World Champion Coelho delivers first TQ run

Reigning World Champion Bruno Coelho ‘finally’ delivered his first TQ run in China as he became the first driver to run 13-laps at Xiamen ARC International Raceway. With a P4 for the opening round and a P5 in Q2, the Xray driver produced his cleanest run on his third attempt to top the times from David Ronnefalk and Ryan Maifield – the consistent duo of qualifying so far switching their Top 3 order of the previous two rounds.  With Coelho the third different driver to top the times in qualifying, Q2 pace setter Ty Tessmann would back it up with a P4 while Spencer Rivkin managed a much improved performance on his previous qualifier to end up 7th for the round.

Opting to leave his Hobbywing powered XB4 unchanged for Q3 having ‘got the car very good’ for the second qualifier, Coelho reaction was one of relief as he summed up his performance with ‘finally’. The reigning European Champion, a title he won on dirt while his World and EOS titles all come on artificial surfaces, he said, ‘I just went out to make a clean run and while that didn’t actually happen because I hit the pipe at the start after a hard comeback I could get the TQ’. Having struggled to get his car to his liking throughout the six rounds of practice and the opening qualifier, he said improvements in Q2 gave him confidence and leaving the car unchanged he could focus more on his driving. With just one qualifier remaining on today’s schedule, the fifth & final qualifier taking place tomorrow morning ahead of the final, he said his focus for Q4 is to keep the car the same and learn to drive it better around the track without having to readjust to changes to the set-up.

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