Hallo, aus Mangel an Zeit kann ich im Moment nur den Originaltext von Piet veröffentlichen, mir fehlt die Zeit zum Übersetzen. Ihr werdet die Story trotzdem gut verstehen. Weitere Car und Bike Klassen in den nächsten Tagen... Ihr seht das Event war ergiebig.

Supertwin Top Fuel.

It was the first race this year for the Dutch team of the "de Haas" brothers. They invested big time in many new parts, and Martijn says it feels like a whole different bike. First mission was to get a decent base line. They were first in line at the first round on friday, Martijn made a burnout, then shut it off.

Ismo Maenpaa in the other lane had a good launch, but could not keep the bike going straight, and went off throttle and passed the finish line 10.1 seconds later. The second pair was made up by two former Supertwin Topgas champions, Roman Sixta (Cz) and Job Heezen (NL).

After racing on two different Zodiac "Godfather" bikes, Job bought Lorenz Stauble's PRP-powered V-twin, and turned it into a "Heezen" bike beyond recognition. His team is made up by his wife and daughter and crewchief is ex-topfuel bike pilot and multiple...

European champion Roel Koedam, who did a great job coaching Job Heezen. It's a wild bike to ride and after a great start, the bike went towards the center line, so he shut the throttle off early and had to work hard to stay in his lane. He stopped the clock at 8.13 sec. In the other lane, Roman's Fast Cat motor did not seem to have much power, but he made it to the end of the track and needed 11.3 seconds.

Christian Jaeger from Germany was best at using the track conditions in his advance, left strong and accelerated hard, but he also had trouble keeping the bike to stay in his lane, so an early shut-off, but on top of the list with a 7.03 sec.

Vesa Lipponen (Finland) also had difficulties keeping it straight, but went 7.6. A huge improvement after the 14 seconds run of round one, pushing Job Heezen down to #5. Samu Kemppainen (Finland) on his 60-degree V-Twin powered bike was next up, and he lifted the wheel at the launch, then smoked the tyre and put a poor 9.7 on the scoreboard.

He adjusted the setup, and in round two Samu did the first "six" in the class that weekend. He went 6.83 and 325.7 Km/h and took the lead in the list. Ronnie Aasen had skipped the first round, but the supercharged Zodiac Harley was raceready, and so was the rider.

He only opened the throttle for the first half of the track, still did 7.29 sec., good for place #3. Roman Sixta hit the reflectors, so no time for him, and neither for Martijn de Haas, so he was still not qualified. Christan Jaeger also hit the reflectors at top end, so no time for him nor for Job Heezen, who's bike was leaning heavily to the right side during his pass. Saturday at noon they all lined up again for a third attemp to qualify. Job Heezen made a great burn-out, then was pushed back to the start line by his daughter.

The fuel pump had vibrated loose, and nitromethane was pouring down the track so he quickly shut it off, and the fuel was swept away quickly under supervision of the Santa Pod track crew. In the other lane Christian Jaeger had trouble keeping it straight again, and he did not improve. Team De Haas seemed to have found a base line, Martijn did 7.7 with an early shutoff, and qualified in the middle of the field.

In the other lane Roman Sixta did a new personal best of 7.403 sec. after drastic changes to his clutch.

But it was not enough for a new Czech Bike record, as Otto Knebel had done 7.402 sec. in Top Fuel bike, just ten minutes prior to Roman's pass. Roman's crew chief Mirek was looking worried: "we don't know what next step to take". In the other lane, Vesa Lipponen improved to 7.44 sec., good for place #5 so far. Then things got really loud and fast, as Ronnie Aasen made a great pass while the "Godfather" bike was spitting nitro flames from all four exhaust pipes. He took the lead with a great 6.59 sec. run and put a smile on the faces of Ton and Vince Pels. In the other lane Samu tried hard but could not prevent the tyre going up in smoke again, so no improvement for him. All went well for Martijn de Haas in round #4 and a new PB of 7.11 was the result. Christian Jaeger also did a great pass, 6.91 sec., and the low top speed of 266.9 Km/h indicates an early shut off. He stayed at place #3 but things looked good for race day. In the other lane, Vesa improved to a 7.3, pushing Sixta down to place #5. Samu found more grip and did a 7.04 with an early shut off, so more to expect from him on sunday too.

Here is a Video with some Qualifying Runs...

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Aasen and Jaeger pleased the crowd during the nightshow with their roaring thunder and big nitro flames. So both teams were working late to prepaire the bikes for the eliminations on sunday.

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Next morning in the line-up Vince changed the blower belt of the Zodiac bike, to make sure every part was in top condition.

Ronnie Aasen's opponent Maenpaa didn't show up, so Aasen got a bye run. A great run, 6.76 sec. @ 313 Km/h and again Team Pels in a good mood. Sixta's motor died at the start, so Jaeger got no opposition, and went into the semi finals with a 7.6, and no lane choice in the next round.

Samu was given a red light while staging, and Heezen did 7.44 sec. and 324 Km/h. Bad luck for Samu. A nice improvement for Job. Very close racing for Martijn de Haas and Vesa Lipponen, both riders put 7.34 on the clock, with a slightly better reaction for Vesa who stayed in the lead advanced. Vesa did his best run, 7.2 sec, against Aasen in the semi finals, but Ronnie's 6.88 sec. was just too quick for him.

Then local favorite Christian Jaeger against Job Heezen. Jaeger reacted quicker, but smoked his tyre at halftrack, while Heezen did 7.39 sec. and 331.4 km/h in a nice straight run.

So two teams from Holland in the finals, one with a Norwegian rider, who had lane choice. Again huge flames from the Zodiac bike, as Aasen left the startline. Job was away a bit quicker, but Aasen caught him half way down the track.

Then Ronnie went off throttle, and Heezen was able to pass him at the end of the track doing the highest top speed of the weekend in his class, 336 Km/h. Heezen: 7.23 sec., Aasen 7.83 sec. Job was delighted with his victory and with the extra horse power he found in the bike during the last two passes, making a lot of speed. And also very gratefull to the organisers of the race. During the prize giving ceremony he took the micrphone and used the opportunity to thank the crew and staff for the great event. His words where something like: “I was seldom on a raceweekend where I felt that much welcome. Not only me, all of the Teams wether Pro or Sportsman were treated the same, a good and quick course of the race. Thanks for that, we will be back, stay in that shape.”

Text und Bilder: Piet Mom

Übersetzung: Markus Münch