The second round of the Portuguese Xray Challenge Touring Portugal, took place in the Track of Sintra on the 9th of April. The relaxed mood in which this competition takes place, makes the racers feel very satisfied at the end of the day. Not that there isn't competion, on the contrary, it is fierce and the fastest drivers took the top spots.
Rodrigo Ferreira (click to enlarge)
However, the spirit of helping each other is always present and this helps the least experienced racers a lot.
Rodrigo Ferreira took the top spot again this time followed by David Lopes (now with a FK04) and AntĂłnio Pires Preto on the premiere of his T1FK05.
A. Pires Preto (click to enlarge)
Since the first qualifier A. Pires Preto had his car perfectly dialed. With a setup made at the track based on the box stock setup he made a perfect qualifier with 21 laps in 7:04. The 22 lap mark was not very far and in fact it was reached by the 3rd qualifier. Davis Lopes and Rodrigo Ferreira were very fast too and Luis Fidalgo on his first entry took the best lap of the qualifiers and ended in 3rd with his FK05.
(click to enlarge)
The T1FK05 was the car to beat with 4 on the top of the qualification rounds.
The second Pole Position of the series again to the same driver but now with a different car.
After lunch the trend would be the same. With equal motors the difference is in the details. The driving plays a very important role in the final result.
The finals
David Lopes (click to enlarge)
The usual pile of cars on the first curve happened as usual. In this track the first curve is a very difficult 180º and the drivers from the back of the grid arrive at the curve at a very high speed. To avoid crashing one has to be very careful and, as usual this was not the case. After all there's no difference in motors and everyone wants to be the first.
Nuno Bastos (click to enlarge)
Rodrigo Ferreira e David Lopes came out in front and AntĂłnio Pires Preto lost a lot of time due to being caught from behind. His body was stuck on the rear wheel and he lost almost 15 seconds.
The fight was between the first two with Luis Fidalgo close behind. Coming from the last position A. Pires Preto made the impossible to reach the first 3, but it was an impossible task. He took 4th place on the first final
The second final was very similar with the first two getting the same spots. A. Pires Preto had to pull off on the 8th lap due to a problem leaving the top top spots of the race already decided.
The third final would be a confirmation of what we had seen during the day with the fastest 3, R. ferreira, D. Lopes and A. Pires Preto taking top honours.
However with no problems during the run A. Pires Preto soon took the lead never to loose it and setting the best lap of the day.
On this final an error in starting the timing system made all the drivers dumpo their packs before the bell. The last lap was a slow crawl of 7 of the 9 drivers. The last lap of the winner was made in a record time of 1:08.26!
Rodrigo Ferreira took the final victory again and he's in front of the general standings. David Lopes is becoming more effective with his Xray in every round. AntĂłnio Pires preto and Luis Fidalgo are also major players in the final victory.
