Only two weeks after last Nationals we went to Roeselare for Round 7 of the Belgium Championship. On Saturday we had some good testing under the sun. The main focus was to find good traction on the low-grip track with the gear diff â“ we needed to think of something different in the set-up â“ but all went fine and we were looking forward to raceday.
We arrived at the track on Sunday morning and had some time to feel the track before qualifying. However, in the first lap I noticed the grip from Saturday was gone and there was no traction at all. We had to change our set-up at 1 hour before the qualifying. After trying some set-up changes I was pleased with the car and knew the grip would come up in the groups before us. But 30 minutes before our qualifier it began to rain; I was not prepared for rain so I hoped it would dry out before the last qualifying round.
The first qualifier was in very wet conditions, and I did not participate. The second qualifier was half dry and I did 1 lap to make sure I could make the finals. The last qualifier was in dry conditions and everyone was participating. Because I did only 1 lap in the previous qualifier, I had to start second last. In the first laps I felt the car was fast and I noticed I was closing on the front drivers, so I was confident I could TQ this round. After 4 minutes I was leading but in the final lap my ESC went into âśsafeâť mode and I lost almost 5 seconds and finished 2nd. During the break the sun came out and we had no more rain for the finals.
Start order:
1. Ollivier Bultinck 2. Thomas Stockman XRAY T3
3. Nick Joosens 4. Rico Claeys XRAY T3
With my 2nd place I had to start on the dirt side of the track and I knew it would be hard to stay ahead of Nick Joosens at the start. What I predicted happened. In the first final I had no traction in the start and had to let Nick pass in the first corner. Ollivier lead ahead of Nick and me after the first lap. After a few laps, Nick made a mistake and I could pass him. A few laps later Ollivier had technical problems and had to retire. This put me into the lead and I controlled it until the end.
In the second final it was the same story in the start. I had to let Nick pass in the first corner. But this time no-one made mistakes and we finished like we started, with Ollivier ahead of Nick and me in 3rd.
It was a different story in the last final. I had a good start and stayed ahead of Nick. Ollivier, Nick and me were off for a exciting race between us. But halfway I noticed Nick was much faster than me and could pass me, but I stayed close. Nick was dueling with Ollivier but they got stuck so I took my chance to pass them both. With only 1 minute of racetime remaining I was leading ahead of Nick Joosens and Rico Claeys. Ollivier had to retire. I stayed cool and won that final.
(click to enlarge)
Results:
1. Thomas Stockman XRAY T3
2. Nick Joosens 3. Rico Claeys XRAY T3
With only one round to go (Genk) I can win the championship but it will be difficult because I would have to finish 2 places ahead of Ollivier. So we will see what happens.
