The first race of the Portuguese Nationals 2011 was held the Guarda track (the same track as the last Euros) with approximately 50 drivers in attendance. The weather wasnâ™t perfect with some rain falling, but it was much better than the Portuguese Open which was cancelled due to heavy rain.
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On Saturday we had practice runs, so I tried a lot of things to get the best set-up for the track.
Qualifications were held on Sunday morning. I won the first and second runs to claim , TQ, and Bruno Coelho won the last one, followed by me and Ricardo Monteiro.
In the beginning of my semi-final I made some mistakes and was battling with Ricardo Monteiro for the lead until the 10min mark, after which I took the lead until the end and I won the semi-final followed by Ricardo Monteiro, Pedro Figueiredo, Rodrigo Luis, Joao Lopes, and Gabriel Magalhaes (respectively).
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Bruno Coelho won the other semi-final, followed by Decio Alves, Nuno Rebelo, Carlos Cardoso, Jorge Augusto, and Carlos Hugo Ferreira.
The A-Main had a very high level of excitement, and I battled with Bruno Coelho for the win from the first to the last lap. It must have been an amazing final to all spectators. After the 45min final, Bruno took the win only 4 seconds !!!. Once again I really liked the XRAY 808 2011, and as usual my RB engine had very good refueling times and power. I got the fastest lap of the day. The next race will be at Avanca on April 3rd, 2011.
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Final results:
1. Bruno Coelho 2. Carlos Duraes XRAY 808 2011
3. Pedro Figueiredo â“ XRAY 808 2011
4. Decio Alves
5. Nuno Rebelo
