From front wheel drive to four wheel drive – and back again

Henrik Heitsch has quite a busy schedule this weekend in Odense. Besides racing in the most popular category at the event – Super Stock – the german is also racing in the new Front Wheel Drive class. Two very different cars, but the latter is growing quickly in popularity. Especially in Henrik Heitsch’ home country of Germany.

And it is a series that the experienced german likes to be a part of:

– ARC got on the market with this FWD car in august 2019, so it is a rather new car. However it’s good fun, and I have really enjoyed getting into this class.

Though FWD is not the fastest class on the schedule this year, the cars do weigh up for it with some entertaining handling characteristics. It’s all part of the fun in the class, Henrik Heitsch says.

The difficult switch

The very different cars do post a unique challenge though. Through the event, Henrik makes the switch back and forth between front and four wheel drive.

There are various differences between FWD and other classes present at the DHI Cup – most notably of course the chassis layouts, but also the tires. Especially the latter makes for some potential confusion, Henrik Heitsch admits:

– It has not really been difficult to swap between Super Stock and Front Wheel Drive – I have driven for years. It is however a challenge when it comes to feeling small setup changes. The Super Stock has so much more grip as the tires are different.

– On the other hand, the FWD always runs well. It was hard to get the Super Stock running well on friday, but I made it eventually.