Leino TQs opening qualifier in Sand

Teemu Leino took a surprise TQ in the opening round of qualifying at the 1:8 Offroad European Championship in Germany this morning, the factory HB driver setting the pace in the first of the five 5-minute qualifiers ahead of the championship’s last three champions Robert Batlle, David Ronnefalk and Darren Bloomfield.  Overnight rain made for a slightly damp Sand am Main track as qualifying got underway with the conditions leaving those in the first two heats, among them Top Seed Ronnefalk and Battle, at a disadvantage.  Running in Group 5 and with a more grooved up track Leino was able to go to the top of the timesheets .236 up on Batlle’s Mugen.

Having ended up 15th in seeding practice, Leino put his improved performance down to his tyre choice.  The Finn said he wondered why non of the drivers ahead of him chose a mini pin tyre and decided to take the gamble based on the damp start.  Fitting his Novarossi powered D812 with HB Megabyte tyre he said they worked ‘really good’ giving him a car that was ‘pretty easy to drive’.  Although he suffered one mistake on the double double which cost him around 1-second, he said he ‘didn’t go for a crazy time’ instead focusing on just keeping it safe for the 5-minutes.   Asked if he planned any changes for Q2, he said with a 5-hour gap before his next round he said he would wait to see how the track develops between now and then before deciding if he needs to adjust his set-up.

‘Much better than yesterday’ that was how Batlle summed up his opening qualifier.  Having reported a lack of steering in yesterday’s seeding practice he said they found the steering by changing to a lighter oil in the front diff of his Novarossi powered MBX7.  Asked about the conditions the World Champion said there was a huge difference but added that for sure himself & Ronnefalk had a slower track to contend with than their rivals who ran later.  Switching to a Super soft compound of Procircuit’s Hot Dice tyre for the conditions he said with the track already getting better for Q2 he will switch to soft compound but in terms of the car he plans no major changes.

Going to the pitlane with AKA’s Catapult fitted to his Kyosho a light shower just before the start of Q1 made Ronnefalk make a last minute switch to City Blocks on the front and iBeams on the rear.  With the astro turf section slippery he said the change worked out well.  Despite describing conditions as ‘kind of tricky’ the defending champion said the speed was there but he let the run down with two mistakes of his own doing.  Expecting the round to be one of his throw outs due to the conditions he said he just wanted a solid run and 3rd was a good result.  Other than changing to Catapult tyres for Q2 the Swede plans to run his Orion powered MP9 as is.

‘A consistent run’ was how Darren Bloomfield described his run to fourth for the round.  The Agama driver said driving too cautious on the final lap due to traffic cost him a Top 3 but overall he was pretty happy.  Changing to a super soft compound of Beta’s Freeride tyre for the conditions, the 2012 Champion felt a 2-minute practice round to start the day would have been a good idea after the rain as it would have created equal conditions for the opening qualifier.  Describing his A8 as ‘prett much set’ in terms of set-up he said the only thing he is likely to change is tyre compound but added unlike at the Warm-up and what he ran a number of times in practice he would not go back to medium with soft the most likely choice he will make.

A finalist the last two years, Christoffer Svensson posted the 5th fastest time.  The Swede said he drove a safe round adding he had some issues towards the end with traffic that forced him to drive a little safer than he would have planned.  Running AKA’s Catapult tyre on his OS Speed powered Kyosho he said the car felt really good with plenty of room to push it harder saying his driving will be the only thing he will be changing for Q2.

‘For first round not too bad’, that was Renaud Savoya’s reaction to his run to the sixth fastest time.  The Xray driver said he could have pushed harder but opted to play safe adding that the track for the first three heats was slower due to the overnight rain, the 3-time Champion running in Group 3.  Describing his Orion powered XB8 as ‘moving around a little too much’ for Q2 he said he is considering going up in oil weight but with his run not until 15:00 he said he needs to monitor how the track changes.

Xray team-mate Martin Bayer said he should have softened the set-up of his LRP powered XB8.  Describing the run as ‘not too bad’ he was a little frustrated by being held up on lap 10 by a slower car despite calls from the referee feeling the time lost cost him a potential Top 5 run.  In terms of his plans for Q2 like the rest of the front runners the Czech ace said with such a big gap between rounds he would have to wait to see how the track is closer to his Q2 run.

Top German for the round was Carsten Keller, the Kyosho Germany supported driver setting the 8th fastest time with his Bullitt powered MP9.  The 25-year-old said having had plenty of steering yesterday he got caught out by a lack of it this morning. Suffering a mistake on lap four of 11 when he traction rolled on the concrete section up the hill this lost him around 2-seconds.  For Q2 he plans to go down in oil in the front diff as he looks to improve the steering. Behind Keller, outspoken JQ Racing boss Joseph Quagraine set the ninth fastest time with the Xray of Austrian National Champion Martin Wollanka completing the Top 10.

Round 1 Qualifying Top 12
1. Teemu Leino – HB/Novarossi – 11/5:22.734
2. Robert Batlle – Mugen/Novarossi – 11/5:22.970
3. David Ronnefalk – Kyosho/Orion – 11/5:23.275
4. Darren Bloomfield – Agama/Bullitt – 11/5:23.651
5. Christoffer Svensson – Kyosho/OS Speed – 11/23.828
6. Renaud Savoya – Xray/Orion – 11/5:23.998
7. Martin Bayer – Xray/LRP – 11/5:24.777
8. Carsten Keller – Kysoho/Bullitt – 11/5:25.366
9. Joseph Quagraine – JQ/Reds Racing – 11/5:26.273
10.Martin Wollanka – Xray/FX – 11/5:26.793
11.Lee Martin – Mugen/Beat – 11/5:26.871
12.Byran Baldo – Mugen/Novarossi – 11/5:27.390

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