17/08/2021
Race report!
Pro Circuit Challenge 2021 23-25 july
This year’s Procircuit Challange, arranged by Fredrick Cederberg at Actionhobby, took place at the beautiful track in Botkyrka Motorsports Arena. The track is located just outside of Stockholm. The PR race is the highlight of the year for many drivers and often being visited by international drivers. A few things make the race stand out from the traditional ones and the use of control tires is the most obvious one. This year two sets of Hot Dice v2 C1 was allowed for everyone. The hardness is close to “super soft” so we all wondered if two sets where going to be enough for an entire weekend of racing? Another great thing about this event is that no race license is required which makes it possible for beginners to try out racing and potentially get hooked. There is a also a class for 1:8 OR electric which is welcomed by the racers around the country.
The event started at Friday with the entire day dedicated to practice. This year we hade drivers from Norway and Denmark attending. Rune Karlsen, Vincent R***r and Oliver Fisher are all very fast drivers looking for a top finish. The track got a quite technical layout with several jump combinations and a whoopie section which provides quite some headache for several drivers. New for this year was the preparation of the dirt. Dustex has been the choice for the past years but now the track was treated with oil. Initially the impression was very good due to the track holding up really well, not getting dusty and seems to be easy on the tires. Most drivers joined already on the Friday afternoon for some laps and BBQ later at night.
Saturday was qualification day. The weather was not like a typical Swedish summer - 30 degrees and no wind made it feel like a vacation in southern Europe. Five rounds of 6 minutes qualification where the two best was counted. With a lot of fast local drivers battling with the international talents is was set for a great race. Fredrick Cederberg was on fire on his home track and Robert Gustafsson, who made a guest appearance at the race from his retired career, was getting faster and faster every round. Mikael Svensson and Dan Carlsson also showed that they were not going to settle for anything less than a win. Rune Karlsen from Norway also did great in qualification. At the end of the day we could see Robert Gustafsson with the TQ shortly followed by Lucas Westerlund and Fredrick Cederberg.
After the qualification it´s was time for the highlights of the day – 40+ final, Junior final and Dash for Cash. In the junior final it was all about Vincent R***r and the up and coming local hero Lawe Tellander. After twenty minutes of intense racing Vincent was crowned the junior champion. It´s always nice to see the youngsters go full send since we all know next year they are going to be even faster. The 40+ final, which is the real race of the weekend for many drivers, was won by Rune Karlsen followed by Mikael Svensson and Per Karlsson. It´s always nice to see the old men go full send even though we all know next year they are not going to be faster.
Next up and last heat of the day was Dash for Cash. All attending riders payed 50 SEK and the winner was about to take it all. 11 riders on the grid meant 550 sek for the winner. After 20 minutes of full mayhem it was Lucas Westerlund who could go and collect the cash. This was a very fun way to end a very serious day of racing and should be a part of all big races.
During all of the day the 1:8 electric guys where running there race in a reedy race format. That meant no traditional qualification, just straight up racing. We could clearly tell that a lot of the drivers in the electric class was new to racing and seemed to find the track a bit too challenging. Broken cars and frustration on the drivers stand in most of the heats. But they all seemed to have a good time and we can hope they liked it enough to attend another race later on. On top of the list in the electric class after the Saturday was the young talent Lucas Westerlund. Could potentially Robert Hillman, currently in second position, step his came up the next day and take the top position?
Sunday started off with high temperatures and no wind so we all knew it was about to be a long day. Lower finales at the morning and then followed by semi finals. No real surprises and all the hot shots made it to bump up position and a spot in the main final except Rune Karlsen who encountered some technical issues. But it’s not over until its over and the LCQ was about to be an intense final. Top two was going to get the position 11 and 12 in the main final. Now Rune was on fire and took the win followed by Robin Brolin.
This race provides a lot of track time for everyone and even more for some. An extra feature of the race is the b final. All drivers from the semi finals who not made the main final was given one last chance to make it in a 30 minute long race. The winner was about to be the “lucky 13” and make the last spot in the main final. And the winner was yours truly, Daniel Tengvall.
The main final was a 50 minute long race and it came down to how could keep the focus in the summer heat. Everyone looked exhausted even before the start. And once again Lucas Westerlund showed everyone that his is at the top of his game with a win three laps ahead of Mikael Svensson. Rune Karlsen was the third guy on the podium after one hell of a comeback from the beginning of the day.
Do I need to mention that Lucas also won the electric class?
So after three days on the track everyone packed up their stuff to head home. The conclusion? The track help up amazingly well. The oil prepped track created no dust – some used the same air filter for 4 liters of driving. Two sets of tires where just right on this track and some drivers even saved the second set to use for another race. Procircuit Challenge is really the highlight of the year with an amazing atmosphere, great organization and a format that lets everyone get a lot of track time. A good mix of racing and laughter.
Photo: Mattias Noren
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