Orlowski makes it 3 in a row at DHI Cup

Michal Orlowski has made it three 2WD titles in a row at the DHI Cup, the Schumacher driver successfully defending his title with the perfect performance.  Top Qualifier in Odense, taking all four qualifiers, the Polish driver secured the title when he backed up his A1 win with another in A2. Rather than sit out A3, he would use the track time to test, taking that also despite coming under pressure from star of the weekend Elias Johansson.  Johansson would finish second overall being the only driver to mount any challenge to Orlowski over the weekend.  With former champions David Ronnefalk and Joern Neumann not delivering the level of performances expected, Jesper Rasmussen enjoyed a strong race to complete the 2WD podium.

‘It is alway pretty good to start the new year with a win’, was Orlowski reaction to his win.  He continued, ‘we knew the KC is a good car but still it wasn’t easy here with Elias. He makes me feel quite old now but with a start like this I am looking forward to the rest of the season’.  Continuing on the 13-year-old he said , ‘He was quick all weekend. Even in practice I was surprised by his pace.  I had to show him full respect in the finals but luckily I was faster’.  Asked about his decision to run A3, he replied, ‘we tested something, we wanted to see how the car was with softer shock all round’.

‘I’m really happy with my finish. It was more than expected’, was how Johansson summed up his impressive podium finish.  The Associated driver added, ‘I didn’t do anything to the car, I just had to drive it’.  Having a good battle with Orlowski in A3, he said, ‘I was pretty tight in the middle but then he pulled a way a little, racing with Michal is good experience for me. I’m looking forward now to the 4WD finals’.

Summing up his third place, Team Associated driver Rasmussen said, ‘I am pretty happy to make the podium.  In A1 I was on new tyres and the car was terrible.  I changed back to my other tyres for A2 and the last one and also changed to harder oil and a stiffer roll bar and the car was much easier to drive and I could get on the podium’.  Behind the Dane, former Top Qualifier Oskar Levin would finish 4th overall ahead of Ronnefalk and Hampus Berg.

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Orlowski cruises to A1 win

Michal Orlowski cruised to an easy victory in the opening A-Main of 2WD Buggy at the DHI Cup this morning.  The Top Qualifier quickly pulled clear of the field and such was his lead that even with a roll off the corner table table which required his Schumacher to be marshalled he still had more than half a lap advantage at the finish.  Behind, Elias Johansson would take second, the young Swedish talent having an equally comfortable gap of the battle for third which would go to David Ronnefalk.

Commenting on his win, reigning champion Orlowski said, ‘we changed the rear camber link to make it easier on new tyres and it was perfect for laps’.  The Pole continued, ‘I had a good gap after 3 laps so I just kept my head down and then Elias had a mistake which gave control of the race. I had a small error at the corner table top but it didn’t cost me anything’.  Chasing a third 2WD title in a row at the DHI Cup, the EOS Champion will be aiming to get that job done in A2 saying, ‘we will run the same car for A2 and see what we can do’.

‘Pretty good but I had two mistakes’, was how Johansson summed up A1.  The Associated driver said while new tyres had made the car nervous to drive at the start, he put his two mistakes down to ‘driver error’.  Having made no changes to his car over the weekend he has no plans to start changing anything now adding he expects A2 to be better due to the fact the tyres are now broken in.

Qualifying only 8th for 2WD, David Ronnefalk was happy to get third.  He said, ‘I threw up four times during the night so I didn’t have any expectations for the race. I wasn’t even sure I would be able to drive. I just wanted to finish’.  The HB Racing driver said his changes to his car since qualifying had given him more speed and ‘carnage’ in the race allowed him to gain some early places.  Battling with third place qualifier Jesper Rasmussen he would pass the Dane only to make a mistake but was be able to get the position back by the finish.

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Orlowski takes TQ double at DHI Cup

Reigning 2 and 4WD DHI Cup Champion Michal Orlowski will start his title defence from the best place possible after the Schumacher driver made it a TQ double in Denmark as he claimed the 4WD pole in the fourth & final round of qualifying at this year’s event. Having secured the 2WD TQ earlier in the day after just three rounds, the Pole had to wait until the fourth & final 4WD qualifier after Q2 produced the only glitch in an otherwise dominant performance from the teenager. Orlowski didn’t have it easy however with star of the 2018 DHI Cup Elias Johansson challenging him for the overall TQ and leading the final qualifier until a mistake.  Still the 13-year-old will line-up an impressive 2nd on the grid ahead of fellow Associated driver Jesper Rasmussen who capped off qualifying with a P2 time. As in 2WD, Joern Neumann will make his Schumacher debut from 4th on the grid with 2016 Champion David Ronnefalk completing the top half of the grid.

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Orlowski resumes reign after Q2 glitch

Michal Orlowski has resumed his reign at the DHI Cup, recovering from a glitch in the second round of 4WD qualifying to take penultimate round ahead of the increasingly impressive Elias Johansson.  13-year-old Johansson has looked competitive from the start of the weekend and has looked increasingly confident at the controls of his Team Associated.  In Q2, the Swede was there to pick up the pieces when Orlowski made a set-up change that wasn’t to his liking claiming the TQ ahead of former champion Jörn Neumann. Joining Orlowski as the only driver to run 17-laps in qualifying with a P2 in the penultimate qualifier, Johansson could potential deny the Schumacher driver the TQ double and also been overshadowing his high profile fellow Swede David Ronnefalk.  A former champion in Odense, Ronnefalk finally put in a clean run in Q3 to record the third fastest time with the HB Racing driver looking more like a rookie than the double World Championship podium finisher he is.

Asked about his P5 in the second qualifier, Orlowski said, ‘we made a change and the car felt different which caused me to make a couple of mistakes.  I almost got back to the front but then had a costly mistake on the wall’.  He continued, ‘for the last one we went back to the spring from before and raised the rear camber link and the car felt even better than before. It was easier to drive’. Already Top Qualifier for the 2WD A-Main tomorrow, looking to the final qualifier the Schumacher driver said, ‘we will run a new tyre to bed them in for the finals and hopefully I can TQ.  Elias is pretty quick’.

Admitting the weekend is going better than expected, Johansson said his car continues to be really good and although he has a chance of the overall TQ its not his aim in the final qualifier.  Pleased with his run to the TQ in Q2 and then matching Orlowski’s 17-lap pace in Q3, he said ‘Michal drove really fast’ and to start in the Top 2 I am happy’.  Like Orlowski he too will run a new set of tyres in Q4 to scrub them in for the finals and so expects the car to be edgy over the opening laps.

After finding his car ‘very edgy’ in the opening qualifier, Ronnefalk reverted back to his EOS set-up but said the improvement came from his front tyre cut.  Leaving the side pins in place he glued the side wall with this making it easier to drive but crashing twice in Q2 still didn’t net a competitive time.  Knowing however he had a good car he said his approach for Q3 was to ‘drive clean and stay on the wheels’.  While he found this ‘slow’, at the end of the 5-minutes it paid dividends as he finally posted a Top 3 run.  Finding himself only 8th on the grid in 2WD, he will try to repeat Q3 and try put himself further up the 4WD grid.

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