Fjeldvar & Johannessen wins Rd3 in Norway

The third round of the Norwegian Nationals was held in Volbu in Valdres. The track is one of the most spectacular in Norway with a height difference between the lowest and highest point on the track of almost 4 meters. It rained all day on Saturday so there was no practice on the track but when everyone woke up on Sunday morning the track was still a little wet, but with some help from the sun, the track dried up pretty quick. In the first qualification heat the track it was a little wet in some places. In the Stock class Espen Fjeldvar was dominating in the 2 last qualification heats on the dry surface. Espen was clearly the fastest guy on the track with laptimes more than 0.5 second faster than the rest with his TQ time.

Stock 13.5 Standings after 3 qualifiers:
1. Espen Fjeldvar – Sakura Zero S
2. Arild Andersen – Sakura Zero
3. Magnus Slåttsveen – Sakura XI HD

In the modified class Helge Johannessen dominated throughout the whole day with his Sakura XI HD in front of Xray drivers Christer Antonsen and Gjøran Langsholt.

Modified Standings after 3 qualifiers:
1. Helge Johannessen – Sakura Xi HD
2. Christer Antonsen – Xray
3. Gjøran Langsholt – Xray

In the first final in 13.5 Stock it was a rough start, the first corner was difficult to get through without any mistakes, because the track drops about 2 meters in the corner. After some crashes Arild quickly stretched out a lead with Thomas and Espen battling for second. Both Thomas and Espen was driving faster than Arild, but the lead was too big for catching up.

In the second final it was Espen’s turn to take a big lead, Thomas had problems with his car and finished only 3 rounds. Espen cruised to victory with Arild in second.

In the third final the start went smoothly, Espen did just as he did in the second final, got a big lead and maintained it. Thomas made a mistake which dropped him to fourth position, but while maintaining good race speed he caught up with Arild, a nice battle between the two drivers and Thomas cleanly got the second position again. Espen was doing a clean run with no mistakes and cruised into victory. Thomas set the track record 16.693.

Stock 13.5 Standings after 3 finals:
1. Espen Fjeldvar – Sakura Zero S
2. Arild Andersen – Sakura Zero
3. Thomas Holmesland – Sakura Zero

In the first final in Modified Helge made a mistake at the start and his rear tires didn’t have traction. Gjøran took the lead and held it for almost 3 minutes with Helge catching up. Helge passed Gjøran and took victory in the first final with Gjøran and Christer behind.

In the second final Helge dominated the whole thing, a battle between Gjøran and Christer on the second final was the thing big thing. In the third final Helge already had the victory in his pocket, but was set to take home the Track record, he almost made it with 0.1 second behind.

Modified Standings after 3 finals:
1. Helge Johannessen – Sakura Xi HD
2. Christer Antonsen – Xray
3. Gjøran Langsholt – Xray

Thanks to Thomas Holmesland for the report.