11-12:th of September saw the Swedish onroad drivers heading for Eskilstuna and the final race of the 2010 Swedish national nitro onroad cup.
This was the first time for me going to the Eskilstuna track since 2006, we arrived Friday evening hoping to get some practice but the track was wet. Saturday morning saw all practice being rained out also, for the first quality track was still wet but only damp so we decided to run using wet foam tires and I managed to take TQ, second round track a little dryer I did not improve but Niclas Nilsson did (Niclas normally an very fast electro driver had borrowed a car and engine from his friend Alex Hagberg for the race) so he took TQ ahead of me, 3:rd round track had dried even more and laptimes got faster new TQ for this round was Mackan Goransson, 4:th round track still wet on some spots but drivers now opted for soft regular foam compounds Niclas Nilsson put in a new good run and took the final TQ spot with his Xray, Markus Hellquist in 2:nd with Serpent 733, 3:rd Staffan Karlsson also with a Serpent 733, I made some good laps but also some driving errors but enough to take 4:th place and direct into Sundays final.
For the 1:8 class conditions was similar and results improved every round, 4:th round clearly being the fastest also here, Marcus Lindner taking the TQ with his S-966, 2:nd Patrik Sahlin with a Mugen, 3:rd Bengt Andersson Serpent 966, 4:th Christofer Hedlund running Shepherd.
Sunday now, track wet again after new rain, booring! The day started with a special 30min final only for beginners in the 1:10 class, these difficult conditions suited female driver Emelie Karlsson very well and she took a nice win with her Serpent 720 car, followed by two older gentlemen Ronnie Pettersson got 2:nd with a Edam and 3:rd Anders Bergegard with a Shepherd. Congratulations Emelie!
The 1:10 main final was driven on a track partly dry but with wet spots and it made everything very challenging and exciting for sure. All drivers now using regular tires and you had to be very carefull on certain parts of the track, drivers had very little knowledge on actual tirewear and how the car would perform on harder tires needed for 45min racing as the track never dried 100 percent. I used the same setup since the Euros in Sweden a few weeks back. A lot of things happened during the race, I slided off on two occasions causing the engine to stall also, I think all drivers went off the track at least a few times. Niclas Nilsson showed his skills and made a good race, he kept his TQ and secured the win a few laps ahead of Staffan Karlsson with myself a few laps even further down in a 3:rd spot.
1:10NT Eskilstuna
1.Niclas Nilsson, Xray, Max
2.Staffan Karlsson, Serpent 733, Novarossi
3.Per-Ola Hard, Serpent 733, Orcan
In the 1:8 main final Patrik Sahlin took the lead but had to retire after 10 minutes, Marcus Lindner now showed consistancy and build up a one lap lead over Bengt Andersson, at the later part of the final Bengt ran into problems with his clutch and Marcus would expand his lead. So at the end Marcus got a nice win a few laps ahead of Bengt and in 3:rd a few laps behind Bengt we saw Stefan Andersson.
1:8IC Eskilstuna
1.Marcus Lindner, Serpent 966, Novarossi
2.Bengt Andersson, Serpent 966, Novarossi
3.Stefan Andersson, Shepherd, Novarossi
It was now time to sumarize the 2010 Swedish Cup Series.
The cup started in May in Vaxjo Sweden, then followed by Orebro in June and Trollhattan in July and now the final race in Eskilstuna. Before the final race the two best points out of three is to be counted and then the final race is mandatory to be counted.
So after everything being counted the final standing of the 2010 series was like this:
1:10NT class
1.Per-Ola Hard, Serpent 733, RB & Orcan
2.Staffan Karlsson, Serpent 733, Novarossi
3.Markus Hellquist, Serpent 733, Novarossi
1:8IC class
1.Marcus Lindner, Serpent 966, Novarossi
2.Bengt Andersson, Serpent 966, Novarossi
3.Stefan Andersson, Shepherd Velox V8, Novarossi
This is provisional results until the final cup price ceremony being held at the annual RC racing conference in Stockholm Sweden in late November when the drivers will receive their medals
After a season with both ups and downs it feels good to take the cup title once more for sure!
I would like to take the opportunity to thank my sponsors in 2010:
Serpent Motorsport, Xceed, RB Engines, GQ Tires, Merlin Fuel and Orcan
Happy racing for the remaining of 2010 and see you in 2011
Per-Ola “Peo” Hard
Team Serpent