Lee Martin - 2012 2WD European Champion

[jimmy]

Lee Martin retains his 2WD European Champion title at this years EFRA event in Austria.

Piloting his Tamiya TRF201X to a near-total domination of the event. Only David Ronnefalk was able to out-do Lee by taking the final qualifier - only for it to be taken away due to failure to marshall the previous day - meaning Lee would take that round also, with the next fastest time.

The entertaining finals saw Lee Martin take the opening leg followed by David Ronnefalk taking the second leg after a last-corner move by Jorn Neumann to cross the line first was declared invalid since all his wheels were off the track. Video evidence was reviewed and Jorn demoted to second in the leg.
The final leg was the decider and Lee, Ronnefalk or Neumann could all win the event still. This time it was Lee who came out on top after some exciting racing - to become the 2012 EFRA 10th off road 2WD european champion.

Congratulations to Lee Martin and all the drivers racing and promoting the sport in Austria. The 4WD event begins tomorrow with practice.

Results for the A finals are here:
http://www.myrcm.ch/at/wmw/20120709_...F_Ranking.html

You can follow the EFRA media here:
http://news.efra.ws/index.php?id=336...0&y=2012-01-01

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_VmkrJyyYI&feature=plcp

Photos courtesy of EFRA.

[Chrislong]

"last-corner move by Jorn Neumann to cross the line first was declared invalid since all his wheels were off the track"

Since when did all the wheels have to be on the track for it to count? Unless he was cutting a corner. Are they making up the rules as they go along. What utter bollocks, this is off-road!

Edit: I misread it as meaning wheels in contact with track/in the air... oooops. I understnad now it was a corner cut and the right decision to issue a penalty.

[TheReferee]

i believe all the wheels off the track refers to a corner cut

[bbq]

it was a corner cut more followed by a half t-bone block pass

[Chrislong]

That makes sense then, poorly worded by Jimmy above. Thank guys.

[DCM]

It was a speculative move that didn't work out right, so the position was given back, it was fair, although some may say Jorn should of waited, but hey ho.

[jimmy]

Chris - I thought the official EFRA decision was that he had all 4 wheels off the track when he passed. I thought the penalty was because he passed off the track = cutting the track, not that he'd cut the corner = corner cut.

I thought it was a SWEET move personally

Best last corner move ever = Jorn at the Worlds last year.

[JCJC]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Az-r5bKBlw0&feature=plcp

at 6 minutes and again at 12minutes in, slowmo repeat, just sort of bounced off the track after the tripple to put it nicely, across the corner and into Ronnefalk.

outstanding coverage from RC Racing TV crew ,

above youtube is the 1/10 2WD Euros 2012 - Finals Highlights - EFRA.

[gazhillAE]

Originally Posted by Chrislong

"last-corner move by Jorn Neumann to cross the line first was declared invalid since all his wheels were off the track"

Since when did all the wheels have to be on the track for it to count? Unless he was cutting a corner. Are they making up the rules as they go along. What utter bollocks, this is off-road!

You get penalities for anything these days mate even picking your nose on the rostrum, but the people that should recieve the penalties dont!

[Chrislong]

Originally Posted by gazhillAE

You get penalities for anything these days mate even picking your nose on the rostrum, but the people that should recieve the penalties dont!

Depends who is winning, i.e.(loose example) if the person giving out the penalties isn't winning and you are, you'll get a penalty! Its only toy car racing, go enjoy yourself .

[MHeadling]

Well done Lee great result!

Are there any websites with pics of the cars/event??

[jimmy]

Not really seen any - there's the official EFRA coverage but the written and photo stuff looks like it take a bit of a back seat to their video stuff.

[TheReferee]

Originally Posted by gazhillAE

You get penalities for anything these days mate even picking your nose on the rostrum, but the people that should recieve the penalties dont!

no you dont. and yes they do

[Oli_M]

The officials spent a lot of time reviewing the video and watching the replay from both the angles we had the corner covered from.

If Jorn was unhappy with the decision, he could have protested it, but he chose not to. The referees here (and at any race!) have a tough job, but do an excellent job. This shouldn't detract from what was a brilliant set of A Finals!


PS, even if the positions hadn't been reversed by the officials, nothing would have changed in the overall standings!

[hotrodchris]

Well done Lee and best of luck in the 4wd

[njc11]

Originally Posted by gazhillAE

You get penalities for anything these days mate even picking your nose on the rostrum, but the people that should recieve the penalties dont!

Mr " VOCAL " has spoken!! Let that be the end of it! Lol!