Lasse's slotpage
Kouvola
G-7 Qualifying
Anders Gustafson were the first one below 1,7 with a 1,66 lap. Mikko Eld 1,69 and Lasse Åberg 1,69 came later but it was not until the the last few that anyone went faster than Anders.In the end came Leo Hongisto who with a 1,63 lap top the chart in front of Antti Immonen 1,63.
The bye round did not change the order in the top.
Semi-finals
The top four from each semi-final moved up to the main. To the main went the following drivers, Mikael Silén, Juha Yli-Sipola, Antti Immonen, Leo Hongisto, Jari Portinen, Anders Gustafson, Lasse Åberg, Juho Sippola.Main 1101 laps!!!!!!!!
First heat started and the pace were high. The first six drivers broke the 130 lap barrier. Sixth place drove 132 laps and the leader Juha 139 laps.In the second heat we saw the first 140 heat with Antti on Orange. Juha started well on white but then his car stopped and he went into the pits. He did not find anything wrong but decided to change motor anyway. Lasse also went into the pits with a spun pinion.
In the third heat Leo drove 144 laps. Antti, on white, didn't get the car working and made a track call. White lane had braid up in the bank which caused a shortcut which was the reason why Antti's car did not move. After some discussion it was decided that Juha, who had "found" the problem in the heat before, would get an average of the laps since the track was faulty. The third heat was rerun. Lasse spun a pinion again.
In the fourth heat Mikael were fast driving 142 laps but he did not gain that much ground on Leo since Leo drove 140 laps. Antti, on red, bent the rear axle but drove on with an ill handling car. Lasse hit Antti which cause a damaged gear for Lasse and a broken axle for Antti.
Fifth heat did not se any 140 laps but Mikael's 139 laps against Leo's 132 meant that Mikael now was only two laps behind Leo.
In the sixth heat Leo drove 129 laps on black and Mikael drove 136 on red and Mikael was not up in the lead four laps ahead of Leo.
Anders lost a magnet and his cars smoked but it happened late and he did not lose to much.
In the seventh heat heat Leo turned up the pace and drove 142 laps. He was not alone in the 140 bracket since Jari did a 143 lap heat.
Mikael, in a four lap lead in front of Leo had a bent chassie which he tried to straighten. Mikael heard something strange but the car worked fine. After a minute the gear broke. It happened four times! The plating had probably gone which caused the motor to vibrate which caused the gears to brake.
In the eight Leo had a comfortable lead and could slow down to an easy win but he did not.
Instead he drove yet another 143 lap heat which was more than 10 laps better than anyone else in that heat.
Mikael's gear problem persisted and his mechanic gave up and started to talk about the evenings jacuzzi bath with rental pants on the Silja Line ferry.
In the last two heats Leo drove 285 laps.
Behind Leo it was tight. Juha, who we did not really now were we had due to the average lap which would change his total laps, came home in second place 1058 laps in front of Anders Gustafson 1055 and in fourth Jari Porttinen 1054.
The G-7 winner Leo Hongisto
Summary
Leo Hongisto won this "local" race with 1101 laps which is very impressive for a local Finnish race. This lap record on this track shows that it is a good choice for the World Championship 2005. It also confirms that the tracks works fine which also Stefan Törnfeldt proved in the G-27 qualifying, 1.791. The world fastest time recorded in G-27.We have to mention some other drivers. Juho Sippola, son of "zipper" seen often at races now drove in the main. Outside the main we saw some new faces. Finland has, besides Kimi Räikönnen in F1, several new drivers which did well.
After the race we all were in a hurry to leave the place. The Swedes to catch a ferry which they came late to but not to late. Other had better plans. Jari has just married and he and his wife left the coldness of Finland that evening for the sunny Thailand.
