Mario Sowka wins Austrian EP Rd1

The first round of the Austrian Electric Touring car Nationals were held recently at the RMC track in Vienna. Practice took place on Friday and Saturday under dry conditions and this allowed the drivers present plenty of time to perfect their setups for qualifying. In the qualifying it was local Xray driver Mario Sowka that claimed the pole position for the 3 leg A-main, in front of European buggy Champion Hupo Honigl driving a Tamiya while HB racer Thomas Pumpler took 3rd. In the final it was Pumpler that took the first leg, after Sowka made a mistake and dropped to 5th, but recovered to 2nd by the finish. In the 2nd leg it was Hupo that was leading early on but a small mistake and Mario was through to the lead and despite some more pressure, including a collision, the Xray driver could take the win. The final leg saw a collision early on between Mario and Hupo and this dropped both out of contention and allowed Pumpler into the lead, but he was followed closely by Patrick Gollner who could take the lead and leg win after a small mistake by Thomas and this result gifted the win the Mario Sowka, with Thomas Pumpler claiming 2nd and Hupo gaining the final podium spot.

Source: Action Line [actionline.at]