Hello
Saturday afternoon the 14:30 ferry to Tallinn with the team of Aronen/Mantila. During our drive to Kekava, were we stayed for the night, we tried the restaurant at the Estonian/Latvian border, Ikla. It was exactly the same food as at the gas station in Häädemeeste, maybe the same owner?
The next morning we had optimal weather for racing, about 20 degrees Celsius. During the night and the day before it had rained rather heavily and the track was in the training session very soft. It looked like that it was going to be a good day for the large 2-stroke Zabel teams, the difference with the 4-strokes was remarkable. Luckily the sun came out and the track started to dry and that made it even for everyone. Due to races in Estonia and the GP in Russia, only 11 entries with 3 veteran teams. 10th position for us in the training with a huge gap between us and the fastest teams.
Our start for the first heat wasn't very good, I tried to leave the gate a little to early and had to correct. The soil after the gate was still very soft and at the last position we entered the first corner. In the next corners we did pass 3 teams but before completing the first lap 2 teams re-passed us already. After the first lap we started a battle with the Latvian team, and 2011 Latvian Veteran Champions, Vâpa/Maĉs that would last till the finish line. 4 times our positions exchanged but this time we did draw the longest straw. At the end of the heat we closed the gap with the team in front of us but at the finish line still 3 seconds to short.
Our mood was very good for the 2nd heat after the good racing before. The start didn't improve but we ended up in front of Vâpa/Maĉs and directly behind the Lithuanian team Ziukas/Davidonis. This team is a very hard nut to crack and we really wanted to beat them this time. In front of us a Latvian team and with 4 teams it was like a train bouncing over the track. The Latvian team was passed after a few laps by Ziukas/Davidonis and we needed an extra lap to do the same. We tried hard to close the gap again but lacked 10 seconds at the finish line (as in the 1st heat). The last round for the Latvian Championship is in 2 weeks in Gulbene, maybe we will succeed then.
For us it was second overall in the veteran class and Aronen/Mantila did good business by taking the overall win with a double for the first time in Latvia. Back to Tallinn via Kekava for a good meal. 01:15 we arrived at the Dzingel hotel and found still some energy for a beer, at least.
Regards, Stephan
Results Stelpe (bv = sidecar)
Trip Stelpe 20-22.08
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