Difficult weekend for Iceboys Racing at Most

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Credits: Nina Weinbrenner / Threewide

Penalty takes podium from Pöntinen, brake problems for Tuomaala

Henri Tuomaala and Tuomas Pöntinen have participated in the fourth round of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series in Most, Czech Republic. After a good start, it seemed to be a promising weekend.

The weekend of Pöntinen, who starts in the EuroNASCAR 2 had been ruined by crashes and a penalty given by the stewards. In his qualifying, the 22-year old driver had the fifth fastest lap time, but after qualifying, luck was no longer on his side. After the start of the first race, Pöntinen was involved in an incident and lost parts of the body work.

“In the first chicane someone hit me in the back and I lost my bumper. The car was impossible to drive in those fast curves. In the last lap I dropped from P5 to P9. Pretty annoying, as besides that I had a good ‘flow'”, Pöntinen said after race 1.

Credits: Nina Weinbrenner / Threewide

Pöntinen was able to put himself on P7 for the second race with his damaged car. After the start he gained some positions and soon found himself in a good position to fight for the podium. Different incidents brought the safety car back on track. Pöntinen crossed the finish line as third, but lost his position due to a decision of the stewards. According to the decision, Pöntinen had been overtaking under safety car. With the penalty, he found himself at the back of the field.

“This decision is inexplicable. We’ve been driving single file and I could clearly see the green lights, but according to the race director I did wrong when I accelerated. We did protest, but it was rejected. Pretty confusing, when rules change during a race”, Pöntinen said.

The weekend of Henri Tuomaala, who starts in the EuroNASCAR Pro, started with P14 in the qualifying. As he was aiming for a top 10 result, the driver from Hyvinkää was pretty disappointed.

“The rear was moving a lot, I didn’t really have the trust needed to give everything with the new tires. The differences are small, but that surely was my own fault”, Tuomaala admitted after the qualifying.

Credits: Nina Weinbrenner / Threewide

In the first race, the 33 year old Tuomaala was involved in a crash in the first chicane and found himself at the back of the field. As a consequence of the accident, the car lost power for a moment and the gap between Tuomaala and the rest of the field increased further. With the damage to the car, he decided to rather focus on a fast lap and a better starting position in the second race.

“A lot happened after the start, someone got turned around, I wasn’t able to break and avoid contact, while at the same time someone hit my rear. The main power switch turne off during all this mess and while wondering about it, we lost time. Some fiberparts started smoking so bad, that I had to come to the pits. In the end I tried to go for a fast lap, but I didn’t quite manage it”, Tuomaala said after driving the seventh fastest lap time.

The second race of the Pro division on Sunday was just like the cherry on the cake. Tuomaala was involved in a crash and lost his rear bumper. As if that wouldn’t have been enough, the front brakes didn’t work right and Tuomaala had to come to the pits. In the end, he crossed the finish line on P21.

Credits: Nina Weinbrenner / Threewide

“It was a pretty crappy weekend. On such a fast track it was awful to drive without bumper and brakes that didn’t work well”, Tuomaala said.

The EuroNASCAR continues in Belgium in the beginning of October.

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