Round 6 of the Danish Championship was again hosted by the SOS club, but this time they had changed the driving direction and made some new jumps which gave a really good and different off-road race track.
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The weather was perfect with a temperature of 25deg, and during the night and morning we had some rain which gave good grip conditions. Due to the summer period, only 40 drivers signed up and again the list included Jonas Karup and Steen Graversen, both top European 1:10 touring car drivers.
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For me it was a tough morning. I arrived the night before after a long workweek in the USA, and I did not have the chance to practice at the new track before the race. My practice round was miserable and my first round of qualification was even worse. In the first round I was in the middle of the field and did only 7 laps (with the fastest doing 8 at 5â™17âť). The first round was won by Rune Gustavesen/Mugen.
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The second round was better and I took third place, but I was still not satisfied with myself and in the tight sections of the track the car had a lot of understeer. For the last round I decided to change from GRP Joly to some old Panther tires, and I was now flying even though the track was getting bumpy my car was now more aggressive yet still easy to drive.
I took the win but it only gave me the overall second spot after TQ man Rune Gustavsen. Claus Nielsen with his XRAY XB8-TQ (powered with Novarossi Plus 21-05 engine) came in fourth position. Jonas Karup and Steen Graversen did well and both managed a place in the semi-final.
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My semi went well and together with Jonas we drove away from the rest of the field. At the second fuel stop I got into some traffic in the pit lane and I got behind Jonas. Then I decided to test different race lines and also make a safe run to secure a place in the final. Claus Nielsen was also doing well in the semi but with few minutes left his steering servo died. His season has just been so unlucky, actually he won the fourth round of the Danish Championship, but because his personal transponder didnâ™t work he was manually and wrongly counted!
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Even though my main competitor for the National title also went through to the final, I felt confident. I raised my dampers because the track was now very bumpy and I took the best old Panther tires for the final. In the warm-up laps the engine and car were super, and after the first lap of the final I was in the lead. At the 14min mark my engine stopped and it happened just after the straight; I could feel something strange happen with the engine. I went down in the pit and told the guys that my engine probably broke.
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We slowly got the car into the pit, but when my dad and Claus looked in the fuel tank they found it was empty. I had easily done 7â™30âť on a tank in qualification and my first refuel in the final was at 7â™30âť. It is strange because I could see that the refuelling was done perfect. I entered the race and in the end I was only 3 seconds from the third position and 1? lap from the victory, which was secured by Rune Gustavsen.
Final positions:
1. Rune Gustavsen
2. Jonas Karup
3. Tim Culmsee 4. Peter Harder, XRAY XB8TQ
5. Peter Rabbitts
6. Steffen Culmsee
7. Max Pedersen
8. Lars Alex
9. Robert Hansen
10. Jan Hansen
With only 2 rounds left I still have a tight overall lead, but I really hope to get everything back on track, and next time there will not be any fuel issues or jet lag as Iâ™ve had two times this season!!
My setup is posted at the address below. I needed more steering and with limited testing I did not try harder damping and diff oil, which I think would have further improved the performance.
