Lee Martin takes 2WD Euros
Neo Buggy reports - "With qualifying completed defending Champion Lee Martin would start P1 for the 3 A final legs, the 'P' in 'P1' in this case standing for Prime Position as his Tamiya buggy pointed straight at the turn 1 Apex. In each final he was able to get away cleanly as a result.
A1 - 1. Lee Martin, 2. Neil Cragg 3. Hupo Honigl
A pretty simple final as Lee kept his nerves steady and led away cleanly, opening up a big gap early on, potential challenger Ronnefalk wrecked early on putting him in the squabbling pack, Neil Cragg claimed 2nd and Hupo 3rd.
A2 - 1. David Ronnefalk, 2. Jorn Neumann, 3. Lee Martin
A2 was by far the best final from a neutral's perspective, the spicy stuff got going quickly as Lee crashed on the back jump - a big gust of wind at the wrong time unsettling the car's pitch and yaw resulting in a botched landing. This gifted Ronnefalk the lead with a hard-charging Neumann right be hind, Neumann looked the quicker car as Ronnefalk seemed to tense up slightly, making the odd corrections here and there but still managing to keep the German's Durango DEX210 behind his wing instead of infront of his shock tower.
It boiled down to the last lap and the tricky double single combo just infront of the last hairpin, each lap Ronnefalk never looked comfortable here, he took a wide entry line on the double whilst Neumann saw his chance and punched it, the result Jorn bounce-landing on the grass 'off-track', managing to re-join on the apex just as Ronnefalk was making the corner, Neumann immediately gave it the full welly and seemingly took A2. Immediately after though, the officials altered the result handing Ronnefalk the win, having watched replay footage of 'the incident' Neumann was adjudged to have track cut - entering the track again on the apex and perhaps blocking Ronnefalk - bearing in mind the tough windy conditions it was a tough call. Lee Martin would finish a disappointing 3rd, citing his first lap crash as the problem which made him lose focus.
A3: - 1. Lee Martin, 2. David Ronnefalk, 3. Neil Cragg
Lee would again lead away, but a bad landing off a stepped corner jump would hand Ronnefalk the lead for a lap or so, Lee retook it with measured aggression and never looked back. Ronnefalk, racing his first 10th Offroad Euros pushed maybe a bit too hard again and allowed Cragg to catch up. Lee would continue a consistent fast and smooth pace which has been the key to his many European titles. Lee Martin - King of 2WD!"
