Daniel Kobbevik double at 2019 Norwegian Nationals
The 2019 Norwegian National Championship was hosted by Racingland SAS in Sandefjord, and unfortunately the weather forecast was horrible. The Club crew did an amazing job to make this race happen, and it was special since the club had been at this location for 33 years, and this was to be the last race held here. Saturday started with a technical meeting in the morning and it was decided to shorten down both classes to 3 qualifiers instead of 5, no semi practices and tighter program and to run the whole event on Sunday.
It’s a nice feeling to be at races that all drivers and crew work together. The race was also special since it was time to give out the highest reward it is possible to win in Norway, no matter what sport you do, “The King’s Trophy” and with the weather, and track conditions, it was more open and a lot of things can happen. But Xray Factory driver Daniel Kobbevik, took charge from first qualifier in both classes and TQ’d both 1/8th nitro and 1/8th electric. It was really hard fighting for the next start positions. In Nitro class Rune Karlsen won his semi-B and was going to line up second for the A-main. Daniel won his Semi-A, and would start from pole.
The main started with Daniel pulling away slowly from the start, and building up a bigger and bigger gap, Rune Karlsen was going steady second, but was caught up in the fight with Vincent Ruger and Danny Kwiatkowski. But the last 10 minutes it was a crazy fight between Vincent and Danny. They changed positions several times and it was really good entertainment. And how they handled the situation with Daniel catching them and they had to let him go was amazing to watch. Really high quality driving, In the end Daniel had a solid lead and won with 3 laps. Vincent managed to take second with his XB8 and Danny came third. Vincent is a 15 year old youngster that is one of the biggest talents in Norway, and getting faster and faster and more and more stable in his driving, so future is looking good.
1/8 IC Buggy Results
1. Daniel Kobbevik – Xray XB8/FX
2. Vincent Ruger – Xray XB8/OS Speed
3. Danny Kwiatkowski – Kyosho/Reds
In the electric class it was same three drivers that ended on podium. Daniel had TQ, Vincent starting from second with his XB8 and Torbjorn Doler starting third. After two finals Daniel already had the win in the books, so third final was going to give the rest of podium. Danny and Vincent had one second and third each, it was a close fight, but Vincent won A3 and secured second on the podium.
1/8 E Buggy Results
1. Daniel Kobbevik – Xray XB8E
2. Vincent Ruger – Xray XB8E
3. Danny Kwiatkowski – Kyosho
Huge thanks to Robin Houmb and Eddy Pedersen (Racingland).
Source: Xray [teamxray.com]
