Misano 4hrs; - winnin’ in the rain !

During 4 hrs of torrential rain Peter Linden and Mike Dickinson fought off a serious challenge from the Austrian Team Horvath Guzzi to secure the team’s first win at Misano.

Free practice had gone well, in lovely sunny conditions, but the heavens opened for qualifying and the race. Although the thirty or so competitors were soaked, competition was fierce, with sweatshop Phase One eventually scoring pole, with Horvath Guzzi 2^nd , Segale 3^rd (Kawasaki)  and Wobker 4^th on another Kawasaki.

The race conditions were truly appalling, with the risk of aquaplaning high from mid-race onwards. At one stage it was thought that conditions were bad enough for the race to be stopped. However, with great skill and supreme judgement Linden and Dickinson guided the 100% reliable bike to its wet win.

 

It’s been a long time since the team raced with the ECU in a sealed polythene bag…..but it was worth it.

See you at Snetterton for the inaugural Snetterton classic 4 hrs this Sunday (18^th) afternoon.

RB

    

Misano and Snetterton

Misano 18.00 (Italian time), Saturday 10th of October.

We are pleased to welcome ‘Dicko’ back to join Peter Lindén for another classic 4 hrs adventure at this weekend’s Misano event. Hugh is once again away on Marathon duties and Mike has kindly agreed to stand in.! And what a stand-in he was at the Classic Bol, returning excellent lap times and coming home with a win.

Misano is a Saturday evening race, starting in the light and racing into darkness. It is the final event in the Italian 4 round championship for classic bikes of pre-82. The previous rounds have been at Imola, Mugello and Vallelunga, so it could be a great one to do in the future, if there are no date clashes. Peter is on great form and with Mike and a new engine (to be run-in on Friday), expectations are high….

The track is just over an hour from Bologna and I checked Ryanair prices the other day. Under £50….what’s YOUR excuse.?!

Snetterton 13.00, Sunday 19^th October

Snetterton could be a temperature shock to the system after Misano, but we may be lucky! The Team are pleased to announce that Peter Lindén will be joined by Steve Smith for this race. Steve competed well at the classic Bol on his father’s Yamaha OWO1 with Steven Neate, returning great times and with every prospect of a class win, until their machinery let them down. For those who don’t know; Steve is ex-endurance racer Dave Smith’s boy, and the OWO1 is the very one which Dave competed on in the early 1990s.

The Snetterton 4 hrs race is a significant event as it is the first classic 4 hrs race in the UK. We are used to having the sport in all our neighbouring countries and it is difficult to understand why it’s not been here sooner. Anyway, it is now and the Team are very pleased to support this inaugural event and salute the organisers for taking the plunge. Already, a bigger and better event is being spoken about next year, but right now there is a race to win. First free practice is at 10.20 on Saturday morning with a single qualifying session, per rider, later on Saturday. Warm up is late morning on Sunday. The race is at 1.00. Please come and visit us.

Thanks to MES and Ray Marchant for entering the Team for this Snetterton race.     

Marchent Engineering Services

Sweatshop Phase One win at the Classic Bol d’Or !

The return to Paul Ricard for the 13^th Classic Bol d’Or definitely met expectations;

Peter Linden and Mike Dickinson scored a textbook race win, pole position and fastest lap, and all in lovely warm dry conditions.! It just couldn't have been better.

The weekend started as predicted – the organisation was a shambolic, no passes, no race number, no decent paddock, etc etc, but that didn't hold things up, much. Lindén set a fantastic pole lap of 2.14.93, from Godier Grenoud on 2.15.57, in the dry Friday session, after a damp start on Thursday. Mike Dickinson lagged a little at first as he had to learn both the bike, the circuit and how to race at night. By Friday he was also well on the pace, setting a lap of 2.18.56 to place him 3rd in his group.

The race was of two, two hour legs, one in darkness on Friday evening and one from 09.00 to 11.00 on Saturday morning.

By describing the race as text book, I really mean textbook! In each leg; two stops, three sessions of 40 mins ish and pitstops of about 20 secs. In the pits it was boring, just like it should be.! On track Lindén was fast, very fast; since his wrist repair earlier this year we have seen a rejuvenated Linden, scoring the Spa class lap record in July and repeating it this time, with a 2 13.16 sec lap in the race. The track performance by Mike was also first class, inheriting and improving the lead in each of his two sessions.

In leg one, The Taurus Team, IT, (Suzuki) were a fine 2^nd some 1 min 28 secs adrift, followed by Team Roadrunner, NL, (Brand and Van Der Mark) also on a Suzuki.

In leg two, Taurus were again 2^nd some 2 mins 14 secs back, with Hampe Racing Team in 3rd, after Roadrunner suffered a technical problem.

The post-classic class was won by Stéphane Mertens and Richard Hubin on Team Bike’s RC30 and the pre-classic class was won by Gérard Jolivet and Christophe Gaime (Moto Revue Classic) on a Z1R.

Huge congratulations are due to Stéphane Mertens on his first place, on the 25^th anniversary of his first Bol d’Or win with Honda in 1990.

Well, who could wish for a better return to the Bol at Paul Ricard, 30 years after the team’s first race there in 1985. Truly special.

Thanks to all our team members, sponsors and supporters – all of whom made it happen.

Misano 4 hrs is next, on Saturday 10^th October, followed by the return of endurance to Snetterton with the 4 hrs race on Sunday 18^th October and finally, Aragon on Saturday 31^st October.   

Photographs by Sara Dickinson and Lida van Ham  

  

The Grand Reunion

Bol Fever is definitely back!!

It's 27 degr C. now, the crowd is swelling and the atmosphere building. It really is quite special.

Already we have been visited by dozens of Phase One supporters and riders.

Topped by the arrival of Steve Bateman, Russell's long term endurance partner.

On the track things could not be better - pole position (in class) and outright fastest at night (Linden).

Let the battle begin, with the first 2 hours leg starting at 20.50 (continental time) tonight..

Return of the true Bol

As we leave this morning I can already feel that this really is going to be a special meeting.

The world round, returning to Paul Ricard should attract upwards of 80.000, together with 25.000 for the classic and with the Bol d'Argent you could reasonable expect 100.000. So, how will one gate with 5 turn styles accommodate that; it will be havoc, but that is always the case in this dusty, sunny and iconic event. 

Yes, it will be havoc, but unforgettable. 

RB

Countdown to the Bol

I can say "Bol" this year, as for the first time in 14 years, the Classic Bol and the "real" Bol are together.
The "real" race runs from 3.00 pm to 3.00 pm on Sat/Sun 19/20 September, "back home" at Paul Ricard after an absence of 15 years.
Ok, it hasn't always been at Paul Ricard, but since 1976 or 1977 it has, after it was run at Le Mans for the last time.
Our race consists of two legs of two hours, one on Friday night and one on Saturday morning. This year the Classic and Post Classic races are being run together. I am not sure if I really agree with that as I am quite sure that the Classic Bol and the Post Classic Bol can continue to stand alone as an individual event, with two x two hour races.
However, we have a race to win and preparations are well underway.
Our target is firmly last year's Post Classic winners (Mertens/Martin) on their RC30 Honda.Despite being 6 years younger than our P&M, we reckon the win is perfectly possible.

Mike Dickinson
Peter Lindén's Classic Bol partner will be Mike Dickinson. It is a pleasure to welcome Mike to the Team for his first race with us.
 (Hugh is unavailable for this one, and Ian is overqualified!!).
Mike has had fantastic successes in his long carreer, most notably becoming 1992 and 1993 South Africa Superbike champion. More recently he undertakes race tutoring with his team (http://www.getfaster.co.uk/). We wish him good luck on his debut!

More soon..... RB

What a Spa.

Pole position, second place, fastest lap and class lap record were all bagged, but that elusive win was not. Great credit must go to the German Kaiser Nico Bakker Kawasaki Team, who won the race for the second time with a faultless performance on a bike 30 years old and owned from new. Lindén and Brasher were second, whilst Mertens and Simpson suffered engine failure after three hours, having led from the flag.

Mertens pole, Mike Edwards 2nd, Greg Fastre 3rd

Peter Lindén and Hugh Brasher didn't put a foot wrong on their journey from qualifying fourth to second place on the rostrum. It was Brasher's third time on that step this year. Even the expected thunderstorm did not materialise to hamper their progress. Linden was straight back to form following his wrist operation in May and scored fastest race lap and class record, whilst chasing Mertens on the team's number one (literally) entry in the early stages. The biggest drama of their race was when Lindén, running second, got to within 18 seconds of Kaiser in the final 30 minutes, but there was not enough time remaining for a serious try for the top spot. A great result.!

Peter Linden on his way to a new class lap record, 2 mins 39.9secs

Ian Simpson and Stéphane Mertens raced to pole position during a scorching Friday qualifying, which saw temperatures reach 35 degrees C. For three hours the pair dominated, overcoming challenges in the first rota from Alf's Endurance (with a wild Mike Edwards, Bob Collins and John Barton aboard) and Team Force's Greg Fastré. After three hours the Sweatshop Phase One bikes were running first and third after running 1-2 for most of the second hour. With under an hour remaining Mertens stopped at the pit box with a grossly overheated engine, which was also burning oil. Their challenge was over.

Early stages; Mertens-Fastre-Edwards-Linden

Alf keeps his smile

Alf's later ruled themselves out of the top ten by running out of petrol and Team Force suffered engine failure. Expected challenges from Gary Johnson on a Harris Suzuki and the Bolliger Kawasaki didn't materialise.

The Mertens-Simpson bike expires !

The SCERT team of Steve Boam and Steve Clark were 9th whilst the popular Roadrunner Team Suzuki of Dirk Brand and  Henk van der Mark scored a fine fourth place, which together with their fourth at Paul Ricard, hoists them to the top of the championship.

New Lap Record ; Peter Linden, Sweatshop Phase One P&M Suzuki   2 min 39.982secs.

Ian Simpson - in the lead, in the dark !

 Pictures by Jonathan Godin (ECS), Jacco Dijkhuizen and Bob Collins

Continued thanks to all our sponsors, but particularly, Sweatshop,Ray and Lee Marchant of MES, Maurice and Graham Matcham of Continental tyres.