SummaryRacePrepQualifyingRace1Race2NextRace - Pictures

RACE IN Holten, 14-AUGUST 2011
Summary

7th out of 58 starters. Quali: 8th. ~250 spectators
Finally, summer break over. Tricky weather and track conditions, but in the end a great result. 7th in both races! After non-stop heavy rain until 11am, the offroad part was literally a lake, but somehow they dried it out and it was doable - very tricky though. It got better over the day and I didn't run into problems in the offroad but in fact took it a little bit too cautious and lost most time there towards the front positions. Unfortunately, not so many spectators showed up due to the bad weather, but it was great Supermoto racing in these conditions.
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Race Prep

After the unfortunate end of the first half of the season, I took the time to recover and get back into working out and practicing. Dortmund was also a great race ansd learning experience, just not so much time to actually try things out on the track. But in my mind, things develop... I also restarted my MX trainings to improve my offroad sections. So, personally felt pretty good going into the race - but then the weather forecast brought my hopes down - heavy rain was predicted - and my team support from Germany did not deliver the parts I wanted for the race; this also seems to drag on and I think I need to look for local race support in Holland.
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Qualifying

From leaving home at 6am (and already during the night) until 11am, non-stop rain. Sometimes really heavy. This caused many "more for fun" riders to stay home, so "only" 58 starters started the qualifying in the National class - almost all the fast riders were there though. The offroad part was under water, literally. First practice of the Euro class was terrible, it was knee deep water and mud everywhere. Falling at the wrong spot drowned the bike - potentially costly mistakes. After their qualifying, race control stopped any further qualifyings to work on the offroad. After a two hour break, they managed to work it out and practices and qualifyings resumed - unthinkable, but in the end a great decision because it worked out ok.
This time my tactic was to start a little later to save power, especially in such conditions.  So, only a few focused laps and it worked out fine - 8th in qualifying was best result this year.
Quali result: 8th
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Race 1

Starting position was third row in the middle. I prefer on the sides because it gives more space to go by, this way you depend a little bit on the others with less room to maneuver. Start was ok, some elbow banging at the entry to the offroad, but I kept position. Already during the first laps it was obvious that I was too cautious in the offroad section. In lap 4, I dropped to 10th position, then I got more used to the offroad conditions and started to push harder and moved up to the rider in front of me. On the long straight after the offroad, where a lot of dirt was spread, we hit fifth gear and went quite fast, so the breaking zone into a second gear right was tricky. I always braked late there, so I put pressure on the guy in fron to me. And suddenly he lost his front wheel and went down. Already being at the limit I first avoided him and then his bike and between them turned into the corner... all went well and I gained a position. In lap nine, position 6 crashed so I moved up to 8. Following this, I closed the gap to the position in fromt of me and in lap thirteen, I passed for position 7 with a nice move and kept it to the end. Nice fighting and slippery aspalt conditions which was really fun riding, Supermoto at its best.
Race 1 result: 7th
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Race 2

Second start was amazing, I shot by the guy in front of me, went slightly to the outside for the following left corner and turned in around position 4. Another good starter on the inside overdid it a little and lost his rear wheel wildly in the middle of the corner, spinning outside where I was. He saved it miracuously and I also avoided to crash into him, but we all lost momentum and therefore I again turned into the offroad in position 7 (with lots of elbow banging actually...). Again, too cautious in the offroad so I lost contact to the front positions and got pressure from a guy behind me. In lap six, he did an amazing move at the entry of the offroad and passed me outside - chapeau! Same story, he moved away in the offroad, the asphalt part was absolutely good. I got a little but pressure from behind but then pushed it in the middle part of the race and had a save 7th position in the end. In the end, the offroad went better, but no need to risk anything anymore.
Race 2 result: 7th
Overall: 7th
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Next race

The next race is on 28 August in Lelystad and I hope for good weather and some new parts on the bike - if they ever manage to send it... in between, we'll have some photo shooting for the bike and also more practice, stay tuned for the next race!
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Pictures
Check out the web album here
Video race 1: Click for YouTube Video
Video race 2: Click for YouTube Video