Poznan II MEC

A full house for the endurance race at Poznan, and we were all raring to go – only the weather wasn’t quite playing along. Monday morning was reasonably good, but Tuesday’s forecast looked disastrous. Our first move was to bring qualifying forward to Monday afternoon. Krachpolnikoff had timed it perfectly: Heiko headed straight out on fresh rubber and banged in a 1:40 before the drizzle arrived. Not properly wet, but certainly tricky. It looked as though that 1:40 would be enough for pole, and Heiko had already put his feet up. The track remained rideable throughout, although there were always a few drops on the visor. Everyone was two or three seconds slower than usual, but Melf from NERT found something extra and beat Heiko’s time by a few tenths. Cozy were fastest in SSP, comfortably ahead of UM Racing, while MiMiMi narrowly beat Team KKK to the top spot in FUN.
After dinner, we headed out for the track walk, although just about every weather app in existence was being passed around and compared.

Tuesday began much as Monday had ended. The track was dry, but drizzle kept coming and going. Shortly before midday, it was dry again, only for the rain to arrive at noon on the dot. With much more rain forecast, we decided to move the four-hour race to Wednesday morning. So much for that forecast: by 2 pm, the track was completely dry, and we rode until 5:30 pm, when the rain returned. Overnight, it became considerably heavier.

Wednesday was race day: 15°C, strong winds and a dry track as the 9 am start approached.
We set off from the pit lane, and after one lap behind the safety bike, racing got under way. With Sandra taking on race director duties this time, Rutzl finally got to race. He joined Jan Schwede in Team ohne Namen to tackle the four hours, although they were competing outside the official classification. The race ran brilliantly, with no reckless moves and everyone riding sensibly. At 10:50 am, Philipp from PEMA Racing had a minor crash, bringing out the safety bike. Half an hour later, Rutzl put his Gixxer in the dirt, prompting what would be the safety bike’s final outing. The weather played along too, getting a little warmer every hour, and the race finished in glorious sunshine at 27°C.

SBK

Jan from Team ohne Namen immediately showed everyone how it was done, leading at the end of the first flying lap. Krachpolnikoff and NERT were right behind, and the first laps in the 1:40s soon followed. Ten minutes in, Melf from NERT lost his gear lever and had to make his first pit stop. That allowed Marcel from MRT to move into third. The battle for fourth was incredibly close. Godzilla Racing usually had the edge, but Jullasch were right in the mix, along with WFA Racing, kluk und gutaussehend and Chaos Racing, with positions changing repeatedly. Team ohne Namen had built a comfortable lead, but their race was over after just over two hours. Rutzl’s Gixxer was in no state to continue after the crash, bringing their day to an early end. NERT recovered from their unscheduled stop and took the lead ahead of Krachpolnikoff. Melf’s BMW simply refused to cooperate at Poznan, though: suddenly it went into limp mode, forcing him back into the pits. His team-mate Rico Niemeier had to save the day, riding most of the race himself. In the end, Krachpolnikoff took the win with a flawless performance, making no mistakes and consistently delivering fast lap times. NERT were rewarded with second despite all their problems. MRT claimed the final podium place: even with technical gremlins affecting Bärchen’s Aprilia, Marcel brought it home. Godzilla Racing came out on top in the battle for fourth, with WFA and Chaos Racing taking the final two trophy places.

SSP

The polesitters showed they meant business in the race too, leading for the first two hours ahead of UM Racing, Denmark’s A-Holdet and Sturzbier Performance. Radeberger Factory Racing were back as well, although the team still haven’t quite made friends with the Poznan circuit. Frank Drebin Spezialeinheit and Twin Power Racing also joined the field, hoping to take a few points for themselves. Team Cozy forgot to transfer their team transponder during a changeover. The timekeepers had continued counting their laps, but a misunderstanding over the transponder change then led the team to withdraw. That cleared the way for UM Racing and gave them an extra boost. They went on to win by four laps, while the battle behind was incredibly close: second to fourth all completed 124 laps. Sturzbier Performance took second ahead of A-Holdet and Frank Drebin Spezialeinheit, who put in a strong finish. Radeberger Factory Racing picked up the points for fifth ahead of Twin Power Racing.

FUN

Team KKK were determined to give favourites MiMiMi Racing a proper challenge and took the lead right at the start. PEMA Racing also had high hopes, but Philipp’s early crash put a front-running finish out of reach. WFA Racing, Das coole Team and 890R Alliance fought an incredibly close battle for the top places throughout the race. After two and a half hours, MiMiMi made their move, taking a lead they would never relinquish. They finished two laps clear, proving once again that they are the team to count on in the FUN class. Consistently fast laps and a mistake-free race were more than even Team KKK could match. KKK completed 123 laps to take second ahead of WFA Racing, who put in a superb performance. 890R Alliance were pleased with fourth, even if Melina had to head back out for the final five minutes because Steven’s KTM was simply too thirsty. Das coole Team claimed fifth, while PEMA Racing salvaged the points for sixth despite their crash.

When the chequered flag fell at 1 pm, the pit lane was buzzing once again. The finish of an MEC race is always something special. The weather held, there were no serious incidents, and close battles throughout the four hours made it a thoroughly enjoyable race.
A big thank you also goes to the marshals at Tor Poznan, who did a fantastic job. After the podium ceremony, everyone still had three sessions to enjoy in excellent track conditions – a fine way to round things off.

We had a brilliant time once again and would like to thank every rider, helper and supporter for a fantastic event. Now we’re heading straight on to Oschersleben.
The photos were taken by Ralf from Pixelrace – many thanks!
As always, you can find your lap times in your MotoMonster booking account or in our Pitboard app.