Rotax Super 1 Conditions in British Three Sisters at Bounds of Regularity

The British Championship Super 1 in the category Rotax Seniors Max went on with round 5 on the Three Sisters track near Manchester. A Czech racing driver Jiří Forman starting in the English team Protrain was not missing. Unfortunately, heavy torrential rains made the race lottery, some of the heats were cancelled or postponed. The Czech pilot came finally fourteenth in the final drive.

Neither Friday's free practices nor Saturday's morning indicated the weather would play such an important role. The sky was mostly cloudy, the track dry. Jiří Forman was not doing well in the timed practice, and came at the end of the second ten. "We decided to load a bit the gearbox, but it was too much for the engine, and the drives were slow in technical parts. Other parts were fine, nevertheless in this championship just one single tenth - that I finally missed - means to give up hope of being among first ten," explained not too favourable place right the pilot.

The first heat was on the dry, the changed engine worked, so Jiří Forman finished on the 12th position with a better time than drivers ahead. Drive 2 was cancelled after the start due to the pouring rain and postponed to the next day. Sunday was rainy, and the postponed heat was on the wet. Jiří Forman was keeping on around the tenth position after the start and came eleventh, which meant in total the direct qualification for the two final drives, and the start on the 1st grid row instead of the 9th.

The final block was in sunny weather that is on the dry. Jiří made the start of the first final from the outside row, and was moving around the 20th place. Unfortunately, the starting field spread, small groups got formed, so yet his solid performance was not enough to finish on a better place but the 16th. The Czech driver started the second final drive from the 8th row, managed to get to the inside, but did not avoid a multiple collision. He started driving the first lap somewhere around the 22nd position. He, however, was gradually moving ahead thanks to his brave drive and excellent times to single laps, and the checkboard flag witnessed him at the 14th position.

"It seems the races in England are under a spell for me. The problem lies in the timed practices. The local drivers spend on the circuits hosting championships literally every weekend. So in a timed practice they make one lap at minimum, but in such a close race it results in somewhere among the second ten. During the race I am able to repeat - unlike the others who were a bit ahead - the time from the timed practice nearly in each lap, so I am gradually overtaking and trying to get as far as possible, but it is extremely hard due to most drivers' defensive style as they keep their position from the start. It brings no help that I am overtaking and driving one of the fastest times if the final place is not worth. The only way to succeed is to spend in Britain nearly every weekend and test and test. But it is difficult to harmonize it with school, so I am considering whether to try my luck in the British championship next year. But I hate giving up, so we will see", depicted the complicated situation Jiří Forman.