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2011
MONZA

WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP 2006 ROUND ONE - ASSEN

THE RACE...

It's round One, the Assen 500 held on the Easter Monday, the 17th of April - tough, because practice at Le Mans started the next day...
Two top riders unable to make the start! World Champions Castrol Suzuki had Matthieu lagrive out with a broken hand and top challengers Yamaha Austria had Gwen Giabbani down with a bad dose of the 'flu.

But Assen was a short race, 110 laps taking around 3 hours and the teams could make do with 2 riders - providing nothing happened to take another rider out.

In qualifying, Castrol Suzuki continued where they finished last year, dominating all of practice and qualifying, chased by Yamaha Austria and former world Champions Phase One - but Michael Schulten and Werner Daemen had put the wildcard Apha Technik Honda No.71 in second on the grid. A great qualifying spoiled by a silly crash - it was all wasted when Schulten crashed on the warm-up lap and had to start from pit lane, 2 laps after the race had started - and even then he only completed one lap before retiring...

At the start, the No.1 Castrol Suzuki got away with the Bolliger Kawasaki No.8 in full persuit mode, David Morillon wanting once again to finish the first lap in the lead ( he didn't do it this time, to the delight of Vincent Philippe, the No.1 bike rider, who was at his most animated when talking about the first lap - normally he's so laid-back!).
Philippe proceeded to pull away from everyone, with only Igor Jerman on the No.7 Yamaha Austria bike able to stay in touch, 3 seconds back. Bolliger gradually lost touch and by Lap 9 were behind the Swedish Fagersjo-El No.12 Suzuki in 5th. The Phase One No.3 with Warwick Nowland on board was by now 15 seconds off the lead in 3rd with the Swedes 10 seconds behind them - and Vincent Philippe was ALREADY passing the first back-marker.

Bolliger Kawaski's problems were down to a rear wheel capture fitment (something that allows the rear wheel to just slot into place easily on a wheel change), which ended up spinning on the sprocket and they only managed to finish 9th place in the race.

It was a good start wasted for the Italian No Limits & RT No.44, having to pull in on Lap 3 with a lose rear axle and they never recovered from that, rider Frederick Jond crashing and retiring after 24 laps. The race officials were penalizing everyone for cutting corners and the No.98 MMT wildcard Suzuki suffered 2 ride-through penalties early on.

The return of Jean-Claude Claperon's Moto38 team was another disaster - out after only 4 laps and another early retiree was the No.99 Acropolis Zone Rouge Yamaha, Christophe Cogan having a spectacular crash on Lap 2...but the Superproduction variant, the No.199 (from the same team) went on to finish well.

Lap 16 and the chasing Yamaha Austria had a problem, Igor in the pits - apparently they were suffering grip problems with the front tyre, Igor having some frighteners - it was a puzzle, as they hadn't had any problems in qualifying.

With 81 laps to go, the No.12 Fagesjo bike held a temporary 2nd place as the teams started their staggered pit-stops. Yamaha Austria were 3rd, Phase One 4th, the German RMT21 Honda was 5th, then Moto45, , the Classic Motos No.19, Raffin Motos No.16 in 7th, Diablo 666 Kawasaki in 8th, SRU Sangerhausen Suzuki No.9 in 9th and the Maco Moto No.14 10th...but the SRU bike would crash out on Lap 42, although rider Rene Raub would be ok.

76 laps to go and the No.6 Shell Academy Yamaha was pushed in by rider Alex Dubelski - then again 7 laps later by Leroy Verboven, both riders suffering a mystery electrical problem - a problem which cost them too many laps to be credited with a finish at the end of the race, robbing the Phase One junior team of their 17th consecutive race finish.

The race began to stretch out and with half the race done, the Castrol Suzuki No.1 had lapped the entire field, staying a lap ahead until the finish, with the top 4 bikes all separated by one lap each.

with only 28 laps left to run, the French Raffin Motos No.16 was another faller, with rider Damien Chene going down...but they managed to finish in 10th.

DAMIAN ROWLEY - SHELL ENDURANCE ACADEMY RIDER RACE REPORT
(He's the one in the middle)
...and his website is HERE

PHOTO-Davide Reygondeau

It’s the first round of the championship and I’m at Assen. I’ve watch the racing from here for years and now it’s my turn to ride this famous circuit, well not the Assen I’ve been watching but the new shorter 4.5 km circuit.  Due to my lack of track knowledge I was a little apprehensive. Both my team mates had been here several times as had most of the other riders, so I was on the back foot from the off.

The weekend went from bad to worst for the Shell Academy team!

We arrived on Saturday morning for our two 1 hour free practices split between three riders and our 2 timed 30 minute qualifying sessions. As this was my first time to the circuit and most of the teams first time on the new section, there was precious little track time to learn the track and get the bike set up. I was first out and it was clear from the off that the bike was unstable through the fast sections or the track. Despite setting the Assen race bike at Albacete it just failed to handle well right from the start! Alek, Leroy the mechanics and I worked hard to correct this but due to the very small amount of set-up time available (free practice and qualification all on one day) this was not possible. Qualification was incident free, with Alek Dubelski going quickest, achieving a lap of 1 min 49.63sec to place us 24th on the grid.

PHOTO-Davide Reygondeau
(...that's a bit upright, there, Demon!)

The race went well until lap 26 when Alek was reported missing and spent 10 minutes pushing in with what appeared to be fuel starvation. A new tank was fitted and Leroy Verboven was sent on his way, only to return 3 minutes later with what was then clear as being electrical failure. The diagnosis of the fault did not go well at all, the alternator was removed and the washer fell in to the bottom of the sump. This meant the exhaust and sump had to be removed to find the stray washers! Once the electrical faulty was established (the three phases of the alternator output had melted together), the repair was completed and 1 hour later the bike was then returned to the circuit, but with just 33 laps of the 110 lap race remaining it was impossible to make any impression. Leroy Verboven and myself split these between us. We crossed the line having completed 61 laps and regrettably failed to achieve 75% of race distance. A finish, but not classified.

Roll on round two!

DIABLO 666 RACE REPORT

Diablo 666 Kawasaki have finished 8th in Round 1 of the 2006 World Endurance Championship in Assen, Holland, but only just.
Marko Rohtlaan brought the Diablo 666 Kawasaki ZX-10 home but with only 5th & 6th gears and no clutch after 110 laps of this action packed round. Marko had started the race from 9th on the grid and at the famous endurance style start had made an electric start and came round at the end of lap 1 in 7th place. One lap later he was up to sixth and soon set the Team’s fastest lap of the race, a 1:47.041, in establishing a good lead over the following riders and catching the two teams ahead.

At the first round of pit stops, partner team, Bolliger Kawasaki lying in 5th, had a problem with their rear wheel sprocket carrier and had to do another stop one lap later costing them valuable seconds, but putting Diablo’s 2nd rider, James Hutchins, up to 5th!

James put in an impressive stint, consistently lapping in the 1:48’s before handing over to new Team recruit, Alex Cudlin, making his race debut for Diablo 666. Again Alex put in some impressive laps during this phase of the race and came in with 25 laps to go to hand over to Marko Rohtlaan to see the Team to the flag. Alex had been signalling for about five laps that there was a problem with the bike however, and as Marko fired out of pit lane he informed Team Mechanics, Geoff and Doug Randall that he thought the gearbox had been playing up, causing him to slow and allowing Bolliger Kawasaki, No. 8 and Team X-One Yamaha, No. 4, to overtake us in the standings, dropping Diablo down to 7th.

As Marko came round at the end of his first lap he signalled that there was indeed a major problem with the bike but was told to stay out and try to nurse the bike to the flag. Marko was unable to lap at his normal place only having at the end 5th & 6th gears and having to slip the clutch just to get round some of Assens new track layout. As Marko took the flag, the whole Team breathed a huge sigh of relief. Unfortunately, we had been overtaken by RMT 21 in the last 5 laps but still came home in a creditable 8th position.

Team principal, Miles Hutchins, both relieved and delighted added, “What a great performance by all our riders and the whole Team, we finished the race, just by the skin of our teeth but early on proved we can run with the top teams in this series. Geoff and Doug (Randall) have a lot of work to do on the bikes as soon as we get to Le Mans before next weekends 24hrs race”.
Alex Cudlin was really upbeat, “That was brilliant, what an experience, I can’t wait for next weekend”.
Marko Rohtlaan, “What a shame about the gearbox problems but we’ll be there at Le Mans and after the recent test, will be fighting for the podium”.
James Hutchins, “I’m gutted I can’t be at Le Mans, due to my final exams, but I wish the Team all the very best. I know I’ll be getting regular updates”.

RESULTS (pictures to come as soon as I can!)

BOB THE BUILDER SORTS OUT ASSEN TRACK

The Assen 500km race will be the first international event to be held on the new 4.5 km circuit that features a modified northern loop at the end of the start-finish straight with the Haarbocht curve. The track now kinks right through Madjik, loops right again through Ossebroken and then rejoins the old circuit at Strubben.

Both the old and the new track are HERE for comparison.

...now go away and practice your pronunciation...

Along with the first round of the World Endurance Championships, the Assen circuit will be hosting many other events, one of them unique.

The TT-Circuit Assen is this year hosting the first round of the European Stuntriding Championships. Combined with XTTreme and the Assen WEC500, the event takes place on the 16th-17th April 2006, with a unique concept allowing visitors to try-out and enjoy around 20 different attractions.

The event will feature the European Stuntriding Championship, the W.C.-500 long distance race, E.C.-125cc and E.C.-Supersport races on the TT circuit. Taking to the tarmac will be a variety of competitors including International parkriders Chris Pfeiffer, Mattie Griffin, Oliver Ronzheimer and Alex van der Broek.

A major purpose of this event is to allow people to try out new, commonly unavailable sports for themselves, all in one place. To promote these opportunities, demonstrations and workshops are being offered with pocketbikes, trial bikes, turntables, bmx, supermotards, skateboards and skid bikes, with visitors being able to view a graffiti art contest, breakdancing, partake in rockclimbing and a bicycle wheelie contest.

Attending this event shall be a number of organisations including the MMVG, a motorsport organisation for disabled people. Their presence will be to inform visitors of the dangers, risks, and safety procedures involved in motorsport. The Dutch Army will also be making an appearance and are set to dazzle the crowd with a spectacular performance.
Various DJ’s will be enhancing the show, alongside live music on the main stage.
And, as the event is looking to promote sport amongst youngsters, children 12yrs and under may attend free of charge.

ASSEN 500 PROVISIONAL ENTRY LIST - A MASSIVE 41 ENTRIES FOR ROUND ONE!

The Netherlands and Belgium will be very well represented at the race, with permanent teams XZ Suzuki, Primo Racing Suzuki, Classic Motos Suzuki and Acropolis Zone Rouge’s two Yamahas being joined by Eurosport Benelux Suzuki, Herman Verboven Racing Suzuki, Dirk van Mol Racing Suzuki, Racing 4 Fun Suzuki, Team Red Fox Ducati, Van Zon Honda Racing and DB Racing 78 Yamaha.

First Serbian Entry...
Also making a one-off appearance at Assen is the Serbian Actavis Team. Zeljko Stanicic, Nikola Buljic and Milan Nikolic will ride a Suzuki GSX-R1000, becoming the first Serbian team to take part in the championship.

Father vs Son...
Experienced endurance campaigner Herman Verboven will find himself in an unusual position at Assen, with his own Suzuki team of Tom Van Looy and Dan Huylebroeck going up against his son Leroy Verboven who will ride the Shell Endurance Academy Yamaha this season. The FIM World Endurance Championship continues its tradition of pitting innovative motorcycles against the best that the world’s manufacturers can offer, with an open class entry for the Metiss JLC Moto team and their “Metiss” motorcycle which features an experimental front suspension and steering system.

New extreme sport launching: PARKRIDING

With this event comes the launching of a new extreme sport, motorcycle Parkriding. A special park is being developed and provided by Red Bull, including a 6m x 4.5m quarterpipe, designed especially for trial bikes. This new park and sport look to offer breathtaking and exciting entertainment throughout the event.

Behind the scenes, the initiative for this production has been derived by a woman in a man’s world, Marit Hendriksen of Hyper Hyena. As a former stunt rider herself, she hopes and aims to encourage more people into sporting and experimentation, particularly with the youth and up-coming athletes.

For information on the XTTreme and the European Stuntriding Championship, check out www.eu-stuntriding.com

For free photos concerning XTTreme, contact Lute Willem at the TT-Circuit on www.tt-assen.com

Parkriding: (competitors by invitation only)
Oliver Ronzheimer
Alex van den Broek
Chris Pfeiffer
Mattie Griffin

STUNTRIDING COMPETITORS