The third round of the Dutch Nationals was held at the small and very popular track of electric club RC Hotwheels in Deventer. The track is only for electric driven cars in the scale 1/10.
Two weeks before the nationals there was the Heilige Koe Cup race held on the track. In the Touring Stock class was it Rob Janssen who would take the win before Richard Arts and Tim Streefkerk. In the Formula class was it Jitse Miedema (XRAY) who would take the win before Martijn van der Heijden (XRAY) and Michael Lepelaar. This race was the perfect training for the nationals.
Saturday morning it was dry and nice weather for training, but in de afternoon the sky turned almost black and heavy rain was falling down. Some people had driven a couple of batteries, but couldnâ™t train a lot. The forecast for Sunday was much better.
Sunday morning the track was almost dry, some parts were still a little bit wet (upcoming straight and after the loop). The first of 3 rounds of qualification the track was tricky. Some drivers could handle it and some not. The second and third round of qualification the track was dry and fast for everyone. In the Stock class it was Rob Janssen who took TQ before Sybrand de Boer and Rick van den Akker (XRAY). In the formula class it was Martijn van der Heijden (Xray) who grapped TQ before Jitse Miedema (Xray) and Rene Fischer (XRAY).
After the lunchbreak the finals started under sunny conditions. After the triple finals it was Rob Janssenon the first spot followed by Richard Arts and Sybrand de Boer.
In the Formula class was the first final a thrilling one. In the warm up laps was it Martijn (TQ holder) who had troubles with his car. After he had request a delay to solving his problems (broken rear rim and unplugged motor cable) he had to start from the 11th spot on the grid, but he was happy to ride again and solved the problem. After some minutes Martijn was already on the third spot and he was getting closer and closer to the second and first spot (Jitse). After he had passed the second spot he was getting fast to Jitse. Jitse was hitting a curb and Martijn passed Jitse and after 7 minutes he was finished first in front of Jitse and Rene.
The second final Martijn was making a mistake after two minutes and Jitse passed him. Martijn could follow Jitse but after a second mistake he was unable to getting closer. Jitse became first, followed by Martijn and Rene in third.
The last final Martijn had choosen to start with new rear tires. This was the perfect decision, because from tone to tone he was the fastest guy. In this final he had driven also the fastest laptime of the day. Rene was getting closer to Jitse, but after 7 minutes it was Jitse who became second and Rene third. The top 3 of the Formula class is:
1. Martijn van der Heijden - XRAY X1
2. Jitse Miedema - XRAY X1
3. Rene Fischer - XRAY X1
The 4th round is on 16-17 july at the track of MBC De Sluis in Gouda.
