This was my first ever race win at 1/10 scale nitro race. On Friday and Saturday we had fantastic sunny weather, but forecast was expecting rain on Sunday. And it happened as forecasted. Due to expected rain, practices and qualifications were almost all completed on Saturday. Only semi-finals and finals were left to final day. Qualifications were seriously competitive and ranking changing at every heat.
At the end I succeeded to get P2 at final race, my car was working without problem and new NT1 chassis was performing much better than any other former NT1 chassis. We were expecting rain but it was very difficult to estimate which tires to use. Early morning rain did not dry fully and weather was still chilly. I made decision on tires and prepared myself to race accordingly.
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Right after the start, I am glad to see that I made correct choice and it brought me 2-3 seconds difference to everybody at track and I opened a nice gap between my followers. Team mate Mustafa Alp experienced many problems during the weekend but he was able to get 2nd place and fight for his place against his follower Serdar Sakallıoğlu. My tires were very soft so it might have been very difficult to complete 45 minutes final run so I slowed down with the gap that I had to stay safe driving at wet conditions.
At the beginning we planned 5 minutes of pit stops but due to the slow race pace we expanded this period up to 8 minute pit stop. In the last 10 minutes due to drying asphalt and very soft tires my car started to understeer but my gap still protected me and safe driving helped me to set my first victory of the season. Thank to my pit stop mechanics, they were fast and careful so I had no problem within the race.
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At finals, I am glad to see full XRAY podium finish and 7 Nt1 cars at A-main. I congratulate all team mates.
I wish to thank to everybody that put hard effort to organize this race, Halit Körpe and Team dark made things easier for us to have this race. Also I wish to thank to my sponsors Xray, Team Ncrc and supporting friends.
See you all at next race at İzmir Efmod Track.
1/10 Electric Stock and Modified Section Race Report by Ahmet Kasap
For TORC 2nd round I went to track on Friday to have some more track time before the race but unfortunately the track was very dusty. The race started on Saturday but we had a full day of complete practices and qualifications due to expected rain at Sunday. For the first time I was racing in two sections as Stock and Modified.
There was tough competition at stock section with my team mates Mustafa Alp and Kağan Aydın. In qualifications my setup and car was a little better than both and at first qualification I lost against Mustafa Alp with a small marshallâ™s mistake. 2nd round of the qualifications Mustafa was still fast and made 2 TQ straight. But we had 3 more qualifications to run and my car worked awesome so I made 3 TQâ™s in a row that indicated overall TQ at Stock section.
At Modified, after long time it was my first race at asphalt, but from the first to last my car worked better than any other racer and I won overall TQ without any problem.
Saturday was one of the unforgettable races for me. I was looking for a great fight for the win next day. Unfortunately, forecasts before race were coming true. Sunday morning race made the track and side grass wet. Organizers have decided to cancel the EP finals due to high risk of car failure. My Saturday efforts put me to a clean win for both sections without any final race. For sure I will be happier to drive against my team mate Mustafa Alp but this might possible next round at İzmir Efmod track.
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1/10 EP Stock
1. Ahmet Kasap - XRAY T4
2. Mustafa Alp - XRAY T4
3. Kağan Aydın - XRAY T4
4. Onur Karacuhalılar - XRAY T4
5. Sefer Kursad Alalma - XRAY T4
6. Emirhan Savaş - XRAY T4
7. Deyvi Levitas - XRAY T4
8. Poyraz Serezlioğlu - XRAY T4
9. Hasan AkyĂĽrek - XRAY T4
10. Berk Ă–ğretmen - XRAY T4
