| Race Report by Nikolakopoulos Nikos |
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Greek First National race (GTC) is in the books. Iâ™m super happy that Iâ™m competitive again and thrilled taking TQ and win for the first time at National race ahead of such competitive drivers on a very demanding track.
We arrived on Saturday for trying some ideas but the weather had other plans. Track, after much effort from the RCmaniacs Argos Racing Tracktrack crew and the owner Akis Mitrovgenis (thank you again), was ok to use around 14:30 and after one hour grip was very good.
I was very happy to see so many drivers training for next days race, something that wasnâ™t the case for the past years unfortunately. Greek Federation added stock category and helped quite a lot getting more people racing.
My MuchMore equipped Xray T4 worked very well during practice having good pace and managing fast and consistent laps on, so I was happy and confident that Iâ™ll have good pace on Sunday, although I didnâ™t try some things I wanted due to limited track time.
Sunday, the big day, everyone was anxious to start the race, weather did us a favor and we started with 2 heats stock and 3 heats modified. As I didnâ™t race last year I was on the second modified heat starting 7th. Race format for this year is 4 qualifiers count best 2 results (reseeding after second) and 3 finals count best 2 results
First qualifier track didnâ™t have the usual traction which, although I managed to âświnâť the heat I was 5th overall.
Second qualifier started first and managed the first 28 laps a record at the time soon to be broken many times afterwards. Next heat Michalis Kyriazis (Xray T4) broke my record for 3 seconds and took the first spot overall leaving me on second.
At this point I was third overall and since there was a reseeding I was moved to third heat starting third. I run an amazing run managing to take TQ and beat Michalis record by 1 second!
Fourth and crucial qualifier as TQ hasnâ™t been decided yet, starting from first position I managed to take another win, by just 0.165 seconds over Michalis awarding me my first ever TQ on nationals!!
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Prior to the start of first B final rain started, not too much, but enough to mess with trackâ™s traction and organization decided to stop racing for a while. This make everyone confused what to do setup wise on our first final as it was rain with dirt and traction will be reduced.
I decided to run used tires for my first final. From my tests Volante V5 Tough Gold 36R proved to be very good choice as they provide very good traction and helps you driving on pace even on used tires.
Starting on pole for the first final, I knew I had good car but watching all the guys on my back ready to âśeatâť me I was scared. Maybe this feeling made me loose my concentration and went wide on a dirty part of the track and car lost traction for 2-3 turns, enough for Michalis Kyriazis to catch and then overtake me as I spoon and then I had to give space for everyone leaving me 10th. As I had used tires I decided to continue the run and see where I could end. I finished 6th.
For the second final I kept my concentration, although traction wasnâ™t at itâ™s best car was great easy to drive. Michalis Kyriazis made a mistake early on and that gave me enough space to cruise around the track but on the back racing was fierce. Maybe I run way too relaxed as John Doukakis John Duke(Awesomatix) came out of now and caught me of guard on 19th lap. Fortunately, I put myself together and managed to defend my position, even after an incident with John, which gave the opportunity to Filippos Isaakidis (Tamiya TRF 419X) to be right on my back! We had an amazing battle for the remaining laps with many times overtaking each other but in the end I managed to take the win, while a slip up on behalf of Filippos Isaakidis let Christos Vasilopoulos Christos Vas (Tamiya TRF 419X) overtake him for just 0.022 seconds, so I was one step closer to podium or even win.
Third and deciding final, again stated well but this time Michalis Kyriazis was on my back, we had small incident after few laps which led my car to slide on the doors but fortunately I was immediately after on the wheels and then cruise to victory as this time I had better control on what was going on at the back taking the win and FINALLY my first ever on National level!
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| Modified Results |
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1. Nikolakopoulos Nikos â“ XRAY T4
2. Kyriazis Michalis â“ XRAY T4
3. Vasilopoulos Chris
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| I really enjoyed the race yesterday, as the level of the competition has risen a lot with many drivers capable to take the win, giving to everyone, drivers, spectators something to look for next race and enjoy/have fun during race day. |
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| Race Report by Theodoropoulos Panos |
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| The 1st national race for 2019, a new category for me, a new category on Greek nats calendar. The best start for the new season for me in a beautiful outdoor track on Argos rcmaniac facility, in qualifications after a hard battle with Antreas Koutras I managed to qualify in 2nd place behind him, with a very stable and consistent driving in two first legs I managed to secure the 1st place overall a special thanks to my dad for all support and XRAY for the best equipment. |
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| Stock Results |
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1. Theodoropoulos Panos â“ XRAY T4
2. Oikonomou Filippos
3. Koutras Andreas
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