The "Grand Prix 2014" held at the Auto24 circuit over the weekend was in many ways an extraordinary event. The most modern circuit in the Nordic countries was home to a large number of powerful machines in various classes, as the event also included the Finnish Championship round in addition to the Estonian and Baltic Championships.
Two long days of racing, combined with a fun-filled stage and concerts, attracted thousands of spectators to the track. Getter Jaani, Hellad Velled and French disco star Ottowan performed for the audience, and the evening culminated in a series of famous hits.
"Together with the EAL Circuit Committee, we were determined to organise a really fun family event, where every member of the family can have something fun to do," says Toivo Asmer, Director of the competition. "While dads got to watch the racing, the little ones could spend time on the trampolines and the women could explore the fairground. We're delighted that we were able to bring the Finnish championship to the venue and offer them a smooth race combined with a good time. We are very pleased that both the event visitors and the competitors from Finland and other countries were satisfied with our organisation."
While the training started on Friday, the official opening of the competitions took place on Saturday and was attended by the President of the Estonian Motor Sports Association Ari Vatanen and the Mayor of Audru Municipality Siim Suursild.
A wide range of competition machines on site
The Porsche GT3 Cup Trophy machines, 15 of which had arrived from Finland, were the first to take to the track.Jukka Honkavuori won both of the two extremely spectacular and close races. Honkavuori also set the fastest lap time of the day, with a time of 1:15.424.
Next up were the BMW 325 Cup cars, this time competing against our northern neighbours in the same class. In total, there were 30 similar cars on the track, for which separate national classifications were held due to the somewhat different technical conditions. Ari Holappa crossed the finish line first, ahead of Kari Aarnio and Marko Rantanen. The first Estonian was Allan Tigane, who was ahead of Enar-Klaus Kunman, who came second this time, and Ruben Lent, who earned his first podium place.
In the second race for BMWs on Saturday, Allan Tigane again won the Estonian race, this time ahead of Mikk Maaten and Enar-Klaus Kunman. The best lap time of the day in the BMW class went to
1:29.044, which was set by Ville Sillankorva of Finland.
The V8 Thundercars, or Camaro class, is essentially silhouette cars that only look like street cars. Saturday's race was won by Finn Jari Nurminen ahead of Swede Frederik Roos and Finn Janel Nurminen. Of the 11 cars in the race, Roos completed the fastest lap of the 3.170 km Auto24 in 1:18.591. However, on Sunday's rain-slicked track, Roos managed to overtake the experienced Nurminen, with Raimo Kesseli third. In the V8 Thundercars class, two Estonians took part on Sunday, with Raivo Tamm finishing fifth and Raivo Hääl sixth.
Among the 12 cars in the Baltic Open class, Arunas Granskas from Lithuania was the fastest on Saturday, as expected, while among the Estonians, Meelis Annus (VW Golf) was the best in fourth place, just 4 seconds ahead of Kaspar Aruve (Lada 2101), who finished fifth. While Aruveel's best lap time for the Estonians was 1:30.631 in his Lada 2101, the Lithuanian Radical's best lap time was recorded as 1:19.931. This is also the reason why after 17 laps of racing, the Lithuanian Granskas was more than a minute ahead of the Estonians. The Lithuanian's lead over his rivals was not as big in Sunday's rain-affected race, but the victory came nonetheless. Estonians Annus and Aruvee finished 6th and 8th respectively.
The Finnish V1600 class machines also had their own race on Saturday, with Erkka Lindstedt winning and setting the fastest lap in his class (1:34.755). Aleksanteri Huovinen was fastest in the Formula Ford class on both days, setting the fastest lap of the day in his class on Saturday (1:17.549).
More forms to come
Compared to previous seasons, the competition in the Formula 1 series has also become more exciting. In the Formula Scandic class, the number of participants has increased not only compared to previous years but also compared to the first round of the season. On Saturday, eight cars were already on the grid for the Estonian Championship.
For the first time in his home country, 16-year-old Ralf Aron won a Formula 1 race, having only just turned the cardan wheel last year. This year, he has been racing in the Formula Renault Northern European Series, where he currently holds 8th place after two rounds. He says there are big differences between the two different series.
"The Great Race 2014" will go down in history as the race in which a young and talented Formula 1 driver took his first ever Estonian Championship victory. Aron started Sunday's race from the best grid position and took a clear victory with one of the fastest laps of the day.
"It was difficult to get used to this formula at the beginning, it's faster and more powerful, there's more grip in the corners, but it's not a problem anymore," said Aron after Saturday's race. Raimo Kulli, who started from the best grid position, led Saturday's race from start to finish, with the battle for the other podium places behind him. Ralf Aron, who started the race in third place, dropped a place in the first corner, but managed to overtake Tõnis Vanaseljas and Antti Rammos to finish second. Rammo finished third. Aron set the fastest lap of the day, 1:12.874, which was also the fastest lap of the day in the absolute standings.
In the semi rain on Sunday, Aron managed to hold on to his lead by a safe margin, while behind him was a thrilling race between Kull and Antti Rammo, who started from third place. Tõnis Vanaselja, who started from the fourth grid position, decided to go for the rain tyres just before the start, but it didn't start to rain heavily and Vanaselja was forced to finish the race in last position.
Vanaselja, who due to the rain tyres and the dry track was sometimes up to 4 seconds slower than the leader Aron, managed to keep Keijo Kaasik behind him for several laps. Kaasik finally pushed past Vanaselja and increased the gap to Vanaselja to a few tens of seconds.
"The Great Race 2014" was the second stage of the Estonian Touring Car Championship. The third round will be held on 12.-13.07. in Alastaro circuit in Finland.
