This past weekend was the fourth race of Portuguese Championship in Portugal. The race was held at Vizelaâ™s track and all top drivers attended. The weather was very good for the weekend, maybe even too hot in my opinion.
Practice runs were held on Saturday afternoon, qualifications were held on Sunday morning, and finals were held on Sunday afternoon. On my first heat I was bumped a few times by other drivers and lost a lot of time. In the second heat I made two mistakes but still managed to improve compared to the first heat. The last heat was the best one, but again I made one mistake. After qualifications I was in 4th and my spot in the semi-final was safe. Afterwards I won my semi-final and advanced to the A-main in position #2 right behind Miguel Matias.
Having to start from 4th place in the A-Main was a bit difficult but I managed to come out of lap 1 in 3rd place. After battling with Rodrigo Luis I managed to pass him and started to push harder to get to Miguel Matias, but it was really hard because he was fast and very consistent. Miguel flamed out and I went into the lead only a few seconds ahead, but he managed to pass me and won the race.
With only one more round to go in the Portuguese Championship, Iâ™m in the lead overall, followed by Miguel Matias in second. The last round will be held at Guarda (at the Euros2010 track) and that round will determine the new Portuguese Champion, as Matias and I are the only ones still fighting for the title.
Final results:
1. Miguel Matias 2. Carlos Duraes XRAY XB808
3. Ricardo Monteiro
4. Fernando Almeida
5. Rodrigo Luis
