Norwegian Winter Series Rd3 – Report

Round three of the Norwegian Winter Series was held in the east of Norway, in the city of Honefoss. The organisers laid out a huge 680 square metre track using the famous ETS carpet and the race schedule saw three rounds of qualifying followed by triple A-mains. Classes run were Touring Modified and 1/12th scale for the nationals plus the two supporting classes of Touring Stock 13.5T and M-Chassis. In the Touring Modified class the race for the TQ was on between Nikolai Håheim (VBC) and Helge Johannessen (ARC). Nikolai made a clean sweep in all three qualifiers to claim the top qualifier spot. Helge would line up in second for the finals. Behind the two the fight for the 3 spot would be between Rune Svestøl (Xray), Andreas Daving (Schumacher) and Even Enerstvedt (VBC). After the qualifying was over they were all tie on points, but Rune had the fastest run to count, handing him the 3 spot on the grid ahead of Andreas in 4th and Even in 5th.

Touring Modified qualifying results:
1. Nikolai Haaheim – VBC
2. Helge Johannessen – ARC
3. Rune Svestøl – Xray
4. Andreas Daving – Schumacher
5. Even Enerstvedt – VBC
6. Geir Bjarte Terum – ARC
7. Lars A. Andersen – ARC
8. Alexander Nygaard – Xray
9. Tore Fossberg – Xray

In the first A-final Nikolai took a confident tone to tone win ahead of Rune in second, some 12 seconds behind. Andreas came in third. Helge finished 7th after retiring from the final. In the second final Nikolai suffered from a broken tyre, meaning that he lost some pace, and Helge pushed hard to put Nikolai under pressure, but would then make a small mistake which saw Nikolai breaking away and taking the overall win with one leg to spare. Helge finished second ahead of Andreas in 3rd. Nikolai would then sit out the last final, leaving the rest of the field to battle it out. Helge checked out from the rest, taking A3 in style ahead of Rune in second. Even had a good run and put Rune under pressure during the whole final, but he couldn’t find a way past and had to settle for third. Behind the three Andreas came in fourth after an early mistake where he lost almost half a lap.

Touring Modified final results:
1. Nikolai Haaheim – VBC
2. Helge Johannessen – ARC
3. Rune Svestøl – Xray
4. Andreas Daving – Schumacher
5. Even Enerstvedt – VBC
6. Geir Bjarte Terum – ARC
7. Lars A. Andersen – ARC
8. Tore Fossberg – Xray
9. Alexander Nygaard – Xray

In the 1/12th scale class Trygve Bull Freng managed to take the pole position on the grid after winning two of the three qualifiers. Close behind Rune Karlsen, who seemed to have more speed than Trygve, had to settle for second after struggling to get his car consistent for the 8 minutes runs. Andre completed the top 3 on the grid.

1/12th scale qualifying results:
1. Trygve Bull Freng – Xray
2. Rune Karlsen – Team Associated
3. Andre Røine – Team Associated
4. Lars Ivar Rønning – Xray
5. Lasse Andresen – n/a

In the opening A-final Trygve and Rune checked out from the field. Having a close final, Trygve would take the first leg only 0.7 seconds ahead of Rune. Lasse came in 3rd. In the second final Rune took the win ahead of Trygve who made too many mistakes to challenge Rune so the decision about the overall win would be made in the third and final A-main. Ultimately, after some mistakes of both drivers, Rune would claim the overall victory ahead of a hard charging Trygve. Lasse took the last podium spot in third.

1/12 final results:
1. Rune Karlsen – Team Associated
2. Trygve Bull Freng – Xray
3. Lasse Andresen – n/a
4. Andre Røine – Team Associated
5. Lars Ivar Rønning – Xray

In the support class of Touring Stock had Fredrik Håvardsrud (ARC) taking the TQ after a close battle with Trygve Berntsen (Gizmo). At the end of the finals the standings would still be the same with Rune Karlsen (Xray) grabbing the final podium spot.

Touring Stock final result:
1. Fredrik Håvardsrud – ARC
2. Trygve Berntsen – Gizmo
3. Rune Karlsen – Xray
4. Lars Haugen – Xray
5. Tore Skarsethstuen – ARC
6. Jonas B. Ramsrud – VBC
7. Bjørn Dahl – VBC
8. Anders Mikkelsen – n/a
9. Dag Erik Kristoffersen – n/a
10.Lasse Andresen – n/a

The Tamiya M-Chassis class had the highest number of participants and also the widest gap in age among the competitors; 13 to 72 years. Kenneth Bjørge would grab the day’s win from Jon Rikard Sandum and Frank Paulsrud.

M-Chassis final result:
1. Kenneth Bjørge
2. Jon Rikard Sandum
3. Frank Paulsrud
4. Thomas Teigen
5. Espen Juven
6. Arne Gunnar Bruun
7. Petter Faxvaag
8. Ole Flattum
9. Christian Hovde
10.Stig Olsen

Thank to Oyvind Stusdal for the report.