew another good score would secure him a decent A Final start position. But just making the A wasn't going to be enough for him, and he set a blistering pace and again set the fastest time in the round – locking him into Pole Position for the A finals later in the afternoon. Once again Hupo finished second and looked likely to hold second on the grid, whilst Paul Bradby (GBR) set the third best time to move himself up the standings and right into contention. Jorn was fourth and another local Austria driver, Peter Pinisch was fifth..
Into the final round of qualifying and with that first grid slot already secured, many expected Lee to take it easy and save his car for the finals. But again he had other ideas and showed just how much pace and confidence he had by once again setting the best time in the round – and to go with it the fastest time overall, over 4 seconds faster than any other driver could manage throughout the qualifying runs. Paul took second in the round, Jorn third, Marc Rheinard (DEU) fourth and Hupo completed the top 5.
That left the A Final lining up with Lee on pole with his Speed Passion / Speed Power – powered car, Hupo second with his LRP powered machine and Paul third with his Team Associated chassis. Jorn would start fourth on the grid, Marc fifth, Peter sixth, Ellis Stafford (GBR) seventh, Kevin Lee (GBR) eighth, Neil Cragg (GBR) ninth and Tom Cockerill (GBR) tenth..
In the first A Final, the cars led away in grid order through the first few corners. The top three of Lee, Hupo and Paul pulled away from the field as some accidents behind left Neil Cragg in a rather lonely fourth place, ahead of the fifth place battles but too far behind the leaders to be able to make an impression. For the whole five minute race the top three provided one of the best off-road RC races ever, as a few mistakes from each allowed all three to take chances at leading and some close racing gave some spectacular overtaking moves..
You can see highlights of the action in the video below and expect to see the full five minutes of action on an episode of RC Racing TV in the very near future. From all this excitement, it was Lee Martin who was out in front when it mattered and crossed the line to take the first A Final victory. Hupo and Paul battled for second right up to the line, with Paul just taking the position..
Just an hour later, the drivers were back on the stand for the second leg. Everyone knew if Lee could win again the title would be his. Again a clean start at the front left the cars circulating in their starting order until they got to the jumps in the centre of the track for the first time. Some mistakes from many drivers allowed Lee to open up an immediate lead over Hupo, with Marc up to third and Ellis in fourth. A great race between these two until Marc started to pull away and close down on Hupo, but then Marc made a mistake going across the jumps, allowing Ellis into third..
But all this had just allowed Lee to extend his lead even further and he crossed the line to win the leg and with it the 2010 2WD Off Road European Championship. Hupo finished in second and Peter Pinisch made the most of Marc and Ellis' battle to nip past both of them and finish third in the leg..
So the final leg of the A Final was just a race for second place. Lee opted not to start and so this effectively gave Hupo the pole position and allowed him to make a clean start at the front. Some close action behind and a few mistakes briefly allowed Jorn into second place and then Peter Pinisch took second after a mistake from the German teenager on the jumps. As Peter closed up to Hupo, Paul Bradby was making up ground and raced up to the Austrians' rear bumpers..
As Paul and Peter raced for second place, some inevitable contact dropped Paul back into the clutches of Jorn. That was how it stayed to the finish, with Hupo taking the win to confirm second place and Peter second to complete the overall podium.
2010 2WD OFF ROAD EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
OVERALL RESULT
1 Lee Martin – Great Britain – Tamiya / Speed Passion/SpeedPower
2 Hupo Honigl – Austria – Durango / LRP
3 Peter Pinisch – Austria – Associated / Nosram/Reedy
4 Paul Bradby – Great Britain – Associated / Nosram/Reedy
5 Jorn Neumann – Germany – Associated / LRP
6 Neil Cragg – Great Britain – Associated / Nosram/Reedy
7 Ellis Stafford – Great Britain – X Factory / Speed Passion/SpeedPower
8 Marc Rheinard – Germany – Tamiya / Speed Passion/SMC
9 Tom Cockerill – Great Britain – Schumacher / Speed Passion/SpeedPower
10 Kevin Lee – Great Britain – X Factory / Tekin/Vampire
Photos :
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