Last weekend, I made my way to the opening of the Baltic drift season in Estonia. In my first Baltic level PRO class competition, I won both- in the qualification and in the final race.
I drove in the Kehala Ring, in the north of Estonia, about two years ago in the Latvian Drift Cup ProAm class, therefore I went to this competition with already some experience of the particular track. Friday's training was not easy, because the car lacked grip on the asphalt, and after contact with one of the competitors, the geometry of the wheels was knocked out of place.
We realized that there was a lack of grip and, consequently, speed, so we started thinking about what to do and change. We devoted a lot of time to it both in the evening and in the morning of the next day, but in the end, by changing the shock absorbers and springs, we found the right regulations for the day of the competition.
The first qualifying run was held in still dry conditions, where i tried my best and managed to get almost the maximum rating - 96 points. It rained during the second run, and although the other drivers improved their points, none of them approached the bar imposed by me before. Accordingly, this meant winning the qualification and automatic entry into the TOP 8 .
The final rides promised to be exciting, but at the same time difficult, because the level of adhesion to the asphalt on the drying track changed with each entry. An additional challenge in these tandems was the narrow track configuration, which required precise driving in both the leading and following runs.
The track was so technical that if you didn’t initiate the way that you’re supposed to then basically the rest of the track wouldn’t click together.
In the TOP 8 , I was faced by the Lithuanian Valdas Vindžigelskis, who had beaten my compatriot Rolandas Bērziņš in the TOP 16. As I was the first in the qualification, I had to lead on the track. Mid track I made a small mistake by getting too close to the curb and slipping off track with one wheel, and that’s when I knew that had to push to the limits on my chase run.
I succeeded, but it was not enough to clear the mistake of the first run, and the judges decided to drive OMT.
During the second tandem run, I tried all my best, and won this run. The semi-final was followed by an unexpectedly fierce battle with the Estonian Alan Latta. However, in the first semi-final race he was unexpectedly close, so in the chase position I pushed everything out of myself, trying to catch him. It was a good run and I reached the final accordingly.
The final promised to be very intense, with my new teammate and one of the strongest Baltic drifters, Lithuanian Benediktas Čirba, who has proven himself in European level competitions. I was not afraid of the loud surname and layed down a good lead run. When changing roles, it was not easy for me to accompany Čirba either, however, the Lithuanian made a significant mistake when entering the judges' restricted area. As a result, I got my first victory in the PRO level competition, concluding a great debut weekend in the Baltic Drift Championship. Although it is not a clean win I’ll take it but hopefully we will manage a clean win in the next race 😎
28 сен 2024
