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.