Race report Rasmus Tobias Callesen 1
Driver: Rasmus Tobias Callesen – Tinglev – Denmark
Race: DHI Cup
Date: 6.-8.1.2012
Track: Indoor – Arena Fyn – DK-Odense
Before the raceDue to my study at the university in Sonderborg I had only been able to do some few practices until just before Christmas. Already on the 25th of December I then went practicing for the DHI Cup. I did several back to back setup tests, and I did for me a radical linkage setup change on the rear uprights, as I now use the inside hole. I know, it’s the standard set up, but as I got my S411, it was too tricky to drive for me. I also went to a different track to do some practice. I was therefore ready to go to the DHI Cup Thursday morning – very early at 5 o’clock. I always had some bad luck at the DHI Cup. My hope was to go for a C main, but every time I went to the DHI Cup, I always got back with a disappointing result. This year I hoped the luck would go my way, and I would get a better result with my GM powered Serpent.
Practice at the raceI was sitting next to Marc Fischer and I compared his and my setup, which was almost identical except for his flex top deck and damper settings. I had tried the flex top deck once but found it gave me too much steering. Friday we had to run 4 practice rounds and 1 qualification round. I ran the first 3 practices with new tires, as the LRP CPX tires are always better after one or two batteries. My Serpent was really good, and I did only some very small changes. All racers would be reseeded for the qualifications after the 4th practice round. My 4th practice round – now on used tires – was meant to be the fast one, but I didn’t manage to put three laps together. Really bad – no rhythm at all. I was again thinking of my bad luck at the previous DHI Cups.QualificationI had to start in group 10 of 13 groups. The first qualification I drove very safe. The car was ok, and as several other drivers tried too much and made mistakes, I did a 22. An ok start for me, and I could sleep calm this night. Saturday we all had to run 3 qualification rounds. In my second round I drove faster and I did a 17. My hope for a C main was now almost secured. In the third round I tried to go even faster, but I did several mistakes. The car was good and some of my lap times were very good. I did a 25. In the fourth and last round I did my fastest run – one lap more than in Q1. Maybe even a B Main I thought, but unlucky to me many top drivers ran their best result in the last round also. Still I did an 18. Race setup was round by round and I had points to start as second in the C main. My first goal was secured.FinalsI had to run the first C main in the Saturday evening. My new goal was now to win the C main. I knew the driver in front of me, and he drives very often “all or nothing”. I had a good start, and just as expected, the driver in front of me did a huge mistake in the first round. I was now in the front – and I stayed there right until the end without any pressure. My lap times were ok and stable – just enough to win the first C main. Second C main was Sunday morning. My goal was to stay behind the driver in front of me and see, what he would do. Unluckily it was me, who did the mistake, as I got a traction roll. I fought me back to the second position just to do same again. Lucky for me the pole setter once again overdrove his car, and I finished second behind another Serpent driver – Michael Nilsson from Sweden. The last C main I would rather forget. My plan was to drive secure and not let Michael Nilsson pass me, as he was the only one to take my overall win from me. But again I had some traction rolls, as I drove my car to hard, which is probably the worst to do. I did a sixth place and Michael Nilsson only a third, which was enough for me to take the win of the C main.Race reportRasmus Tobias Callesen 2AfterwardsFor the first time ever I was happy driving home from a DHI Cup. My Serpent S411 was really good and fast almost the whole time. Only the problems with the traction rolls spoiled my happiness, but many other drivers had the same problems, when the grip got high Sunday. I really enjoyed the three days at the DHI Cup in our team, and my thank goes to Marc for answering many questions.
The next races for me will be some national DRCMU races driving the Sorex 28 tires, which I find a better choice above the LRP CPX tires. I will do some testing especially with the flex top deck. I will try out the differences in the set up to the one from Marc, and then I will do some back to back test of tire additives, trying to find something to avoid the unloved traction rolls.Attached find my set up sheet from the race.Also find some pictures: one of my car, one of me with my car, one from the podium with me and a nice and good looking girl in my arm and one of a part of the Serpent team at the DHI Cup. From the left in front: Marc Fischer and Steven M. Olsen and from the left in back: Rasmus T. Callesen, Michael Nilsson, Nicolai Nielsen and Søren B. Sørensen. Unfortunately some of the other Serpent drivers had left the race at the time as the picture was made. Apologize to those drivers that they are not on the picture, as it certainly wasn’t meant to be.
setup-sheet: Serpent Setup – DHI Cup 2012
RegardsRasmus Tobias Callesen