Race report by Ralf Krause |
|
The last race of the North German Championship (which is also the third qualifying race for the German Nationals 2009) took place on the weekend of the 27th/28th September at the beautiful circuit in Munster. Taking place only two weeks after the German Nationals 2008, the atmosphere amongst the racers was very good. The competitors were comprised of 16 1:10 Scale and 23 1:8 drivers.
As we arrived, we were welcomed with sunny autumn weather, with temperatures of around 18 degrees C − the wonderful weather stayed with us for the whole of the weekend.
The first of the qualifying sessions took place on Saturday, although K.O.Guttschau and I didn’t take part, as we visited the near-by Heide Park − we know the circuit in Munster already intimately. |
|
(click to enlarge) |
|
|
|
I took to the track on the Sunday with the very same setup as I used in Hamm (German Nationals), with which I had been very happy. The only change I made was to use the Stratus body-shell. My car ran superbly and I was able to claim Pole Position.
1 Krause, Ralf XRAY NT
2 Guttschau, Kai-Oliver
3 Knispel, Jan Simon
Bernd Hasselbring and Stefan Grund were able to bump-up from their semi-finals, meaning that in total three XRAY NT1s would be taking part in the 30 minute main final. |
|
(click to enlarge) |
|
|
|
My XRAY NT1/Orcan Rex LR3 MH combination dominated the race right from the start and I was able to take a start-to-finish victory. K.O.Guttschau lay in a very safe second place until the 27th minute of the Final, unfortunately the high tempo of the race took its toll on the right-rear tyre and he was forced to retire. This left Andreas Giesa in second place, but he, too fell back just before the end, as his rear drive belt stripped. This allowed Bernd Hasselbring to take second place and gave XRAY a 1-2 victory.
1 Krause, Ralf XRAY NT1
2 Hasselbring, Bernd XRAY NT1
3 Giesa, Andreas
4 Loose, Christoph
5 Grund, Stephan XRAY NT1
6 Knispel, Jan Simon
7 Klug, Marco
8 Sielaff, Kristof
9 Guttschau, Kai-Oliver
10 BĂĽnting, Jens |
|
(click to enlarge) |
|
|
|
The final standings in the North German Championship are as follows:
1 Krause, Ralf XRAY NT1
2 Hasselbring, Bernd XRAY NT1
3 Knispel, Jan Simon
XRAY was able to dominate the North German Championship this year; won three from the five race and took the first two places in the final standings.
My thanks to MC Munster for a fantastic event, also my father for his support as my mechanic throughout the season as well as my sponsors: XRAY, HUDY, SMI, MH and Novarossi.
Best regards, Ralf. |
|