The fourth race in Fin Track winter series was held nearby city of Oulu, 650km north from Helsinki.
With the great help of a local club organizers and drivers the race was held in a local school together with 1/12th Finnish Nationals. The track was a good compromise for both 1/12 and touring classes with few tight cornes.
Despite few top drivers like Teppo Kauppinen, Juho Levänen and Pekka Koivula were missing the race it was still going to be very tight fight with drivers like Simo Ahoniemi, Sakke Ahoniemi, Christer Andersson and local a Xray driver Vesa Yli.
In practice heats it was Vesa Yli who was setting the pace and showing a good performance in tight track. Ahoniemi brothers, Christer Andersson, Kalle Lehto and a few local drivers run equal lap times in practice so it was going to be a close fight for the points.
Qualifing
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First two qualifying rounds went to Vesa Yli. Ahoniemi brothers were 2 and 4 seconds behind with Christer and Mika Mänty coming fast behind. A local Janne Valtanen had also decided to battle for the A-final positions with his all new HAJA Prototype car!
In third and last round Simo and Sakke showed some good speed by winning the round while Vesa coming third. Others had also got the advantage from increased traction in a form of better results, but positions stayed the same.
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After three qualifing rounds it was Vesa Yli who set the pace with his second round result. Simo Ahoniemi was still hunting for a win with his new Corally prototype in second spot with 2 seconds behind followed by big brother Sakke Ahoniemi. Young talent Christer Andersson qualified to an excellent fourth place 7 seconds behind Vesa before local AE driver Mika Mänty. Simo Tammela spotted his Xray on great 6th place.
Matti Eskelinen found himself in 7th place while local star Janne Valtanen surprised many by placing his new HAJA Prototype in A-final in its first race! No photos available yet, but it seems that the car is based on AE with some interesting graphite chassis and cool aluminum parts. The others came close within only few seconds.
One of Finlandâ™s top AE drivers Kalle Lehto was unfortunate to qualify B-final due to touching some backmarkers in the final qualifying round after few minutes fast driving.
Finals
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All finals in the weekend were driven with only 8 drivers to avoid unnecessary crashing and blocking caused by confined track.
The first A-final had a clean start but after a lap started to happen. Top qualifier Vesa Yli was in trouble with Simo who managed to punish Vesa from a little mistake. In second lap Vesa was again unfortunate with slower cars and was blocked out and fell down to 7th place. Simo was in lead now with his brother Sakke in second place and Christer Andersson in third. Few laps later Simo got into trouble with a slower car and was blocked out. It was now Sakke who was leading the pack followed by Christer and Mika Mänty. But Vesa was driving his way back to the front. He was already in 4th place when a slower car hits again and he drops back to 7th place. In the final minute Vesa managed to clear his way persistently to 3rd place while Sakke took home the first leg before Christer taking a comfortable second place.
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In the second A-final it was the TQ man Vesa Yli who got the best start. Simo and Sakke were still in the game and Simo managed to punish Vesa from a line break. Others were battling few seconds behind. Vesa had decided to take the victory battle to the last final and punished Simo from a little mistake. After 5 minutes driving it was Vesa who took home the win by a long way with Simo coming second. Mika Mänty was in respectable third place before Sakke.
The third A-final was going to be a thrill! Due to the first final crashes there was 4 drivers capable to take home the victory. It was the pole man Vesa Yli again who made a clean start with rest of the pack coming behind. Simo tried to pass Vesa few times in the beginning but Vesa kept his cool and didnâ™t make any mistakes althought Simo was pressuring him very hard.
So it was Vesa Yli who took home the overall victory with two final wins with Sakke and Simo coming second and third. Young Christer Andersson was in a great fourth place while Mika Mänty managed to finish respectable fifth place. Simo Tammela secured a good 6th place for Xray.
