Hi again,
this weekend was our first ever GP held in Kegums. We took the first ferry to Tallinn early in the morning at 7:30 and with us travelled Maria, my daughter, and the Kunnas family with their own truck. Our little convoy travelled first to Pärnu to do some shopping. With 2 days in the paddock we needed more food and drinks than normally. We weren't the only teams stopping in Pärnu, some Estonian sidecar and Quad teams were also parked in front of the supermarket.
We continued to Häädemeeste for a lunch and from there straight to Kegums. On the ring road around Riiga was a lot of construction work and the trip took a little longer than expected. In the paddock we found a nice spot with shade for most of the day. We took the sidecar for the technical control and passed without any problems. After that we build up our camp with the several tents. We prepared dinner using only a single cooking plate and in combination with salad not too bad either. The team of Aronen/Mantila joined us some hours later that evening. First night sleeping in a tent is never a success for me and in combination with an early start I didn't sleep very well. The others had no problems and had a good night rest. In the morning my wife, Ria, and a family friend joined us to give some mental support.
The official entry list showed 47 teams but only 37 teams actually entered the event. We and Aronen/Mantila were placed in group B for training and qualification. Also some other competitors from national Estonian and Latvian races were placed in the same group. During the first free training we concentrated at improving our speed at the jumps. This track is so much wider and the jumps much higher than we are normally confronted with. We had the last position but during the next pre-qualifying practice we improved and moved up one position.
We had to start from the second row for our qualifying heat and we did choose the inside line behind the 2 Latvian top teams. When we rode over the gate these teams were already halfway on the starting field! In the second corner a British team, the Millard brothers, crashed but we had no trouble with our inside line. The first 2 laps we completed at the 14th position but then the British team passed us and a little later a Lithuanian team succeeded too. During the race 2 teams got mechanical problems and we finished at the same position as we started, 14th. Because the first 12 are placed directly in the final we had to ride the last change qualifying practice.
During the last change qualifying practice we were not able to close the 9 second gap with the 8th and last classified team. 9 seconds is a very large gap and we have to improve many, many things with our riding first. Also the order with the 3 slowest teams didn't change and we called it a day and after 6 laps we went back to the paddock. Altogether we were satisfied with our riding. We had the feeling we jumped much better and at certain points kept the throttle longer open. It was time for a shower and a cool beer.
We went with the family to a restaurant for dinner and returned later to the paddock. We had a few beers and that night I slept much better ;-). At Sunday we had a good day watching the races and Aronen/Mantila ended 15th and 16th in the heats, a very good performance. Via Sigulde, were we had dinner, we drove to Ainaži for our hotel. In the morning we continued to Tallinn with a stop at the Pärnu beach. Next week our second GP in Kiviöli, Estonia.
Regards, Stephan
Results Kegums 6-7.8
Trip Kegums 5-8.8
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