This yearâ™s first race was held 20 of May in Suomen Turku. Track layout was nice but pretty easy and it had some different type of jumps. Some of them you could jump, some were just speed killers where you had to brake.
When we headed to Turku in the morning from Helsinki weather didn't look too promising because it was raining in Helsinki. Luckily when we arrived to Turku weather was ok. Track was just a little damp. So everything looked promising.
Race started with two heat practices. I could have needed more track time before first heat because I hadn't driven the track before like the other drivers.
First practice went to just to get to know of the track. First practice I notice that my cars suspension was too stiff reason for that was cold weather. So I decided to go down from oil 500 to 400. That made the car better on second practice. After second practice I thought that my car was flipping over too easy on fast corners so I decided to put stiffer stabilizers in front and back.
Now car was dialed for the first heat.
On first heat I had radio problems my car went out of control for couple of times. Still I managed to on 7th position on first round. I also decided to change my crystals after radio problems.
On second heat everything was working perfectly without any problems and I took second place on that round. For now I started to know the track and jumps better and knew how I should jump or not to jump from each jump.
On Third and final round everything worked well except my driving. I made few mistakes and I ended up 5 on that round.
For the finals everything looked good. I was 5th after qualifying. So I was in semi B. For some reason almost all the top guys ended up to semi B. So I was gong to be tough race.
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Just before semi final B it had started raining little but it was so little that it didnâ™t bother the race at that point. It just made track surface little damp and gave more grip. I started semi final ok. I kept my position on a start and just try to keep steady rhythm. I knew, if I just kept my car on four wheels all the time and wouldnâ™t take risks I would be in the final without problems.
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During the semi it just kept raining and in the end of the semi it started to make track surface more slippery and clay started to stick on car. At that point I was leading my semi for my surprise. So my strategy worked well and I end up winning my semi.
On semi A rain continued and track started to get more slippery and muddy. So when semi A was in half way it was clear that nobody could beat my time. So I was going to start on final from pole position.
Before final race organizers asked would we want to drive 30 minutes instead of 45 minutes because it was still raining and track was muddy. Everybody wanted to drive 45 minutes even it was raining.
For the final I just made some protector for air filter. I put some tape inside my body to prevent water and mud getting into air filter. Tape made like a tunnel from fuel refilling hole to engine so engine still would get good cooling air. I also sprayed WD40 all over my car.
When it was time to start the final I didnâ™t take part for the 3 minutes warm up. I wanted to save my car and didnâ™t want to collect mud into my car more than necessarily. When final started I took things easy and lost my pole position on the start. I was going for same strategy as on my semi and any way it was going to be long 45 minutes and anything could happen.
Track was really slippery and muddy. During the final all cars stated to look the same and engines and clutches were working hard. Hard conditions started to take its tolls. Cars started to retire from race. On 30minutes mark I was leading the race. Also the hard conditions started to affect on my car. Car wasnâ™t accelerating any more and jumping was difficult. I started to save my engine and tried to drive as little on full throttle as possible. I also was hoping that my engine wouldnâ™t die. Last 15 minutes felt longer than first 30 minutes. I was waiting all the time when my engine would die but it didnâ™t.
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It kept running and brought me first across the finish line. My Xray clutch hold up the though conditions superbly. I think that was one of the main reasons why my engine kept running through the whole final. I was using Xrayâ™s 1.71g clutch shoes and 0.9mm clutch springs. After the final my car weighted about 8kg.
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Podium finish:
1 Timo Jalas XRAY XB8 TQ
2 Juha Sartesuo
3 Joseph Quagraine
Thank you for the race organizers for good race and Xray for making reliable, fast and good car and also Panther for making good tires.
