A great weekend racing event marked by bad luck |
- 13. 8. 2006, Most - Coincidence, lucky chance and, sometimes, even misfortune also play a big part in the racing driver's life. This became evident in the town of Most at the 2006 Race Car Challenge, when the INTERNET EXPRES Prima Team had to deal with several unlucky incidents. As a consequence of technical troubles and collisions, the number of points gained in this round of Division D4 of the touring car Racing Circuit Championship was considerably lower than assumed. The first problem occurred as early as in the qualifying sessions, when Michal Matějovský with the Alfa Romeo 147 GTA Cup, No. 42, was ruthlessly hit by one of his rivals in the course of the practice for the three-hour race. Its door broken away and wheel suspension damaged, the crumpled Alfa ended up next to the track, and a recovery vehicle had to be used to bring it to the pits. Consequently, Michal had to start from the end of the grid. Mirek Forman and Juraj Šedivý with the AUDI A4 ST took the sixteenth spot of the grid, and the crew of Urban, Lepka, Forman, and Šedivý, with the other Alfa 147 car, No. 43, claimed the nineteenth spot. The three-hour endurance race held on Saturday afternoon was very hard, in particular due to the really great number of participating drivers as the results attained in this racing event in Most were to be included in the standings of the Polish Championship and in the standings of the Racing Circuit Championship of the Central Europe Zone; more than fifty cars were on the starting grid. It was straight on lap fifteen that an unlucky failure occurred: the differential bearings of the yellow-and-silvery painted AUDI broke down, and Mirek Forman and Juraj Šedivý had to retire from the race. However, they helped out the crew of Standa Lepka and Jan Urban afterwards by taking turns with them at the wheel of the Alfa 147 (No. 43); in the end, this car claimed fourth place in the category up to 2000 cc. The other Alfa, No. 42, with Jirka Nykodým and Michal Matějovský at the wheel, retired from the race several minutes before the finish. Despite that, this car was classified fifth in the category up to 2000 cc. On Sunday, the circuit saw the sprint race, which got complicated owing to the sudden rain. Jan Urban ended up right away on lap two, in a large congestion, after being ruthlessly hit by several of his rivals. And, Juraj Šedivý, with the Alfa 156 S2000, had to retire from the race because of the broken axle shaft. The race was interrupted, and nearly fifty remaining drivers were given the time to fit the wet weather tyres. After the re-start, in the first lap, when approaching the slow-down curve, Mirek Forman's AUDI was hit and turned off the direction completely. In the end, however, Mirek Forman crossed the finish line, literally flying level; he claimed the third place in the category up to 2000 cc. In order to have the full picture, let's add that Jirka Nykodým, in the same category, took the tenth place with the last of the yellow-painted cars, that is, with the Alfa 147, No. 42. When making up a list of all the damage items, technical manager Roman Seidl observed: 'We have probably encountered all the possible unlucky situations. The result is the several points that we have gained and a lot of work for the mechanics, who will have to work hard for many days. The only thing we can hope for is that we have overcome all the possible unfortunate incidents at one stroke, and everything will become better in this season's outstanding championship events.' |
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