Charlotte Haegermark's blog

It has been a while since my last update so now it?s time for a new one.

I have been quite busy with having two tests done. The first on in a Formula Renault 2.0 and the second in a Volvo C30 Racing. It was the first time for me racing cars on track with the Volvo, but really a great day! We were three drivers sharing one car during the
5 h race.

The sponsor work for next year is on and soon I?m going on the first couple of meetings.

Until then, I have a new exciting project to work with… involving indoor gokarting.

Have been in Stockholm and Malm? this weekend having two events for my sponsor Applicate. It was two very good days and I thank you participants for fighting so hard during the races.

I really like doing this kind of events and showing my appreciation for my sponsors, it?s very important.

Tomorrow I?m off to the race track Mantorp to work at the Swedish Touring Car Championship Final, it?ll be exciting to see who?s gonna be the champion!

And remember – Only 5 days left of the Grand Prix Shootout voting! So please go to http://www.driverdb.com/drivers/16911/ and put your vote on me.

11th-13th of September the biggest karting race in Scandinavia was held. 35 drivers in the fastest class, KZ2, were present at the track. The conditions were dry and sunny all weekend, but temperatures fell quickly after the sun set. I had overall a good race despite problems with the tire pressure in the Final.

On Saturday the time qualification was run over 7 minutes.

I set my fastest lap on the second lap and normally it comes in fifth or sixth lap, so the tire pressure was not set right.

In the afternoon we had two qualifying heats with 24 drivers in each. I finished on places 11th and 12th which meant that I went straight to the Final.

In the Final I got place 15 on the grid of 35 drivers in total, and crossed the line on 17th place.

I noticed already in the first curve that would be 20 tough laps, because I barely had any grip at all. I lost some places in the starting phase due to that and it was very frustrating not being able to run as fast as I wanted.

I haven?t driven almost anything on these hard tires in Sweden, because we have others in the German Championship, which is softer. Therefore, it has been difficult to set the optimum pressure over the weekend at various conditions on the track. However, I?m pleased to have had so many fights and made much overtaking.

The race was the last of the season for me and now I have some tough months working hard on sponsorship to secure a budget for next season. I have some hopes for changing into cars.

I want to thank all my sponsors for their support this season. Without them, I couldn?t complete all races.

I only have one race left this season, sad but true. This time I?ll be driving on Swedish ground, in my home town Gothenburg. The biggest karting event in Scandinavia is taking place on 12th of September. There are about 50 drivers registered in KZ2 and that?s quite unusual for races in Sweden. So obviously I?m excited!

Tomorrow I?ll be spending all day at the track having free practice.

Wish me luck.

Well, I have to write something here about the obvious Grand Prix Shootout.

This is really the chance of a lifetime. Always struggling, season after season with budgets; it would be nice to get the opportunity to just focus on racing and driver development.

Being my own manager, having sponsor meeting all winter, meetings in summer, season preparations, events etc, is so much fun when you get positive feedback. But when this financial crisis came along, it has been very frustrating.

After having said that, I would very much appreciate you voting on me!

I will not write a press release after this race because my performance in this context is irrelevant.

Thomas Knopper, the 2007 European Champion in KZ2, died in Sunday?s KZ2 pre final. He was involved in a starting crash along with three other drivers; Paolo de Conto, Niki Ejem and Dominik Schmidt. These incurred damage to arms and legs.

I started further back in the field and saw the crash from behind. But since everything happened so fast, it?s difficult to fully remember details. What I remember is that Knopper flew out of his kart, because I saw his body in full length in the air. Then his kart landed on another driver in front of me.

When I passed the crash, I remember that many of the drivers further back in the field turned their heads and started waving their arms. The race was stopped immediately. Ambulances, rescue personnel and police were quickly in place, but Knopper could not be rescued and died at the scene of the accident.

It?s with sadness I write these lines. I didn?t know him, but I was very upset after the accident. I can?t even imagine how his loved ones are feeling in this difficult time.

We reached about 137 km/h in this area. To the left of the track there are no curbs and if you happen to get one or two wheels outside the track, it?s very easy to drift up the hill. The hardest part to understand is that there is a forest in this hill. If you crash, the forest is the only option, while there?s no run off area here.

Even last year in the German championship, there were complaints on the track. I remember when a driver went of in the accident area. The organization then checked the area and found a tree stump which was taken away.

The scary part of it is that the accident could have happened to anyone of the drivers.

The forest must be taken away, a proper run off area must be made at the scene of the accident, there must be curbs on the outside of the curve and the concrete wall must be removed. Also, the trees in the small forest at the other half of the track must be taken away!

Two other accidents have made these last weeks very difficult. Henry Surtees died at Brands Hatch on July 19th, because of being hit in the head by a wheel from a car just crashing. Also, 25th of July, Formula 1 driver Filipe Massa was injured by a large spring which broke off the Brawn Mercedes of Rubens Barrichello and struck Massa on the head.

Problems raised after these recent accidents in motorsports are:
1. Improvements of the helmet and visor
2. More protection at the back of the kart, in order to prevent wheels tangling into one another and karts climbing on the rear wheels
3. Overall safety for the head and neck in single seaters and karts

Knopper was only 19 years old and a very experienced driver. 2007, he won the European Championship in KZ2, 2008 he raced Formula Renault 2.0 and this year he was 6th in the KZ1 European Championship.

My thoughts are with you Thomas, your family, friends and team. May you rest in peace.

To read more about my thoughts about the weekend, please visit my website www.charlotteracing.se

On 3rd-5th of July the third race in the German Championship was held. 39 drivers in the KZ2 class were in place on the track in Ampfing. The weather conditions changed over the weekend and three races were run on wet track. I went from an exciting Second Chance to Sunday?s Final, where I finished in the best place so far in the championship, 23rd place.

On Friday we had five practice sessions, 20 minutes each. During each session I had problems that made it unable for me to run as many laps as I wanted.

On the first session, one engine mount went off because I went too hard on the high curbs in the chicane. During another session, I got carburettor problems.

On Saturday?s time qualification the problems continued when I didn?t get a time registered.

A flat front left tire made it impossible for me to drive and I had to retire without having received a full speed lap, and thus no time. That was no fun at all, since much depends on the time qualification.

In the rainy first heat, I crossed the line as 20th and in the second heat, which was run on dry track, I finished 23rd.

This meant Second Chance where I started sixth. Just before the start the rain was drizzling down and it was too late to switch to rain tires. I made a strong race when I came in third place and was the fastest driver on slick tires.

It was a long time ago I raced in rain and to go out with slicks was also instructive. It was also fun to get as much attention from the speaker and praise after the race from other drivers and the audience.

In the pre-final on Sunday I started 31st on dry track, but was unfortunately put off the track in the chicane by another driver after only four laps.

The final was an exciting story as the rain came again. This time the rain was completely pouring down and all drivers switched to wet tires in the “pre-start area”. After three laps the final was stopped because it was considered too dangerous to continue.

It was like taking a bath. You couldn?t see anything because of the spray from all karts and it was even hard to see were the track was.

The final was restarted after an hour when the rain had subsided. After four laps remaining, there was a dry line on the track, but I was able to run effectively without burning the rain tires, and finished on 23rd place.

The kart went well in the rain and I had really fun out there. Since I have had so little track time in rain I?m very pleased with my efforts.

Next race is run 7th-9th of August on the track in Liedolsheim, near Karlsruhe.

The second race in the German championship in KZ2 was held on Prokart Raceland in Wackersdorf 29th-31st of May. 30 guest drivers from the European Championship series were in place for the opportunity to practice before the European Championship race on the same track in June. This was my toughest race ever because of these international top drivers and the 66 drivers in total.

On Friday we had four practice sessions on a dry track.

We tested a lot of settings during practice and we got rid of the biggest problem with too little grip back, by changing the rear axle.

On Saturday, the weather forecast was unclear, but all my sessions throughout the day, were run on a dry track.

The time qualification was a disappointment from both team and driver?s side.

We had a setting that was adapted for about 8 laps, but I did just 5 laps and the tires never came up in the right working temperature. I simply felt that I couldn?t go any faster after those 5 laps and didn?t want to stress the tires too much.

In the three heats driven, I finished on 25th, 26th and 25th position.

In the first heat I had much under steering and had to adjust my driving too much for it to go fast, however, we fixed that later on and the kart felt more balanced.

After the three qualifying heats I was totally on a 53rd place in the list of 66 drivers. This meant Second Chance for me. In this heat 34 drivers started but only six would go on to the A-finals on Sunday.

I started in 25th place and made a very strong start and was as high as 14th place before I unfortunately was pushed off the track from behind by a competitor on the sixth lap.

I?m of course disappointed to have to retire from yet another race, but this weekend brought some positive things. I?ve never done such strong laps initially. The chassis was good, I made a lot of overtaking and had great pace. Also, I managed to stay out of trouble in all three heats despite much crashes.

Next race is run 3rd-5th of July in Ampfing where the A-final is the goal.

Today I?m off to Germany again. This time for the second race in the German KZ2 Championship at the track in Wackersdorf. It?ll be exciting because we have 30 guest drivers to this race in KZ2, all wanting to practice for the European Championship race held in Wackersdorf in June.

This will be my toughest race in my ten year long karting career, because of all these European Championship drivers.

Back home again on Monday. Wish me luck please!

The first race in the German KZ2 Championship was run on the fast karting track at Oschersleben on April 24th-26th. The competition was tough with 20 drivers from the European Championship and all together including 134 drivers from 19 countries.

Since I never had raced on the track before, it was important to get as many laps as possible at the practice sessions and then be able to concentrate on the chassis settings.

During the practice sessions we tested various set-ups to get the chassis as flexible and smooth as possible.

The time qualification was a 10 minutes session and the drivers were free to choose when to start their session. I went out on the track when it was 7 minutes left of the session and got the time 37.544 sec, thereby qualifying in to place 32.

This year the competition was tougher than last year since there were 20 drivers from the European Championship. One can see clearly how much difference there is between the drivers who are racing for a big team and the few private drivers, with significantly smaller resources especially regarding the engine performance.

In the heats, I started at 21st and 22nd position. In the first heat I crossed the line on 19th place and the second heat on 20th place.

Unfortunately I had the same problem in both races. In the first laps I had no grip at all and I had to adjust my driving so much that it wasn?t possible to run as fast as I?d like.

In the B-final I started in fourth place and the first six from this final would go to the A-final. On the third lap I was badly hit by another driver, who climbed up from the rear of the wheels, over the water hose, cut the tire and then down again. Because of this we both lost four places. The lap after that the same driver run over my left side again, and because of that I spun around and didn?t make it to the A-final.

I think this was so unnecessary and I?m so disappointed. I was fourth and he was fifth when this happened, so both had the chance to come to the A-final.

However, there were positive things with the race weekend.

Time wise, I?m closer to the top drivers now, than I was before. The 0.7 sec gap to the European Championship runner up last year, Rick Dreezen, is something I take with me to the upcoming races.

Got home yesterday from Stockholm, where I was attending the Swedish National Karting Team Camp at Bos?n (a sports center for sports men and women). We had a lot of fitness training and a sports psychology class.

Tomorrow I?m off to Germany and the karting track in Oschersleben, where the first race in the German KZ2 Championship is set. I haven?t driven there before so the four practice sessions on Friday will be intense.

Also, I just signed a contract with my biggest sponsor so far and I?m so happy that Applicate ( http://www.applicate.se ) gives me opportunity to race.