This weekend it was time for the fourth round in the Swedish National Cup series. The round was held at the Green Hill race track at the MHF Skarpnäck facility in Stockholm. The weather was great all weekend and both the cars were working great on the track.
In 4WD Alexander got an early handle on the proceedings TQ:ing the first three rounds and in the process putting in the only 12 lap qualifying round of the event, a feat that is very rare at this track it seems.
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The first final was at long times a very tight affair between Alexander, local driver Niclas Mansson and Elias Johansson. In the end Alexander stood victorious in front of Niclas. The second final saw Alexander make some own mistakes and he finished second to Niclas. So now it was down to the third one to decide the order between Alexander and Niclas. Again it started out as a tight battle, but it was soon evident that Alexander couldn't keep his normal pace. It turned out that we had made a bad tire decision and used too worn tires so after a couple of laps the left grip of the left front tire went off completely. The last leg of the final was won by Elias Johansson, and that established the final finishing order of Niclas, Alexander and Elias.
Too bad for the one bad tire choice, but we have learnt something and will be back again.
With this result Alexander has secured three TQ spots , four podium finishes with one win out of four events in the series in total. This has also secured the overall top spot in the series in 4WD for Alexander. Niclas Mansson was runner up and Wilhelm Skjöldebrand completing the overall top three.
In 2WD it was also a tough race to the finish where the overall victory was to be decided. Alexander started out the day getting to grips with the track, trying to find the best way around. The first round he finished tenth overall, but gradually found more and more speed to eventually line up second for the triple A-mains. The TQ spot was held by local driver Niclas Mansson.
In the first leg Alexander was able to stay with Niclas for roughly the first half of the final, then suddenly the motor lost its top end performance, so Alexander needed to focus on maintaining the number two spot with a motor that was barely holding up.
Second leg of the final saw Alexander taking an early lead, but was involved in an incident going onto the straight and got stuck standing against the pipes, so in essence that final was over then and there. Niclas managed to secure the overall event victory.
Third leg of the final again saw Alexander on the losing end of a first lap incident and he fell down to tenth place. This prompted the recovery drive of the whole series where he managed to carve his way through the field and challenge for the victory of the leg only to be beaten over the line by Fredde Mathiesen by 44 thousands of a second. This meant that Alexander finished third in the event and that Niclas and Alexander finished up on the same points in the overall standing of the series. After a long discussion about the somewhat less than clear tie-breaker rules, the overall victory was awarded to Niclas Mansson with Alexander as runner up and Fredde Mathiesen taking the last overall podium spot.
This concludes an overall great outdoor season for Alexander, with first overall win in 4WD and second overall in 2WD in the Swedish National Cup series. The performance of the XB4 has never been in doubt, but that the XB2 has been able to start its first outdoor season at such a high level is truly amazing.
