eerste race gereden. 15 cautions op 150 ronden. keer geramd. 5de keer was het terminaal en liep de motor steeds warm.
verslag van escors.racesimcentral.com
Quote:
PHOENIX, Arizona - The ESCORS Winter Heat opened the 2003 European Challenge Series with a bang, mostly of car hitting car and car hitting the wall! The cost to the teams in repairs can only be imagined. The off-season had obviously affected the drivers. One disappointed man was Eric Rawson who, despite his Comet Racing Team pit crew working overtime, was unable to make qualifying. Michael Franke was also unable to make the race when his private jet had to make a diversionary landing due to engine problems.
Qualifying got off to a blistering pace with Hendrik Gerhardt 's Ford taking the Mindware.be Pole Award by only 0.08 of a second from Sakari Aaltonen with Sharon Cullen only 0.148 seconds behind him.
Then at last to the roar of the fans the first race of the 2003 European Challenge Series rolled out to take the green flag and the race was under way. 150 laps later, after 5 lead changes, Sakari Aaltonen crossed the line to become 2003 first winner only half a second in front of Stephane Dirand in 2nd place. Stefan Sigwarth finished in third.
Pole sitter Hendrik Gerhardt was a contender for a top place until his engine let him down with only 39 laps to go. Dave Holden clawed his way his way from 13th on the grid 4th by lap 36 only to have mechanical trouble put him into 16th spot and 2 laps down. He still managed to finish a creditable 11th. Others having problems were: Lee Ward who after contact with the wall lost vision due to a crumpled hood and then lost more time trying to get his car into his pit bay; Mike Hogg with a damaged car early on; Denis van Beek who retired after an accident; Victor van Eck with gearbox problems; Stijn Claessens retired after accident.
So the end of the first race. As the teams pack their cars away, they will be already thinking of next week's Auto Parts 200 at Daytona. See you there, race fans.
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