Skatteboe and Skaar win as Nordic Aquila Formula 1000 visited Denmark
It was an intense weekend when Aquila Formula 1000, the Nordic region’s premier entry-level series in formula car racing, was run outside Sweden’s borders at the Danish Ring Djursland.
After three eventful races, Andreas Skatteboe has strengthened his lead in the overall championship – while junior Leonél Skaar won and advanced in the Swedish Junior National Championship standings.
Qualifying took place on Saturday morning, where many drivers had difficulty finding free laps. It was championship-leading junior Linus Stjernelund who did the best and took pole position, ahead of Oscar Mellstig and Skatteboe.
In Race 1, it was Skatteboe who took command and drove home the victory ahead of Mellstig and Skaar, while Stjernelund was forced to retire after 13 laps. Sunday’s first heat – Race 2 – offered the most intense final battle of the weekend, with three drivers crossing the finish line within three tenths of a second. Skaar won, only 0.055 seconds ahead of Skatteboe, with Mellstig close behind in third.
In the final race, Skatteboe regained first place, followed by Skaar and Stjernelund – who thus gained important points after an otherwise difficult weekend. Mellstig rounded off a strong weekend by being on the junior podium in all three races.
“It was a really good weekend, but I’m not really happy with qualifying where I had a lot of traffic. I was still able to qualify third, and the races were very hectic – but I managed to win two of them. Of course a little unhappy with second place in Race 2, but I built up a decent gap in the championship so the weekend was definitely successful,” says Skatteboe.
“What a weekend! After a tough qualifying with traffic, we took P4 on the last lap. I fought hard in Race 1 but lost P2 on the last lap after a bit of trouble with the yellow flags. But I came back with a lot of fights and took the victory in Race 2 and ended the weekend with a solid P2. Lots of action and we had a lot of fun,” says Skaar.
With a total of 618 points, Skatteboe leads the overall championship, 88 points ahead of Stjernelund (530) and 116 ahead of Mellstig (502). Both are still mathematically in contention but it would take a complete miracle for either of them to overhaul Skatteboe’s points lead during the final weekend. Skaar climbs to fourth place (428), ahead of Gustafsson (376) and Lindholm (363).
The Swedish Junior National Championship is topped by Linus Stjernelund on 530 points, but the lead has shrunk by more than half from the start of the weekend: Mellstig has closed the gap from 61 points down to 28 and is second with 502 points, and Skaar is a new third on 428. Gustafsson (376) and Lindholm (363) are still in the fight for the medals.
In the Rookie Championship, Stjernelund is crowned champion, laiming the title with one race weekend to go. Albin Gustafsson and Gustav Berglund are the favorite to take two remaining medal postions.
In the Senior Championship, the title is also already clear – Skatteboe is champion with 618 points. Behind him, Kalle Svensson, Johan Varland, Celina Hessman and Michael Karpers are fighting for the remaining medals.
Now all that remains is the finale of this year’s season – September 26–28 at Falkenbergs Motorbana, where this year’s championship will be decided.
Links:
Qualifying Results
Race 1 Results
Race 2 Results
Race 3 Results
Championship tables
Press photos from the competition weekend at Ring Djursland. Photos: Kim Gripping
