Mike Gosvig wins Rd3 of Danish TC Nats

The 3rd round of the Danish National Championships, under the official motorsports federation DASU, where held last Sunday at the former Euros track in Glostrup, just outside the capital Copenhagen. The weather forecast showed mixed conditions, (just like last time where we drowned) after 2 weeks of full sun. The practice day before the race was fine most of the day, giving drivers lots of opportunities to find a good setup, at least for dry conditions. In the SuperStock class there were several good drivers who could fight for the win, especially since 2 drivers from Modified changed to the SuperStock class for this race. The race day started with lots of sun, and a dry track with perfect conditions for racing. It was Søren Boy Holst who managed to drive his T.O.P. Photon EX around the technical track, in the fastest time of the day, followed by Mike Gosvig, and Lars Holm.

Second round of qualifying started with small drops of rain for the first heat, allowing the drivers to use softer tyres, but the track was declared dry for the second heat, where the drivers had to use the controlled Sorex 36 tires. Søren made a spin on first round and lost 2 seconds, and giving Mike the lead, followed by one of the guest stars, Christian Holmström from Sweden. Halfway into the 7 minute heat, Søren catched up to the guys in front and regained the lead. On the final lap the lead was more than one second, but he made a small mistake by clipping a curb, followed by a nice roll and a car flipped upside down on the track. Mike took the win in the 2nd round, followed by Søren and Lars.

For the third and last qualifying round things were going to be turned upside down, once again thanks to the guy upstairs. The first heat had dry conditions from start to finish, the second heat started with small drops followed by more and more water during the heat, while the third heat had a moist track to start with and wet track in the end. Mike used slicks while Søren and Christian tried the wet tires, so Mike had the advantage in the beginning of the heat, while the two other guys started to gain in the middle, but there was never enough water to help the burning rain tires. In the third heat conditions were a lot better for rain tires, but since they didn’t have the first 10 fast laps, their overall times were to slow. Winner of the round was Michael Johnsen, followed by Patrick Danielsen and John Clausen – all from the first heat. With the round by round system that gave the following qualification top 5:

1. Søren Boy Holst – T.O.P. Photon EX
2. Mike Gosvig – Awesomatix
3. Michael Johnsen – Capricorn
4. Lars Holm – Awesomatix
5. Patrick Danielsen – Xray

The weather changed a lot during the day, with some heavy showers included. All drivers spend a lot of time and stress, preparing the cars and equipment for the demanding conditions.

For the first round of finals the overall conditions where just damp, not really enough for the threaded tires. Søren made a small mistake on the first lap, allowing Mike to pass, and his car looked better for these conditions, so he could take the first leg, followed by Søren and one of the Young drivers Stefan Finnich on third place, starting from 8th position on the grid.

Before the start of the second round, the rain showed its best one more time, so no one doubted what tires they needed to use this time. Rain tires for sure. Under these conditions it was clear that Søren had the best car, and after 5 laps he started to make a gap. It was very exciting for the crowd to see the cars almost disappear in the puddles, just to gain a lot of steering and fly around the corners. Wet race is fun, as long as the electronics don’t let out the magic smoke. Søren took the win followed by Mike and Stefan, so the battle was up till the last final.

Once again conditions changed several times before the last final, but conditions were almost like the first final, damp but this time with some big puddles in 3 corners. Søren spun in turn 2 so Mike could again pass without problems, and since these conditions where better for his setup/tire combo, he could keep it clean all the way to the checkered flag and end a day of close racing with the overall win.

Overall top 5:
1. Mike Gosvig – Awesomatix
2. Søren Boy Holst – T.O.P. Photon EX
3. Stefan Finnich – Xray
4. Michael Johnsen – Capricorn
5. Lars Holm – Awesomatix

Now the long summer break has arrived, with almost 2 months before the 4th round of the championships. Hopefully with a full round of dry races.

Source: T.O.P. [top-racing.jp]