Manuel Singer: Second Title in Two Years with XRAY NT1
Another year has passedâ¦. It is amazing the way this past season has just flown⦠Itâ™s hard to say if that is because national championships in Austria have become more fun (the races themselves as well as the hoopla surrounding the events) or if itâ™s because driving an NT1 on a race track is such a blast.
Either way, my sound driving skills this season allowed me to place well (1st place, 1st place, 3rd place, 4th place) and secure the title for the second year in a row. However this year, it was not all a walk in the park. Up to the very end, it was a three-way fight for the title with Martin Pittner, who also has a successful NT1 season behind him and overall third place in the championships.
Now to the crucial race in St. Paul in Lavantal, where they have constructed a new, very impressive track: after dropping out in the first round due to driving error, I didnâ™t want to risk too much in the second preliminary and therefore I played it on the safe side by securing fourth place.
Martin Pittner also drove a flawless race and was able to temporarily secure third place. Since I had had a very âśsafeâť run, I decided to take a risk in the third and last preliminary round and, with a leeway of only two-tenths of a second, I was able to secure third place.
I got lucky in the finale as right at the beginning, Martin Pittnerâ™s motor began to act up and it wasnâ™t until close to four laps later that his mechanics were able to get the motor up and running. That left only one rival who always managed to stay one step ahead of me and I knew that even if I were to place fourth, I would still have enough of a lead on Klausner to win the overall victory. So I tried not to strike too hard and drove to fourth place with ease. Pittner fiercely persevered and in the end place fifth whereas Kandelhart with XRAY placed first.
(click to enlarge)
In the trial class Richard Furtner, driving Xray for the first time, showed from the start how good the NT1 was running.
After this successful year, I am very much looking forward to next season!
Austrian National Championships:
1 Singer Manuel XRAY NT1
2 Klausner Michael 3 Pittner Martin XRAY NT1
4 Huber Manuel XRAY NT1
5 Kandelhart Gerhard
6 Katzmayer Jochen
7 Berger Hermann
8 Mayrhofer Stefan 9 Ernst Horst-Reinhardt XRAY NT1
10 Baumgartner Gernot
