This would be the turning point of our season so far. After all the bad luck we've been confronted with it was time for a change. Well, the change didn't come yet even this was the first race we could write down 2 results!
The Iisalmi track is normally a hard clay track but due to the weather conditions a little bit softer now and no dust at all. Already at the beginning of the training we had a misunderstanding between driver and passenger that resulted in a crash at the first jump. The first 5 minutes there was the possibility to practice starting and for the first start we took it easy to see the track's layout in the first corner and the jump after it. The second start we tried faster and I thought lets take the first jump also at a good speed but Mikael came back from the hack's nose thinking I would shut off. But I didn't and with the sidecar's wheel high up we came over the jump what resulted in a nice crash. I can only say the track wasn't very soft at all actually, this resulted in a very sore body for the rest of the day (and days after still).
Only 9 entries and our poor training result didn't matter much. We had a good start, fifth,from outer position and the first four laps our speed was good. Then my hands start to feel all the holes and we came under pressure of Pöllänen/Lehtinen. In the last lap, only a few corners before the finish, I made a mistake and missed the inside line of a corner and we did loose our position and finished sixth.
Before the second heat a rain and hail shower softened the track a little more. Our start was bad, for some reason we had a lot of wheel spin this time and almost dead last at the first corner.Halfway the first lap some sidecars got stuck before a jump and I gambled to drive around and try an outer line, no success, stuck in the mud too. After the sidecars got under way one by one there wasn't real racing any more and just survival. The kick-start lock broke and was all the time stabbing in my knee so we made a pit stop to lock it with the famous airco tape. Last and eight position.
2 results but the exhaust pipe has a crack, the clutch cover broke (kickstart lock) and again our old problem is back; pressure in the cooling system with black coloured cooling fluid now. A lot of work again for the coming week.
Regards, Stephan
route Espoo-Iisalmi-Helsinki
results (MX SV = sidecars)
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