Sachsenring IDM

On the 19th of May Yamaha Deutschland and I arrived at the Sachsenring circuit for the 4th round of the German Superbike Championship. After Jorg Teuchert’s huge highside in the first race of the previous event, his bike had been completely rebuilt and was race ready again.

So when reports of a burning crashed bike, together with a missing Jorg coincided, my heart sank. Luckily Jorg was ok, however the bike was a mess. So for free practice three we elected to use the spare bike, which regretfully Jorg promptly crashed. That night the team worked until 2:30am repairing both bikes so that on Saturday Jorg was able to qualify 5th. Not a great position but we knew we had two strengths that would help in the race. Firstly Jorg is really good on the startline, so we were fairly sure of entering turn one in the top three. Secondly Jorg had tested at the track after the Oschersleben race and found that the left side of the front tyre was wearing badly. Based on this information Dunlop were able to respond with some tyres developed especially for the track. Pirelli on the other hand did not and after 15 laps of the 20 lap race the tyres were badly worn and 2 seconds off the pace.

In race one Jorg started well and completed the first lap in 2nd, while Bauer stretched a commanding lead. This lead peaked at around 9 seconds at 10 laps then Jorg put in some great laps and took the lap record on lap 17. By which time Bauer’s Pirellis were wrecked and Jorg was able to pass him 2 laps before the end.

Race two was much the same as race one except Bauer’s lead was lost when he crashed out of the race. This left Jorg in the lead ahead of Andy Meklau. The race was then red flagged after a crash, and the bikes returned to the pit. Normally in this situation the tyres are changed for new ones, however Jorg decided not to. Then during the sighting lap he ran through the gravel trap. Luckily the dunlop’s coped very well with the abuse and Jorg claimed another victory.

The double win allowed Teuchert to take 30 points out of Bauer’s championship lead and gives him back the second place in the championship that he lost after the double DNF in the Nurburgring. The gap is now 40 points with 8 races left. So another double win at the Salzburgring on the 6th of July is the plan.

Isle of Man Senior TT

After the disastrous Nurburgring IDM round, I was pleased to get back to the Isle of Man and forget about it. Whilst I’d been away the team had replaced the injured James McBride with Micheal Dunlop, son of Robert Dunlop, who was tragically killed at the northwest 200 just 2 weeks earlier. When I arrived on the Tuesday Micheal had already raced in the superbike race and finished 14th. With this result under his belt he was looking for a top ten in the Senior TT.

On Wednesday afternoon the roads were closed, and the competitors took to the circuit for a few practice laps. Micheal completed two laps on the bike and felt happy with the softer rear spring we were evaluating. the bike was then prepared for the race, which included fitting an on board camera for the press.

Micheal’s start number for the race was 19, meaning he started 19th on the road. after one lap he was in 12th position and after two routine fuel and rear tyre stops, Dunlop finished the 6 lap race in 10th. This it has to be said is a great result considering he missed practice week.

Phase One’s season has so far been an on going saga of crashes, riders giving up and more crashes. The TT was no different, as one of the planned riders McBride, crashed his own bike and needed replacing. Then Jimmy Moore decided he didn’t want to race because he found he was thinking about his family and couldn’t go fast. However this turn of events was dealt with, and the team came away with 5 finshes from 5 starts, which was better than most of the top teams.

The next World Endurance event is the Suzuka 8hrs which is the best event of the year in my opinion. It is held on the 27th of July.

Nurburgring IDM

On the 29th of May the Yamaha Deutschland team arrived at the Nurburgring for the 3rd round of the German Superbike championship, or IDM as its known in the trade. After finishing 2nd in the first 4 races we were hoping to get a win. To assist us in our goal we had saved some weight on the bike, by removing the starter motor and fitting some new lighter components.

Changeable conditions in qualifying saw us 5th on the grid which was not ideal, but we were confident of a good result. Jorg got a great start in race one and reached the first corner in first place, then the race was red flagged because of an incident behind him. The restart again saw Jorg get a great start, and this time he was second. After several laps Jorg moved past Bauer to take the lead for a few laps before being passed back. A little later in the race Jorg highsided, exiting the last chicane. The crash was quite heavy, but Jorg was fit to ride in the second race. The bike was however a little worse for wear, and it was decided to use the spare bike in the second race.

The second race started well, with Jorg again reaching 2nd place, however after several laps Jorg was forced to retire with engine problems.

It has to be said that with two DNFs, the Nurburbring weekend was for me, one to forget.

However on the otherside of the garage NIna Prinz, had an excellent weekend taking her Yamaha Deutschland R1 to 8th in the first race and 16th in the 2nd race.

Jorg is now 4th in the championship with 80 points, and Bauer is leading with 150 points. 6 wins from 6 races is quite an achievement for Bauer, but there is still time left in the championship to equal or beat his score. The Sachsenring runs from the 20th to 22nd of June.

Isle Of Man TT Practice Week

Almost everyone in bike racing has heard of the Isle of Man TT, however I for one had never been before. So when Phase One were invited to run two bikes there I was keen to attend. My rider for the duration was James McBride who had unexpectedly raced at Le Mans earlier in the year after the episode with the frenchman.

The first practice session went well, with McBride completing one lap on my bike, and another 1 or two on his own supersport and superstock machines. The debrief highlighted a few differences in bike requirements at the TT, including softer springs and damping, much higher screen, seat pads, tank grips, etc.

With the bike modifications achieved McBride completed two laps on my bike in the Monday evening session, one on his supersport bike and just managed to get out to start a final lap on his superstock bike before pit lane closed.  Another 20 minutes later, and most of the field had returned to the paddock and James, being the last man out was due back any second.  A few minutes later and the pit lane gate was shut, meaning there were no bikes on track. After enquiring at the race office we were told James had been involved in an accident at Gorse Lee, a 5th gear corner not far into the 37 mile lap, and had been airlifted to hospital.

During the van ride to the hospital very little was said, but I’m sure very similar thoughts were in the minds of team manager Russell Benney, James’ regular mechanic Ady, and I. After a short wait at the hospital we were informed that James had broken his ribs, arm, and shoulder. Which to us was excellent news as it meant that he was alive and his injuries were not critical.

Before I left on the Wednesday after the crash James was due to come off the intensive care ward and was making great progress. Therefore the team were concerned with finding a replacement rider.

On Wednesday I flew to Germany to prepare for the IDM race at the Nurburgring

Oschersleben IDM

From the 16th to 18th of May, Yamaha Deutschland were at the East German circuit of Oschersleben. Also present at the race was Micheal Schumacher, an up and coming motorcycle racer and former car specialist.

Other aspects of the meeting remain hazy, since for the last 3 and a half weeks I’ve been on a bit of a racing binge. What I do know is free practice and qualifying were often interupted by rain, leading to us entering the first race having not been able to test some of the new tyres Dunlop had developed. This meant we chose a tried and tested compound that we were pretty sure would last the race. This theory served us well as Jorg finished 2nd from his 3rd place on the grid. However the rear tyre was clearly wrecked and a plan was hatched to run a slightly different pressure in the 2nd race to help the tyre last.

The second race was much like the first, with Bauer again taking the win, as he has done all year, and Jorg taking 2nd, as he has done all year. This finishing order was by then wearing a little thin, and by shedding some weight and upping engine power via some technical development in the workshop, we hoped to get ahead of Bauer.

After unloading the truck at MGM’s north German workshop, I was on my way to the Isle Of Man where I was to work with Phase One in their first TT attempt.

Albacete 6hrs

The 2nd race of the season for Phase One Endurance took place at the Albacete Circuit in southern Spain. After a poor finish at Le Mans due to two crashes, it was essential to achieve a good points haul to get the championship back on the road.

The winter testing with Dunlop had achieved a good setup in Albacete and we hoped this would put us in a better position than some of the competition, due to the lack of track time in the two day schedule. However this theory was questioned when we arrived at the circuit in torrential rain.

Practice and qualifying came and went without any problems and we found ourselves in 9th position after combining the partly wet 1st qualifying with the fairly dry 2nd. After second qualifying finished we had around 3 hrs to prepare the bike for the race. This process has been known to take well over 12hrs, but as I had already completed alot of the preparations in the workshop, we were ready well in advance of the race.

The rain had started after qualifying 2 and never stopped long enough for intermediate tyres until well after the race finished. In fact there was so much water on the track that the race was started behind a safety car.

In the first rota the safety car came out around 40 minutes in, and this combined with the wet conditions made for a very low fuel consumption and a first rota length of around 1hr40 minutes. Cudlin’s strong start had placed us 5th at the first pitstop.

Haydon then put in a very strong ride, and was able to lap in the top 3 fastest on track all rota. Until during the last few laps of his rota he went off line to improve his visibility through the spray of a bike in front, and crashed.

When Haydon crashed we had just gained second place and it was almost exactly 3hrs in. Haydon brought the bike in to the pit and it looked ok except for the fairing and headlight, so we performed a routine stop and sent cudlin out while we prepared the necaserry spares and planned a quick repair stop, this was carried out in around 2 minutes. Cudlin then crashed after half a rota or so, then Haydon twice more.

After the fourth crash it was clear that we couldn’t get any points, and we didn’t want to use all of the spares up as the Isle of Mann TT was only one weekend at the workshop away. For these reasons, and the simple fact that we could not allow the bike to crash at the rate it was without injury, Phase One abandoned the race.

The objective of a good points haul has not been achieved, and Phase One’s Championship hopes are now firmly off the road, upside down, and on fire. Now team manager Russell Benney must decide if he wants to keep in the top ten at all costs and protect the team’s permanent status. Or go all out at each race and show how competitive Phase One bikes are. Damian Cudlin will certainly continue as lead rider, the choice of team mates may be very telling.

Lausitz IDM

MGM Yamaha Deutschland had a mixed bag of results at the first IDM Superbike round at Lausitz in eastern Germany. Jorg Teuchert, who’s bike I am responsible for whilst at the circuit, qualified 3rd and secured two 2nd places in the races. Meaning he is 2nd in the title race behind Bauer, who won both races on his honda. In the first race Bauer pulled out a commanding lead and Jorg had to settle for second. The second race was a much closer battle, and showed that Jorg will be right with him when we go to Oschersleben on 16th-18th of may.

Nina Prinz had a good weekend ending with a 19th and a 15th, giving her one point. This puts her ahead of around 30 of the IDM grid, and is a good performance to build on. With some more upgrades to her bike she should be able to get a good handfull of points in Oschersleben.

Andrzej Pavalec didn’t get his championship off to a very good start in Lausitz, after crashing out early in both races. Hopefully his strong qualifying performance is a sign of the results he can expect in Oschersleben.

Also at Lausitz was Phase One rider Damian Cudlin who was busy making waves in the IDM supersport paddock, with 2nd and 3rd place finishes. This puts him in 2nd place in the title race, which he seemed more than happy with. Both supersport races were won by the Triumph of Tode, which seemed to be untouchable all weekend.

Le Mans 24hr

The 2008 World Endurance championship started on the 19th April with the Le Mans 24hr. With 35 points available, a good result was very important for Phase One’s title hopes.

The riders for the race were to be Damian Cudlin, James Haydon and Stefan Duterne. However during qualifying 1 Duterne was hit by another rider and crashed. Luckily he was ok and able to return the bike to the pits. We then set to work on repairing the bike so that the next rider could qualify on it. As Cudlin left the pit on the repaired bike to get on with his session, grumblings of a very stereotypical nature emerged from the Frenchman Duterne. In short Duterne refused to ride for Phase One because he wasn’t allowed out on the spare bike after the crash. This was because the team could not risk the second bike having a crash and thus having no bike to use in the next session.

Luckily James McBride was with the team as 4th rider, so that he could ride the bike before he uses it at the Isle of Mann TT later this year. So with this turn of events, Phase One raced with Cudlin, Haydon and McBride. The team made a good start and by hour 3 had reached 3rd place and were having a great battle with Acropolis and Infiniteam. At around 8hrs in, an odd noise was coming from the bike during a pitstop. The bike was sent out whilst we discussed what the noise could be. it was decided to bring the bike in to check that the exhaust headers were not coming loose, as they could have damaged the radiator, and also to take the opportunity to change brake calipers. This was done efficiently and it was determined that the noise was probably a cracked header and it was unlikely to cause a problem.

During the night James Haydon had a fairly large crash, after the Acropolis bike touched him as it overtook in the tricky conditions. The crash cost 18 minutes, 9 minutes pushing and 9 minutes repairing a broken subframe, exhaust, fairing, petrol tank, footrest, and rear caliper. a few hours later McBride crashed in the wet and we lost a further 5 minutes in the repair.

Finding ourselves in 19th position we pushed hard into the morning and by 3pm managed 12th overall and 10th in class, giving us 8 points.

The whole week was a grind but the team dealt well with the hurdles and came away with some points unlike YART,GMT, and TKF.

Roll on Albacete.

Winter testing

On the 14th and 15th of February MGM Yamaha and I tested at Cartagena in Spain. With riders Jörg Teuchert and Andrzej Pawelec. The 4 new bikes performed without any problems and allowed the two riders to get on with clearing out the winter cobwebs. The team worked closely with Dunlop who are keen to spoil Pirelli’s year after they secured the deal to supply the BSB Championship. Light work was made of adjusting the bikes settings from last years Pirrelli setup used in European Superstock, to the new Dunlop rubber. This was achieved by the combination of Steven Casaer on data logging and lots of consistently fast laps by Jörg Teuchert. By the end of the test Jörg had just managed to break into the 1:34s with a 34.95 which made us the fastest at the test.

On the 9^th and 10^th of March Phase One and I were in Almeria in Spain for a Dunlop test that continued at Albacete on the 12th and 13^th. The weather was excellent throughout, and a good time was had by all. The riders for this test were Glen Richards who rode for Phase One last year when he wasn’t busy winning the British Superstock title with his team’s first foray into motorcycle racing. Along with Guy Martin; known for his excellent road racing performances, and rediculous accent. These two riders were able to use the test to get back up to speed after the off season, while Phase One used their individual specialisms to improve the bike. Glen Richards is an excellent development rider so he was used to test Dunlop’s new tyres and check the bikes were setup as well as they finished last year. Guy is a truck fitter, engine builder, and very tidy rider. He was able to use this background to test some of the engine refinements we were working on. The results were excellent and much speed and knowledge was gained. By the end of the tests we had two bikes in one piece, and an excellent base setting for the season.

Almeria- Richards 1:40.0

               Martin     1:41.8

Albacete- Richards 1:32.5

                 Martin     1:34.3

 

More Winter Testing:

From the 28^th to 30^th of March MGM Yamaha and I attended the Yamaha Race Training test held every year at Valencia. The blue skies and sunshine, made a weclome combination, when compared to the snow and rain we left in Germany. The test was a chance for the team to see if the base settings reached at Cartagena, would work at a different track. As well as to continue the Dunlop tyre testing started in Cartagena.

Jörg Teuchert was again able to complete lap after lap at a fast and consistent pace, without incident. Using his feedback, minor adjustments were made to the bike early in the test. Then Dunlop were free to use Jörg and the bike to test all manner of compounds and constructions, in the pursuit of still more speed. Jörg was able to maintain a race pace in the mid 1:37s and managed several 1:36,9s on slightly softer tyres.

Jorg was also testing a prototype thumb brake that Gilles are developing for the team. After some minor modifications it was declared perfect. So many thanks to the Gilles team.

Andrzej showed great pace from the first day onwards, and ended the test with consistant low 38s and a best of 1:37.8. Prooving he will be a strong contenter in 2008.

Nina Prinz prooved how unfounded women rider jokes are, by lapping in the 38s with a best of 1:38.2. I think this is a pace that will dominate in the womens cup, and should secure finishes around the top 10 to 15 in IDM, although we won’t know for sure until the first race.

Also at the test was Damian Cudlin who was testing the SKL Bike Promotion R6 he is to race in the IDM Supersport Championship. He’ll also be racing in the Phase One Endurance team I work with, so it was great to see him going so well.

The next test is in Lausitz, before which I have 2 crashed bikes to repair, plenty of small developments to make, and also need to prepare the Phase One bike for the Le Mans 24hrs that takes place immediatly after the Lausitz test. Beats working for a living.