Adrian Berntsen wins Norwegian National Champs
Last weekend the Norwegian National Championship was held at Sorlihavna, a track located near Oslo with 64 racers attending. This track is feared by many drivers, because the grip can get crazy and there are many local drivers from the hosting club that are very fast on this track. The weather prediction for the weekend was not good, and the qualification form that was used was round by round with two out of five counting. As predicted on Saturday morning the rain came. It would be crucial to get some points early, since the weather forecast promised a dry Sunday.
The first two qualifiers were run in wet conditions, Georg and Adrian took one qualifier each, with Adrian surprising everyone with his wet weather skills. When the third qualifier was about to start, the heaven had cleared up and the hosting club did everything they could to dry the track. Adrian took home the third qualifier with Helge and Thomas not far behind. On Sunday the track was completely dry and the grip came up. Helge set the pace with Adrian in second and Thomas in third place. Adrian then took home the last qualifier placing him on pole for the finals. Helge secured the second spot in the A-final, and Georg who brought home the first qualifier in the wet secured the third spot.
Qualifying top 10:
1. Adrian Berntsen – Xray
2. Helge Johannessen – ARC
3. Georg Ellingsen – Xray
4. Thomas Holmesland – Xray
5. Arild Andersen – ARC
6. Oskar Fjeld – Xray
7. Morten Bremsrud – Xray
8. Øyvind Stusdal – Xray
9. Rune Svestøl – Xray
10.Gøran Langsholt – Xray
In the warmup stage before the finals Helge had a problem with his car, breaking the rear belt. Adrian could take advantage of this and when the tone hit, everyone got away clean and safe. Georg hit the curb on to the straight with Thomas passing him straight away. Thomas could then start the hunt for Adrian. Adrian did a rare mistake, hitting the curb after some time. Thomas took the opportunity and passed him. But Adrian showed his true skills and took the first place spot back and could then cruise to leg 1 win in front of Thomas Holmesland in 2nd and Georg Ellingsen in 3rd,
In the second final, everyone got away clean and safe again, Helge was doing his best to keep up with Adrian and put pressure on him. Helge couldn’t let Adrian take the win in this final as well, as Adrian won the first leg. But Adrian did everything right, leading from tone to tone taking home the win in the second final and therefore the Norwegian National Champion title. Helge finished 2nd, while Georg claimed the 3rd spot in this final.
In the third final the battle for the second and third spot would be a hard battle. Adrian sat out the final to not distract the battle for second place. Right before completing the first lap, Georg hit Helge by accident, placing them both in the grass. Thomas got by, but also had an accident which now put him into the grass. Helge and Thomas lost a lot of time, and started hunting down the rest of the group. Helge quickly made his move up, and so did Thomas while Morten Bremsrud was in the lead for some time. Later in the race Helge showed his skills and passed him while now Thomas was in chase for the third spot with Morten and Rune battling for this position also. At the end Rune had an accident and this secured Thomas the third spot.
Final results:
1. Adrian Berntsen – Xray
2. Helge Johannessen – ARC
3. Thomas Holmesland – Xray
4. Georg Ellingsen – Xray
5. Morten Bremsrud – Xray
6. Rune Svestøl – Xray
7. Øyvind Stusdal – Xray
8. Oskar Fjeld – Xray
9. Gøran Langsholt – Xray
10.Arild Andersen – ARC
Source: Xray [teamxray.com]
