Sunday – 4WD qualifying and finals

Making a welcome return to Robin Hood Raceway on Sunday morning was the sun, and with it warmer temperatures and the track producing a little more grip as the 4wds prepared for their first round of qualifying after controlled practice.

Trackside talk was all about the Durango prototype car Chris Doughty was running. The combination of it and Doughty were spectacular, TQ’ing the first round of qualifying, six seconds faster than second place Jörn Neumann and third Wesley Van Helmon.

In the second round Lee Martin was the man on the move, behind Lee, Neil Cragg and Martin Bayer. Round three saw Jörn Neumann topping the times ahead of David Ronnefalk and Cragg. In the fourth round it was Lee back in the top spot from Bayer and Ronnefalk, and in the fifth and final round David Ronnefalk to the top spot from Martin and Cragg.

With qualifying completed it was Lee Martin taking the top spot for the A main from David Ronnefalk and Jörn Neumann.

Leg one of the A final and Lee Martin leads the pack until halfway round lap one, when a mistake sees him rolling on the rhythm section, dropping down to third and allowing Ronnefalk into the lead. Third place Neumann then promptly makes a mistake of his own, tumbling out of third and to the back of the pack. Upfront, Ronnefalk had been given the lead, and had no intentions of handing it back to a hard-charging Martin, who made another mistake on the landing of the table top jump, sending him out of contention. Ronnefalk led from Cragg, who also made a mistake on the rhythm section, handing second to Bayer.

At mid-race Ronnefalk had pulled out a sizable gap to Bayer in second and Cragg a distant third. That was until Ronnefalk misjudged landing the table top and rolls. He’s quickly marshalled and returns to the track just as Bayer is about to pass. The two drivers aren’t prepared to compromise their lines and get entangled, full throttle sorts the problem for Ronnefalk, who breaks free and takes the lead from Bayer. A lap later and it gets messy again, with another mistake from Ronnefalk allowing Bayer to challenge, no room is given and the two momentarily collide. Onto the final lap and there’s another mistake from Ronnefalk landing the table top jump, he cartwheels out of contention and Bayer is through to take the win from Ronnefalk in second, Cragg third.

Onto the second leg and Lee Martin leads the pack from Ronnefalk second and Neumann third, until Jörn overshoots a corner allowing Cragg through. Martin is pulling out a gap to Ronnefalk, who in turn has made some space between himself and Cragg in third. Halfway through the race Ronnefalk gets tied up on a corner marker, and Cragg is through into second. Into the final minute and Cragg crash-lands the table top, allowing Ronnefalk back into second, another mistake on the final corner sees Cragg hand third to Neumann.

With all still to play for in the third and final leg of the A final, Lee Martin again leads the pack from the line. Martin, Ronnefalk and Cragg is the order, until Cragg misjudges the table top, dropping down the order and allowing Bayer through to third. At the front Martin and Ronnefalk are battling it out with nothing between them. With just one minute to go there’s a mistake from the chasing Ronnefalk, as he clips a track marker, spinning him out and promoting Bayer to second, Ronnefalk now third. After five minutes Lee Martin crosses the line to take the win from Martin Bayer in second and Marc Rhienard third.

To the applause of the crowd, Lee Martin takes the 4wd International Race crown from Martin Bayer in second and David Ronnefalk third.

With the dust only just settling after International Race, we’re now looking forward to hosting the European Championships in August (3-8). Robin Hood Raceway would like to thank everyone who attended this past weekend, and extend a big thanks to all the great many people who put in their time and effort to help RHR stage the International Race. We look forward to seeing you all again in August.

Race report by Martin Bayer

Last weekend I have traveled with my team mate Miguel Matias to the European Championship 1/10 warm-up. The race was held in UK in a small city Retford organized by Robin Hood Raceway club. All weekend was very cold and super windy and several times during the race came light rain but the club crew was ready for this and every time covered the track. So the track was dry during the entire weekend despite the rain. On Friday we started with 6 rounds of practice in 4WD and then followed by 2WD practice.

As we have no 1/10 outdoor dirt tracks in my country this was the race for me after a long time in the dirt. After a longer break racing outside I had to prepare for this race well and the preparation paid off. Since the early practice rounds both cars were handling very well and as such I had to adjust only small details.

Saturday we had 2WD qualification and race on schedule. In qualifications I finished 8th despite the performance and speed was there for a much better position but the traffic and few mistakes cost me several places. In the A-main finals I was again fully competitive, the car was handling great and speed was good enough just the traffic did not allow for much passing and as such I have finished 8th.

Sunday was the 4WD day and I was really looking forward. The XB4 felt great from the early beginning and I had several runs with a very top pace and was fighting for TQ several times but once again traffic and small mistakes did not allow me to qualify better than 5th. I have concentrated and prepared well for the A-main as I knew I have the speed and great handling car so I just needed also a bit of luck to be able to pass the drivers.

In the first A-main I was very fast and had the luck on my side and after mistake free run I have won the first A-main run. In the second final I did my best but I could not finish better than 3rd. The last A-main final should decide the overall winner. I was trying to give the best to take the win but some traffic slowed me down and as such I was able to finished 2nd. With the 1st and 2nd best place results I have finished overall 2nd which is still great result. We have worked hard the entire weekend and tested a lot of set-up ideas and I am confident we are prepared well for the upcoming Euros. Will see you soon there.

Final results 4WD:
1. Lee Martin
2. Martin Bayer - XRAY XB4
3. David Ronnefalk
4. Neil Cragg
5. Marc Rhienard
6. Miguel Matias - XRAY XB4
7. Jorn Neumann
8. Chris Doughty
9. Michael Orlowski
10. Tom Cockerill