Scooter Center Team wins toughest Vespa race

24h Vespa race in Zuera

It's like the two years before GSF /SCOOTER CENTER - Racing team Traveled with some of the best EuroScooterChallenge (ESC) pilots to the toughest Vespa race of the year: The 24h race in Zuera, organized by Team Vespa Barcelona (TVB).
The team traditionally appearing in Zuera as “Team Germany” consisted of almost the same members this year as in previous years. In addition to the Scooter Center Regular pilots Andreas Putz and Michael Betz were again Christian Kachel and Jens Fischer, supplemented by the newcomer Maik Persch ... and thus four ESC champions. As the new team manager, Jens Wolters had all the strings in hand.

In view of the victory from the previous year, in which the fastest lap, the class win and the overall win could be achieved in parallel, the bar was very high. In order to meet this requirement, the preparations started very early. Since the 2012 racing scooter only came back to Germany as a sheet of tin after a crash in the endurance race in Magny Cours in October, the rebuilding began in November. The scooter was built according to the form follows function principle, taking into account the lessons learned from the previous year, because proper preparation prevents poor performance. Or something like that.

Brief overview of the scooter's features:
Frame reinforced in places at risk of falling and provided with crash pads
25 liter tank in the passage with quick tank system
Brake system in endurance setup with radial brake pump for fatigue-free braking
Xenon headlights
Electrics with four separate circuits for lighting, position lights, box communication and on-board instruments with redundant components
Lap timer

The engine setup was designed for absolute durability:

• Parmakit SP09 60mm
• Quattrini housing
• Hartz4 coupling
• DRT Runner countershaft
• DRT shift claw
• Vespatronic

After the scooter had been adapted to the climatic conditions in Zuera on Friday and the chassis had been adjusted to a compromise of the requirements of the various pilots, the qualifying session was on Saturday morning.
Since the starting position is of minor importance in a 24-hour race and the scooter should be spared as much as possible, the scooter was brought back to the pits for a final check before the race after reaching second place. Here a slight leak was found on the piston of the brake caliper, whereupon the prepared replacement brake system (brake pump, brake caliper incl. Line pre-vented) was installed to be on the safe side.

At 12 p.m. the race started on Saturday, with the GSF /SCOOTER CENTER Racing Team was in second place in the first few hours. During this time the "Laranja Team Racing" defended the first place very successfully, which was on the road with a 24HP 100cm Yamaha RD80 cylinder with water cooling and what felt permanent 13000 rpm. Maximum respect at this point for this engine concept!
With the driver change to Andreas Putz in the early afternoon, he also achieved first place, which he was able to expand to two laps ahead by the end of his stint. In the course of the afternoon, Andreas Putz and Maik Persch set a lap record twice, which, however, had to be handed over to Johannes Kachel (brother of Team Germany member Christian Kachel) from Team Heives in the evening. Nevertheless, even after a maintenance stop at 19 p.m., the lead was not surrendered, even if the lead at that time due to the strong competition was only one lap (second place Laranja, third place Heives).

At 23 p.m. there was a major turning point in the race: a scooter had distributed its entire supply of transmission oil on the track, which led to a mass take-off in the fast right-hand bend after the start / finish straight. Maik Persch, who was on the track during this time, was able to win the GSF /SCOOTER CENTER Keeping racing scooters on the track through years of racing routine. As a result, there was an approximately one-hour break from racing, during which the track was cleaned of oil. The team used this time to equip the scooter with the main brake system, which has now been repaired, and to put it on fresh tires.
The lead was continuously expanded under the guidance of Jens Wolters after a restart at midnight, so that, not least thanks to the consistently strong performance of Christian Kachel and Jens Fischer at the beginning of the last stint at 11 a.m., the lead was well over 30 laps ahead.

To 11: 20 clock the race and with it the class and overall victory was already unmatched thanks to this lead ... but the fastest race lap was still in the hands of Team Heives. Around this time, driver Michael Betz, who was driving the final stint like the years before, saw a pit board from team manager Jens Wolters with the inscription "P1, PUSH". The order was clear, as in the previous year, the entire package should be brought home: class, overall victory ... and also the fastest race lap. In the comfortable situation of not being able to jeopardize victory any longer, the hunt for the fastest lap time began in the coming laps ... and ended successfully. A little later, the counter was 1:21:74, half a second faster than Team Heives, who were underpowered due to an engine failure and could no longer parry.

WON TRIPLE!

Fastest lap, class win, overall win.
The GSF / SCOOTER CENTER Racing scooter had the race without a single defect 920 race laps and with it 1.564 km survived in racing trim.

At noon the race was waved off according to plan, final positions in the overall standings are:
1st place: Team Germany - powered by GSF / SCK
2nd place: Laranja Team Racing
3rd place: Rolando Motoroledo Racing

Team Germany thanks its team manager Jens Wolters for 28 hours of uninterrupted top performance, the other German teams (Heives, Dart Racing, Pussy Power) for the great cooperation and the nice atmosphere! As always, it was a party to go with you!

Special thanks to the local Spanish / Catalan, Portuguese and French teams who welcomed us so kindly into their midst! Rarely seen such hospitality and honest sympathy.
And of course, last but not least, the incredible team from TVB Team Vespa Barcelona, ​​who unselfishly organize the race with tireless work and pull it off with incredible professionalism!

Without exaggeration, this race is THE highlight of every season ... we will definitely see each other again next year!