Robert Batlle takes 1/8th Buggy Open Euros win

The first ever EFRA 1/8th E-Buggy European Championship was held at the WMW Fehring track in Austria, home of past 1/8th Nitro and 1/10th Electric Euros. The track presented itself in a rough and partly high-grip condition, making setup not an easy task for the drivers. Being an open championship the race attracted a good turnout of racers with over 90 entries. Mugen/LRP’s Robert Batlle, David Ronnefalk with his Team Orion-powered and Tekno-converted HB and Xray/Orca’s Martin Bayer ended the four qualifying rounds tie on points with Martin Wollanka (Xray/LRP) and Jörn Neumann (Serpent/Team Orion) rounding out the top 5 result. The finals were run in a mix of nitro and electric rules with semifinals being held first of which the best drivers bumped-up into the triple A-mains.

The opening A-main saw Robert Batlle walking away with a 4-seconds win from Jörn Neumann while David Ronnefalk came in 3rd, another 11 seconds down. In the second 10-minute encounter David laid down a pretty solid performance to grab the win from Robert. Davide Ongaro (Mugen/LRP) clinched the 3rd place for now. The third and decisive A-main saw the showdown for the title between Robert and David with the better end for the Spaniard who came in first some 9 seconds in front of David whose second place also secured him the vice championship. Jörn Neumann in third cemented his podium appearance at the first ever e-Buggy Euros.

Final result:
1. Robert Batlle – Mugen
2. David Ronnefalk – Hot Bodies
3. Jörn Neumann – Serpent
4. Davide Ongaro – Mugen
5. Jürgen Trieb – Mugen
6. Martin Bayer – Xray
7. Martin Wollanka – Xray
8. Hupo Hönigl – Serpent
9. Jerome Sartel – TLR
10.Joseph Quargraine – JQRacing
11.David Hassel – Kyosho
12.Andreas Scharinger – n/a

Source: LRP [lrp.cc] & Serpent [serpent.com]