The first qualifying race for the German Nationals was held in the south region on the first weekend in June, at the nice track and facilities in TĂĽrkheim. This was the same track that hosted the 2006 European Championships. While the weather forecast did not look very good, fortune smiled on the drivers for the weekend; rain started 5 minutes after the qualifying rounds but the track was nice and dry during Sunday's finals.
The race consisted of 5 qualifying rounds and the winner was decided on points from the best result in one round.
It was already clear from the first qualifying round that XRAY driver Andreas Myrberg would be the man to beat for the event. He TQâ™d the first round with over 3 seconds ahead of Bernard Bopp HB. In the remaining 4 rounds Andreas won 3 of them and secured the overall TQ for the event. Martin Hofer came in 2nd place and Bernard Bopp was 3rd.
Top 3 after qualifying: 1. Andreas Myrberg XRAY T2'007
2. Martin Hofer
2. Bernard Bopp
podium Modified (click to enlarge)
There was a great display of tight racing, sportsmanship and excitement in the finals. Martin Hofer had really gotten his car working better throughout qualifying and was on a charge, battling with Andreas for the win. The first final saw both Andreas and Martin pull away from the rest of the field, being separated only by a few tenths of a second.
Andreas drove a very tight line and left no room for Martin on the inside. Martin tried to pass a couple of times but could not find a way to pass Andreas. When the timekeeping announce 30 seconds left Andreas seemed to pull in the second gear as he then pulled away for the first time during the final. Andreas eventually won the first final by 1.5 seconds with Martin in second.
The second final was not as exciting as the first one as Andreas pulled away and opened a gap of about 1 second for the entire race. Martin couldn't close the gap so the result stayed the same.
In the third and final race Martin took a more aggressive driving approach. As Andreas already had won the event Martin took his chances to get by him. The first minutes were a close fight and eventually Martin finally passed Andreas. However everyone could see that it would only be a matter of time before Andreas would regain the lead⦠and such was the case. Martin opened the door just a little too much and Andreas was right there. However, Martin didn't back down and pushed even harder to pass Andreas again. Unfortunately this resulted in a crash between the two, resulting in a broken car for Andreas and Martin losing a couple of positions. In the end it was Bernard Bopp who took the win of the third final.
Top 3: 1. Andreas Myrberg XRAY T2'007
2. Martin Hofer 3. Florian Bernklau XRAY T2'007
In Stock class, XRAY also dominated the race by taking the top 3 positions:
