June 4, 2013

Martin Soerlie wins at Norwegian Cup Series Rd3

Martin Soerlie wins at Norwegian Cup Series Rd3

The third round of the Norwegian Cup off-road series took place on the Innherred RC’s track in Levanger, Norway. The full astroturf track had a very similar layout to earlier years, only one turn has been altered just a bit, so all drivers needed little time getting familiar with the rhythm. After the qualification rounds Joakim Nicolaisen (Associated) took TQ in the 2WD class followed by 2011 Norwegian Champion, Martin Soerlie (TLR) who wasted a very good TQ run on the last corner in the last heat and had to settle for second, meanwhile local hero Roy Gjemble lined up in third position.


Martin took the early lead in a wet first final, but had to surrender to the hard charging Nicolaisen with a great drive in the wet conditions to finish first ahead of swede Jan Dahl (TLR), with Martin ending up third and Roy Gjemble fourth. For the last two finals it dried up, and Martin won both with a good lead down to Roy and Joakim. This meant that Joakim, thanks to his win in the first final, got second behind Martin and ahead of Roy.

Top 10 2WD
1. Martin Soerlie – TLR/Team Orion
2. Joakim Nicolaisen – AE/Reedy
3. Roy Gjemble – TLR/Hobbywing
4. Jan Dahl – TLR/Hobbywing
5. Are Belsaas – Kyosho/Team Orion
6. Kenneth Storhaug Neverdal – TLR
7. Magne Kobbevik – AE/Vampire Racing
8. Stein Ove Nordahl – Durango/Team Orion
9. Daniel Kobbevik – AE/Vampire Racing
10.Thomas Værnes – AE/Team Orion

After heavy rain on Saturday afternoon, Sunday would never really dry up, but while the rest of Norway was drowning in a downpour consisting of about two weeks of rain in two hours, the contenders only had to suffer moist air and a light drizzle early in the day. Roy Gjemble (Durango) was the 4WD TQ man of the day, whilst both Joakim Nicolaisen (Associated) and Martin Soerlie (Xray) was on the pace, but could not do better than second and third on the grid. It was Martins first outing with the new Xray XB4, and it certainly seemed to be doing a nice job. It was drying up more and more, and for the finals it was completely dry. With a commanding victory in the first final, Martin looked set to repeat it taking an early lead in the second final, but when a driveshaft failure brought his car to a brutal halt after five laps, Roy was there to pick up the pieces and the victory ahead of Joakim and youngster Daniel Kobbevik (Associated). For the third final three drivers had the potential to win, and in the first few laps both Joakim and Roy were pushing hard to get ahead. Martin waited for mistakes and sneaked by to stretch out a lead, and win the final by about ten seconds, and with it his second race in a weekend.

Martin Soerlie wins at Norwegian Cup Series Rd3

Top 10 4WD
1. Martin Soerlie – Xray/Team Orion
2. Roy Gjemble – Durango/Hobbywing
3. Joakim Nicolaisen – AE/Reedy
4. Magne Kobbevik – AE/Vampire Racing
5. Stein Ove Nordahl – Durango/Team Orion
6. Daniel Kobbevik – AE/Vampire Racing
7. Are Belsaas – Kyosho/Team Orion
8. Kenneth Storhaug Neverdal – AE
9. Thomas Vaernes – AE/Hobbyking
10. Roy Salminen  – Durango

Thanks to Martin Soerlie for sending the report.



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