Last Updated on 17 May, 2024 by FKC
After the rain the track in Enköping was wet. It was quite cold and there was some snow laying around the track. But that didn’t stop us from racing there! In fact it was very interesting to see who managed to tame the slippery surface. Participants splitted into 2 groups and Qualification began.
Already on the 2nd lap Pontus set the best lap time of the session (and later it turned out to be the best time of the day). Tommie was 4 seconds slower. Then was Ernestas. In group 2 the fastest was Berke, but he didn’t reach Pontus’ time. So the Swede took TQ, followed by Berke, Igor, Tommie and Mattias.
The first corner of the first race (which was the Semi-Final of group 1) showed that it was going to be an interesting battle, not only with competitors, but also with the wet track. Racers were searching for the grip. Ernestas was leading from P3. Berke was right there alongside him. Tommie and Karlis were also looking into the fight. Each corner presented some changes in the order. On lap 2 leading Ernestas pressed the brakes a bit later than he should have and he spun losing all positions. Tommie went up to the front. But in the next right corner he started to slide right in front of Karlis who didn’t have anywhere to go. As a result – spin for Tommie and give away some places. Next leader became Berke. Erik reached Karlis, but he didn’t really have a chance to overtake him. Instead he spun, but kept P3. Then, suddenly Berke spun as well and let Karlis take the lead. Another spin for Ernestas put him into last place. Both he and Tommie will be fighting their way up in Final B.
In group 2 Pontus and Igor started from the first row. By turn 3 they were already 5th and 3rd and Mattias was leading. But Mika took that lead away, and Pontus climbed up to 3rd place quite fast. After 2 more laps Pontus used Mattias’ mistake and went up to 2nd spot chasing Mika. In the back of the field Audrius and Armin just couldn’t handle their karts in wet conditions and went into spin or out of the track. Suddenly Pontus makes a mistake, blocks his brakes and goes directly into the tire barrier. He lost some positions, but most importantly – valuable time! He finished 4th and moved to Final B, while the top 3 (Mika, Mattias and Igor) advanced to the main race.
Final B started and Pontus took the lead already on lap 1. Ernestas and Tommie also wanted to win this heat in order to be promoted to Final A. They had to wait for Pontus’ mistake, otherwise there was no way for them to reach him. Erik, not without a small help from Audrius, spun on the first lap and lost a chance for a good result. Audrius received a yellow card for this incident. Later Audrius was battling with Tommie, but eventually lost this battle (not without a contact). Tommie’s troubles didn’t just end there – he also spun a couple of times and let Erik through on P3. Ernestas couldn’t get Pontus, and Swede went to Final A by winning the heat.
Then it was the time for the final event. Mika starts from pole-position. Karlis alongside him. Then was Berke, Mattias, Igor and Pontus. Green flag! Mika keeps the lead. Everybody goes clean in turn 1. Many different lines have been used in turn 2. After the next corner Berke is P2, followed by Igor and Karlis. Mattias drops down to P6. But he doesn’t give up and fights Pontus. Unsuccessful. In the front Igor is pressing Berke. Successful. Berke goes off the track and Igor takes P2. When Berke is back on the track, Karlis is there to fight him. Successful. But not for long. Karlis makes a mistake and lets Berke back. And there was already Pontus breathing in Karlis’ neck. Then they are driving side-by-side on the start/finish straight until Karlis brakes too hard and spins. Next target – Berke. Pontus reaches him and makes the pass on the outside line of the corner. Beautiful! But he self felt pressure and went off the track giving last podium place to Berke. By the end of the race Mattias overtook Karlis for 5th. The 2 drivers who didn’t make any mistakes during this heat were Mika and Igor. They ended up 1st and 2nd. Mika won his 2nd GoKart PRIX race. Both times in slippery conditions.
In the season standings Igor keeps leading. First podium of the year let Berke jump up to a runner-up position overtaking the reigning champion Mattias! Erik kept his 5th position. Tommie moved up to the 6th while Mika and Pontus just appeared in the top-10. As always we say big thanks to all the participants for the great race and the Enköping Kartingbana staff for helping in organization! Special thanks goes to Karlis and Tommie for filming! From Enköping we now go to Katrineholm for the next race! See ya there!
Race documentation: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1RyB9cgxoRNVHGw5GpiejCtsj2g1z5Av6?usp=sharing