Hellquist, Fransson & Wilck take Swedish titles
The Swedish Nationals for 1/10 EP, GP and 1/8 GP cars was held at the beautiful Väst-8 facilities in Gothenburg, Sweden. Over 80 entries from Sweden, Norway and Denmark had made their way to this race. Most racers arrived already on Friday to get some track time before racing started on Saturday morning. Cool and windy conditions on Saturday made track conditions a bit unpredictable, but in the end, some very quick lap times were put in. In 1/10 GP, Mikael Fransson (Serpent/Orcan) was TQ in front of Alexander Hagberg (Xray/Orcan), followed by Norwegian Capricorn driver Adrian Berntsen and the Swedish Serpent/OS driver Per-Ola Hård. In the 1/8 class it was the very fast Niklas Johansson from Stockholm who set the TQ time with his Xray/Orcan combo. He was followed by Mikael Fransson, Marcus Lindner, both racing Serpent cars, and Magnus Bengtsson, running a Mugen, which were all within the top 4 and directly qualified for the main final on Sunday.
On Sunday, some light rain showers would play an important role for the semi and main finals as they were run partially under full wet or damp conditions. This made tire strategies crucial, where the right choice could make a big difference in laptimes. In the 1/10 GP final, it was the Xray/Orcan driver Markus Hellquist who drove a perfect final, to finish a few seconds in front of Alexander Hagberg, also driving for Xray and Orcan. The 3rd and final podium position was won by Serpent driver David Hassel.
Results 1/10 GP:
1. Markus Hellquist – Xray/Orcan
2. Alexander Hagberg – Xray/Orcan
3. David Hassel – Serpent/Novarossi
In the 1/8 class we saw a new track record being set in one of the semi finals where the local fast guy Karl Ullenius managed to drive a 13.405 lap on his way to the win in that final. In the main final, it was Mikael Fransson who could master the wet conditions the best to take an easy win in front of Marcus Lindner, and Christofer Hedlund on the 3rd spot.
Results 1/8:
1. Mikael Fransson – Serpent/Novarossi
2. Marcus Lindner – Serpent/Novarossi
3. Christofer Hedlund – Xray/Orcan
The 1/10 EP class was dominated by Tamiya driver Viktor Wilck, followed by the Xray pairing of Niclas Nilsson and Magnus Vässmar. Wet conditions eventually made the A2 final quite exciting where Niclas managed to snatch the win following a mistake by Viktor when in front. Viktor would eventually go on and win A3 without mistakes to claim the overall title.
Results 1/10 electric:
1. Viktor Wilck – Tamiya/Thunder Power
2. Niclas Nilsson – Xray/Thunder Power
3. Magnus Vässmar – Xray/Thunder Power
Thanks to Alexander Hagberg for the report.
