Aragon 4 hrs; reflections on a great success

Aragon 4 hrs - final ECS round 2015

Summary 

Sweatshop Phase One are now 2015 FIM European Classic Series Champions, after winning at the final race at Aragon on 31st October.

Background

Despite becoming the 2013 ECS champions, during that season, it was becoming clear that the old P&M Kawasakis were coming to the end of their competitive existence. The rolling chassis continued to be as light and nimble as any, but coaxing any more reliable power from the old uni-track engines would be difficult. In short, we would need to compromise reliability if we wanted the Kawasaki lumps to make any more power. As that is never an option in endurance (always reliability first and performance second) our only way forward was to go to a four valve engine. In practical terms that meant Suzuki in the shape of the GSX1100 E models, which were available in 81/82 and were thus eligible. Our first outing with our 'prototype' GSX1100 bike was at Nurburgring in late summer 2014. And what a début it was - with a Linden /Brasher/Conroy win straight out of the box. ! Next race, at Aragon in 2014, didn't go so well, with a crank failure from second place. !

Anyway, to cut to the present; The two 'production' frames (with different headstock angles and swinging arm mounting positions) were built by P&M over the 2014/15 winter, and by the mid season point, we had considered that we had got on top of the reliability issues. Three key areas have been addressed and solutions applied. One area of engine reliability remains in question, with no obvious mitigation available. The frequency of this failure mechanism is around one event per 80 hrs and its consequences are non catastrophic, but race terminating. More work will take place in this area over the winter.

So, our  frequency of all failures (catastrophic and non-catastrophic) with the Suzuki engine during the development phase was one event per 17 hrs, now during this recent 'developed' phase it is one event per 35 hrs, so we are getting there.

With the engine now close, the riders could exploit the package - and what a great run they have had.

2nd Paul Ricard
2nd Mettet
2nd Spa
1st Paul Ricard (classic Bol)
1st Misano
1st Aragon
2nd Aragon

Leaving engines behind; we really wanted to win at Spa this year. As a team we hadn't won there since 1993...loads of seconds and thirds, but not a win since Buckmaster/Manley and Toland. That's why we ran two bikes this year - it was intended to be just a one-off to increase our chances, but when it all went wrong and Stephane and Ian suffered engine failure whist leading (and Peter and Hugh powered on to second) we found ourselves in the crazy position of having two bikes equal on 20 points, instead of one on 40 points. That meant, instead of leading the ECS by a nice margin, we found ourselves equal fifth with ourselves! So it now had to be two bikes for Aragon.

Aragon 4 hrs - the final showdown















And so to Aragon....any one of seven teams could win and six of them were there trying....and every one of them was serious. (It's a real shame that Bolliger, with Kellenberger did not make the journey).
Anyway, it was the two Phase One teams from Spa (Linden with Dickinson replacing Brasher) and Mertens and Simpson. Plus, the favourites Greg Fastré and Richard Hubin, on their Team Force Harris GSX1100s, Moto-Bel, Kaiser Kawasaki and Roadrunner Suzuki, the endurance stalwarts who had scored well in each race.

In addition, major competition should also have come from Alf's endurance, with Mike Edwards, John Barton and recently returned Mick Godfrey, plus Gary Johnson's Monex package, the very fast but infrequently scoring Taurus Suzuki and also Sam Neate should really have shown his nose.

The Sweatshop Phase One team's weekend started fairly well with a trouble free Friday practice and qualifying, which saw Mertens and Simpson get pole, with a combined time of 2.08.57, some 0.36 secs ahead of Taurus on 2.08.93, with Hubin and Fastre in 4th ( 2.09.26) some 0.5 sec  behind Linden/Dickinson who took third.

Moto-Bel were 5th, Alfs were 6th, Hampe (with Christian Haquin) was 7th, Toscane were 8th and Monex 9th. Other UK interest was with Sam Neate in 17th.

Night practice went well for Linden and Dickinson, but Mertens/Simpsons was cut a little short due to a developing oil leak, which necessitated an overnight engine change.

The race conditions were perfect. The early laps were in air temps and track temps in the low 20c region and Lindens unofficial class record (2.06.9) looked like it would surely be broken.

Taurus led the early laps with Mertens closely trailing and Fastre in hot pursuit. Linden was steady in 4th. Taurus ( having recruited local Spanish hotshot Mas Martinez to join regular man Cantalupo) pulled ahead during the first 45 mins and pulled a seven second lead on Mertens at stop one. Force were also close behind.

During the early part of the rota , Moto-Bel crashed lightly and were back in the fray after a three minute repair.
















Also during the first hour, Alf's endurance, the Neates and Monex all left the stage with engine failures.

At the close of hour one, Sweatshop ( Mertens) had taken the lead, largely assisted by a speedy pitstop, Taurus were second, Force third and Linden fourth.

Hour two was equally dramatic; Fastre and Hubin met the Sweatshop challenge and put the hammer down, equalling and exceeding Simpsons times as twilight drew in. The Phase One pit stops were going well (despite only 100 secs between each bike !) but not well enough to stop Force taking a half second lead at mid-race distance. Linden/Dickinson remained fourth, behind Taurus in third.

Taurus customarily left the stage early, this time on lap 64

During the third hour Force hit trouble - their ECU became detached and pit work was necessary to get going again, they rejoined in third at the close of hour three. Sweatshop Phase One also had a hitch. A troublesome battery change at stop 4 needed some attention in the pit lane (30 sec or so), but fuelling had taken place; that meant the act was unallowed and therefore the team were penalised with a thirty second stop and go.!

So, the close of hour three saw the two Phase One teams in first and second, Mertens leading Linden by 29 secs, Force in third a further 42 secs back, with Roadrunner up to 4th one lap adrift.

The final hour was classic endurance; A big big chase by the back to backing Fastre to try to wrest 3rd position from Dickinson, who in turn was trying to hold position with the minimum of risk.
During this chase Fastre scored the best lap of the race with a new record of 2.05.779.

Whilst at the front, Stephane was doing what Stephane does; head down , hammer down, ultra fast, ultra reliable...right to the flag with a string of best personal laps in the darkness........

And for Linden and Dickinson; a textbook team performance.

















Sweatshop Phase One .......first and second and championship winners.......

Thank you to Team, Riders and Sponsors alike, what a marvellous job.

Final results Aragon:

1. Sweatshop Phase One (Mertens/Simpson)
2. Sweatshop Phase One 2 (Dickinson/Lindén)
3. Team Force (Hubin/Fastré)
4. Roadrunner (van der Mark/Brand)
5. Kaiser Classic Endurance (Kaiser/Steinmacher/Deiss)
6. Les Melting Potes (Laghi/Langlois/Frattini)
7. Red Fox Tide 4 Fun (Coppens/Govaert)
8. Motobel (Charles-Artigues/Sardi)
9. German Guzzi Classic Team (Boos/Nerge/Pfautch)
10 Team Segale Classic (Tossolini/Germann/Bertschinger)
11 DuDu Team (Dumont/Duvernay/Mignot)
12 Poweracing Japauto Club (Jaubert/Sauve)
13 AML Racing (Weber/ d'Imbleval)
14 Capelli Belli (Struck/Sieg/Bohmhauer)
15 Team Carlains (Bisconti/Carlini)

Phase One: Enduring Success

Sweatshop Phase One picked up its 5th FIM Championship last weekend by winning the final round of the European Classic Series at Aragon.

Stéphane Mertens and Ian Simpson fought off massive challenges from Team Force and Team Taurus, as well as team mates Peter Lindén and Mike Dickinson on a second Sweatshop Phase One entry.

At the flag, Mertens/Simpson were some 53 seconds in front of the Lindén entry with Team Force trailing by over a lap after a last minute splash and dash,

Peter Lindén and Mike Dickinson played a superb supporting role to give Sweatshop its first 1-2 result ever.

Russell Benney said - This win is dedicated to the whole team, but particularly to Hugh Brasher, who made it all possible, but could not be here to share in the glory.
All in the team wish Hugh's wife Claire a speedy return to good health -

More details later in the week.

Mertens on his way to the series win, with team mates Simpson and Brasher for Sweatshop Phase One.

Aragon update

Due to unforeseen circumstances Hugh cannot race at this weekend's final ECS round at Aragon. Mike Dickinson has been drafted in to accompany Peter Lindén on the number 1 entry. The number 4 bike will be raced by Stéphane Mertens and Ian Simpson, in an all out effort to win.

Snetterton 4 hrs

Steve Smith and Peter Linden crashed out of the lead of a wet and overcast Snetterton 4 hrs race during the first hour. After a fine start, in difficult conditions, Steve Smith lost the front end at the Bomb Hole during rain. After assessing the damage the team retired in order to preserve key spares for the upcoming Aragon race that they departed for just 36 hrs later. The key issue was the destruction of another fuel tank.

The event started well with dry cold qualifying in which both riders topped their groups. The grid comprised a wide cross section of machinery, not strictly in class, but all underpinned by a great enthusiasm for being there. Technically, qualifying was straightforward, but the opportunity to test a set up which coped best with the very cold track was impossible due to deteriorating weather conditions.

The team regretted the early retirement following the crash, but focus had to stay on the European Series and compromising spares could not be considered.

Hearty congratulations to Steve Boam and Steve Clark for their fantastic win at Snetterton on the SCERT Suzuki. After years of trying the team thoroughly deserve this result.The team are now en-route to Spain where one of seven teams can win the series. Sweatshop Phase One are pulling out all the stops to win, with a double entry of Mertens/Simpson and Brasher/Linden.

The team wishes to thank Rob and Darin for their efforts in getting the Snetterton race off the ground and hopefully set for a great future. Thanks are also due to Ray Marchant for entering the team and to Graham Matcham for the superb Continental tyres.

Aragon race is on 31st October.

Finally, thank you to Martin Gelder of Race24.com for the superb coverage of Snetterton and we look forward to the resurrection of in depth articles on the exciting sport of Classic Endurance. 

RB 

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