Hello,
back again from our second and last GP. Friday morning August 12th we and team Aronen/Mantila took the 10:30 ferry to Tallinn. The Kunnas family followed us with the next ferry. The three days home I had used to fix the 570 engine. We tested this engine earlier the week before Kegums but we did run in problems with the gear selector. This engine has a little extra power on top and with the large up-hills in Kiviõli we could use that little extra very well.
After the technical inspection I noticed that coolant had mixed with engine oil. To change the water pump seal it was necessary to remove the clutch cover and flush the engine with fresh oil. Many other teams were also still working Friday evening at their bikes, we weren't the only team. With the technical inspection no problems for us again.
The Kiviõli track is laid out on a large hill created by mining and the track's surface is coarse gravel. This stuff is power consuming when moist but can manage a lot of water and there's almost no risk with getting stuck. The 570 engine did run nicely and I was happy with the extra performance. We were placed in the A group with 21 teams. The track was very fast and a few jumps rather tricky. For me this track was more demanding than Kegums last week.
In the pre-qualifying training we finished like in the free training also at the the 20th position but we noticed that the engine started to smoke from the exhaust. Also restarting was more difficult. When waiting for the start practice the engine started to boil thus we pushed the bike back to the paddock. With the help of the Kunnas family we changed the 550 engine back in less than 1½ hour, that gave us still more than half an hour before our qualification heat started.
It started to rain properly when it was time for the start of the qualification heat. Second row and we did choose the inside line. We didn't run in problems in the first corners and finished the 1st lap at the 19th position. After 3 laps it was again a battle between the 3 veteran teams for many laps until my goggles became very dirty and the clear vision film didn't transport any more. I removed my goggles and we drove the last 2-3 laps at an easy speed on the last position. The difference between the 550 and the 570 engines was noticeable especially at the final part of the up-hills.
In the last change training we tried to prevent finishing at the last position but didn't succeed. We started a last effort but when landing after a large jump my left wrist got hurt and after this lap we had only one last change for a good lap. With a sore wrist we were still able to improve a little but not enough, last position for us.
The next day we enjoyed watching good racing and we all took the same evening ferry back to Helsinki. My thanks for the Kunnas family for their help and food when we didn't had time to prepare something by our self when fixing the bike. Aronen/Mantila scored a 15th position in the 2nd heat and collected again points. About our GP experiences I can say that I'm still satisfied. We enjoyed racing during a big event and we managed to perform without crashing or becoming a road block for the faster teams.
Regards, Stephan
Result GP Kiviõli, Estonia
Trip Kiviõli, Estonia
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