Cockerill takes 2WD Buggy DHI Cup title

Schumacher’s Tom Cockerill claimed his first DHI Cup title winning 2WD Buggy thanks to a second A-Main win this morning. The British driver again benefited from a mistake by Top Qualifier Oskar Levin would made an almost identical mistake to the one which Cockerill made himself in A1.  This allowed the Schumacher designer go to the front on lap 4 and despite some close attention from outgoing champion Joern Neumann in the latter part of the race he would see off the German taking the leg by 7/10ths of a second.  The 14th running of the Danish event with offroad introduced three years ago, Cockerill’s win ends Neumann’s domination of the event with the Durango driver being the only one to have previously held the DHI Offroad titles.

Running a set of tyres he got team-mate Simon Moss to scrub in for him in his B Final, Cockerill said his Nosram powered Cougar KF was a lot better in the early laps of A2.  Planning to just follow Levin for the first part of the race, he said it turned out a lot easier than expected as Levin’s mistake handed him the lead after just three laps.  Delighted with the win, when asked about the pressure from Neumann during the race he said the EOS thought him a big lesson.  Securing the TQ honours at the season opener of the Euro Offroad Series, nerves got the better of him in the finals, but he said this thought him that there is nothing up can do about other drivers and focusing driving your own clean race is all you can do and that is exactly what he did here in A2.  Although he will face a much tougher field he said the win was a great result for next weekend’s EOS in Berlin.

‘Just not my race’ was how Levin summed up his disappointing morning.  The Swede said he tried too push hard from the beginning to try and get a gap over Cockerill & Neumann but he over did it resulting in him crashing off the track.  Having shown the potential of his new Team C ride he said his focus is now and making amends at next weeks EOS.

With Cockerill sitting out the 3rd & final A-Main, it was a straight race to decide what order Neumann & Levin would join him on the podium.  It would turn out to be the most entertaining leg of the three Mains with Neumann and Levin swapping positions.  In the end Neumann would take the win by just 2/10th of a second to claim the runners up spot with second good enough to secure Levin the final step on the podium.

2WD Buggy Overall Result
1. Tom Cockerill (GB) – Schumacher – 2 pts
2. Jörn Neumann (DE) – Team Durango – 3
3. Oskar Levin (SE) – Team C – 4
4. Kim Nielsen (DK) – Team C – 6
5. Jesper Rasmussen (DK) – Team Associated – 7
6. Niclas Månsson (SE) – Team Associated – 10
7. Jonas Kaerup (DK) – Team Associated – 12
8. Villalba Zacarias (ES) – Team C – 14
9. Martin Bayer (CZ) – Team Xray – 16
10.Thomas Andersson (SE) – Schumacher – 17

2WD Buggy A2 Result
1.(2) Tom Cockerill (GB) – Schumacher – 14/5:05.584
2.(3) Jörn Neumann (DE) – Team Durango – 14/5:06.231
3.(5) Jesper Rasmussen (DK) – Team Associated – 14/5:10.608
4.(1) Oskar Levin (SE) – Team C – 14/5:10.789
5.(4) Kim Nielsen (DK) – Team C – 14/5:12.826
6.(6) Jonas Kaerup (DK) – Team Associated – 14/5:18.376
7.(7) Niclas Månsson (SE) – Team Associated – 14/5:18.552
8.(10)Thomas Andersson (SE) – Schumacher – 14/5:21.088
9.(8) Villalba Zacarias (ES) – Team C – 13/5:04.150
10.(9)Martin Bayer (CZ) – Team Xray – 13/5:06.776

2WD Buggy A3 Result
1.(3) Jörn Neumann (DE) – Team Durango – 14/5:04.966
2.(1) Oskar Levin (SE) – Team C – 14/5:05.168
3.(4) Kim Nielsen (DK) – Team C – 14/5:08.711
4.(5) Jesper Rasmussen (DK) – Team Associated – 14/5:09.636
5.(7) Niclas Månsson (SE) – Team Associated – 14/5:17.164
6.(6) Jonas Kaerup (DK) – Team Associated – 14/5:18.083
7.(9) Martin Bayer (CZ) – Team Xray – 14/5:18.710
8.(8) Villalba Zacarias (ES) – Team C – 13/5:01.287
9.(10)Thomas Andersson (SE) – Schumacher – 13/5:06.876
10.(2)Tom Cockerill (GB) – Schumacher – DNS

View the complete Offroad event results here.

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Last lap mistake by Levin hands Cockerill A1 win

A last lap mistake by Top Qualifier Oskar Levin handed Schumacher’s Tom Cockerill the win in the opening A-Main of 2WD Buggy at the DHI Cup in Denmark this morning.  Getting a clean start Levin looked to be in control of proceedings, the Swede even seeing off a mid race challenge from Cockerill before the British driver rolled his Cougar KF as he started lap 9 of 14.  With a comfortable gap over his rivals the battle for third well back in the distance, Levin just had to cruise to finish but right in front of the drivers stand the Team C driver spun on the wooden section.  Losing over 2-seconds, the mistake was enough to allow Cockerill to slip through to win by 8/10th of a second.  Completing the Top 3 was Kim Nielsen. Defending champion Joern Neumann, who started third, never featured in the race eventually finishing the race a half a lap down on Cockerill.

Levin said his spin was ‘A stupid mistake’.  Feeling a bit nervous he said he just got on the power a little earlier than normal and the rear end of his TM2 just came around. In terms of the car the 19-year-old said he couldn’t ask for anything more from it describing the buggy as ‘super consistent’.  He said he has the equipment to win and just needs to make no more ‘stupid’ mistakes to get it done.

Albeit a little late, Cockerill’s response to be handed the win was ‘Happy Christmas’.  Running a fresh set of the controlled Schumacher tyres he said his car was a little slow at the start but after a few laps he was able to start to close in on the lead.  After his mistake he said he settled for second as Levin was ‘gone’ so Levin’s mistake came as big as surprise to him as anyone else.  With used tyres for A2, Cockerill is confident he can take the fight to Levin this time from start.

2WD Buggy A1 Result
1.(2) Tom Cockerill (GB) – Schumacher – 14/5:07.583
2.(1) Oskar Levin (SE) – Team C – 14/5:08.406
3.(4) Kim Nielsen (DK) – Team C – 14/5:13.381
4.(3) Jörn Neumann (DE) – Team Durango – 14/5:17.430
5.(7) Niclas Månsson (SE) – Team Associated – 14/5:20.156
6.(8) Villalba Zacarias (ES) – Team C – 13/5:00.279
7.(6) Jonas Kaerup (DK) – Team Associated – 13/5:02.067
8.(5) Jesper Rasmussen (DK) – Team Associated – 13/5:05.106
9.(9) Martin Bayer (CZ) – Team Xray – 13/5:09.492
10.(10)Thomas Andersson (SE) – Schumacher – 13/5:11.279

View the complete Offroad event results here.

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Neumann is 4WD Buggy Top Qualifier at DHI Cup

Defending DHI Cup offroad champion Joern Neumann will start his challenge for a hat trick of wins at the Danish event from the best possible position tomorrow with the Team Durango ace securing the overall TQ honors in the final round of qualifying.  With Team Xray’s Martin Bayer topping the opening two qualifiers, the German came back strong in the Q3 & 4 taking both rounds but it was his Q4 time that would decide the tie break and secure him the No.1 spot n the grid.  Behind the two Pro factory team drivers, young local talent & Team Associated supported driver Jesper Rasmussen will line up third, his third fastest time in Q4 bumping Schumacher team leader & designer Tom Cockerill back down to fourth on the triple A-Main grid.

‘Getting a little closer now’ was how Neumann summed up his performance in the final two qualifiers.  Changing to heaver oil in the rear shocks of his Orion powered DEX410, the Worlds Top Qualifier said the buggy was really good and tomorrow should make for very exciting racing.  Having been slightly surprised by Bayer’s early pace, the winner of the DHI Cup in both 2WD and 4WD since offroad was introduced to the famous international touring car event, he said his is now very confident about his chances for the win in 4WD, adding it is more than can be said for hopes of success in 2WD.

‘Really close’ was how a slightly disappointed Bayer summed up Q4. The European Champion was neck & neck with Neumann but got it wrong on the wall section on the penultimate lap costing himself 3-seconds.  Really happy with the pace and performance of his LRP powered XB4, he said he is really looking forward to tomorrow adding it should be a really good final and battle between him & Neumann.

The best placed Dane over all four classes at the end of qualifying, 15-year-old Rasmussen was clearly pleased with his days driving. Having targeted himself a podium finish at the event of which is father Ulrich is instrumental in its annual organisation he said he is really confident about achieving his goal tomorrow as his B44.4 is working really well.

‘Just not quick enough’ was Cockerill’s response to securing fourth on the grid.  The British driver said he couldn’t pull away from Rasmussen in the final qualifier and for the finals he hopes reverting to his Q2 set-up will give him some chance of being able to fight for a podium placing.  After a crash in Q3 he pulled in to adjust his ride height to test some options but the set-up he ran for the final qualifier just left his Nosram powered K1 Aero lacking pace.  Pitting next to Marc Rheinard he said jokingly it was some consolation to know his qualifying result was still better than that of the 3-time World Champion achieved in the touring car section of the event.

4WD Buggy A-Main Grid
1. Jörn Neumann (DE) – Team Durango – 310 pts
2. Martin Bayer (CZ) – Team Xray – 310
3. Jesper Rasmussen (DK) – Team Associated – 305
4. Tom Cockerill (GB) – Schumacher – 303
5. David Hassel (SE) – Team Xray – 303
6. Kim Nielsen (DK) – Team Xray – 301
7. Oskar Levin (SE) – Team C – 300
8. Niclas Månsson (SE) – Team Associated – 299
9. Simon Moss (GB) – Schumacher – 299
10.Joakim Nicolaisen (NO) – Team Associated – 298

View the complete Offroad event results here.

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