January 12, 2014

DHI Cup hat trick for Neumann

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Joern Neumann remains the unbeaten 4WD Buggy champion of the DHI Cup, the Team Durango driver completing a hat trick of wins at the Danish event today.  The 14th running of the famous touring car event, the German was the first Offroad winner since the discipline was introduced in 2012 and today’s 4WD win see him remain unbeaten.  Having seen his chances of a complete sweep of the event he made his own the last two years dashed when Schumacher’s Tom Cockerill took the overall 2WD win earlier in the day, Neumann got the job done in 4WD. After a not so great start to 4WD, a mistake giving rival Martin Bayer the A1 win, he would make up for it in A2 & A3 to secure the top step on the podium ahead of Xray’s European Champion with young up & coming Danish driver Jesper Rasmussen completing overall Top 3.

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Neumann said after struggling with his 2WD performance, the Schumacher and Team C chassis benefiting from more forward mid mounted motors on the unusually low traction carpet surface, he said his Orion powered DEX410 had no such problems.  Changing nothing on the buggy between legs he said he just drove better in the second two Mains adding that his rolls in A1 was just down to poor driving.  Hoping that his 2WD will be more competitive for next weekend’s EOS in Berlin, he said the 4WD win is a good boost as he aims to extend his unbeaten run in the series to nine wins.

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Bayer, who last year ended Neumann’s reign as European 4WD Champion, said the speed was there this weekend but he just made too many small mistakes.  Very happy with the performance of his LRP powered XB4, the Czech ace said it was good to have been able to run with one of the best offroad drivers in the world.  Looking forward to doing battle with him again at the EOS, he will be hooking up with team-mate Renaud Savoya tomorrow to travel to the Hudy Arena for practice in preparation for the event.

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Having set himself the target of a podium finish at what is his home event and been in attendance pretty much every year of his life due to his father Ulrich’s involvement in putting it on, 15-year-old Rasmussen was clearly pleased with his podium finish.  On collecting his trophy, the Team Associated supported driver’s face clearly showed what the result meant.  Having had the high of the morning when he lifted the 2WD title, 4WD was somewhat of a struggle for Cockerill with the Britsih driver ending up 4th overall just ahead of 2WD Top Qualifier Oskar Levin.

4WD Buggy Overall Result
1. Jörn Neumann (DE) – Team Durango – 2 pts
2. Martin Bayer (CZ) – Team Xray – 3
3. Jesper Rasmussen (DK) – Team Associated – 6
4. Tom Cockerill (GB) – Schumacher – 8
5. Oskar Levin (SE) – Team C – 9
6. Joakim Nicolaisen (NO) – Team Associated – 11
7. Kim Nielsen (DK) – Team Xray – 11
8.Simon Moss (GB) – Schumacher – 14
9. David Hassel (SE) – Team Xray – 16
10.Niclas Månsson (SE) – Team Associated – 18

4WD Buggy A2 Result
1.(1) Jörn Neumann (DE) – Team Durango – 15/5:08.807
2.(2) Martin Bayer (CZ) – Team Xray – 15/5:10.507
3.(3) Jesper Rasmussen (DK) – Team Associated – 14/5:02.680
4.(10)Joakim Nicolaisen (NO) – Team Associated – 14/5:03.209
5.(7) Oskar Levin (SE) – Team C – 14/5:06.387
6.(4) Tom Cockerill (GB) – Schumacher – 14/5:09.261
7.(6) Kim Nielsen (DK) – Team Xray – 14/5:09.390
8.(5) David Hassel (SE) – Team Xray – 14/5:09.786
9.(8) Niclas Månsson (SE) – Team Associated – 14/5:11.512
10.(9)Simon Moss (GB) – Schumacher – 14/5:19.925

4WD Buggy A3 Result
1.(1) Jörn Neumann (DE) – Team Durango – 15/5:10.338
2.(2) Martin Bayer (CZ) – Team Xray – 15/5:17.254
3.(4) Tom Cockerill (GB) – Schumacher – 15/5:33.183
4.(7) Oskar Levin (SE) – Team C – 14/5:04.998
5.(6) Kim Nielsen (DK) – Team Xray – 14/5:06.368
6.(3) Jesper Rasmussen (DK) – Team Associated – 14/5:06.755
7.(10)Joakim Nicolaisen (NO) – Team Associated – 14/5:10.805
8.(5) David Hassel (SE) – Team Xray – 14/5:18.880
9.(8) Niclas Månsson (SE) – Team Associated – 14/5:29.471
10.(9)Simon Moss (GB) – Schumacher – 13/5:03.275

View the complete Offroad event results here.

View our event image gallery here.

January 12, 2014

Volker takes fifth DHI Cup title

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Ronald Volker has claimed his fifth DHI Cup title, the Team Yokomo driver kicking off his 2014 season in perfect fashion by wrapping up overall victory at the 14th running of the famous Danish event with a second win in Leg 2.  Having dominated A1, the second encounter was not as straight forward for the German ace who had to battle with a damaged car and see off a challenge from fast Finn Viljami Kutvonen. Looking comfortable for the win as the race entered the second half Volker’s new DB7 2014 edition collected the Serpent of David Ehrbar when after an off track excursion it was being place back on the track by the marshal.  Damaging the body of the No.1 car, Volker’s pace dropped as he struggled with his front tyre rubbing badly through left hand corners.  Making his first attack Kutvonen was clearly now faster but just as he looked like making a pass for the lead entering the straight he rolled his Awesomatix.  Dropping back he quickly closed down the gap again but trying a pass on the final lap he touched the Yokomo sending it into a roll for which he waited allowing Volker to complete the final corner in front for the leg & overall win.

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Volker said he was very excited about winning his 5th DHI Cup, this being his 9th time to contest the event, and he couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season with the exception of the damaged bodyshell.  He said just before the race his mechanic Yukijiro Umino told him to look after the bodyshell as they planned to use it for the upcoming second round of the ETS but now its only fit for practice.  Despite losing the shell, Volker said after winning with the new car this weekend for both him & Umino, a key to the three times ETS Champion’s success, the motivation for the 2014 World Championship season couldn’t be higher.  Commenting on his A2 race, Volker said after his impact with Ehrbar on the left corners it was like the car had extra brakes due to the body rubbing and he had to give extra throttle to just keep it moving.  Admitting Kutvonen had him under pressure he said with his damaged car he would not have been able to hold him off for 2.5 minutes only for him going off on the straight.  While the A700 was all over him again on the final lap he said he knew if he just kept his lines tight it would be enough.

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‘Almost’ was Kutvonen’s reaction to the race, admitting he was over doing it when he had his crash on the straight.  Describing his car as really good he said it took him some time to get back into his rythm and his first priorty was to protect his second position from Marc Rheinard.  Once clear of the 3-time World Champion, he said he knew he had a chance of the win but the time lost refinding his rythm meant he just couldn’t get it done.  Kutvonen would go on to win A3 from Alexander Hagberg, Volker sitting it out, to secure second overall.

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Completing the podium in Odense, Rheinard said today he was just driving around waiting for others to make mistakes as he just didn’t have the pace.  Attending the race as preparations for his Euro Touring Series campaign, he said he struggled with the unusually low traction and he is hopeful that back in the high traction conditions of the ETS he will be a lot more competitive against Volker.

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In Pro Stock Oliver Franke got his new sponsorship with Awesomatix off to a great start as he completed a clean sweep of the weekend taking the TQ honours and winning all three legs of the A-Main.  Behind the German, Team Xray’s ETS Champion Marek Cerny had to settle for second with Serpent’s Jan Ratheisky (formerly Jan Asmer) completing the podium.

Mod Touring Car Overall Result
1. Ronald Völker (DE) – Yokomo – 2 pts
2. Viljami Kutvonen (FI) – Awesomatix – 3
3. Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – 5
4. Alexander Hagberg (SE) – Xray – 6
5. Marc Fischer (DE) – Serpent – 9
6. Adrian Berntsen (NO) – Xray – 11
7. Steen Graversen (DK) – Awesomatix – 11
8. Jan Ratheisky (DE) – Serpent – 13
9. Tim Benson (DE) – Xray – 14
10.David Ehrbar (DE) – Serpent – 18

Mod Touring Car A2 Result
1.(1) Ronald Völker (DE) – Yokomo – 25/5:08.339
2.(2) Viljami Kutvonen (FI) – Awesomatix – 25/5:08.575
3.(5) Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – 25/5:09.475
4.(4) Alexander Hagberg (SE) – Xray – 24/5:01.227
5.(9) Jan Ratheisky (DE) – Serpent – 24/5:02.489
6.(7) Steen Graversen (DK) – Awesomatix – 24/5:02.761
7.(6) Marc Fischer (DE) – Serpent – 24/5:04.146
8.(3) Adrian Berntsen (NO) – Xray – 24/5:10.244
9.(10)David Ehrbar (DE) – Serpent – 24/5:12.616
10.(8)Tim Benson (DE) – Xray – 2/0:23.989

Mod Touring Car A3 Result
1.(2) Viljami Kutvonen (FI) – Awesomatix – 25/5:07.333
2.(4) Alexander Hagberg (SE) – Xray – 25/5:07.719
3.(6) Marc Fischer (DE) – Serpent – 24/5:00.423
4.(3) Adrian Berntsen (NO) – Xray – 24/5:01.317
5.(5) Marc Rheinard (DE) – Tamiya – 24/5:02.483
6.(8) Tim Benson (DE) – Xray – 24/5:04.809
7.(7) Steen Graversen (DK) – Awesomatix – 24/5:10.692
8.(9) Jan Ratheisky (DE) – Serpent – 24/5:13.052
9.(10)David Ehrbar (DE) – Serpent – 24/5:16.081
10.(1) Ronald Völker (DE) – Yokomo – DNS

View the complete TC event results here.

View our event image gallery here.