24/09-2020
Race Report: DIF Danish National Championship 2020
The only DSK organized race of the season would be the DSK-DIF Danish National Championship. This year the race event would take place at the internationally approved Rødby Karting Circuit. The event would be a challenging one for NHR Racing Team, however progress was made through the weekend. Team driver, Nicklas Rasmussen would finish in 14th place in the KZ2 class championship.
Friday – Practice:
During the free practice sessions, the team would try and make up for the extremely limited on-track time the team have had this year. However, problems with the kart setup would take much of the focus during these sessions, and it was only near the end of the day that the team found a decent solution to these issues, meaning that the planed long runs would not be completed.
Saturday – Qualifying:
Before the first morning warm-up session the team would discover an issue with the engine that required fixing before it was able to run. Therefore, the team only managed to complete an installation lap in the second and final warm-up session. With no qualifying practice, the team would get Nicklas out as the first driver in the qualifying session to get a reference lap in clear air. Then after he got his laps in, he would then cool his tires and try and get in line with the other drivers on the track to give it another go. Nicklas would qualify in 18th place out of the 19 drivers, meaning he would start in that position in the heat races.
Saturday – Heat Race 1:
The team felt slightly more optimistic about the race pace of the kart. Nicklas got off to a decent start and would move up a few positions in the opening laps of the heat. The race pace of the kart was consistent but near the end of the heat the balance would go away. Despite of this, Nicklas was able to defend his position and finish the heat in 14th place.
Saturday – Heat Race 2:
In the second heat, Nicklas would once again get off to a decent start, but he was not able to make the most of it because the drivers ahead. The team had tried a setup adjustment to try and keep the balance through the entire race distance, however the overall race pace suffered because of this, and Nicklas would finish the heat in 15th place.
Sunday – Pre-Finale:
The result of the pre-finale would set the grid for the all-important championship deciding finale. Nicklas, starting from 15th place on the grid, would stick with the tires that he qualified on. However, some drivers around him would use their final fresh set of tires to try and make up some positions before the finale. Before the race, the team would finetune the kart setup and Nicklas would go on to have a solid race where he would finish in 14th place.
Sunday – Finale:
The team would fit a brand-new set of tires for the finale for extra performance. Nicklas would get of to a great start and use the fresh tires to the maximum and move up to 11th place during the opening laps. However, the pace was still lacking a bit compered to the midfield drivers and Nicklas would drop a few places as the race went on. Nicklas would finish the Danish National Championship in 14th place.
Nicklas Rasmussen - KZ2 Race Driver:
We expected a difficult event since we have had almost no pre-season testing this year, so we set our expectations accordingly. To be honest I was still hoping for us to be a bit more competitive then we were, and it looks like we have lost a bit of performance compered to last year. Regardless of this we still had a solid event, where we managed the problems we had quite well, with our limited resources taken into account. I would really like to thank the team, especially my mechanic for all the hard work that made it possible for us to compete. I know that this is a challenging time for our little team, but we will keep working hard as we have always done. I would also like to thank GP-Racing Denmark for the fantastic support that they gave us through the weekend.
Watch the action:
"Copyright Photo: Dennis B., Karting i Billeder / www.photo-d.com"
