Rallying Practice Stage
All registered teams were required to take part in the practice stage to show preparedness for the future stages.
The participants total times' were added to provide this table, which serves mostly to familiarize viewers with the teams.
1 Australian Army Motorsports Association Greater ottonna
2 Forest Team Orange Forest Virginia
3 Tjorlish Team Black Tjorl
4 Subaru Do Motorsport Greater ottonna
5 Hospean Blue Team Hospe
6 Tjorlish Team White Tjorl
7 Hospean Green Team Hospe
8 Finmany Gold Angels Finmany
9 Finmany Red Devils Finmany
10 Team Freki Laufeyssen
11 Bluered Energy Rally Team A Octonovem
12 Forest Team Green Forest Virginia
13 Bluered Energy Rally Team B Octonovem
14 Team Geri Laufeyssen
Endurance Racing FP1
Endurance Racing Day One
Free Practice 1 got under way at the National Autodrome in Izio. The earlier rainfall meant the drivers had to contend with a drying track.
Simi Stucker would send Team Hospe's car into the gravel after misjudging his entry into Turn Four.
Team Forest Virginia spun several times on the track and narrowly avoided a pit lane collision with Team Octonovem. This led to a heated exchange of words between Octonovem's Natille Brunner and F. Virginia's Lee Godwin.
However, when the final times were chalked up, Team Forest Virginia would find themselves in p5 with a top time of 1:44:27.
Team Ottonna were fourth with a time of 1:44:05.
Team Hospean Border Islands had a quiet but speedy run finishing p3 with a time of 1:42:64.
Team Laufeyssen and Team Finmany would thrash it out at the top of the standings but Brad Elliot was able to some extra tenths of a second putting Team Finmany on the top step with a time of 1:40:12 as compared to Team Laufeyssen's top time of 1: 41: 04.
1 Team Finmany 1:40:12
2 Team Laufeyssen 1: 41: 04
3 Team Hospean border islands 1:42:64
4 Team Greater ottonna 1:44:05
5 Team Forest Virginia 144:27
6 Team Hospe 1:44:29
7 Team Octonovem 1:45:01
8 Team Tjorl 1:45:09
9 Team Nerrise 1:47: 00
Kart Racing Free Practice 1
Free Practice 1 commenced at the Ozara International Circuit.
Eevi Larsen of Laufeyssen topped the time sheets with a time of 1: 27:08.
Octonovem's Gregory Havirz and Louie Vega rounded up the top three in second and third respectively.
Open Wheel FP1
The Open Wheel free practice session took place at the National Autodrome in Izio. The track surface was mostly dry and the only challenge faced by the drivers was finding the perfect set up.
Endurance Racing FP2
Free Practice Two commenced after the Open Wheel racers had their own free practice session.
All teams set improved times but we saw a new number one as Forest Virginia beat their fp1 time by over six seconds.
Team Nerrise improved their time by three seconds but still brought up the rear. The Hospean Border Islands were the only to not post an improved result posting a slower time than their earlier effort.
Team Octonovem took five seconds off their earlier effort to claim the number two slot. The Tjorlish team also improved their lap time but could only move up two places into sixth.
1 Team Forest Virginia 1:38:21
2 Team Octonovem 1:40:04
3 Team Finmany 1:40:10
4 Team Laufeyssen 1:40:11
5 Team Hospe 1:40:16
6 Team Tjorl 1: 42:12
7 Team Hospean border islands 1:43:20
8 Team Greater ottonna 1: 44: 02
9 Team Nerrise 1: 44:09
Kart Racing Free Practice 2
Hospe's Iris Freed set the early standard with a 1:25:00. Multiple attempts to match this time led to nothing but a stunning late lap by Eevi Larsen put Team on top with a 1:24: 44 with only four minutes left in the session.
Tjorl's Rosemarie Lafrentz rounded up the top three with a time of 1: 25: 04.
Kart Racing Qualifying
After an hour in which many teams rushed to make necessary adjustments to their karts, it was time for Qualifying.
All eyes were on Eevi Larsen and she failed to disappoint, setting an astounding 1: 23: 35 time early in the session. Eleven minutes from the end of the session, however a bevy of faster times rolled in. Octonovem's Louie Vega put himself on provisional pole with a time of 1:23:05, but on the same lap Finmany's Max Grove and Cam Tyrrell brought in near identical lap times of 1:23:02 and 1:23:03. Tjorlish representative Lafrentz also found her stride with a 1:23:00.
It would be Hospe's Iris Freed that would take the times to another level with a 1:22: 71 and claim pole position to deafening applause. The fast lap times kept rolling in, including an improved result from pole favourite Eevi Larsen.
Qualifying Results
1 Iris Freed Hospe 1:22:71
2 Rosemarie Lafrentz Tjorl 1:23:00
3 Max Grove Finmany 1:23:02
4 Cam Tyrrell Finmany 1:23:03
5 Louie Vega Octonovem 1:23:05
6 Eevi Larsen Laufeyssen 1:23:07
7 Cash Bowyer Forest Virginia 1:23:09
8 Gregory Havirz Octonovem 1: 23:11
9 Rochas Okaro Hospe 1:23:14
10 Ismail Amani Nerrise 1:23: 20
11 Anders Andreassen Laufeyssen 1: 23:24
12 Rick Smithy Finmany 1:24:01
13 Matthäus Holgersen Tjorl 1:24:06
14 Natalia Saller Tjorl 1:25:11
15 Mariam Garba Hospe 1:25:14
16 Jari Hansen Laufeyssen 1:25:21
17 Kelean Harvick Forest Virginia 1:26:00
18 Rosco Martin Forest Virginia 1:26:07
19 Mitch Smith Finmany 1:26:11
20 Khadija Shiri Nerrise 1:26:13
21 Andrew Masoumi Nerrise 1:26:14
22 Hansjörg Hermansen Tjorl 1:26:19
Karting Slalom Training Session
The Karting Slalom training session got well under way at the Ozara International Circuit. No times were recorded competitively but all participants seemed well briefed on what would be expected of them.
Open Wheel FP2
Free Practice Two was faced with rainfall which provided a tough time for the drivers. Experience shone through, however as big names Derek "Risky" Busines and Keira Trezeguet proved themselves to be head and shoulders above the rest of the field in the almost treacherous conditions. They traded lap times, shedding several tenths of a second that other drivers couldn't let go off. Ultimately Busines, the star of Team Octonovem took the lead with a time of 1:27:48. Trezeguet's closest effort would only bring her to 1:27:91. While this was enough to send the Hospean crowd into raptures, Evan Edewor found himself in fifth, the young Series 1 star unable to improve upon a 1:30:75, despite having frequented the National Autodrome during his career.
Arechavaleta secured the final spot on the provisional podium, followed closely by Nerrise national, Desdemona Pikeman. Starring performance by the representatives from Tjorl, Holzer and Storstrand put out closely identical performances with Holzer taking the lead by just a tenth of a second. Laufeyssen's Helstrom failed to set a time after putting her car in the barriers on the exit of Turn Five. Teammate, Alf Larson complained about his setup over the radio and never seemed at home in the car. Team Forest Virginia experimented with their setup but seemed worse off for it, posting the slowest times of the session.
1 Derek Busines Octonovem
2 Keira Trezeguet Hospe
3 Sheryl Arechavaleta Octonovem
4 Desdemona Pikeman Nerrise
5 Evan Edewor Hospe
6 Jacob Holzer Tjorl
7 Angela Storstrand Tjorl
8 Mike Smalls Nerrise
9 Jack Chilton Finmany
10 Pato Russel Finmany
11 Lauren Alvira Hospean border islands
12 Daniel Ricciardo Greater ottonna
13 Jacoby Robinson Hospean border islands
14 Mark Webber Greater ottonna
15 Alf Larsen Laufeyssen
16 Kurt Hamric Forest Virginia
17 Jack Bedford Forest Virginia
18 Solveig Helstrom Laufeyssen
Open Wheel Qualifying
After the practice session came Qualifying, the drying track providing very tricky conditions for the drivers. The barriers at the exit of Turn Five got a bit more action as Larsen beached his car on his first lap, bringing out yellow flags. Larsen was able to drive his car back to the pit lane but it will no doubt be a late night for the Laufeyssenian crew.
Larsen was hardly the only driver to have troubles staying on the track as Webber, Alvira, Bedford and Holzer would all find themselves on the grass at various intervals. There was trouble in the Tjorlish garage as Storstrand's car refused to start for the better part of the session, she managed to post a time eventually but would line up fifteenth on the grid. Holzer seemed to have no grip and had his best lap time deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn Eight. Trezeguet's experience with the track paid off as she posted an unbeatable 1:11:16, taking pole position. Octonovem's Derek Busines would pull out all the stops on the final moments of the session but a lap time that would have seen him take pole position was deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 8 leading to chaos amongst the Octonovemian crowd.
1 K Trezeguet 1:11:16
2 D Busines 1:12:01
3 E Edewor 1:14:09
4 D Pikeman 1:14:11
5 S Helstrom 1:14:13
6 S Arechavaleta 1:15:02
7 D Ricciardo 1:15:13
8 L Alvira 1:15:13
9 M Smalls 1:15:14
10 K Hamric 1:15:19
11 M Webber 1:15:19
12 P Russel 1:15:23
13 J Robinson 1:15:25
14 J Holzer 1:15:31
15 A Storstrand 1:16:11
16 J Chilton 1:16:13
17 J Bedford 1:16:56
18 A Larsen DNQ
Hospe will have the statistical edge tomorrow as the pressure will be on Edewor to give Busines enough problems for Trezeguet to break away. There is also the question of if Arechavaleta will be able to make up enough ground to help out her team mate. Pikeman won at this track during the most recent season of Series 1, she has a chance of winning, she will be looking to capitalise on it.
Terrible day for Team Tjorl, their setup absolutely lacked the needed pace but it's too early to rule them out. Helstrom is up front and could potentially podium here but that second Laufeyssenian car will be sorely missed.
An important thing to note is that there were no truly slow times today as the entire field is covered by just five seconds on a track that couldn't decide if it was going to be wet or dry.