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SERPENT dominates Swedish-Cup Series 2011 (21/09/2011)

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Reporter-2

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Serpent 733-TE 1/10 scale 4wd


Last weekend saw the Swedish onroad elite gather for the final round of the Swedish national cup series, held at the superfast track in the city of Orebro.

Saturday was qualifying day, great weather and the track and been prepared with additives for maximum traction, actually so high that several of the 1:10 cars tractionrolled.
After some rounds of racing the track got more normal with a mix of fuel and tires on it.

The track has a very long straight and open corners so laptimes differ only a little among the top drivers, enginepower and correct gear-ratio becomes crusial to perform and the key is to keep the speed to a maximum in all the fast corners.

Both the 1:10 and the 1:8 class saw close racing during all the qualifying heats.

In the 1:10 class Mikael Fransson with his Serpent 733-TE showed that he still posesses exellent skills and he took a 3 second TQ over Alexander Hagberg with his Xray having german engine guru Bertram Kessler as mechanic for the weekend, in 3:rd spot 1 sec behind Alex was Mickael Brandt with a Xray driving very fast this weekend, in 4:th some 4 sec behind Mickael was Peo Hard with his Serpent 733-TE improving a lot in the last round.


Then for the 1:8 class once again Mikael Fransson running a Serpent 966-TE showed the pace and took his second TQ for the day, closely followed by Serpent teammate Marcus Lindner with a Serpent 966-TE only 0.2 sec behind, in 3rd spot about 6 sec behind Marcus we found Shepherd driver and local ace Stefan Andersson, 4:th and last guy to qualify direct to the final was Patrick Sahlin running a Mugen and he was only 0.4 sec behind Stefan. Close racing!

Many of the races this season in Sweden has been affected by rain, especially on the Sunday so to noones surprise this was the case also this weekend. During the whole Sunday it was light rain in the air just to keep the track damp and tricky. Many drives opted for soft wet foam tires instead of rubbertires for this specific track and damp conditions.

After 45minutes of racing in the 1:10 final, it was young Serpent 733-TE driver Markus Hellquist who took the victory after a stunning drive, in 2:nd and two laps behind was Peo Hard with his Serpent 733-TE, 3:rd after a good drive we find Thomas Livbom also running a Serpent 733. Full house for Serpent! TQ Mikael Fransson retired with a front belt popping off.


Also the 1:8 final was run in damp conditions, here Mikael Fransson with his Serpent 966-TE was in the lead from start to finish and won 6 laps ahead of Xray driver Christoffer Hedlund, finishing 3:rd was Stefan Andersson with his Shepherd car.


This was also the final round of the Swedish Cup of 2011, and after the points counted the final standing was as follows:


1:10 Swedish On-Road Cup 2011
1, Markus Hellquist, Serpent 733-TE, 208 points
2, Mikael Fransson, Serpent 733-TE, 201 points
3, Per-Ola Hard, Serpent 733-TE, 191 points

1:8 Swedish On-Road Cup 2011
1, Bengt Andersson, Serpent 966-TE, 192 points
2, Markus Lindner, Serpent 966-TE, 188 points
3, Niklas Johansson, Mugen, 183 points


Congratulations to all the winners, well done and well deserved!
Thanks to all clubs in Sweden for hosting the races this summer, without you no racing would be possible!

Thanks to all my racing friends and especially to my buddies in the Swedish Serpent team!

And of course thanks to my sponsors; Serpent, Xceed, OS, GQ and Runnertime.

Stay tuned for the 2012 Swedish Cup series, dates to be announced later this year!

Happy racing,
Per-Ola “Peo” Hard
Team Serpent