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The EC 2004 track
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| The 2004 European Championship was again one of the toughest races of this year's season, with all the pro drivers from Europe battling furiously for the coveted title of European Champion. Team XRAY of course attended this race not only to compete, but also to prove the performance of their car and show the high professionalism and dedication of the company and all the team drivers. |
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Jilles's taking TQ
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| In practice, the XRAY cars showed themselves to be the hottest candidates for the podium places and all the T1FK cars seemed to be best handling on the very large though demanding track. Jilles Groskamp dominated the qualifications, winning most of the rounds and being at the top of the pack from the beginning. |
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The fastest car on the EC 2004
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| Andreas Myrberg was setting with his T1FK car great lap times, though having bad luck all the time (electronics problems, underweight issues) and did not make it at the end to the final. Andreasâ™ younger brother Joel showed his skills in the last qualifier and set the new record for the Championship, which was 1.5 seconds faster than the second best time! This awesome result shocked the whole crowd! |
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Xray pits
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| After qualification it was obvious that XRAY had done their homework while designing the latest T1FK car, which showed excellent performance at this very tough race⦠what could be more well-deserved than TQ and the track record of the Championship in the hands of Team XRAY! Everybody was looking forward to the Sunday finals, to confirm it was not just luck, but rather the real, dependable performance of the cars which rised the bar. |
| Results after the qualifiacations: |
A finalists
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1. Jilles Groskamp (XRAY)
2. Teemu Leino (SCHUMACHER)
3. Joel Myrberg (XRAY)
4. Victor Wilck (ASSO)
5. Jonas Anderson (SCHUMACHER)
6. Marc Rheinhard (TAMIYA)
7. Jonas Kaerup (ASSO)
8. Simo Ahoniemi (CORALLY)
9. Steen Graversen (TAMIYA)
10. Sakke Ahoniemi (CORALLY)
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A final start
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| Sunday brought a new definition to the race, which was dictated up until that time by the performance of the cars and skills of the drivers. On Sunday it was the bad weather (heavy rain) that let you know it would be the luck and skills of the drivers that would decide the winner, not the performance of the cars. For the entire day it rained heavily every 5 minutes, so nobody could be sure what tires to use, or if/when the rain would stop the race. It was pity for all the drivers that the water would decide instead of them. |
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Jilles fighting with watter
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| Jilles was ready to take his pole position, but in the first final his bad luck started when the electronics failed and he could not run the first final. While the beginning of the final started on the dry track, Joel took a risk and was the only one using slick tires. This gamble did not pay off unfortunately, since in the middle of the race it started raining heavily again and he failed at the end of the race. |
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This was typical final run
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| Despite the unlucky first final there was still hope for the Team XRAY in the next finals. But the bad luck stuck with the team. In the second final, Jilles was battling with Teemu Leino, which gave space for Kaerup to overtake the first position. The entire final lap Jilles was in third position close behind Teemu, trying to overtake him from the inside of a corner⦠unfortunately, this is where Jilles encountered a huge lake of water that knocked out his electronics (burned motor), forcing him to retire from the race. Jilles was not the only driver to have this problem, as many of the other drivers had to retire from the race due electronics problems. |
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Jilles taking TQ prize
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| The third final was almost a repeat of the 2nd final. There were lakes of water throughout the track that disabled cars. Drivers had to rely on luck, not car performance or their skills, to finish the run. Team XRAY team was again unlucky in its battle with interference and the water. The heavy rain and the lakes of water on the track destroyed Team XRAYâ™s ultimate potential and chance to win, which it had seen the day before. |
| Final results: |
Podium
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1. Jonas Kaerup (ASSO)
2. Marc Rheinhard (TAMIYA)
3. Teemu Leino (SCHUMACHER)
4. Steen Graversen (TAMIYA)
5. Joel Myrberg (XRAY)
6. Sakke Ahoniemi (CORALLY)
7. Jilles Groskamp (XRAY)
8. Simo Ahoniemi (CORALLY)
9. Victor Wilck (ASSO)
10. Jonas Anderson (SCHUMACHER)
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Jilles and Joel
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| Despite the bad luck, at the end Team XRAY was very satisfied with the 2004 European Championship, where it proved that the current T1FK is not only at the level of competition, but has full potential to lead the crowd. The bad luck will not stop the team to work even harder on continuous development and bring the very best innovations to the market. |
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Unlucky Jilles
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Final remarks:
- T1FK won 4 out of 5 qualifications run in dry conditions
- Jilles won the timed practices and first three qualifications run in dry conditions
- Joel Myrberg set the record of the Championship by winning qualification 1.5 second !
- no-compromise TQ for Team XRAY
- the most unlucky team was Team XRAY, since Jilles went from 1st position to finish 7th
- XRAY was the principal sponsor of the European Championship, and is proving to be the market leader supporting the sport
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Joel was the fastest
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A big thanks goes to all the Team XRAY drivers participating at the Euros, representing the XRAY colors and showing how professional and recognised Team XRAY is. Thanks to the organisers of this event who were trying to do their best. Thanks to all participants and all the teams for this great battle and fun, and we are definitely looking forward to next yearâ™s Euros when hopefully the weather will be more driver-friendly.
See you next year! |
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View on the track
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Some more photos
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