Phase One have a fun 4th at Spa Francorchamps

Scott Smart and Hugh Brasher finished Saturday's highly competitive Spa Francorchamps 6 hour race in a creditable 4th place in class.

The 6 hour event which ran as part of the Belgian Endurance Championship, attracted a seventy strong international entry headed by the likes of Ari Vos, Werner Daemen, Sebastian LeGrelle, Marc Fissette and Stephane Mertens. It is run by the 'endurance 4 fun' club.

The Team qualified in 9th position after a great effort by Scott Smart. Neither Smart nor Brasher had competed at Spa previously. Scott's lap was sufficient to push several of the regular endurance Teams ( LTG 57, Zone Rouge, etc) out of the top ten. The race rules are strictly Pro-Am, so each Team is allowed only one established 'star' rider. How that worked out with Mertens being paired

with Didier DeRadigues, we are not sure...

The race was held in dry conditions, except for a shower in the last fifteen minutes and at temperatures around 22 degrees C. It started at 14.30. Smart started and steadily climbed to seventh position by 30 mins.

As the early leaders pitted, the team rose to 2nd overall and held 3rd at the turn of

hour one when Smart handed to Brasher. Brasher held a steady helm up to the end rota 2, when he pitted at at 16.22 hrs in 12th position.

At 17.12 the race was stopped temporariliy (they dont use pace cars here anymore) and Smart reported higher than normal water temperatures. A small fracture in one of the oil cooler water pipes awas detected. Following this, the Team replenished the water at the following stop and repeated the process 2 stops later. Each pit/water stop cost 5 minutes, for cooling and replenishment. Apart from these blips in the proceedings, the remainder of the race was trouble free. The Team were happy with yet another Spa race finish with a pair of newcomers bringing in 15th overall and 4th in class.

It was great to be back at an endurance race at Spa and the whole Team is now looking forward to it's next outing at Cartegena in September.

Spa Francorchamps 6 hrs next with Scott Smart and Hugh Brasher, but the Bol d’Or is off.

Current News

The decision has been made to not race at the Bol d’Or or at the final round of the WEC at Qatar. Instead the Team’s funds are being directed into the two remaining races of 2010, Spa 6 hrs and the Cartegena classic 6 hrs plus preparations for next year. Currently the plan is to seek funds for the 2011 WEC, but definitely to compete at the 2011 Daytona 200 miles, plus a season of classic endurance. The whole Team are disappointed that the Bol d’Or will be missed, for the first time since the Team’s creation in 1985, but the financial reality is such that finding sufficient funds to be competitive has proved impossible. As a result, the Team’s last planned outing on the Yamaha R1s will be at Spa on 14th August. The bikes will be maintained as normal following that event in anticipation of further races next season.

Spa Francorchamps 6 hrs 13th / 14th August.

This race is part of the Belgian international ‘Endurance 4 Fun’ championship that has been developing in Belgium for several seasons.
The rider format involves either two national level riders who have not scored international points, or a national rider plus what they call an A grade ‘star’ rider. Stephane Mertens for example has competed in the event since its inception and riders such as Julian Mazuecos, Werner Daemen and Gwen Giabanni have raced there in recent seasons.

The format has proved highly successful and the Spa Francorchamps grid is full, as have been the previous 2010 rounds. Our national grade rider is Hugh Brasher, 2010 UK (Hottrax) endurance champion and he is accompanied by Scott Smart on the Team’s 2009 Yamaha R1s, freshly converted back to endurance specification following the I-O-M TT.

Scott’s last outing with the Team was at Qatar in 2008, when he partnered Glen Richards and Damian Cudlin in the 8hrs race, and we welcome him back for this one. Hugh Brasher will be making his debut on the Phase One Endurance Yamahas at Spa and we wish him good luck.

Thanks go to Sweatshop for partnering the Team for this event.

Sponsors – A big thank you for your support for the NW200 and TT.

The Team wishes to thank the host of sponsors who helped race and prepare for the NW200 and TT. Particular thanks go to;

Andrew Smith and Laurens Kleinkoerkamp at Yamaha Motor, Allan at SBS, Igor and Slavko at Akrapovic, Graham Banks at GB Racing, Alan at Skidmarx, Frank Wrathal at Dynojet UK, Simon Hughes at R&G, Tim at NGK, France Equipement, Gilbert at Beringer, Dunlop Tyres, Paul Phillips at the I-O-M Tourist Board, Rico Mertens at RRD and Wayne Bullen at Norfolline,

Thanks also to our other sponsors who were less directly involved in these events.

For full details of the rest of this newsletter, please join the Phase One Supporters' Club. Details from Lida van Ham at the team HQ.

Team Clothing

This season we are again producing the Team’s seasonal tee shirt, which is now available. This is a great way to support the team and we would be most grateful if you would buy them. The cost is held at £11.00 plus £1.99 P&P. The basic colour is navy blue and we have XL, M and S currently in stock.

In addition, we have:

Phase One 2010 Sweatshirts, in XL, L, M and S at £15 (+£1.99 P&P)

Phase one 2010 Dress shirts, in large only, £35 (+£1.99 P&P)

Yamaha polo's, 2008 (royal blue and black, no Phase One embroidery) in XL, L, M and S at £12.50 (+£1.99 P&P)

Phase One P&M tee shirts, in XL, L, M, and S at £11.00 (+£1.99 P&P)

Yamaha tee shirts, 2008 (royal blue and white, no Phase One embroidery) in XL only at £11.00 (+£1.99 P&P)

2010 Yamaha polo's with Phase One Endurance logo, in XL, L, M and XXL at £15.00 ( +£1.99 P&P)

Please send a cheque for the correct amount per shirt, made to ‘Phase One Supporters Club’, plus name, address and size (S, M, L and XL etc) to;

The Club Secretary, Phase One Endurance, Moxhill House,
Combwich, Bridgwater, Som .TA5 2PN.

Finally, as always;

A very big thank you to all team members, sponsors, riders and supporters for your efforts, contribution and commitment to the team this year, it really is much appreciated.

Russell Benney