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2011
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Austria A1-Ring 19th - 20th July Pictures at the bottom of the page No doubt about it, the
A1-Ring was where Yamaha Austria were going to make a splash, one way or
another. Team Manager Manfred “Mandy” Kainz (who looks suspiciously like Val
Kilmer from “Top Gun”) had sold 1000 special tickets, which provided
T-shirts, paddock entry, beer and party access for those quick enough to snap up
the limited run. Lisa, Miss F1 Austria was
once again providing the glamour for the home team in the paddock, just as she
had in Imola…and this time she had brought friends… The Mondial X-One Team
were back after missing two rounds, supposedly packing a much bigger punch –
which certainly didn’t show in qualifying, they were dead last, 8 seconds off
the pace. Also back was the Ducati
DRE of Dario Marchetti and Marc Garcia along with some high-powered help. Mike
(“Bloke”, “Spike”) Edwards had been snapped up by the team and had
qualified fastest of the three riders, putting the 998 8th on the
grid. They had the 999 in Endurance livery and it was faster than the 998, but
no spares meant it was just for show. “Spike” had also done his goatee in
Italian colours…and there was a quick glimpse of the future for Ducati beyond
the 999 model on show… Another returnee was Heinz
Platacis, part of the 2001 Wim Motors World Endurance Championship-winning team,
this time riding for Trackdaze on the No.11 Suzuki – but he was out-qualified
by 3½ seconds by new rider Damian Cudlin, putting the No.11 in 7th
place on the grid. But there was an even more
famous returnee, along with a brand new team. Diablo GB 666 was put together in
10 days by Miles Hutchins, running his son James, Kevin Falke and Warren Watson
– and 1992 and 1999 World Endurance Champion Terry Rymer was in the pits
helping them out. You couldn’t get much out of “Too Tall Tel” though;
he’d lost his voice. The new team had qualified 12th, in front of
fast regulars Moto39, Jet Suzuki No.14 and Bollinger Kawasaki No.8. Piergiorgio Bontempi on
the Zongshen No.2 Suzuki took pole; in 2nd it was Nowland and Mertens
on the No.1, both teams dropping into the 1’ 33” bracket. Jason Pridmore and
James Ellison for Phase One No.3 didn’t use qualifiers though and were
unconcerned in 3rd on the grid. Yamaha Austria were 4th on
“Mathilde” (the other bike is called “Rosi”…don’t ask…), Police
Nationale No.22 in 5th, GMT94 6th – along with 7th
placed Trackdaze 11, all in the 1’ 34” bracket. The first three hours was
on the Saturday afternoon…it was hot…damned hot. Track temperature was over
40°C and Zongshen’s challengers all had the same agenda, win or bust. Out of the blocks like a
scalded cat was Gwen Giabbani on the French Police Nationale No.22 Suzuki (for
those who don’t yet know, Gwen is a guy…), immediately pulling a lead over
Damian Cudlin on the Trackdaze 11 in 2nd, Pridmore on the Phase One
Senior No.3, Andi Notman for the Phase One Juniors No.6 and Nowland on the
Zongshen No.1. Although Yamaha Austria got to the first corner in second place,
by the end of the lap rider Karl Truchsess had slipped to 10th. The Police bike kept in
front for 4 laps before Andi Notman grabbed the lead on the No.6 and it took two
more laps for Pridmore on the No.3 to scrape past into 1st place. All
this time, Cudlin on the No.11 was keeping the 2002 World Champion Warwick
Nowland firmly behind him and even followed both Phase One bikes past Giabbani,
getting 3rd before Warwick finally got past. Lap 13 and Yamaha Austria
No.9 were in the pits, once again having overheating problems – the
temperature was hitting 105°C and the engine was loosing power. Lap 17 and the
Austrians had to pit again. All this time, Bontempi on
the No.2 was getting faster and faster. After a fumble at the start with the
Suzukis switchgear, he’d taken the fastest lap away from Nowland on lap 9 and
nearly every lap after that in the first hour, he got faster. Lap 16 he got into
the 1’ 33”s and stayed at that level for 2 laps, taking 2nd place
by lap 20. Phase One Seniors No.3 were leading, Zongshen 2 in second, Phase One
No.3 third, then the Police22 and Zongshen 1. Lap 21 saw the first crash
– Hugh Brasher on the Trackdaze No.10 ploughing the gravel at the Lauda curve
– he got the bike back to the pits but when they got out again after repairs,
it was clear that the forks had twisted in the yokes and the bike needed more
work. Double trouble for Trackdaze, Damian Cudlin on the No.11 looked to have
run out of fuel at the end of the main straight (and you have to push up a steep
hill to get to the end of the pit exit). Once back in the pits a
huge amount of time was lost tracking the problem – which wasn’t lack of
fuel – but finally the culprit was found, a sticking fuel relay switch.
Curses. Two crashes about 75
minutes into the race – Michal Bursa had his brake pads fall out at the 280kph
approach to the Remus curve – he was unhurt but frightened out of his wits,
dumping the No.4 KFM-Herber Suzuki at 200kph after standing on the rear brake
for as long as he dared…and poor Phase One No.6, the Juniors, were safe in 3rd
place when Henry Fincher crashed on the exit from the Gösser corner. Henry was
OK, but the bike was toast. Yamaha Austria had another
unscheduled pitstop after final refueling – to add insult to injury, they had
a flat rear tyre! Meanwhile, due to changing
fuel consumption by both bikes, the Zongshen No1 was now in second, Zongshen 2
in third, Team Manager Michael Marqueton unable to get the bikes to do less than
3 fuel stops each. This was where Phase One’s Manager Russell Benney saw an
advantage. If he could get away with just 2 stops, the British Team would lead
overnight (Christophe Guyot was trying that with GMT94 as well). Didn’t work. At least, not for Phase
One… Jason Pridmore ran out of
fuel on the last lap and both the Zongshen bikes and bitter rivals GMT94 swept
past to finish ahead. It took Jason 8 minutes to push the No.3 bike home. NOW, THIS IS WHERE IT
GET’S INTERESTING… The top 4 bikes had all
done the same number of laps but Phase One’s last lap was over 8 minutes long.
How would this work for the second part of the race? Well, if Phase One could
complete more laps IN TOTAL than GMT94, they would get 3rd place…if
they completed more laps IN TOTAL than either Zongshen machine, they would win
– but if they completed the same number of laps they would lose. To beat GMT94
they had to do more total laps, as the lap count would dominate…do the same
number of laps as GMT94 and they’d be 4th. GMT94 didn’t like this
at all and they were among many teams who were still seeking clarification from
the FIM officials, even while the second part of the race was being run. Anyway, overnight there
was a WILD party, especially for the Yamaha Austria fans, who were treated to an
impromptu strip show by the teams Brolly girls – who did a LOT more than just
get naked…oh, it’s MUCH more fun than the Superbike or GP Paddock J The second part of the
race on Sunday and once more Giabbani got a jack-rabbit start on the Police
No.22 Suzuki but it didn’t last this time, at the end of the lap he was in the
pits with a suspected coolant leak and got back out in last place (The X-One
Mondial team didn’t get to start the second part of the race, they had wrecked
their engine). When the Police bike got back out, they were immediately called
in again for a stop-and-go penalty, as they’d exited the pit lane under a red
light. The Ducati DRE was also docked time – they had to change their battery
for the second part of the race and somebody had also played around with their
kill-switch; they didn’t make it out of pit lane in the 5 minutes allowed
before the start of the second part and had to start from the pit lane – and
in Endurance, that’s a benefit rather than a penalty, as it saves vital fuel
“wasted” on the sighting and warm-up laps – hence the stop-and-go penalty. Lap 13 and more problems
for Trackdaze – Heinz Platacis on the no.11 in tenth place was braking for the
uphill Castrol corner when his loose exhaust fell off – he ran over it and
crashed. He was OK but there was
even more time lost for the team. Bontempi was leading again
on the No.2 with Nowland on the No.1 in second place, Phase One No.3 riding hard
in 3rd on track to make up time on GMT94 – remember, Phase One had
to do more laps in the second part of the race than GMT94 to get 3rd
in the completed race. Trackdaze again, and the
No10 bike was stuck in the pits with rear brake seizure, which would mean that
at the end of the race, both bikes would not be able to finish, cruel luck after
such and auspicious beginning. By pushing hard, the Phase
One No.3 was making time over GMT94 who were fifth on the track…but still
thinking they were 3rd overall in the race – and Yamaha Austria
were having a much better (and faster) second half of the race, holding 4th
on track and chasing Ducati DRE No.5 for overall 7th place. There was a huge battle
between both Zongshen bikes, Igor Jerman and Stephane Mertens at it hammer &
tongs, Mertens posting his fastest lap of the race, just holding off the
Slovenian and being able to hand the lead for the No.1 bike to Warwick Nowland
who crossed the line after 6 hours and 225 laps of racing just seconds ahead of
Zongshen No.2 The crucial result, though
– at the end of the race, Phase One had done 225 laps to GMT94’s 224 – and
despite the 8 minutes taken to cross the line at the end of the first part, the
lap count dominated and Phase One seniors held on to 3rd place. They’re still arguing
over it now, I would imagine. One thing puzzles me,
though – they waved a chequered flag at the end of the first part and a
chequered flag ending has it’s own rules – it’s a race-ending flag with
bikes having to get back to parc ferme within 5 minutes or they’re ruled out
of the race. If it was a race stoppage, surely a RED flag should have been
used?…and if so, results from the PREVIOUS lap would have counted and there
would have been no argument, Phase One would have LED the first part…oh
well… Still one of the best
crowds of the season and air-horns starting to be a problem…and by FAR the
best entertainment, especially for Yamaha Austria’s favoured 1000 guests in
the paddock (and, yes, I’ve got the pictures…but you don’t think I’d put
that kind of stuff on here do you?…there’s children about! J
) With their second
consecutive one-two, Zongshen have won all the races this season. Next, it’s the big one;
the 8 Hours of Suzuka in Japan - and Zongshen face their biggest battle yet for
a bottle of bubbly and a shiny cup!
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