Pärnu Rata-SM took a pre-start on Wed, when some of the teams had booked the circuit for testing. The full show started yesterday.
Wed the only FF team running was that of Janne Knuutinen, who got the first feel for the track. On Thu most other FF teams followed suit, and track times improved rapidly over the day. Weather being perfect (sunny, some wind) the day was successful for most, however we also saw some bad luck. Test sessions ran FR's F3's and FFs simultaneously, and Koivisto's F3 hit Ville Kivinen in the left rear wheel, pushing him out and guaranteeing some work for Söderman team lead mechanic Olli Kaurala. The car looked good last nite, so we will see Ville on track again today.
Pärnu is a simple track from its profile, but the surface consists of multiple very different kinds of asphalt (and some other material...;-). This, together with the surface roughness makes finding the optimal line a bit tricky. The track is fast, seems FFs are spending about 55...60s on the track, F3s going under 50s.
Our team was pleased with the day, in four sessions we got our time from the initial 62s down to 57,7s. One little spin at the end of the day, but otherwise a great day! Testing continues today, with qualification and two races on Sat and Sun. Today there are 4 sessions for each class, scattered across the day.
