Tihemetsa 25.8 Estonian championship race 5

Hello again,

last Friday evening we took the ferry to Tallinn for round 5 of the Estonian championship in Tihetmetsa located not far from Pärnu. We had rooms in a small hotel in Pärnu and in the morning only a 40 km drive was left to arrive at the track. We noticed that it had been raining a lot in this area seeing the many puddles on the fields.

During the training session the track was already very soft and some wet parts made only a single line possible that did wear out quickly. 16 entries had arrived this time. The season is nearing it's end and injuries have taken their toll. We were the only team from Finland and also from Latvia and Lithuania arrived only one team per country. Last place in the timing but we didn't care so much because the track would become very demanding as we remembered from last year. I've never been good at timed practices and I need some time to get adjusted to the track.

From the second row we got on our way and after the first lap we had the 15th place. During the race some teams got problems and with a steady going we passed the finish line at the 12th position. We could need the points very well because we did miss the first 2 races and it took time to get the hack set up correctly.

After the first heat we got some heavy rain showers and the track became real bad. Even for the solo bikes it became a test of endurance. Especially a lower area of the track looked more like a little stream than a motocross track. When it was our turn it stopped raining but we had no idea if it would be possible to do a lap without getting stuck. Luckily the organization realized this too and shortened the track and excluded the worse part hereby. Even the faster teams were happy with this decision. For the spectators, there still were spectators in spite of the weather, it was also nice because it was now like a stadium and they could follow the whole lap.

I had changed the rear wheel back for our Russian tire and that was a good decision, the hack was easier to drive through the deep ruts. The race was very dynamic with everyone that close and during the first rounds happened all kind of actions. Everyone was stuck for at least once and so did we. But with a little help from spectators we got the hack going again until we got lapped. I tried to take a higher line in a corner but the hack reacted like in a slow motion movie and the hack behind us bumped in our rear wheel. It was that slippery that we turned 90 degrees around. With a little shoving and pulling we were on our way again and finished 9th this time. Again some teams had technical problems but we were lucky to ride out. Directly after the finish line most of the coolant squirted out of a joint and we had to walk back to the van.

With the evening ferry back to Helsinki and a lot of work to clean all the riding gear and the side car. Also the van's interior looks more like a swinery than a transporter for racing equipment. Even we didn't have the speed to mix with the Estonian teams we still did well on this demanding track with very deep ruts everywhere. Last year we didn't finish the second heat after getting stuck and then the track wasn't even as bad as it was this year.

Greetings,
Stephan

Results at Mylaps (kv=sidecars)
Trip to Tihemetsa 24-25.8.2012

Final round of the Finish championship Alavuus 18.08.2012

Hi all,

this weekend it was the third and final round for the Finish championship already. The race took place in Alavuus at a deep sand track with significant height differences. A beautiful track especially for the spectators but also very demanding for the sidecar class.

When we started our trip Friday afternoon the outer ring of Helsinki was completely blocked by an enormous traffic jam caused by a concert organized on a location with insufficient transportation options. Via small back roads we were able to escape this and suffered only a limited delay. We wanted to get the hack through the technical inspection already the same evening so we can sleep a little longer the next morning.

We made it in time and since Mikael is now having his driving license i didn't have to drive the whole trip alone anymore. Only 7 teams arrived at the paddock this time. This year's season isn't the best for our class. Let's hope that next year there will be less problems and injuries.

During the free practice and time training we tested different rear tires and decided for the famous Russian monster tire as did some other teams. These are old school tires with a size and profile used by the real 500 ccm motocross class eons ago. Nowadays they are used by the sidecars only when the sand is really deep.

With only 7 teams any place behind the gate is okay so we didn't really push during timed practice and the 6th position was ours.

The start of the first heat was good and at the fourth place we got through the first corner. We lost 2 positions soon there after but were able to overtake one place back again. We held this position for some laps but with a 20 minutes and 2 laps race on a heavy track like this I had to take it a little easier. At lap 5 we did loose one position and only then I noticed that the seventh team wasn't directly behind us. Only after the finish we heard that they got technical problems and had to retire. 6th position for our efforts and we were satisfied with our performance during the first half of the heat.

For the second heat only 5 teams showed up anymore due to technical or physical problems. During the exploration lap we noticed the track had gone so bad that we decided to concentrate on finishing the race and not to try to create some surprises. The track had worn out so much that between the already large holes and bumps from the first heat new ones had formed in between them. Not a single part of the track were it was possible to take a breath, all the time you had to push and pull the hack around. Especially a large down hill with deep sand had become rather scary. Keeping the throttle open to have the engine pulling all the time and dragging the rear brake the same time was the only option to keep the side car on it's line. I really counted down the times we had to descend there.

But at the end we went home with 2 fifth places and a fourth in the overall standings for the Finish championship. For the first time we have finished in all the heats of a series. Satisfied we started our trip back home and this time Mikael did the driving.

Very nice pictures from Alavuus in Markku Laukka's web album: http://mla.kuvat.fi/#/kuvat/Kuvat+2012/18.9+-12+SM+Motocross+Alavus/

Greetings,
Stephan

Mylaps results ( SV = sidecars)
Trip to Alavuus

Cesis, Latvia 5.8.2012

Hello,

last Saturday we took the 13:30 ferry to Tallinn. At the same ferry we met the Aronen/Mantila team going in the same direction. We had our hotel about 10 kilometers outside of Cesis. After a good breakfast we drove to the track.

The Cesis track is an old classic from the sidecar GP series but the last years there hasn't been organized a race for the world championship at this location. With 19 very different jumps a good knowledge of the track is an advantage. Most teams had been here before but for us it was the first time out here. We used the training session just to get to know the track and never really pushed for a good time. Last place was the result of this "tactic" ;-).

It was over 30 degrees Celsius when we started from the second row, 23 entries, and circled this time successfully around the traditional pile up after the start. We did pass 2 teams in the first 2 laps but also did loose some places when the faster teams recovered from their first corner perils. We tried to hang on but halfway I got tired and had to slow down, last place but with 5 teams out still points.

The start of the second heat happened without collisions and all the teams made it through the first corner without problems. We passed 2 teams during the first lap and found a good rhythm. We hadn't the speed to get an hold at the team in front of us and had to accept that the gap increased. But the teams behind us didn't get a change to overtake, we were able to grow a safe distance and finished 2 positions better than in heat one at the 16th position.

This was our first race this season we are satisfied about. Not only the hack is much better now but we start to get faster and, especially in the second heat, are able to find a good rhythm. In total we ended as second for the veteran's classification. After the race we drove straight back to Tallinn to catch the night ferry to Helsinki.

Greetings,
Stephan

Mylaps results (bv = sidecars)
Trp Cesis, Latvia 4-6.8.2012

Pictures of the hack

Hello,

some pics about the hack. Last Thursday evening we did a training session in Riihimäki and we were very satisfied with our performance. Tomorrow, Saturday afternoon, we will start our trip to Cecis, Latvia. Our confidence is high again and we really want to prove something in the remaining races.

Greetings,
Stephan

Pictures of Karksi Nuia, Estonia, 26.05.2012

album Karksi Nuia, Estonia 26.05.2012

Added pictures made by Panu. Some rain shower that day ;-).

Greetings,
Stephan

Training sessions and our visit at Kiviöli, Estonia

Hi,

no races after Raahe for us and we've spend the time with training sessions and visited the Estonian GP in Kivöli.

We've been improving our speed and also the settings for the suspension and carburation. Especially the improved carburation makes a big difference, the engine is feeling much stronger now and running cleaner. After we made these changes the chain broke in two laps! First we thought that the extra power caused the fracture but after checking more carefully it had been a stone between the rear sprocket and chain that caused the failure.

Last weekend we visited Kiviöli in Estonia to watch the sidecar GP. Last year we participated in this event but due to the problems we had to work out first, we didn't apply this year.
Still Mikael was on the track but helping out Jarmo Lehtinen in the old stars class for 55+ sidecar veterans. They did besides their training session one heat of 10 minutes and 2 laps.
For many this was very demanding especially in combination with temperatures over thirty degrees Celsius.
With 35 entries in 2 classes, 45+ and 55+, they achieved a fourth position in the 55+ class and a twelfth position overall. A nice moment was the riders presentation, with 32 sidecars of the GP class and 35 sidecars of the veterans the track was completely covered from start to finish with sidecars during the parade lap.

Coming weekend we travel to Latvia, Cesis for the fifth round of the Latvian championship. We did miss some races in this competition but still we would like to get some good results.

Greetings,

Stephan

results sidecars veterans
Trip to Kiviöli, Estonia