Porsche Sprint Challenge NEZ continues with three thrilling races

In the second qualification session of the Porsche Sprint Challenge NEZ season 2020, the drivers were challenged with semi-wet track conditions at Auto24Ring in Pärnu, Estonia. Raivo Tamm mastered the slippery track, qualifying first before Luka Nurmi who put down another solid performance that earned him the second place. Completing the top three was Oliver Tiirmaa. Drivers starting from places 4-6 were Jim Rautiainen, Tommi Haru and Rauno Niemi.

There was speculation about a possible wet race day on Saturday, putting teams’ strategic skills to test. This, as Saturday proved it, was an unnecessary worry, as only the race day warm-up saw a semi-wet track. All three races were ran under hot sunlight. The fourth race of the season saw Raivo Tamm execute his "flat out and have fun" strategy and win the race from pole position, before Luka Nurmi on P2 and Tommi Haru, who climbed from 5th to 3rd place after Jim Rautiainen (5th) and Oliver Tiirmaa (DNF) spun in the first corner. Raimo Niemi finished 4th. In race 5, Raivo Tamm was in a class of his own again, passing Luka Nurmi for the lead in the start. Young Nurmi drove exceptionally calmly again to finish 2nd despite water pump related technical gremlins. Tommi Haru continued his strong performance and delivered a solid 3rd position. As usual, the race was filled with hard and competitive racing, sparking enthusiastic discussion amongst drivers and spectators! Race 6 of concluded a busy day in Auto24ring - and what race it was! Literally in the most exciting race so far in the season, Rautiainen (1st) remained his calm to secure a win before Tiirmaa (2nd) and Tamm (3rd) who battled throughout the race. In the end, Tommi Haru clinched P3, leaving Nurmi, Tamm and Niemi to positions 4-5. After losing his 2nd position in the start, Tiirmaa entertained his home crowd with an overtaking move on Tamm late in the race and chased Rautiainen to a close finish for the rest of the race. Tamm gained the most points during his opening weekend before Nurmi and Haru. The overall championship is sensationally even: both Nurmi and Haru have 183 points, chased by Rautiainen on third spot with 180 points.