Compare and contrast

TouringCar stars are poles apart.

In his first event at what is acknowledged to be a challenging track, TouringCar points leader Lars Øivind Enerberg has spent a relaxed hour between the first and second free practice sessions eating lunch with his team and taking things easy. Across the paddock, defending champion Derek Tohill spent the hour watching as his team beavered away at its Fiesta searching for an electrical fault that halted the car on the grid and cost the Irishman his first laps on the track.

“The problem is that we don’t what happened,” said Tohill, “The car stopped on the grid and it’s fried an isolator but we don’t know why. The earth seems a bit weak and we also changed the starter motor last night; that was preventive maintenance, but perhaps we would have been better to leave it alone.”

While the Irish team toiled, things in the Norwegian camp were much more relaxed. “The track is okay, I will push a bit harder in the second session,” said Enerberg who was second fastest to Koen Pauwels in the first, “It’s gone very well but I’m aware that it can easily change, a small thing could stop everything but so far it’s been great, perfect.”

The Norwegians have even had time to play around a little, adopting model Clara Morgan as their mascot for the weekend – and dreaming that she may come to help wash the car later…

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