This weekend saw the start of the Aquila Formula 1000 2023-series at Kinnekulle Ring in Västergötland. 17 cars lined up in the Premiere of Sweden’s foremost entry-level series in Formula car racing.
National team driver, Joel Granfors took part in the premiere as a warm-up for the next round of USF Pro 2000 in the USA, where Granfors is one of the top drivers. Joel topped all sessions he drove during his guest appearance in Aquila Formula 1000, and was fastest in practice, qualifying and won race one. Granfors did not participate on Sunday as he traveled to the United States for next weekend’s race at the Indianapolis Grand Prix Circuit.
Joel Granfors preparing for race
Dante Johansson from Katrineholm had an almost perfect Premiere weekend at Kinnekulle Ring. Johansson, whose brother Mille, this year drives in the European Rally Championship and previously competed in Aquila, opened with a second place in the first race and followed that up with a third place behind reigning champion Kevin Suenson and Elias Adestam in race two. Dante finished the weekend by stepping on top of the podium in the third race!
Dante Johansson was able to bring home a substantial trophy harvest and also SEK 5,000 in prize money.
– It has been a really good weekend. The best results I’ve ever had in Aquila, where I did three races last year. I had good speed, learned a lot and for the first time I was in the top. I did a bad qualifying and had to climb in the races. It was nice to take the victory in the last race. I’m really excited for the future now as we have good momentum, Dante Johansson sums up.
Elias Adestam and Rickard Olson were strong contenders at Kinnekulle Ring, where Olson took third place in race three and Adestam was 2:nd in race two.
However, Adestam was in the lead on several occasions in all three races and on top of that Adestam also put in a new track record for Kinnekulle Ring.
58.763 is the new record!
Also Adestam is using Aquila F1000 to keep the race pace up while waiting for the Premiere in NXTGen Cup later this season.
Viktor Karlsson also showed strong form with two seventh places and a fifth in the tight races, with Robin Hafström close by.
Dante Johansson, Kevin Suenson, Elias Adestam, Richard Olson and Viktor Karlsson in a tight battle!
12-year-old Portuguese talent Rodrigo Seabra drove his first race weekend in Aquila Formula 1000, taking two top-10 finishes with a seventh-place finish in the final race to top of the weekend! Seabra’s teammate Alexia Danielsson had a strong upward curve over the weekend, culminating in a tenth place finish in the final race.
Rodrigo Seabra ahead of last year’s Rookie champion Christian Lovén in the classic Windmill passage.
Alexia Danielsson on her way to the best result of the weekend!
Dante Johansson leads the Junior Championship after the opening weekend, having scored 95 points ahead of Richard Olson with 76 points, and Viktor Karlsson on 68 points. Danish veteran Kevin Suenson took the lead in the Senior Championship with 102 points ahead of Elias Adestam on 87, and Joel Granfors on 60 points.
The ambition with Aquila Formula 1000 is to train drivers in tight racing, something that was underlined when all the cars in the top ten finished within five seconds in race two.
– We knew even before the premiere that this would probably be the most even season ever, and judging by the premiere, it was even closer if possible. It’s very unusual that newcomers already on the first weekend step forward and challenge the more experienced drivers is in principle unique and bodes very well for the future, both for Aquila Formula 1000 and for Swedish racing, says Michael Karpers, promotor of the Aquila Formula 1000 series.
Tight racing at Kinnekulle Ring!
The next round of the Aquila Formula 1000 is tanking place at Gelleråsen in Karlskoga on June 3-4.
If you want to watch all three heats from the premiere, you can find them on SvenskBilsportTV.se and also on Aquila Formula 1000’s own YouTube channel: Saturday’s broadcast and Sunday’s broadcast.
