Clean sweep secures Neumann TQ in Denmark

Joern Neumann pulled off a clean sweep of 4WD Buggy qualifying at the DHI Cup taking his now privately run Durango to TQ runs in all four qualifiers.  The German will start his quest for a fourth consecutive win at the Danish event ahead of Xray’s Martin Bayer and David Ronnefalk who will make his HB race debut from 3rd on the grid.

Running his standard DEX410, saving his prototype Worlds TQ car he ran in practice for the upcoming Reedy Race of Champions in the US, the German was pleased to take the overall TQ but said despite his four TQ runs it ‘was not easy’.  Describing his Orion powered DEX410 as ‘fast as always’ and very easy to drive he said his results were down to him making less mistakes than his two main rivals, Bayer and Ronnefalk.  Fitting Arrowmax’s new double jointed drive shafts to his car for Q3 he found this made the buggy even easier to drive.  Wrapping up the overall TQ in Q3, for the final heat he fitted a front wing to the buggy but said he couldn’t notice any difference with having it.

Having been frustrated by ‘stupid’ driver errors in the opening two qualifiers Bayer was pleased to run clean rounds in Q3 & 4 finishing second to Neumann in both.  Describing those performances as ‘pretty good’ and encouraged at how easy he could drive his XB4 and keep Ronnefalk at bay he said he still needs to find some tenths if he was to challenge Neumann in the final.  Expecting to make a set-up change he said he would not do anything until after the 2WD Finals so he could better gauge the level of traction on the track.

Having went up in rear diff oil weight of his D413 for Q3, Ronnefalk said this made the buggy easier to drive but a driver error on lap 3 meant he couldn’t challenge for a TQ despite a consistent run for the remainder of the heat.  A good start to Q4 had the Swede on a TQ pace but twice on the wall section he caught the cone losing him 5-seconds.  Having prepared a new set of tyres for Q4 but noticing one of the wheels was buckled just before the start he had to make a quick switch to a set with three runs on them.  While good at the start he said towards the end they went off.  Having run a fresh set in Q3 he said tyre wise he is good for A1 but after that he will have to decide on his options.  With himself, Bayer and Neumann all very close on lap times he said he expects the finals to provide close racing and he’s looking forward to it.

Behind the three race favourites Team Associated’s Niclas Mansson will start fourth ahead of the Yokomo of Frederik Hovgaard. The second half of the grid is made up of the Team Cs of Kim Nielsen & Tom Maquel, last year podium finish Jesper Rasmussen, Jonas Kaerup and Oskar Levin.

View complete offroad event results here.

View the event image gallery here.