Charlotte Haegermark's blog

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!