We had atteneded a race on the track the weekend before, where we didn't find the right balance in 2WD, we used the EOS settings, but it didn't work out well on this type of track for us. Since we are new to EOS carpet and pin tires indoors in Sweden we are still figuring things out, so it was back to the drawing board to try and find something that would give characteristics that would be to Alexander's liking. We came up with both some chassis and electronics changes that worked out really well, and from the first practice it was evident how much faster Alexander was now. He managed to shave 0.7 seconds off his lap-time compared to the previous race at the same track.
(click to enlarge)
Confidence was high going into the qualifications and Alexander managed to secure two second places in the first two rounds. Daniel Kobbevik had also found really good pace since the last race and managed to secure top qualifying spot by winning the first three qualifiers. Max Johansson also showed great improvement and managed to qualify third overall. Top three going into the finals was:
Triple A-mains were to follow. In the first final Daniel and Alexander got away cleanly, and Niclas "Nille" Mansson was able to pass Max and join in the top hunt. Daniel was keeping his lead, but made a slight mistake and got placed on the wrong track segment by a marshall, so he lost a lot of ground. This meant that the battle was on between Alexander and Nille. They were battling for a few laps and eventually Nille managed to make an aggressive pass in the chicane and Alexander got spun. Alexander took up the chase and tried a passing maneuver at the end of the straight, but they tangled and Alexander flipped so they finished in the order of Nille first and Alexander second.
The second final was again a clean start and Nille was quickly able to get past Max, Daniel had probably made some changes to his car, and was clearly slower in the twisty sections so both Alexander and Nille were catching him fast and battling to get past, the three cars went into a jump section three and only Alexander survived, and got a fairly good lead. Sadly, Alexander made a mistake in one of the chicanes and ended up upside down in place hard for the marshal to reach, so he dropped down and finished third. Nille picked up the lead and managed to secure the overall win by winning A2 as well.
Third final was quite uneventful, Daniel broke free, and Alexander tried to follow, but he had used up a little more tires in the earlier battles so Daniel was able pull clear and they finished in that order in the end, which established the overall order of Nille, Alexander and Daniel. Alexander also secured the honor of best junior driver.
All in all a great race with great battles and a very positive experience of the speed of the XB2!
