Timur time

Isachsen gets a warning. Enerberg and Leppihalme lead classes.

The first qualifying heat ended with Ludvig Hunsbedt snatching a last lap victory from Sverre Isachsen, the two Norwegians making contact as Isachen emerged from the Joker Lap and Hunsbedt, on the standard course stood his ground. The bump broke the front suspension of Isachsen’s Focus and left him easy prey for the following pack. At the end of the race Isachsen abandoned his car in the track and marched back to the officials’ office where he argued with race director Slaven Dedić , hurling abuse at him when Dedić refused to penalise Hunsbedt. Instead it was Isachsen who was judged at fault and who received an official warning for dangerous driving on the exit of the Joker Lap.

Whether Isachsen would have been fastest had he won the race is doubtful, Hunsbedt may have lost a little in the incident but not as much as the 2.5s that, in sixth place, lay between him and Timur Timerzyanov who won set fastest time, 1.5s up on Frode Holte. An inspired Andy Scott won his heat and placed third, Jos Kuijpers also showing well to take fourth place.

The grids for the TouringCar and Super1600 heats were shuffled after the timed practice results were ammended; three TouringCar drivers and seven Super1600 racers each having three-seconds added to their times for ‘presenting themselves too late at the starting grid’.

The penalties made little difference in TouringCar where Lars Øivind Enerberg won yet again, this time 2.3s faster than Roman Castoral with Per Magne Røyrås, Derek Tohill and Anton Marklund next up. Koen Pauwels retired from the heat after a clash with Lars Rosendahl, the latter then losing his time when the scrutineers judged the rear wing on his Fiesta to be outside of the rules.

The practice penalties made a greater difference in Super1600 where Stanislav Šusta suddenly found himself fastest. The Czech was unable to translate the advantage into a real benefit in the first heat where Jussi-Petteri Leppihalme set fastest time and was 0.5s ahead of Ulrik Linnemann, Clemens Meyer and points leader Andreas Bakkerud. Dutch racer Peter Vingerhoets was on his best form and placed fifth, just ahead of Russian newcomer and 2009 European Autocross Champion Vadim Makarov who impressed in his first start.

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