Hyvinkää FinTrack V, 14.07.2001

This time the Finnish touring car drivers headed to the Hyvinkää track for some high speed action. The track is a big 1:8th type of track so the speeds get very high here. Since Teemu was not racing this weekend it was the Ahoniemi brothers that were the favorites since it's their "home" track. Once qualifying got going it was quite clear that they also had the upper hand. After qualifying it was a Corally 1-2-3 so it was obvious who had done their homework on this track! You could say that the results after qualifying had more than one surprise as there were many drivers who found themselves in unusual positions.

On a big track like this speed was obviously even more important than usual. So everybody had to find their biggest pinions or go and buy some. Mysteriously though, it seemed that the pinions were really expensive at this event...maybe someone anticipated the rush for pinions and decided to up the price just in time for the race?!? :) Enough about that now...

Many racers were switching over from the usual Stratus bodies as the Stratus is maybe not ideal choice on a high speed track like this. Mostly Alfa's and Vectra's were seen at the top, and the race was won with a PF Vectra body.

The weather had stayed ok for most of the day but rain was expected in the afternoon. First there was a short shower during the middle of the last qualifying round. It was just enough to stop any thoughts of improvements but the track never got wet really. Of course the shower had to come when I was having my last qualifying run and on my way to improve my time... It really started raining during the second A final though and this time the track got really wet. Car after car dropped out as they either stopped or went out of control. In the end there was just one car left on the track.

After this the race was stopped...which in my opinion was a bit drastic as it stopped raining and once the trophy's were handed out the track was already starting to dry. Seemed as though the organizers wanted the race over quickly as the breaks between your qualifying rounds were under 1 hour which is not acceptable anymore as some batteries won't get charged in that time...

Anyway that race is over now and this next weekend it's time for the last two races in the series. So three races in 8 days...quite tough but fun! Ciao.

Results:

1. Sakke Ahoniemi, Corally
2. Simo Ahoniemi, Corally
3. Teemu Saarinen, Corally
4. Tomi Myöhänen, Xpress
5. Teppo Kauppinen, Associated
6. Santeri Jokinen, Associated
7. Juho Levänen, GM
8. Aki Leppänen, Xpress
9. Henrik Hokkanen, Yokomo
10. Antti Ollinmäki, Corally
 
 

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