This weekend we headed to Söderhamn in Sweden for round #1 of the Swedish National 1/10 Buggy Series.
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Friday was free practice on the 2WD layout (layout was slightly changed for the 4WD class).
For free practice we focused 100% on track time and setup testing with the XB2 prototype as the all astro track had much less traction than what we previously have tested the XB2 on.
After a successful afternoon and evening of testing we headed to the hotel both happy with the result of the setup testing and confident we had found a setup that would be competitive over 5 minutes. The only uncertainty was the high winds expected for Saturday's 2WD class.
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Saturday (2WD):
In Saturdays 2 practice sessions I got confirmation I could easily run in the top 3 without pushing too much even though the first practice session was cut short after a mechanical issue.
For qualifying round #1 I had an electrical issue on the warm up laps which forced me to start from the pit lane after we had resolved the issue.
In qualifying round #2 I got 2nd in my heat and 3rd overall with a safe run.
For round #3 I pushed a bit harder to get 2nd in my heat and 2nd overall for the round still being a bit cautious as we had run out of spares after my break down in the morning practice.
In round #4 I was getting into the rhythm and bettered my own time from the previous heat by 6 seconds to take another 2nd place for the round and securing starting position #2 on the grid for the A-final.
For the A-final I was lining up behind our reigning 2WD Champion and I knew I had to try and push just enough to stay with him and hope for a mistake without pushing too hard and risk breaking down.
For A-final #1 I got off to a good start and was able to stay in touch with the #1 car until I made a small mistake on lap #8 and he was able to pull out a gap of a couple of seconds.
A gap he managed to hold until the finish line. So a 2nd place for round #1 for me.
For A-final #2 we both made some small mistakes in the heavy winds and were running 1 and 2 until he made some mistakes on lap 7 and 8 and I was able to pass him and pull out a lead which I held to the finish. So a win in round #2 for me.
For the last A-final it was wide open as we had a 1st & 2nd (me) and a 1st & 3rd (him) between us.
After the start we were running neck and neck until he made a small mistake and I was able to get past and open up a small gap.
But after having a few small bobbles of my own he was able to catch up on the very last lap, taking a chance and jumping long on the table top in the winds to just barely put his front end ahead of me. Crossing the line we were just 1/10 of a second apart with him crossing the line first.
Couldn't have been closer and I'm really happy with my first race outdoors with the new XB2 and being able to fight for the win as well.
After the 2WD price ceremony it was time for some free practice on the 4WD layout.
We came with a good basic astro setup and only needed a few small adjustments to get the XB4 to my liking.
Some electronics issues however cut our practice session short and it would turn out our problems would come back and haunt us the next day.
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Sunday (4WD):
In Saturday's timed practice sessions I got confirmation I was easily able to run very fast and consistent laps with my XB4 so we decided to keep it unchanged for the qualifying rounds.
In qualifying round #1 I hit a bump in the track while leading my heat which sent my XB4 cartwheeling into the wooden corner table top with a broken rear a-arm as result. Round #1 = DNF.
For qualifying round #2 I had a good run with just a few small mistakes towards the end which resulted in 1st for my heat and round.
In qualifying round #3 I was swapping the lead with the #1 car when I touched a curb and ended on my roof just as the marshal ran out to pick up another car. Had to wait for my turn and it cost me 6-7 seconds. Ended up 3rd in my heat and the same for the round.
For the last qualifier I had a ball bearing for my center diff explode on the warm up laps and by the time my dad had it fixed and I got going again from the pit lane I had lost 5 laps.
My results were still enough for starting position #2 on the grid for the A-final though and I knew my 5 minute pace was good enough to be able to fight for the win.
For A-final #1 my strategy was to stay with the #1 car, apply a bit of pressure and wait for a mistake, which came on the first lap, passed him and never looked back. Took the win comfortably by 8 seconds and had the upper hand going into the second final.
For A-final #2 I knew the pressure was on him to win to stay in contention and my strategy would be the same as in the previous heat. This time he made a small mistake on lap 3, cutting a corner slightly, which made it possible to pass him safely and I could then run my own race from the front managing the lead until the checkered flag came out.
Despite all the problems today we managed to stay focused and determined to fight for the win.
It feels so good to finally have my first National win after being so close previously.
Thank you all for all the support.....sponsors, friends, family and supporters
