Jiří Forman Within An Inch of Qualifying in Rotax International Open for World Final

The Saturday of 27th October 2012 in the Rotax International Open was devoted to qualifying heats; Jiří Forman, a Czech pilot, came with grips with them, winning twice, and once coming second! In total, he will start tomorrow from the first row on the grid, first in such a big race!

What welcomed racing drivers on the track in the morning was temperatures not rising over 7°C above zero, so the warm-up was definitely not warming-up, vice versa pilots were getting out their machines pretty numb with cold. Prior to the final part was the so-called Second Chance heat in the Rotax Max Seniors category, which means the race entered by those who had not finished among directly qualified 28 drivers after the qualifying heats. Six of them then qualified to complete the field of 34 finalists.

The semi-final brought amazing battles. Keeping the second position during first laps, Jiří Forman started well, then, however, was gradually losing and got to the fourth place, which he managed to keep until the finish thanks to his fighting spirit. "Unfortunately, the throttle stopped working in lap three, so the engine was stalling, and not fully running on the straight either. It was hard to keep fourth,"explained after the race Jiří Forman.

Our driver started the final from the second row on the grid, first driving third. Soon, an eight-member leading group started being formed, positions were changing by each lap. Jiří was driving well, got to the second position four laps before the finish; it seemed hopeful. However, the home straight was crucial; Jiří was clearly losing. The whole group got behind him just at the end of the straight three laps before the finish, and he immediately found himself on the sixth position; moreover the field in front spread thanks to this manoeuvre. It seemed hope would fade, nevertheless Jiří battling hard managed to overtake two drivers; he could not finish better but fourth, unluckily.

"Just a bit and I would qualify for the World Final, a pity. If we had managed to tune the engine like yesterday I would have qualified. On the straight and when coming off bends the engine did not worked like it should have. But life goes on ... Evidently, I am able to drive among absolute European top, which gives me hope for next year," summed up a bit unlucky but excellent result Jiří Forman.

The final race results: 1st James Singleton (GBR), 2nd Harry Webb (GBR), 3rd Philip Morin (SWE), 4th Jiří Forman (GBR), 5th Dave Blom (NED), 6th Oliver Myers (GBR), 7th Nathan Harrison (GBR), 8th Sean Babington (GBR), 9th Ash Hand (GBR),10th Ukyo Sasahara (JPN).