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PEO REPORT SWEDISH NATS ÖREBRO 5-6/2009 (09/09/2009)

By:: Reporter-2
Linked to:: Serpent 733-EVO 1/10 scale 4wd, Serpent 733-TE 1/10 scale 4wd

Last weekend the Swedish Nats was held in Örebro, the track is very big with fast and flowing corners, normally the racing is very close on this fast track.

Friday was practice day, after heavy rain during the night it took some hours before the track was drivable, once it dried is showed that the grip was ok and the track a bit bumpy in some fast corners. Most drivers went out to find a good setup and testing engines and more.

Saturday saw four rounds of 7min EFRA rules qualifications, despite some light rain the qualifying could be completed in decent conditions and the racing was close and exciting!
In the 1:8 class it was Mikael Fransson once again that showed his performance and took the TQ some 5 seconds ahead of young and talented Serpent driver Stefan Andersson, in 3:rd was Markus Lindner followed closely by Serpent driver Bengt Andersson in 4:th.

In the 1:10 class it was Euros´s runner up Alex Hagberg that showed the pace and dominated the qualifying by taking the TQ by 7-8 seconds, second was Mikael Fransson, just a second behind was Mickael Brandt, 5 hundreds of a second behind Brandt it was myself Per-Ola “Peo” Hard in 4:th running the new Serpent 733 car for the first time in Sweden.

After Saturday the standings was as follows.

1:8 IC Track
1, Mikael Fransson, Mugen/JP
2, Stefan Andersson, Serpent 966/Novarossi
3, Markus Lindner, Kyosho/Novarossi
4, Bengt Andersson, Serpent 966/Novarossi

1:10 NitroTouring
1, Alexander Hargberg, Xray/Max
2, Mikael Fransson, Mugen/JP
3, Mickael Brandt, Xray/Sirio
4, Per-Ola Hard, Serpent 733/RB

Sunday was the main day for the finals, first out was the 1:10 final and about half an our before the race it started to rain so the drivers had to prepare for a wet race, not a very fun way of deciding a championship title but that is part of the game too so.
After 45minutes of sliding and lots of action it was Mikael Fransson at the top taking his first nitrotouring title followed by Serpent 720 driver Staffan Karlsson and 3:rd man on the podium was Mickael Brandt, 4:th Markus Hellquist, 5:th Alex Hagberg, 6:th Peo Hard.

After the 1:10 final there was a short break before the 1:8 final should start, this extra time made the track to get dry again and made conditions much nicer, the pace allready from the start was very high as laptimes was even faster than during Saturdays qualifications. Stefan Andersson took the lead followed by Patrik Sahlin and Markus Lindner, Fransson was working his way up the field after a stop and go for jumpstart. After some time Stefan Andersson unfortunately had to retire with a broken belt, later also Lindner had to retire. Once Fransson was back in the lead he never looked back, Fransson showed his speed and experience and could win quite easy in the end, 2:nd was young Patrik Johansson running a very good race with his Serpent 966, in 3:rd was Patrik Sahlin who ran good race too with a

bestlaptime close to Fransson´s, Sahlin had former 1:8 driver Joakim Ohlsson as mechanic for the weekend that proved successful indeed
Doing his first 1:8 race this weekend with a borrowed new Serpent 966 car was 1:10 pro driver Alex Hagberg, Alex made it to the final via the semis but in the middle of the final he had to retire with a broken car, maybe we will see Alex do more 1:8 racing in the future!

Final Result
1:10 NitroTouring
1, Mikael Fransson, Mugen/JP
2, Staffan Karlsson, Serpent 720/Novarossi
3, Mikael Brandt, Xray/Sirio

1:8 IC Track
1, Mikael Fransson, Mugen/JP
2, Patrik Johansson, Serpent 966/Novarossi
3. Patrik Sahlin, Kyosho/Novarossi

Congratulations to my friend Mikael Fransson for his impressive double win!
Special Serpent congratulations to Staffan Karlsson and Patrik Johansson for both taking 2:nd place at the 2009 Swedish Championships in Örebro.

Personal reflextions:
This was my first national race with the new Serpent 733, I can truly say this car is the best Serpent I have built, the quality is higher than ever, the car is very easy to work on, the car looks great, after practice on my hometrack I know this car is fast! I am allready looking forward to my next Serpent 733 race in two weeks time, the final round of the Swedish Cup series in Trollhättan!

Special thanks to my support partners;
Serpent Motorsport, RB Engines, GQ Products, Merlin Fuel

More to come, happy racing,
Peo Hard