5 time 4WD champion Neumann tops DHI Cup seeding
Joern Neumann set the pace in 4WD seeding at the DHI Cup presented by LRP. The unbeaten 4WD Champion of the Danish event, who is going for a sixth consecutive title this weekend in Odense, topped the times with an improved run in the second of the two rounds of controlled practice. Behind the Serpent driver, 2WD top seed Michal Orlowski would post the second fastest time with his CP1 when he set the early pace and Neumann was P4. While Neumann’s advantage was 2/10th, the gap between Orlowski and third fastest David Ronnefalk was much closer with only 3/100ths separating the Schumacher and HB Racing stars. With Yokomo’s Marc Rheinard P4, Finnish driver Samppa Orhanen would make it five different manufacturers at the top of the seeding times taking his Associated to the fifth fastest time. One noticeable absence this year is that of factory Xray team, with 2016 podium finisher & World Champion Bruno Coelho and 2015 podium finish Martin Bayer both opting to not make the trip this year.
The ‘car works very good and is super easy to drive and fast’, was Neumann summary of practice. Running a preproduction example of Serpent’s new SDX4, having just received his first fully production version which is under his pit table and needs building, he added, ‘I moved the shocks in one hole for more steering and that is about it (in terms of changes made to the car for the DHI Cup track)’. The reigning European Champion said here the car has less grip than at the EOS where the car wants to traction roll from having too much grip’. Describing the tyre wear in 2WD as ‘crazy’ for 4WD he said, ‘it the same as 2WD, its pretty high’. Asked about qualifying, which for 4WD gets underway tomorrow after the conclusion of 2WD qualifying, he said the only thing he needs to do to the car is ‘fit new tyres’.
Orlowski said his ‘car feels good’ after some ‘small changes from the basic set-up’. The former European Champion added, ‘again the tyre wear is pretty high’. Setting his quickest 3-consecutive laps in CP1, the Pole said, ‘I ran the same set of tyres for a second time (in CP2) to check and it was pretty difficult so it is going to be a new set a run for qualifying’.
‘Really good’ was how Ronnefalk summed up controlled practice. With HB Racing designer Torrance Deguzman at his disposal at a European carpet offroad event for the first time, he said while the car is pretty much how he ran it at the World Championships at Yatabe, it now has a different lighter chassis. Offering more, the 1:8 Offroad World Champion said with this it is ‘super easy to drive and very consistent over the 5-minutes and it still has the outright speed’. Continuing ‘I think it will be good for qualifying’ he also added, ‘I think the chassis will also work good on dirt’ outlining he will remain on in the US after the 1:8 event the Dirt Nitro Challenge to test it as part of preparations for this year’s 1:10 World Championship in China in November.
With his carpet offroad experience limited almost entirely to the Euro Offroad Series, Rheinard said ‘It just feels like no grip so it is difficult, it is completely different to EOS’. The 4-time Onroad World Champion, who is having his first DHI Cup Offroad experience, continued, ‘It just low grip and I still have to get used to it’. In terms of his YZ-4 he plans to make a small diff oil change for qualifying but added, ‘every run new tyres, this is horrible’.
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