Karjala Qualifier

F S # DRIVER INTERVAL LAPS LED POINTS STATUS
1 1 16 L Chernov 122.156 16 16* 185 Running
2 4 78 G Maddox -4.02 16 0 170 Running
3 3 69 L Scurry -6.69 16 0 165 Running
4 2 17 D Hetzel -8.64 16 0 160 Running
5 7 73 K Laaksonen -16.86 16 0 155 Running
6 5 18 M Grant -21.85 16 0 150 Running
7 6 64 M Rantanen -22.72 16 0 146 Running
8 10 62 P Yeahi -25.62 16 0 142 Running
9 14 111 G Woodard -R- -30.66 16 0 138 Running
10 16 85 R MacGyver -30.95 16 0 134 Running
11 19 84 S Vincent -31.29 16 0 130 Running
12 15 10 S Warszawski -37.16 16 0 127 Running
13 17 09 D Ivanov -48.53 16 0 124 Running
14 22 48 D Jones -R- -55.65 16 0 121 Running
15 24 72 G Apollou -R- -1:00.48 16 0 118 Running
16 23 36 S Whullen -R- -1:00.85 16 0 115 Running
17 25 01 D Sharp -1:11.86 16 0 112 Running
18 28 37 A Murphy -R- -1:13.29 16 0 109 Running
19 27 29 J Craig -1:15.85 16 0 106 Running
20 21 91 R Jefferies -1:16.16 16 0 103 Running
21 26 20 H Ventola -1:22.15 16 0 100 Running
22 29 53 A Tammerzan -1L 15 0 97 Running
23 30 44 C Lester -1L 15 0 94 Running
24 31 87 F Stoneman -R- -1L 15 0 91 Running
25 20 02 A Makinen -2L 14 0 88 Running
26 11 34 A Lambert -2L 14 0 85 Running
27 33 444 A Tanker -2L 14 0 82 Running
28 12 99 K Buzhin -5L 11 0 79 Running
29 32 95 N Marchankov -7L 9 0 76 Accident
30 8 27 J Schmidt -16L 0 0 73 Accident
31 9 98 B Dollar -R- -16L 0 0 70 Accident
32 14 90 M Abyelin -16L 0 0 64 Accident
33 18 029 R Nelson -R- -16L 0 0 64 Accident

Leonid Chernov started on the pole and... just kinda ran away with this one. Lap 1 had a predictable big smash in Turn 3 when Jan Schmidt made contact with Greg Woodard while running 4-wide with Bobby Dollar and Richard Dean MacGyver. He went hard into the tires along with Dollar, and their days were done. Just behind them, Kiril Buzhin, Robert Nelson, Aleksi Makinen, and Andy Lambert forced the issue four-wide with Mikhail Abyelin (who I had to add to the results for some reason) sticking his nose in as well. All five cars went into the tire barriers and recieved damage (with the exception of Makinen), with Nikolas Marchankov also piling in.

Lap 6 and Aleksi Makinen is running a shocking 11th and is holding off Stringfellow Vincent and Stanislaw Warszawski for the position, when Kiril Buzhin and his lapped ill-handling car spin out in front of him in the Dwyer S. Makinen has nowhere to go and piles straight into him, ending a promising run.

On lap 8, Daniel Sharp is trying to get around the (now damaged) car of Makinen when he too gets loose in the Dwyer S and throws it off. He save the car and comes across the track... right into the side of Ryan Jefferies. Both cars go into the sand trap and receive damage, but continue on. On lap 11 Heikki Ventola does the same thing while running 19th, but hits no-one and continues on fine.

On lap 13, Nikolas Marchankov (who is three laps down legitimately) goes through the Dwyer S slowly on the inside to let the leaders by. Along comes David Hetzel screaming through, and he slides the car into the right-front quarter panel of the 95 car. The 95 goes head-on into the wall, slides across the track, and is hit by Michael Grant. Grant goes sliding into the sand trap, but recovers. Marchankov's car would break down, and his day would end.

As mentioned before, Chernov absolutely dominated, with Maddox and Scurry rounding out the podium. Kristoffer Laaksonen makes his return to the series driving for the Altoros Gessler GP, the team he drives for in the WSCC, and Stanislav Warszawski makes another race, albeit barely. Greg Woodard makes his first start in a couple races, as does Michael Grant and Pjotr Yeahi. All three Retro80 Racing cars are on the grid for the first time in a while.


Please discuss.

Robert Nelson on lap 1 wreck.

Robert Nelson wrote:When will these f***s learn to not go four wide.

Nikolas Marchankov: Not good day for Team Russia. The 17 come in and hit me right off track. * pauses to think of English translation* Not good. Not fair driving at all. Not fair for me, Aleksandr or 95 team. Bad day for all of us.

Casey Lester: This doesn't really surprise me...