Frohburg Road Races, Germany.
Alan heads to Germany this weekend for the Frohburg road races. It will
be his first time at this event and he is looking forward to it.
http://www.frohburger-dreieck.de/
Hello all,
At the end of September I headed off to Germany to a place called
Frohburg. A little village near Leipzig in the east of Germany where the
only road race in Germany is run. Myself, John Walsh and Emlyn
Hughes sent our bikes and tools out on the Tuesday before in a
borrowed van. We had 6 bikes in it and all the spares, tools and gear. It
was a bit of a squash!
Anyway, Friday came and we were all booked on a flight at 6.30 in the
morning to Stansted to get the connecting flight to Germany. Guess
what! I missed the flight! Typical Ryanair, missed the check-in by about
2 minutes but they wouldn't let me through. The adventure had began....
I ended up getting a flight on Aer Lingus to Frankfurt. In fact I was in
Germany before anyone else, but about 300 miles from where I should
have been. Then I went investigating how was I going to get from
Frankfurt to Frohburg. There was a flight by Lufthansa but it was in the
evening and Lufthansa are not the cheapest airline either. So I went for
plan B, the train. Thats why I went to Frankfurt really. Its one of those
places thats linked to everywhere, planes trains and buses. There was
a train at 11am to Leipzig but the queue was so long for tickets that I
missed that as well. So I waited for the 12 o'clock train. No problem. Its
Germany. Everything runs like clockwork.......train
cancelled....replacement one in 20 minutes.....thats another 20 minutes
late. What a day. Anyway, the train was pretty fast and I got to see a bit
of scenery too. Although the buildings were getting more run down as I
travelled east. Leipzig train station was really nice, like a cathedral made
into a shopping centre with trains too. I got a connecting train and then
the guys picked me up at the local train station are I was there about 6
o'clock. Planes trains and automobiles. The good thing was the lads had
the whole show set up when I got there. I signed on and the lads ran the
bikes through scrutiny no problem. That was all the official stuff done for
the weekend. No more scrutiny on Saturday or Sunday, no practice
permits or any of that rubbish. So away we went to the hotel. Not much
beer as we had our first practice on Saturday morning at 8am. With the
different time zone and having breakfast and all that, it meant getting up
at 4.30am Irish time.
The next morning we went to the track. It was a bit cold and very foggy
but the forecast was good. We did a lap in the car to see what the place
looked like and it was very fast and wide. We had an untimed practice
first so I used this to learn the track. It was like a short circuit with no
hedges, ditches or walls or even kerbs. This made the track very
deceptive as it was hard to tell where the edge of the road was. Only
good things was there was acres of run off all around the track.
Although crashing would still hurt because the corners were still very
fast. We were in a good spot near the gate so we could see when we
were due out on track.
There were a few crashes in the opening practices but no Irish lads
were involved. I wasnt sure of the standard, but after the first few
sessions I realised that nobody was going to run away with any races.
The bikes were going ok. I had to change the gearing a bit as I learned
the track and started running out of gears. I also noticed that you
needed good tyres to get a good lap time. Sometimes at home you can
race on won tyres and not lose out coz the road is so grippy, but here it
was like a short circuit type of surface and new tyres would be needed
for the race.
I had 2 partners in crime in Froburg, Alan McNally and Fran Cassidy.
The lads helped me with all the usual stuff like paddock stands and tyre
warmers, and sausage rolls and coffee and water bottles etc. I would
have been lost without them. They werent to bad at the drinking either!
So I did 4 practice sessions on Saturday, 2 on the 600 and 2 on the
1000. I qualified in the 24th and 29th. The gearing was still a bit off on
the 1000 so I was losing time on the big main straight. There were a
huge amount of bikes out in each practice, and it wastarted like a short
circuit meeting. Out the gate and down a pit lane and away. No
travelling marshalls or people on the road or anything. Just out the gate
and go! I was worried at first that I would be a mobile chicane for the first
few laps as I learned the track but the road was wide enough that you
couldn't hold anyone up if you tried. The road surface was really good
too.
Everyone was enjoying themselves both on and off the track. I spoke to
the organisers after the practice and they wanted to know did I like the
track. Yes I said, it was a little bit like Kells, easy to learn but hard to go
fast on, and more to it than you would think when you drive it in a car. I
asked them where were all the spectators? They said that it is always
the same, nobody watches the practice, but thousands would be there
on the Sunday.
We went back to our hotel and straight to the bar. I have to say the beer
was quite nice after a hard day. There were about 20 of us staying in
the hotel and about 20 more staying in the one down the road. After the
Friday night, the staff were ready for us and I'd say they made more
money that weekend than the rest of the year. We had dinner in the
hotel restaurant. Some of the crew went off on the beer afterwards as
we had no racing until 12 on Sunday. The riders took it handy and were
all in bed by 12pm. Thats what they told me to say anyway...
Ah... the perks of not having scrunity on a Sunday morning! I got up at 9
and ate all around me at breakfast. Fuel for the day, no time for dinner
during racing. We went to the track about 10.30 and were in plenty of
time for a change. Easy to know I wasnt driving. The 600 race was first
and I got a shit start. I think the fine brolly dollies ditracted me. The race
was 12 laps and at over 3 miles a lap thats a long race. They dont start
in groups either. 40 riders all start together! The first corner was like a
rugby match. After the first lap it settled a bit. I was trying my best but
was losing out in some places coz you need to ride the place like a short
circuit and I hadn't done a short circuit race in a long time. Maybe next
year I'll do a few to sharpen up my braking and corner speed. We only
had one race for each class, so I had to wait until the last race for the
Superbike class. New tyre on the 1000 and the first fast left-hander I ran
out of road and had to take to the grass for a bit. Fair play to the
Germans, even the grass was smooth so I rode down along it for about
150m and came back onto the track, still doing about 80mph! I got a
good start in the race this time and made abou 6 places before the first
corner. There was another scrum as 40 bikes battled for the same bit of
tarmac but I came out follwong Adrian McFarland and Andrew Courtney.
All the way to eastern Germany to race against a Kildare man and a
Tyrone man! Thenext slow corner there was a skittling match and I got
held up a bit but away I went chasing the other Paddy's. They got a
away a bit after a few laps but then I got in a great scrap with a local on
one of those new KTM RC8 bikes. It was very good out of the slow
corners but the Suzuki had the speed on the straights to make up for it.
We passed each other at least once a lap for the rest of the race. Great
craic.
We said thanks to the organisers for their hospitality and they invited us
back for next year. Happy days. So away we went back to the hotel for
food and drink. We had great plans to go to a few different pubs but
ended up in the hotel bar until the next morning. The stories were
getting more and more outrageous by the pint! Thats all I can say for
legal reasons..
Monday morning and away to the airport. There were a lot of 'hair of the
dog's at the airport and a few green faces. The plane was delayed so it
got worse and the fridge was near empty. Trevor Linsday sat down
beside me on the plane in the middle of the flight and it took him about 5
minutes to realise he was in the wrong seat! A bottle of wine in each
hand and them both open.
I was glad to be home. Roll on 2009.....
Alan heads to Germany this weekend for the Frohburg road races. It will
be his first time at this event and he is looking forward to it.
http://www.frohburger-dreieck.de/
Hello all,
At the end of September I headed off to Germany to a place called
Frohburg. A little village near Leipzig in the east of Germany where the
only road race in Germany is run. Myself, John Walsh and Emlyn
Hughes sent our bikes and tools out on the Tuesday before in a
borrowed van. We had 6 bikes in it and all the spares, tools and gear. It
was a bit of a squash!
Anyway, Friday came and we were all booked on a flight at 6.30 in the
morning to Stansted to get the connecting flight to Germany. Guess
what! I missed the flight! Typical Ryanair, missed the check-in by about
2 minutes but they wouldn't let me through. The adventure had began....
I ended up getting a flight on Aer Lingus to Frankfurt. In fact I was in
Germany before anyone else, but about 300 miles from where I should
have been. Then I went investigating how was I going to get from
Frankfurt to Frohburg. There was a flight by Lufthansa but it was in the
evening and Lufthansa are not the cheapest airline either. So I went for
plan B, the train. Thats why I went to Frankfurt really. Its one of those
places thats linked to everywhere, planes trains and buses. There was
a train at 11am to Leipzig but the queue was so long for tickets that I
missed that as well. So I waited for the 12 o'clock train. No problem. Its
Germany. Everything runs like clockwork.......train
cancelled....replacement one in 20 minutes.....thats another 20 minutes
late. What a day. Anyway, the train was pretty fast and I got to see a bit
of scenery too. Although the buildings were getting more run down as I
travelled east. Leipzig train station was really nice, like a cathedral made
into a shopping centre with trains too. I got a connecting train and then
the guys picked me up at the local train station are I was there about 6
o'clock. Planes trains and automobiles. The good thing was the lads had
the whole show set up when I got there. I signed on and the lads ran the
bikes through scrutiny no problem. That was all the official stuff done for
the weekend. No more scrutiny on Saturday or Sunday, no practice
permits or any of that rubbish. So away we went to the hotel. Not much
beer as we had our first practice on Saturday morning at 8am. With the
different time zone and having breakfast and all that, it meant getting up
at 4.30am Irish time.
The next morning we went to the track. It was a bit cold and very foggy
but the forecast was good. We did a lap in the car to see what the place
looked like and it was very fast and wide. We had an untimed practice
first so I used this to learn the track. It was like a short circuit with no
hedges, ditches or walls or even kerbs. This made the track very
deceptive as it was hard to tell where the edge of the road was. Only
good things was there was acres of run off all around the track.
Although crashing would still hurt because the corners were still very
fast. We were in a good spot near the gate so we could see when we
were due out on track.
There were a few crashes in the opening practices but no Irish lads
were involved. I wasnt sure of the standard, but after the first few
sessions I realised that nobody was going to run away with any races.
The bikes were going ok. I had to change the gearing a bit as I learned
the track and started running out of gears. I also noticed that you
needed good tyres to get a good lap time. Sometimes at home you can
race on won tyres and not lose out coz the road is so grippy, but here it
was like a short circuit type of surface and new tyres would be needed
for the race.
I had 2 partners in crime in Froburg, Alan McNally and Fran Cassidy.
The lads helped me with all the usual stuff like paddock stands and tyre
warmers, and sausage rolls and coffee and water bottles etc. I would
have been lost without them. They werent to bad at the drinking either!
So I did 4 practice sessions on Saturday, 2 on the 600 and 2 on the
1000. I qualified in the 24th and 29th. The gearing was still a bit off on
the 1000 so I was losing time on the big main straight. There were a
huge amount of bikes out in each practice, and it wastarted like a short
circuit meeting. Out the gate and down a pit lane and away. No
travelling marshalls or people on the road or anything. Just out the gate
and go! I was worried at first that I would be a mobile chicane for the first
few laps as I learned the track but the road was wide enough that you
couldn't hold anyone up if you tried. The road surface was really good
too.
Everyone was enjoying themselves both on and off the track. I spoke to
the organisers after the practice and they wanted to know did I like the
track. Yes I said, it was a little bit like Kells, easy to learn but hard to go
fast on, and more to it than you would think when you drive it in a car. I
asked them where were all the spectators? They said that it is always
the same, nobody watches the practice, but thousands would be there
on the Sunday.
We went back to our hotel and straight to the bar. I have to say the beer
was quite nice after a hard day. There were about 20 of us staying in
the hotel and about 20 more staying in the one down the road. After the
Friday night, the staff were ready for us and I'd say they made more
money that weekend than the rest of the year. We had dinner in the
hotel restaurant. Some of the crew went off on the beer afterwards as
we had no racing until 12 on Sunday. The riders took it handy and were
all in bed by 12pm. Thats what they told me to say anyway...
Ah... the perks of not having scrunity on a Sunday morning! I got up at 9
and ate all around me at breakfast. Fuel for the day, no time for dinner
during racing. We went to the track about 10.30 and were in plenty of
time for a change. Easy to know I wasnt driving. The 600 race was first
and I got a shit start. I think the fine brolly dollies ditracted me. The race
was 12 laps and at over 3 miles a lap thats a long race. They dont start
in groups either. 40 riders all start together! The first corner was like a
rugby match. After the first lap it settled a bit. I was trying my best but
was losing out in some places coz you need to ride the place like a short
circuit and I hadn't done a short circuit race in a long time. Maybe next
year I'll do a few to sharpen up my braking and corner speed. We only
had one race for each class, so I had to wait until the last race for the
Superbike class. New tyre on the 1000 and the first fast left-hander I ran
out of road and had to take to the grass for a bit. Fair play to the
Germans, even the grass was smooth so I rode down along it for about
150m and came back onto the track, still doing about 80mph! I got a
good start in the race this time and made abou 6 places before the first
corner. There was another scrum as 40 bikes battled for the same bit of
tarmac but I came out follwong Adrian McFarland and Andrew Courtney.
All the way to eastern Germany to race against a Kildare man and a
Tyrone man! Thenext slow corner there was a skittling match and I got
held up a bit but away I went chasing the other Paddy's. They got a
away a bit after a few laps but then I got in a great scrap with a local on
one of those new KTM RC8 bikes. It was very good out of the slow
corners but the Suzuki had the speed on the straights to make up for it.
We passed each other at least once a lap for the rest of the race. Great
craic.
We said thanks to the organisers for their hospitality and they invited us
back for next year. Happy days. So away we went back to the hotel for
food and drink. We had great plans to go to a few different pubs but
ended up in the hotel bar until the next morning. The stories were
getting more and more outrageous by the pint! Thats all I can say for
legal reasons..
Monday morning and away to the airport. There were a lot of 'hair of the
dog's at the airport and a few green faces. The plane was delayed so it
got worse and the fridge was near empty. Trevor Linsday sat down
beside me on the plane in the middle of the flight and it took him about 5
minutes to realise he was in the wrong seat! A bottle of wine in each
hand and them both open.
I was glad to be home. Roll on 2009.....
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