The drivers competing in the 9th round of 2009 ERC have finished their Saturday's racing with first heats. Division 2 was won by Guino Kenis (BMW 120), division 1A is led by Mats Lysen, and Andreas Eriksson set the pace in division 1.
Division 2
The second of the two division 2 races was far more interesting. Lukasz Zoll had problems right after the start and dropped down to the last position, but worked his way back to finish first. The first leader, Patrick Mertens spun on the third corner and was no longer a win contender. Jos Sterkens grabbed second place at the very last corner, surpassing Knut Ove Borseth. Though Zoll won his race, he was slower than Guino Kenis overall.
Division 1A
Ildar Rakhmantulin won his race after a fierce battle with Andreas Bakkerud. Other runs were won by Johan Larsson and Mats Lysen. Lysen (who is the youngest in the contenders' pack) set the pace in division 1A overall, being almost 3.5 seconds quicker than Johan Larsson.
Division 1
Pavel Koutny (Ford Fiesta) won his race after battling with Tony Bardy (Opel Astra). Gyorgy Fodor (Toyota Carina) was forced to retire after damaging the suspension.
The second race was won by Per Eklund (Saab 9-3) who led from start to finish. Rene Munnich was the casualty in this heat, damaging the steering in his Skoda Fabia. Andreas Eriksson (Ford Fiesta) was fastest in his run, winning with Morten Bermingrud (Citroen C4) and Stig-Olov Walfridsson (Renault Clio).
The last race was surely the most dramatic of the day. Sverre Isachsen (Ford Focus) had an early lead, which he gave away to Kenneth Hansen (C4) on the second lap. One lap later it started to rain heavily over the Slomczyn track, and the conditions turned very bad. Ole Kristian Nottveit had a rather miserable run, jumping the start at first, and then hitting the barrier while on joker lap. He came last, while the battle for second continued until the very last meters. It was won by Isachsen, who topped Holte's time by only 0.18s.
The complete results of the first heats, as well as the official timed practice can be found in the "Live results" section of the site. The gallery also contains some of the very latest photos from the heats.
The first heats conclude the first day's action in Slomczyn. Sunday's action kicks off with the warm-up at 8:30 AM.
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