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Race Report by Greger Landen
This weekend it was time again for the Swedish Cup to visit K-raceway managed by the Karlskrona Miniracing Club. First of all, a big thank you to the organizers who always put on a great effort to be able to service the racers with food and great hospitality. There even was a barbecue organized during Saturday evening who worked out well, despite a challenging weather situation.

Also, a huge thank you to Marten Kellgren who was one of the most active race controllers in a long time, helping to promote a good racing climate for all participants.

The weekend started off with a Friday evening practice session. We had the feeling that we didn’t get to the place where we wanted to be with the XB2, and had trouble finding a good feeling for the car. At the end of the session it turned out that we had a defective steering servo in the car, which was probably why we didn’t find the right balance during the practice session. Sadly, the whole session was more or less wasted chasing a ‶ghost in the machine※ the XB4 on the other hand was really on point and the feeling was very good.

Come Saturday and 2WD time. We were still struggling to find the right setup for the track since we didn’t get that much out of the practice session, the feeling was that we were one step behind all the time and we were trying to catch up all the time. Alexander managed to put in a couple of decent qualifying runs to secure third spot for the finals. In the first final Wilhelm and Alexander got locked in a battle for second place, and that allowed Elias to pull clear and secure that round.

In the second round of finals it started to rain and it got to be very slippery. At that moment the XB2 was working really well together with Alexander’s driving and he was able to secure round two by mastering the conditions ahead of Wilhelm and Elias. The third round was the ultimate decider, all three drivers (Alexander, Elias and Wilhelm) could take the overall victory. Again, it was slightly damp conditions, so it was looking good for Alexander. The pace was good, but sadly some first lap trouble saw him drop to 4th on the opening lap just to get back up to 2nd before the end of the race. This established the finishing order.

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2WD Buggy Results
1. Elias Johansson
2. Alexander Landen – XRAY XB2
3. Wilhelm Skjoldebrand

Sunday was 4WD time and the conditions were roughly the same, a bit colder and with rain threatening to fall down all the time. The XB4 was really on point and was working out great. Alexander secured 2nd place in the qualifiers behind Elias.

Alexander won the first round and finished 2nd in round 2 and 3 to round off with a DNF in the fourth round due to a small failure. So in the end finals were to be started in the order Elias, Alexander and Wilhelm. In the first round Alexander and Wilhelm again got locked in a battle for second which let Elias take off and secure that round. For the second round we made some small adjustments to the speedo and slipper, and all of a sudden found more consistent pace. Alexander tagged along with Elias on the first lap, and Elias made a small mistake at the end of the first lap. Alexander got passed but just as doing so clipped a marker and ended up on his roof as well. This meant that both Elias and Alexander lost positions with Otto Ausfelt taking up the lead. Elias and Alexander were able to chase him down and get past him, and then the battle was on. Alexander was chasing Elias and after a couple of laps was able to make a clean pass. The battle continued, but Alexander was able to retain the position across the finish line.

For the final round the heavens opened up on us, and it was run in full wet configuration. We knew we had a good car in the wet and the pace was really good, however a small first lap incident that Alexander was involved in gave Elias a couple of seconds margin, which was all he needed to secure the win in the final round. Alexander was catching up, but was never able to get close enough to challenge for the win. This meant that 4WD podium was a repeat of the 2WD podium

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(click to enlarge)

4WD Buggy Results
1. Elias Johansson
2. Alexander Landen – XRAY XB4
3. Wilhelm Skjoldebrand