At the same time as the WC in Jakarta was at full speed, we in Northern Europe had our 1:8 off-road racing and for some drivers it is taken very seriously as we were having the WC and for others it is more relaxing. All-in-all it was a great atmosphere with top racing.
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I had prepared a setup for a loose and flat track, but due to rain the grip was very high. In these conditions my 3-7-10 diff oil was perfect and I only changed from white to light blue springs.
The car was flying and I won all 4 qualification rounds ahead of Claus Nielsen with XRAY XB8-TQ and Novarossi. During the day I tried different tires and because the grip was so good it was a matter of finding the right balance and not have to much grip!!
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A lot of buggy teams are taking the Danish Championship very seriously and the RC level in Denmark is really increasing. I hope that next year we can prioritize some international races and judge our form. For me I know that I can race with guys like Robert Gustaffson and Mikael Palsson as earlier this season I won the Nordic XRAY Challenge ahead of the fast Swedes, but to participate in a EC or WC is something else!
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Without any problems I drove home to victory in the semi and started at position #1 for the final. For the final I decided to change my car because the track was now drying up and grip was reduced. I went from blue to white springs, from 2.5 to 3.0 rear toe-in and from â“5.0° to â“4.0° rear camber - all to improve grip.
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To increase steering I went from 1° to 2° in front toe-out. During the warm up laps I could feel a super balance and the engine was also running very well. We knew that it was possible to go 9 minutes and save one fuel stop but for safety reasons we went for a 7.5 minute fuel strategy. So the strategy was set and with my father and younger brother in the pit I felt very well.
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Claus Nielsen also made it to the final but he decided to move to the same setup from the semi, but unfortunately he could not keep up the pace.
Right from the start of the 45 minutes final I took the lead and on my tail I had Jonas Karup, who has decided to drive 1:8 off-road together with 1:10 Electric Touring Car. He also has many years of 1:10 buggy experience with an EC A-main final.
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After a few minutes Jonas made some mistakes and I could build up a small gap. I could hear the speaker talk about the changing positions behind me, and it was super that there was this battle for second, third and fourth position. I took no chances and cruised home the victory.
This was one these days where everything went well and I could win all heats, semi final and take home a nice, clean victory.
Final results:
1. Peter Harder XRAY XB8TQ
2. Jonas Kaerup
3. Rune Gustavsen
4. Steffen Culmsee
5. Tim Culmsee
6. Thomas Mikkelsen 7. Claus Nielsen XRAY XB8TQ
8. Johnny Rask
9. Jan d Hansen
10. Lars Alex
