The NMRC club hosted the 5th round of the Danish Championship in Naestved, south of Copenhagen. The previous four rounds had been held on wet tracks and the conditions in the morning were a bit muddy, but the sun came out and temperatures rose to over 20° giving super racing conditions.
The cars of Danish Team XRAY, with Peter Harder and Claus Nielsen, were very good and right from the morning they both did very well. Peter managed the fastest 5min run, doing 8 laps @ 5min01sec. Claus Nielsen had the opportunity to make the only 9 lapper, but not crossing the line on the first lap within the clock meant that he lost 12 seconds. Overall TQ went to Peter Harder, who also had the fastest laptime with 35.7sec and it was no surprise that Claus Nielsen had the second-fastest laptime at 36.0sec.
Team Xray in the pit (click to enlarge)
In the 1/8 and ? finals some new XRAY drivers showed some great driving, but the luck was just not there to make the semi except Claus Haandstad, who has his debut in 1/8 off-road this year. In his semi he fought hard but unfortunately did not manage to bump up. Peter Harder was flying in his semi and won easily. In the other semi Claus Nielsen had a good battle with Rune Gustavsen and also made the final.
During the day Claus and Peter tried various small setup changes. The front 38T crown gear gave a very stable car but did not give aggressive enough steering compared to the 40T. For the A final the track was very dusty, so the 40T and 2.5° rear toe were a bit too aggressive and the car had a lot of oversteer, but it was fast!
Peter Harder XB8EC car (click to enlarge)
On the very first lap of the A final, Peter Harder made a mistake on the triple jump and it was Rune Gustavsen/CEN and Claus Nielsen who went to the front. At the first fuel stop Peter was only a few meters behind Rune and after around 8 minutes of driving Peter took the lead and never looked back. The battle for 2nd place was a close race between 5 drivers and nothing was decided until the 45min race had ended. Unfortunately for Claus Nielsen, who was aggressively chasing Rune Gustavesen for 2nd place, made a mistake with only 1min remaining and so Claus ended fourth.
Xray mechanics in pit for the final (click to enlarge)
In 14 days we have the 6th round and Peter Harder can take the overall championship victory there and not have to race at the last round at the end of September. Nothing is safe until the trophy is in the hands of the overall winner⦠and rest assured that the battle will be tough! Claus Nielsen could be the overall runner up on the championship, making 2007 a very strong year for XRAY. This weekend showed the way with the fastest 5min qualifying run, fastest lap time, fastest semi and win of the final, and fastest lap in the final as well.
The top 5 after result:
1. Peter Harder XB8 EC
2. Rune Gustavsen
3. Steffen Culmsee 4. Claus Nielsen XB8 EC
5. Lars Alex Jensen
