Norwegian Touring Car Championship – Report

Last weekend saw the running of the Norwegian Touring Car Champinship in the small town of Kvinesdal in the South of the country. The race was held on a purpose-built track laid out with the new CRC carpet and using a highspeed layout with some technical bits. The championship is held in a Touring Modified class but also sees the running of a 13.5T Stock support class. In the Touring Modified category Nikolai Haaheim would set the pace from the first lap, being fastest in practice. He would carry his pace through to qualifying, dominating it by TQing all five rounds with his VBC. ARC driver Helge Johannesen was struggelig with setup, but improving through qualifying secured him the 2 spot on the grid in front of Tom Erik Haaversen (Xray).

Touring Modified qualifying top 10:
1. Nikolai Haaheim – VBC/Muchmore
2. Helge Johannesen – ARC/GForce
3. Tom Erik Haaversen – Xray/ORCA
4. Tobias Sanden – Yokomo/SkyRC
5. Øyvind Stusdal – Serpent/ORCA
6. Oskar Fjeld – ARC/SkyRC
7. Rune Svestøl – Xray/Muchmore
8. Svein Anfinsen – Xray/Speed Passion
9. Even Enerstvedt – VBC/Muchmore
10.Lars A. Andersen – ARC/GForce

Lining up for the start of the opening final, Nikolai’s car was hit by a car coming down the straight at full speed. His VBC seemed unharmed, but Nikolai was struggling as the finale started and would have to retire a few laps into the first main. Helg Johannesen would continue to take the first main with his newly found speed in front of Tobias Sanden and Tom Erik Haaversen.

In the second final Nikolai was still struggling with the car, but he kept his lines tight, not giving Helge any room to make a move. Towards the end Helge would make a mistake giving Nikolai all the space needed to secure the win. Behind Helge, Oskar Fjeld would score a third place finish, coming from sixth on the grid with Tom Erik suffering a stop and go penalty. Øyvind would finish fourth with his Serpent.

In the last final Nikolai and Helge pulled away from the rest of the field in a battle for the overall win. They both pushed hard, swapping positions a couple of times. After some exiting minutes Nikolai would get in front and with Helge making a small mistake again getting the room needed to secure the title while Helge would finish second. Further down the field there was a battle for third between Øyvind and Tom Erik, they would get together as Øyvind went for a pass – that saw Tom Erik retiring from the race a few laps later. Øyvind took third in the last final and with it the final step on the podium.

Touring Modified A-final result:
1. Nikolai Haaheim – VBC/Muchmore
2. Helge Johannesen – /GForce
3. Øyvind Stusdal – Serpent/ORCA
4. Oskar Fjeld – ARC/SkyRC
5. Tom Erik Haaversen – Xray/ORCA
6. Rune Svestøl – Xray/Muchmore
7. Tobias Sanden – Yokomo/SkyRC
8. Svein Anfinsen – Xray/Speed Passion
9. Even Enerstvedt – VBC/Muchmore
10.Lars A. Andersen – ARC/GForce

In the supporting Stock class buggy retiree Ketil Pettersen would stamp his authority in qualifying with a TQ in round 1, 2 and 4, securing the TQ spot for the finals. Veteran racer Trygve Bertsen would line up second in front of the youngster Mathias Nedrebø. In the opening final the top 3 would finish in the order they started. The second final saw another senior in the sport, Trygve Bull Freng, showing that the old guys are still in the game, taking the win from Ketil from fourth on the grid. In the last final Ketil would again score a tone to tone win, this time in front of Mathias who would loose out on the second spot on the podium on a tie-break with Trygve Berntsen who finished the last final in third.

Touring Stock A-final result:
1. Ketil Pettersen
2. Trygve Berntsen
3. Mathias Nedrebø
4. Trygve Bull Freng
5. Anders Engedal
6. Bjorn Dahl
7. Jorn Kristian Borgevad
8. Roy Braaten
9. Ronny Eriksen
10.Marius Nilsen

Thanks to Øyvind Stusdal for the report.