Peter Harder with his new personal mechanic (click to enlarge)
This weekend we had the first round of the Danish championship at the NMRC track, 50 km south of Copenhagen. It is always interesting to race the first round and look at the competition; some drivers with new cars, engines, etc., but also after having the huge NXC race it was nice to meet with all the Danes and talk about that great happening.
Peter Harder car in action (click to enlarge)
The NMRC track had been modified and a lot of drivers were there the week before to practice. I had heard about the very bumpy and low grip layout. Together with XRAY driver Claus Nielsen and help from Jon Dell (Jon Hazlewoodâ™s mechanic) we prepared an XB8EC setup which handled very well.
Claus Nielsen car in action (click to enlarge)
For the whole day I did not change anything other than tires, and for the final I added 1mm shims for a higher ride height due to lower temperatures â“ that was all and the car was simply flying! My XB8EC was stable in the bumpy sections and jumped well, and it also had the needed steering in tight sections. Please have a look at the setup and use it as a standard setup for bumpy tracks with low-to-medium grip on dirt combined with hard-packed clay.
rest of the Harder family (click to enlarge)
Even though other drivers had the advance of practicing the week before, with only 8min controlled practice on the race day, Claus Nielsen and I dominated the qualifying, setting the fastest times and winning 3 out the 4 rounds.
After qualifying, the top 5 were:
1. Peter Harder XRAY XB8EC
2. Claus Nielsen XRAY XB8EC
3. Jan Drake Hansen
4. Tim Culmsee
5. Rune Gustavsen
Claus Nielsen car (click to enlarge)
Claus Nielsen dominated his semi but due to very old tires his car was not fast in the final minutes of the semi and he only managed 3rd place. I took the lead in my semi and dominated from beginning to end. Unfortunately, other XRAY drivers had problems with interference and other stuff, and thus there were only two XRAY cars in the A main.
Peter Harder preparing for the final (click to enlarge)
Claus and I were very confident and took it easy in preparation for the final. My new Novarossi 367 Plus 2 had been super all day and the only big issue was fuel strategy. To be safe, I decided on a 7.5 minute strategy.
a engine stop but a fast brother (click to enlarge)
After an early retirement from Jonas Karup (1:10 EC champion who had decided to race the whole national series) and interference problems for Claus Nielsen, it was a battle between me and Thomas Mikkelsen. At the 30 minute mark I had a small lead and felt very confident with the situation, but after the refuelling my engine stopped and when it did it again at the 37.5 minutes mark my race was over.
Peter Harder car in action (click to enlarge)
I managed an overall 3rd position. Iâ™m sure the engine is not the problem but due to a dusty track with a more packed air filter in the end and lower air temperatures I think the engine should have been a bit leaner in the bottom and with higher RPM.
Oh well⦠thatâ™s racing but for sure the car and engine performed great all day and I feel very confident about the next races.
Results:
1. Thomas Mikkelsen
2. Rune Gustavsen 3. TQ Peter Harder, XRAY XB8EC
4. Michael Pedersen
5. Max Pedersen 6. Claus Nielsen, XRAY XB8EC
7. Jan D. Hansen
8. Lars Alex
9. Robert Hansen
10. Jonas Karup
