Blåkläder F.O on HELLA in all its glory
We think it is safe to say that the 1. round in the Icelandic Championship was a total success. The whole day went according to plan. No hiccups, interruptions nor failures. First we can address the amazing people behind the competition, Flugbjörgunarsveitin á Hellu (Hella’s Volunteer Rescue Team). Throughout the years they have been hosting these competition and are they quite popular among the public. Their team work is admirable and their dedication is applauding. The race started at 11am Saturday May 13th according to the schedule and they were right on time throughout the day. With 18 contestants in Unlimited and Street Legal class everything went so smoothly. Spectators from all over the country gathered on the race day and has it been a while since we saw this many audience on our event. Over 3200 spectators were present to witness the spectacular events that occurred on that particular Saturday, like the glorious come-back of the legends: Árni Kópsson and Ragnar Skúlason along with newbies Elías Guðmundsson and Birgir Sigurðsson.
First we can address the unlucky ones that could not race but were registered, Haukur Einarsson and Guðbjörn Grímsson. Haukur has been building a new car for the last months and unfortunately he and his team weren’t able to finish polishing the details before race day. They deemed it impossible at 5am Saturday morning. Guðbjörn Grímsson showed up with Katla Turbo on race day however when he took her out for a test drive the transmission started acted up and unfortunately he had to fall out of the race.
Guðmundur Ingi Arnarsson, Atli Jamil, Geir Evert Grímsson, and Magnús Sigurðsson were battling for the first place all the way to the finish, but at the end of the day Guðmundur Arnarsson on THE LION took the gold home (1886p) with Magnús Sigurðsson on CUBE only 307 points behind him (1579p) and Elías Guðmundsson 3rd with 1566 points total.
–HELLA RESULTS TRACK BY TRACK–
One of the most memorable part of the day was Gestur J Ingólffson‘s stunt in the Time Track (4. Track) where he lifted his front wheels up in the air and went full throttle onward to get the best time. He did however not get the best time in that course but for that brilliant stunt he took home the title “BEST IN SHOW” and ended in 8th place at the end of the day.
We cannot go through this article without mentioning our good friend and legend, Árni Kópsson and his amazing come-back after his engine failure in USA last autumn. He made a memorable act when he Hydroplaned over the famous river of Hella at the speed 84 km/h, almost breaking the world record Guðbjörn set in 2014 but was 2-3 km/h short. Guðbjörn was very pleased when Bessi Hressi (the MC) announced the speed Árni conquered on the river, not yet has anyone broken that record.
Another legend came back to life but he competed in Street Legal Class with great dramatic effect. His name is Ragnar Skúlason and was he known for his mental driving skills back in the day. On Hella he showed them how to drive and did it well… until it came to the Time Track. He was on great time until he manged to roll the car over in mid-track which cost him his lead but ended in 2nd place after the race.
Of course there were many other that participated on Hella, Elías Guðmundsson on Rodeo who too everybody by surprise with this driving skills, Atli Jamil showing the rest that the racing-fuel runs through his veins, Ingólfur and his balanced driving and of course the newbie in the crew, Birgir Sigurðsson on General Doctor. All of them and more put on a GREAT show for audience.
–Icelandic Championship RESULTS–
We thank you all for the weekend at Hella and we hope to see you all in the next round in the Icelandic Championship is on Stapafell 27th May. There we’ll see who are truly battling for the title ICELANDIC CHAMPION.