Picture: Johnny Loix
Second World RX competition in Lydden Hill, England, lined up a record grid with 37 Supercars. During the first day, there were mixed weather conditions with sun and rain. Ramona, who gained big respect in Portugal with her fast starts, didn’t succeed to get off the grid that fast this time. ”I had problems with the installation of the launch control revs” Ramona said. Two qualifying heats were driven at Sathurday and Ramona became 4:th and 2:nd in the two heats. “I was very unsatisfied. We have not had opportunity to test on wet surface before and struggled with the settings of the car. I lost too much time, and in this starting field everything is all abut tenth of a second. You must not do any mistakes at all” Ramona says. She dropped down to a 25:th place after Sathurdays race.
The team made big chassise adjustments before Sundays’ race, which made big difference. ”It was like driving a totally different car and I culd push much harder” Ramona says. Ramona were at second place at the last qualifying heat but got puncture which caused a half-spin in the joker lap, and costed her a lo t of time. This mistake made her drop down to 30:th place overall.
“My goal was to make it to the semi final as I did last competition, so I’m of course disappointed with the result. The positive thing is that we finally found good settings, and that the lap times were improving. This was the first time for me on his track and with this conditions, and sometimes you need to accept that you don’t find the right settings and speed at once. After all, I’ve got valuable experiences from this weekend that I will take with me to next race” Ramona says. This time, Ramona was not the only driver in a Saab, Her team mate Henning Solberg also drove a Saab 9-3 Supercar for Team Eklund, and that made a good reference. Last heat Ramona were 0.5 seconds per lap after Solberg. ”Obviously there are more speed in the car, so the important thing for me is to get more experience and tests behind the Saab wheel” Ramona says. Henning made a strong driving and reached semifinal. In he semi he were at 4th position, but broke a suspension arm and didn’t qualify for the Final.
For results, go to www.rallycrossrx.com . Next competition is in Norway in three weeks.