Spring Race 2013 Austria Vespa Racing

It was the fourth time that the season was opened with the Spring Race. The event took place at the ÖAMTC testing area on the 27th of April 2013. We the DART RACINF TEAM were happy to attend once again.

The 1200 meter long circuit has some full throttle head down ass up areas, but some more complicated to handle areas as well.

The start / finish area is a specially nice part of the track. After 200 meters down hill ther comes a cumber and after this the downward slope is even deeper. If you are fast enough the contact between the tires and tarmac is lost. Pure perfection!

This is the profile of the circuit.

Before the race was started at 6:15 h there was the chance to do some short testing for 40 minutes. Luckily the weather forecast came true and it was dry and sunny.

At 7:00 a.m. the starters took their position.

Starting was done in classic LeMans style.

The day before where we prepared the pit stop.

The starting places were given by the lot.

Well, who knows what this can mean….

The first 90 minutes of the race were completely free of problems or anything to worry about. Untill the moment where the engine bolt cracked while Robert raced the bike.

The repair work of changing the engine bolt throws us back from place 10 to 38.

With this bad position we had to race very steadily to get back near to the top grid.

But with a long distance race we were optimistic that this wasn't the end of all days. And other riders had their problems as well. Near us ...

Beside us ...

And opposite us...

But 8 hours on the track later we had to fix the bike again.

New brake pads were needed because of the slope on the circuit.

The remaining 4 hours were almost without problems. Expect for one broken flywheel cover.

The Polini Evo chraged with the bigbertha and breathed by the 33mm Keihin were faultlessly working and the perfect choice. the Sawa tires Have resisted the 12 h race very well and will be the weapon of chioce for the upcoming 24 hour race in Spain.

Especially up hill the torque low down was the right choice. The small dip at the dyno sheet is the price you have to pay for the broad power band and good power delivery. This gives a very trackable engine where you almost always find the right gear and can accelerate like hell out of the corners.

We were chuffed after 12 hours of racing, but satisfied with the 8th overall position.

We, the DART RACING TEAM, would like to thank the organizers and all attendants. It was a Mords Gaudi (Austrian for murder jamboree) and we hope to be back in 2014!

Cheers everyone