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01 MAY 2007
Gidday from Round 1 of the DM 125 Champs at Kamp Lintfort - north of Dusseldorf and near the Netherlands border.
Yes, it was held on Tuesday which is a public holiday in Germany - May Day. Me and my mechanic Jimmy Sutherland were amazed at the huge number of race teams present. We thought most would be half way to Mantova in Italy for this weekends MX1 and MX2 GP.
Track conditions were poor as the track had been over watered and the main straight had surface water almost the entire length. There were 80 riders in my class and they were all on the track for practice at the same time. I only completed five laps then pulled off as at that stage I was 4th - at the session I was 10th.
Qualifying was split into two groups. After my first hot lap I flat landed off a jump and destroyed a rear wheel - ten spokes gone. Lucky for me that one lap was good enough to qualify in 11th.
We also had Maxi Nagl's mechanic helping us. Maxi's collar bone was operated on straight away and he's already back on the bike and will be at Mantova. No six weeks rest before they even look at it over here !
We had my practice bike in the van so it was a matter of stripping the wheel and fitting a new tyre and mousse. Yeah, they run a mousse here because the track was littered with rocks, both loose and sticking out of the ground.
Race 1. I got a real good start land led for the first three laps until I was passed by an MX1 rider - riding a MX2 bike of course. In fact there was about five of them here. I stuck with him for a couple of laps until I hit a dislodged brick and it kicked me sideways and I crashed. I was able to remount and finish in 7th.
Race 2. I got another good start but was rear ended and went down hard. There was no damage to my bike and I was able to restart but was dead last. The track had now turned into a dust bowl (no wonder they over watered it !!) and visibility was hopeless. The best I could manage was 22nd.
That still gave me an overall of 11th - not a bad result considering. The team and owner Mr Burkhard Sarholz were pleased especially with my bike speed in Race 1.
Roll on Round 2 in a bit over two weeks - Thursday 17 May at Wolfsburg.
Sweeeeeet
Blake
Blake wishes to acknowledge his sponsors: KTM NZ, Motorex Oils, Fox (Sportspro), Oakley, EVS, Mainstream Freight, Formosa Country Club, Cannon Signage Concepts (CSC) and HH Media.
