Bayer on provisional MIBO TQ in 4WD
Martin Bayer is the provisional Top Qualifier overnight at MIBO International, the Xray driver being denied locking in the overall TQ with a mistake that allowed Schumacher’s Daniel Kobbevik to top the fourth round and be part of the battle for pole position tomorrow morning in Q5. Posting a TQ run in Q1 and Q3, Bayer was on target for a third in Q4 but keying an eye on the very fast Sworkz of Micha Widmaier and distracted by a mistake from the overnight 2WD TQ holder, Bayer made a mistake that cost him more than 3-seconds allowing Kobbevik to grab max points. With Bayer still managing a P2 2.6-seconds off Kobbevik, the Top 3 would be completed by Team Associated’s Joona Haatanen but the Finn won’t contend for the overall TQ in Q5, instead it will be Bartosz Zalewski who is part of the three way fight. The double runner up here last year to Bruno Coelho, the young Polish talent was on a competitive Q4 run until be popped a steering link.
Putting a positive spin on Q4, former European Champion Bayer said, ‘It was still good points’ but was quick to admit, ‘I could have secured the TQ in that one’. Asked about the qualifier, he said, ‘I was keeping an eye on Micha’s position but when he had a mistake I tried to look out the periphery of my eyes but ended up making my own mistake and lost 3-seconds’. Despite the loss, he said, ‘I should be still good for 1st or 2nd so its all OK and I know my car has the speed for the finals’.
‘Amazing. I’m super happy to end the day with a TQ run’ was Kobbevik’s reaction to taking the fourth qualifier. The Norwegian continued, ‘I was on third run tyres and got a bit lucky with Micha and Martin’s mistakes’. Needing to TQ the final round to have a chance at denying defending Champions Xray pole position in the final, he said, ‘we need to see what to do with the tyres tomorrow’.
Putting his name on the international map as he kept Coehlo honest at the inaugural MIBO International last year, Zalewski summed up his day with ‘I’m happy with some of my qualifiers’. Having topped seeding in both 2WD and 4WD, the 17-year-old said his XB4 felt really good in Q4 it was a case of ‘bad luck’ as he went out with just over a minute to go have lost his steering. Posting a TQ run in Round Q2 with the fastest time of the day, he said he is looking forward to the last one in the morning as he feels he has the car to get the job done. He also has the fastest time which he will need should he manage a TQ run to give him the tie breaker over Bayer.
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