Tuesday 23 October 2012

Classic Bol d'Or; Race Two

Being second fastest on track was never going to be enough to make up the time after Peter Linden's crash at the end of the first hour. It had all started so well. The race one result had positioned the team as favourites for their first classic Bol win. With the MotoBel Guzzi and Haquin's Kawasaki both out of the reckoning after race one crashes, the main competition was due from the Roadrunner Suzuki of Dirk Brand and Henk Van der Mark and the Team Taurus Guzzi. To be clear, Motobel and Haquin would both start race 2 , but as the legs were aggregated, they could never feature highly.

The Classic Bol Sweatshop Phase One Team
So, all morning the humid 25deg C conditions had been interupted by periods of drizzle, but it cleared and the race started with a wet track but without rain. The team planned to adopt the same successful strategy as the night before - 3 rotas, with Hugh Brasher starting and Peter Linden doing a double to finish. Brasher got away fairly well, despite being in the push start group* at the back of the grid, for those without starter motors. Conditions were definately tricky, with three going down on lap one, but Brasher kept his nerve and manouvered his way up to 11th at stop 1, ( 20 race laps) which was exactly what the team needed.The foundation stones were now in place.
Peter Linden





Peter Linden then took over, but despite a very promising start, in the now perfect conditions, he managed to lose the front end and slide off at the paddock infield. Under most circumstances that would have been a set- back but not a big one. Regrettably the fire that then ensued, made getting the bike fixed a little more difficult! Anyhow, Peter put the fire out and got the bike to the pitlane entrance only to be directed around the back of the garages as they didn't want to get the pitlane dirty. Peter lost 4 laps and it then took the team a further 8 minutes to repair the fire and crash damage, before restarting in about 38th position.! Brasher pushed on for 20 minutes before Linden took back over, setting the second fastest lap of the race in his pursuit of places. Eventually the team reached 30th by the flag.
Brasher pushing on hard towards stop 1 in race 2.













The classic Bol had certainly been a race of highs and lows, but the team go into the winter knowing that with 4 race wins and 3 fastest laps it couldn't be better placed for success in 2013!

Thanks go to all our sponsors and supporters for their dedicated efforts in 2012.

The race was won by the Bonvicini Moto Martin Suzuki, with Taurus second and the Godier Genoud Kawasaki of Cairoli was third.

Best Brits, with a brilliant top six finish were  Steve Boam and Steve Clark on their Harris Suzuki.
Best Brits; The Steve Clark / Steve Boam, SCERT team.











Pictures taken by Jacco Dijkhuizen



Some of the Classic Bol fire damage before rejoining the race
 
 
*The team have an alternator on the end of the crankshaft and because of restrictions in ground clearance cannot get a starter motor in as well. This should be remedied in 2013 as the team plan to piggy-back an alternator on top of the gearbox allowing space at the end of the crankshaft for a starter motor.

Saturday 20 October 2012

Classic Bol d'Or -part 1

The team scored a fine second place behind one of the new Post Classic RC30s. With only 12 seconds separating us from 1st place and 1 minute 20 from 3rd, things are looking good for part 2 tomorrow.

Hampe Racing Team: Christian Haquin and Nicholas de Dieuleveult













Favourites Motobel and the Haquin Kawasaki both suffered a lap 2 crash costing each of them short pit stops. The pace was slowed in the early stages due to drizzle and the Sweatshop Phase One Team (Brasher) kept a cool head, stayed out of trouble and handed over to Linden in 5th position
Pete meets his old 1990s team boss 'Perro' for the first time in over 10 years














With part 2 of the race tomorrow and a grid starting position of 47th (first push starter) there is still plenty to do and the Team is working well and looking forward to tomorrow.
Roadrunner Team: Henk van der Mark and Dirk Brand

Friday 12 October 2012

Classic Bol d'Or, Magny Cours, 20th/21st October



bol d'or classique





















The Sweatshop Phase One Team head for the final race of the year next Wednesday. The ever improving partnership of Hugh Brasher and Peter Linden will try to build on the team's run of success following wins at Mettet, Oschersleben (Superbike) and Imola.
Practice is on Friday, Qualifying on Saturday, and the 2 leg 2 hour races are to be held on Saturday evening from 18.15 to 20.15 and on Sunday afternoon starting at 14.30hrs.

http://www.boldorclassic.com/

Two items of news have come up recently:

Firstly, DG Sports (the organisers of the Spa Classic Endurance Race) have leaked that they are planning an international Classic Endurance Race series for 2013; involving at least Belgian (Spa), German (Oschersleben) and Spanish (Aragon) rounds. We will keep you posted as this develops. Needless to say, we WILL be part of it!

And secondly, the Classic Bol organisers will run a "post classic" class with the main races, for bikes originating between 1984 and 1991 at this year's event.
It is assumed that as the Classic Bol is 10 years old now, the organisers feel there is room for machines of this period. We will watch this with interest as the Team's "Riders" Kawasaki's were delivered in early 1991 and would therfore be eligible.... perhaps Steve Manley or Doug Toland would like to get back on...

See you at Magny Cours!

Finally, the Team are currently seeking volunteers for the 2013 season and involvement in the races.
Anybody is welcome, you don't even need to be bike familiar - timekeepers, cooks, gofors and anyone interested are all welcome,.. be prepared to work though!
Contact Russell by phone or text on 07739 178988.



Saturday 6 October 2012

No pain in Spain for the 10th Phase One Ainsa trip

Many of the Phase One Team are currently off on the annual Trail riding experience in the Aragonese Pyrenees.
Eight Enduro bikes have been setting off each mornig in 27/28 degr C bright sunshine for their 120 km days.
Despite the hard work in the hot and dusty conditions this really is the ultimate relaxation experience.



 



 

Tuesday 25 September 2012

Sweatshop Phase One: Winners at Imola

Linden about to start























Peter Linden took the lead on lap 7 and the team never looked back.
Stop 1 at 40 minutes went well, dropping the team just 3 places, all of which were made back by Hugh Brasher in the second hour. Three further pitstops, each problem free, saw the team build a buffer of 68 seconds by the end of hour three.
That lead grew to 110 seconds by the final stop and at the flag the team had pulled the margin to 2 minutes and 4 seconds.! The race had been pretty much copybook with no rider or pit errors.

The Imola field was stronger than expected with all the significant European competition in attendance, with the exception of the Moto-box Guzzi from Spain. Of the 42 starters, it was judged that any one of 8 teams could win.

The race rules were constraining on this occasion, as no rider was allowed to ride for more than 45 minutes and fuelling was to be by "handle activated gravity filler" - a rule ignored by most other teams! These rules were applied as the race was also part of the five round Italian classic endurance series, which actually sounds quite appealing.

Peter Linden qualified fastest and when aggregated for the starting order, the team were third.



















There were some great highlights; Motobel Guzzi, Taurus Team, Glam, Scuderia and Classic Racer Shop all challenged for the top spot, with Motobel eventually taking second and Taurus third, both with apparently trouble free rides. Motobel had previously suffered an engine failure in practice. James Clark's Glam earned a well deserved 4th after some cruel luck during earlier rounds.

Classic Racer Shop (P&M Kawasaki) had drafted in Mick Godfrey to join Patrick Banfield and he made a great race debut taking the fastest race lap (2.08.07) from Linden (2.08.39).
Glam suffered a left side oil leak which, despite causing frayed nerves, didn't seem to slow James Clark, who made his best laps late in the race - kicking himself that he hadn't performed as well earlier.

Fastest through the trap by 7 kph !

















The speed trap times were: Sweatshop Phase One 232kph, Glam 225kph, Classic Racer Shop 222kph, Scuderia 217 kph, Taurus 213kph and Motobel on 209kph.

For the team, the race was won with the usual ingredients: A great rider performance (with Hugh Brasher continuing to become faster and faster), dedicated team preparation, a good handling and fast bike and some great tyres - one set of Contis competitive throughout.


















The Classic Bol d'Or is next - 20th/21st of October at Magny Cours.

Ben Nahum in control of the 1977 Facotry V6 Laverda
 
Thanks to Sweatshop, Continental Tyres, SBS, DFDS Ferries and all our other sponsors.

Phase One visit the DUCATI FACTORY

 







The Team met at the gates to the Bologna factory on Thursday 20th of September.
The gatehouse was looked over on one side by bright sunshine and the other by a house sized mural of Carlos Checa, with the words "Grazie Carlos", commemorating his 2011 Superbike success.

There were certainly some highlights - examples of early models (1946) all the racing history, not just the twins, but the racing prototypes and the hightly successful dynasty of singles.
 
Our tour guide Natasha did a great job, explaining all that was seen on both the museum tour and the factory tour.
 
The centrepiece, based on the racing of Mike Hailwood and Paul Smart was impressive and topical, with the following weekend being the 40th anniversary of the Paul Smart Ducati Bicylindrico win of the 200 miles of Imola.
 
The early Motogiro films being shown were alone worth the visit. At the time of our visit several machines had already been relocated to Imola for the 40th anniversary celebrations - that was no problem, we would see those over the weekend!
 
Definately worth the trip.
 
RB

Wednesday 15 August 2012

The wins continue at Oschersleben !

Winner of the Classic Superbike Race at Oschersleben









Peter Linden secured a pair of very exciting classic superbike race wins at last Sunday's Speedweek sprint races.









However, the 4hrs held on Friday evening was not such a happy affair, with Brett Richmond crashing heavily on oil whilst leading and with just an hour and a half to go. Brett suffered a broken shoulder in the incident which saw two other competitors fall at the same point, with one catching fire. The Team's race was over as Brett was unable to recover the bike en-route to his two day stay at Oschersleben hospital.!








The 4 hrs race was held in fairly cool overcast conditions, with rain threatening for the first two hours before the threat turned to reality just after mid -race. The Linden/Richmond pairing were fastest on track but the first half of the race was not plain sailing. Half an hour into the race Richmond stopped with a misfire and the battery was speedily changed which cured the problem, but not before the team had slipped to around 15th place. Linden took over after the first hour and worked his way steadily back up the field before handing over to Richmond for the third hour. As darkness set in, and with a light sheen of drizzle set onto the track surface, it would have been near impossible to see the threat ahead. Once the pace car had gone out and the bike was reported missing we knew it was all over. Brett was in good spirits on Monday and will continue his holiday in Germany, albeit with a sling.!

Peter in his historic colours








Peter Linden dominated in round one of the classic superbikes on Sunday morning and also stamped his authority on the second race at 3.00PM.

Both displays were absolutely fantastic, the second especially so. During the warm up lap, Peter oiled a plug ( yes, we think that we have a valve guide problem !) and pulled into the pit lane running on three. The team quickly changed the plug, but not before the field had left. Linden started from the pitlane with a 19 second deficit, which he chipped away at, lap after lap , gaining 1-3 seconds on each. With one lap to go he still had to make up 4 seconds…..but he did it, catching the race leader unawares and bagging the win by a second. He's some bloke. !

Esther and Carolien, two new active Phase One team members
























Next time out is the Imola 4 hrs on 21st/ 22 nd September, when Hugh Brasher will be joining Peter Linden once again on the shortly to be rebuilt Sweatshop Phase One P&M Kawaasaki. Currently, its only £75 away on Ryanair. See you there.

Thanks to our photographers, Jacco Dijkhuizen and Alan Lygo. 

Sunday 5 August 2012

Oschersleben - "Classics" join the WEC.




09 - 12 August 2012


Peter Linden and Brett Richmond will represent Sweatshop Phase One at next weekend's Oschersleben 4 hrs race. The event will be held during the evening of Friday 10th August from
18.00 - 22.00 hrs, prior to the WEC 8 hrs the following day.

This is the second running of the 4hrs and momentum is gathering. There are 25 entries and the field is getting stronger; this year with both the Kaiser and Glam teams joining Sweatshop Phase One on the grid. The main events will be supported by two Classic Superbike races on the Sunday.

Roy Hood will stand in for Russell at this race and we wish him the best of luck to build on the team's 1st and 2nd places at Mettet and Spa.



Oschersleben is easy to get to from both Hannover and Berlin. See you there!   RB

Tuesday 17 July 2012


Bloody Bob’s Dead!!












Now, you might think that irreverent, but he wouldn’t. Bob Stevenson, or Sweary Bob, or Spondon Bob, whatever you knew him as, died of a heart attack last weekend, in his adopted home of Cyprus. 

Bob and Russell go back to the late 1980s, when the early Phase One Honda RC30s were first modified, back in the old Spondon works, in the back shed, up the hill. From then until 5 or 6 years ago, Bob ensured that the air was blue all across the workshop! And if it was blue in the morning, it’s hard to describe what the afternoons were like, after Bob and the Weasel had had their daily lunchtime fill. Those times were good.

In his final Spondon years the drink did start to affect his work, but through three decades, Bob, Stuart, Smiley and the boys produced some of the finest motorcycle rolling chassis components available; if you were willing to wait and if you were willing to endure Bob’s special brand of customer service. 
Bob’s part in the history of racing motorcycle engineering was a very big one, just like his character.  

He was also a mate and he will be greatly missed by all who knew him at Phase One.
Our sympathies go to his family and other friends.


Saturday 7 July 2012

4 Hrs Race at German Speedweek

World Endurance returns to Oschersleben over the weekend of 10th, 11th and 12th of August with a 8 hour day /night race on Saturday the 11th of August.
In addition, a 4hrs classic race will be held during the evening of Friday the 10th of August, starting at 18.00 hrs.

Oschersleben Speedweek was established some 15 years ago and althought it does not carry the same prestige as the Bol d'Or or Le Mans 24hrs events, it's getting there quickly, with all the same village and support races.

UK interest in the 8 hours will centre on the Honda TT legends team led by John McGuinness, currently second in the world rankings, ten points adrift of multiple WEC champions SERT.

In the 4 hrs classic , Phase One Endurance hopes to build on its second place at the Spa Francorchamps race last month, with ex endurance champion Peter Linden and UK endurance champion Hugh Brasher.

Further information on Oschersleben' s speedweek is available from Jutta Schacknat (jutta.schacknat@wfa.adac.de ) and entry forms are also available from lida@phaseone.co.uk.

Monday 2 July 2012

Brasher and Linden 2nd at Spa.


Post-race top three line-up. 1st Dholda Honda, 2nd Sweatshop Phase One P&M Kawasaki,3rd Team Taurus Moto Guzzi.

Sweatshop Phase One regulars Peter Linden and Hugh Brasher secured a fine 2nd place at the 4hrs event over the weekend of 30th June. Linden dominated with an excellent display of night racing, posting faster times than in daylight and with metronomic consistency. Linden remains as fit as ever, even after retiring from active service earlier this year and he pushed as if he was still racing in the WEC. Brasher by his own admission could not live with the display, but then only a few could, notably Stephane Mertens and Patrick Orban on the Dholda RCB,  Manfred Kaiser and Toni Heiler on a Nico Bakker  Kawasaki and the very fast Moto Bel Guzzi of Charles-Artigues and Laurent Sleurs. It was not all Linden though; with the race proportions working out at 60% for Linden and  40%for Brasher. Hugh certainly played his part, staying consistent and out of trouble and was amongst the very best of the British riders present.


Phil Haynes and Keith Marchent push Hugh Brasher away during teh start procedure.

Qualifying was eventful, with Linden's first session being curtailed to just 4 laps by a huge oil slick  laid on 25%  of the circuit. Later he tried to kill an owl with his arm at 130 MPH. His arm was bruised but the owls plight was unknown. It is worth saying that since Peter Linden has had his eyes lasered over the winter he has definately gone better. Brasher had a less eventful qualifying ending a respectable 10th in his group. His big event of the meeting occurred during warm up, when he achieved only half a lap, due to the ignition rotor trigger magnet becoming detached and causing total ignition loss and a ride back to the pits in the pick-up truck. Hugh remained unflapped and was ready for the start procedure just 30 mins later.  The team qualified 9th.


Peter Linden, en - route to 2nd place.



Peter Linden again !!

So the race; 70 teams started the race, (the maximum allowed) from the 80 entrants. The race was held between 20.30 hrs Saturday night through to 00.30 hrs Sunday morning.
It wa s cloudy, dry and about 18 degrees C. Brasher made a fine getaway from the back of the grid (all non-starter motor bikes start from the back, irrespective of qualifying positionj) and worked his way past over 40 bikes in the first 45 minutes, when the safety car emerged, seperating the first three from the rest of the field. When the safety car withdrew on the hour, the team were holding 13th position. Brasher pitted after 63 minutes. Linden resumed and quickly continued progress ,closing the second hour in 4th position. Brasher held this and pitted for the second time at 23.03 hrs, as planned to hand over to Linden for his  one and a half hour double stint to the flag.

The drama of the race occurred in the final 10 minutes. Phase One were holding 4th (which had been the case for the whole of second half of the race), Kaiser was 2nd, MotoBel 3rd and Dholda led. At about 00.15 hrs, Mertens had stopped for the final splash, but the team had failed to close the fuel cap properly, necessitating a further unplanned stop to mop up Mertens leathers and to close the cap. This gifted the amazed Kaiser a crack at the top spot ( they were within 0.2 secs of each other). Mertens pushed and Kaiser responded, but fell, handing second spot to MotoBel with only 2 laps remaining. This they grabbed , but it was not to be for long ; they had been pushing hard and something had to give....on the last lap MotoBel were forced to pit having spluttered around the penultimate lap. The timing was all wrong for them, and so was their decision. the flag fell whilst they were in the pitlane, the pitlane duely closed and that prevented them taking the flag...and second place. So, that was ours, accepted gratefully, !!

People; What a pleasure to see ex-Phase One 1989 rider Dale Robinson and his partner Jo, only for the second time in 23 years.! Also, out of the blue, came ex-racer Peter Mathews, who owned the bike being raced, ( frame 17 ) for over 12 years, mainly in the 1990s, and glad to see it back on track.

Finally, there was a great British turnout at the event with notable performances from the SCERT team of Boam/Clark, who secured 8th place and Marlin Elf racing (Mark George and Steve Dobbie) who finished 10th. Regrettebly, Bob Collins and James Clark suffered a broken ignition circuit which forced retirement and the Neate/Neate Honda went out with engine problems, after a meeting long battle to build one.

Finally, thanks to all our sponsors for there unceasing support , and special congratulations to Peter Ziegler at Continental Tyres for achieving a Conti 1 -2 and for producing such a fantastic new profile front !! Well done.!

Oschersleben is next; a 4hrs race on the Friday evening  of  Speedweek, (10th August), the day before the WEC 8hrs. Hope to see you there.    RB










Photographs by Jacco Dijkhuizen.

The following is the official Spa report as shown on Bikersclassics.be

4 Hours of Spa Classics

Stéphane Mertens and Patrick Orban win with their Dholda after an exciting finale.
Saturday June 30th at 20h30 the 4th edition of the 4 Hours of Spa Classic took off on the perfectly dry track of Francorchamps. The typical Le Mans start went well for all 75 participating teams, even though Stéphane Mertens, one of the favourites, had troubles getting his Dholda started. The ex-world champion endurance found himself at the end of the peloton, with the Kawasaki of Hacquin- de Dieuleveut at the lead. Unfortunately, the green monster, that had already blown up an engine during practice, and was riding with a stock engine, encountered fuel supply problems at the Combes. They entered a few times and eventually had to quit, while Mertens was busy climbing up.
The duo Hubin-Siméon didn’t have a lot of luck either.


Team Glam's Bob Collins seeks track advice from Peter Linden and Hugh Brasher during qualifying.

As from the third lap, Richard Hubin, our other world champion endurance who won the 24 Hours of Liège 25 years earlier aboard a Suzuki along with Michel Siméon and Michel Simul, signalled a problem at the rear wheel. A few laps later they changed the wheel and the troubles were gone.
During the first hour of the race, lots of machines had to make pit stops : the Suzuki of Hate-Bonvicini (ignition) ; the Kawasaki of Mosbeux-Mizera (slight oil loss) ; the Martin of Hofmann-Schuler (worn front tyre) ; the Pem Honda of Atisy-Jouret and the Suzuki of Hudson-Pietro (clutch) and the Kawasaki of Denis-Lutard-Audebert (battery).
The Dholda of Gian Mertens-Cremer lost a few precious seconds during a pit stop caused by a blocked fuel valve, while the Bimota of Seelmann-Ludwig (external help on track) and the Pecket of Clarck-Collins, who already had troubles with the throttle cable, abandoned. After half an hour, the Safety Car went on the circuit to allow the commissioners to clean the track, the Laverda of Jansen-Van de Leek had left a long trail of oil at the top of the Raidillon at post 11.
This intervention came in handy for Stéphane Mertens, who caught up with the Moto Guzzi of Charles-Artigues/Sleurs, a winner in the past.
After an hour, when Chris Cremer took over from Gian Mertens, the 2nd Dholda team was 12 seconds behind the French Moto Guzzi.

Hugh Brasher prepares for the warm-up lap.
Patrick Orban, who was called in last minute to ride along with Stéphane Mertens (he heard on Friday that he would be participating, merely two hours before the test sessions), was at the third place, but a minute behind the two leaders. Meanwhile, the other teams were already an entire lap behind.
The second hour of the race was also very eventful.
The main fuse of Chris Cremer’s Dholda burned forcing the rider to push the bike back to the pit making him lose four laps. The Godier-Genoud of d’Imbleval-Weber had to quit due to a broken fuse. The Suzuki of Pendelbury-Body entered with starter motor troubles ; the engine of the Honda of Dumont-Duvernay quit working : the Suzuki of Lambrecht-Lambrecht, who were in for the top 10, started using a lot of oil and the Laverda of Collonge-Collonge had to enter unexpectedly to adjust the lights.

Bike 17 technician Layne Wilson records the bike's settings during qualifying
The duo Hubin-Siméon was working on a comeback from the 48th place after having had troubles with a broken bulb, Siméon under the watchful eye of this son Xavier, who had hurried to return from Assen to support his dad. But a bit later, the engine of the Suzuki started to vibrate and to lose oil. Our two country fellowmen decided to call it a day, satisfied however with the results they had achieved : the same lap times as the ones from Stéphane and Gian Mertens.
So it was Stéphane Mertens who set the fastest lap times, he was facing the Moto Guzzi of Charles-Artigues/Sleurs. This became a little easier when the Italian machine had to enter the pit due to a false contact at the battery. This to the benefit of the Nico Bakker of Kaiser/Heiler. The Germans had been in the top 5 since the start and now they got to the second position, nevertheless a round behind Mertens-Orban.
On the 11th position, after one hour of racing, was the Kawasaki of Linden-Brasher, who were riding very regular laps and were in the running for the 4th place, along with the two Moto Guzzi’s of Sardi-Zaccarelli and Aue-Hofman. All three teams were three rounds behind the leaders.
Former endurance star, the Frenchman Roger Ruiz, was accompanied by his son Laurent. They were aiming for a place in the top 5.

Peter Linden during warm up.
At thirty minutes from the finish, Mertens and Oban increased their lead with almost two laps. The battle for the second place was still a harsh one, between Kaiser-Heiler and Charles-Artigues/Sleurs, who were at merely a minute from each other.
At that time, the Safety Car got on track due to a crash – with not much consequences – of the Ducati of Steenhaut-Verhegge.

More of Peter Linden during warm up.
This incident however caused an complete new start.
At the same time, Stéphane Mertens had to make a double pit stop, first to refuel and once again to close the badly closed fuel cap properly. They really had to speed up to catch up with Kaiser-Heiler, who had taken a nice advance. At ten minutes from the finish both teams were riding wheel to wheel. Suspense all over. But a lap later, the suspense turned into a spectacle. The Kawasaki rider, eager to keep up the pace of the Belgian, crashed and had to throw in the towel.
This cleared the road for the Dholda, while the rain made its appearance. Mertens could finish the last minutes at ease, but behind him, another spectacle was taking place. The Kawasaki of Linden-Brasher overtook the Moto Guzzi of Charles-Artigues/Sleurs and took the second place. But the Guzzi rider, who suffered from ignition troubles in the last round, and had managed to come back, made a huge mistake by entering the pit before passing the chequered flag. As the rules stipulate, he was disqualified which cost him his third podium place, in favour of the Italians Sardi-Zaccarelli.


 Pictures by Pascal (Stephane's mate)


Tuesday 26 June 2012

Spa 4 hrs, 30th June


Hugh Brasher is back this weekend to join Peter Linden on the Sweatshop Phase One P&M Kawasaki at the famous Belgian venue. This year's 4 hrs event is definitely the most popular classic endurance race ever held at the circuit with over 80 teams competing for the 70 grid positions. It seems that absolutely anybody who is anybody in the classic endurance scene will be there. My guess is that Motobel or Dholda must be considered favourites, with maybe James Clark's Glam and Haquin also tipped to be up there.

The Sweatshop Phase One Team will again race the newly updated frame 17 ( the bike that was 4th at Spa with Toleman and Cowie in 1978) which won at Mettet last month, The spare bike ( frame 15) has now also been updated to accept J type crankcases, but as yet has not received a new higher spec engine similar to the race winner's.

This year the team aim to improve on its 2.52.4 sec best lap of 2011 - with the new engine, improved set up and newly lengthened Maxton shocks, this should be entirely possible.

The scandal surrounding last years event centred on the original winners, the Spanish Motobox team, being disqualified through using 'illegal' ATL/Premier type fuel fillers....although these were actually available pre-1980, rumbles on. The latest twist being the accusation that the team were using 2006 parts...... would that be the 4 valve heads then?? Its rather nice viewing this lot from the sidelines, but it does actually remind me of the politics of the era......

Will it rain? of course it will.!!

See you there,  RB

logo