| Race report by Alex Hagberg |
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| The Swedish EFRA GP in 1:10 IC was held at the Väst-8 facility in Gothenburg. The race saw drivers from Sweden, Norway and Denmark in attendance and served as a â pre-Eurosâ™ since the club will be the host of the 2010 EC. |
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| I arrived at the track on Friday morning, and the weather was very hot and traction was quite low. I used the same setup as the previous Nordic Championships and the car worked fairly well during the Friday practice. |
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| As qualifying started on Saturday, we had to get used to the 7 minute qualifying duration for the first time. At this track a fuel stop was required and all drivers went into the pits between 3 and 4 minutes of race duration. I opted for the same setup I had used in practice and the car was good. |
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| I was however challenged by the Norwegian Adrian Berntsen. This young and talented XRAY driver showed a great pace and was the only one who could match my lap times throughout qualifying. When I faced a technical problem in the rocket round on Saturday afternoon, Berntsen ran a perfect run and could finish only 0.5 seconds short of my TQ time at that point. I made only one setup change and that was to put 400 CST shock oil in the rear instead of 500. This gave the car slightly more turn-in. |
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| Finals day, Sunday, saw a few clouds and more humid conditions. We were lucky since there was no rain and the final got underway. My motor went rich at the start and Adrian got past me in the first corner. After two laps I eventually passed him on the inside going onto the short straight and then I started to pull away. Since my pace was clearly quicker than everyone else I had lapped everyone by the 3rd refueling. The car was handling brilliantly and I had no problems at all during the final. Not only did I set the fastest lap times, I had the best fuel stops as well, which made me pull away even more quickly, thanks to great teamwork with mechanic Niclas Nilsson. |
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After 45 minutes I crossed the finish line 2.5 laps in front of Adrian who was battling with Kyosho drivers Helge Johannessen and Magnus Vässmar.
Another perfect race for me with the NT1 and I can't wait for the upcoming Euros. Special thanks to Niclas Nilsson, Klas Runesson and of course the ever so helpful and friendly teammate Mickael Brandt! |
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| XRAY was the most successful team, putting 6 cars in the main final. |
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Final results
1. Alexander Hagberg - XRAY NT1
2. Adrian Berntsen R?seth - XRAY NT1
3. Helge Johannesen
4. Magnus Vässmar
5. Mikael Fransson
6. Mickael Brandt - XRAY NT1
7. Per-Ola H?rd
8. Bengt Andersson - XRAY NT1
9. Frank Andersen - XRAY NT1
10. Georg Ellingsen - XRAY NT1 |
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