| Author | Message | ||
     Ezblast |
 | ||
| Jens |
Thank you all for your support! Here is the report: Racing the Erik Buell Racing 1190 at the German TT SBK competitions Any raceweekend is different. This time we were travelling with small equipment and had an extraordinary compact schedule, all over less than 8h….. At the end of last season the team decided for 2011 to compete in the BEARS races. It turned out at the seasonstart at the Eurospeedway Lausitz as a bad idea, when not many competitors showed up. So we decided to join with the Erik Buell Racing 1190 RR also the Superbike open races, a competition mostly for inline fours who not needed to be homologated or for productionbikes with major changes. If you have real power in your bike and an allergy against long rulebooks, this is your class. Unfortunately had Pegasusraceteamrider Harald Kitsch before seasonstart fixed to race on that weekend with the Ilmbergerteam a 6h Endurancerace with the BMW S 1000RR at Oschersleben. So it was a bit a stressweekend for him when he practiced on Thursday / Friday at Oscherslerben, won the race on Saturday and needed to show up Sundaymorning 7.30 at the natural Schleizer Dreieck Roadracing Course for the Superbikeraces at the German TT. 80% of the Schleiztrack is normal daily roads who are blocked at the raceweekends, a outstanding experience and a track that need real man if you like to go fast. Of course had our competitors Friday and Saturday Tracktime and of course they had 2 timepracticesessions on Saturday. But there was a 3rd Timepractice left on Sundaymorning 9.00 o´clock, that must do what´s necessary, 20 Minutes to set the time. And again our good friend since Assen was with us, the new low noise exhaustsytem with the pipe through the swingarm. 7.30 sharp, Harald showed up in the paddock, we had really minimum effort, just a 3 x 3m Quickuptent, 2 bikes, 2 toolboxes and a coffeemachine. The Saturday was hot with Temperatures up to 29 degree C. For the Sunday they reported 32C and Thunderstorms in the afternoon, -not again please! The Erik Buell Racing 1190 had some new features like an optimized AST Forksetup, a new Enginemapping and a rebuilded engine after that Assen problems, more than enough to be nervous. First of all we need to get the bike in this 20 minutes at least 1 time around the track to getting qualified, second a row one start, what require a finish as 1.-4th would be fine. If the bike fail, we go home without a race and possible points. Harald got out on the track on the point and after less than 2 minutes we know ok we are in the business. The Polesetter, riding one of the new Aprilia RSV 1000 Factory, had a 1:30.56 on the list, in 2010 we were somewhere at 1:29 at the end of the weekend, but with more tracktime and on much cooler conditions, because the temperatures already had moved up to 27C. At the end of the session it was only a 5th startingplace with an 1:33.465, Two S 1000 RR and a CBR 1000 Fireblade completed the frontrow with the RSV directly in front of Harald. Lucky for us, it was possible to get some more tracktime before the race to hunt the missing speed and sort out a watertemperature problem. At the end it was a bit from all, some adjusting here, a remapping for a different throttleresponse there, to get the package going. Usually you have two days and a warmup to find the setup for the day, here it was 3 hours….. Highnoon 13.50 o´clock, 32degrees C was the start for the first race. We are still not sure if our competitors started so well or if Harald caught a bad start, but in the first corner the Erik Buell Racing was on 6th. We counted that Harald will clean up the field to 4th quickly, but we hoped that he on the way would not loose too much time to the leaders. It worked and after 2 laps we had the last podium and Harald was cutting down the laptimes from lap to lap, going 1:30 times try to close the cap to the on 2nd running S 1000RR rider who was going 5 /10 slower than him. At the half of the race he was behind him, but a S 1000 RR is not so easy to pass, as we have seen several times this season and it needed another 3 laps for Harald to go over. But the gap to the RSV was to wide, at the end we brought home a 2nd and the fastest laptime. Race 2, 3h later, the temperatures were still very hot, Harald with nobody in front of him, after the RSV did not showed up in time at the startline, got a better start and came back as 3rd into the second lap, were he took the other riders and didn´t gave back the lead for the race. Regarding the high temperatures and our challenges in 14 days, he rode as quick as needed and brought the team home the second Superbike victory of the 2011 season. Very well done! Thanks to all who made it happen! Upcoming next is the Festival Italia at Oschersleben, for that event we hear rumors that we will get some extra fun with factory BMW, a real fast RSV, Jan Christiansen from Danmark with his Gixxer and finally Frankie Chily will give us the honor on a Ducati 1198. Stay tuned! Here are the pics: http://pegasusraceteam.com/html/gallerie_schleiz_2 011.html Info on the raceweekends over facebook & twitter join: www.pegasusraceteam.com | ||
| Court |
Jens: Great report . . . you guys are amazing . . . Harald always comes up with the most amazing performances. Between Harald in Europe and Geoff in the USA I'd say the Buell racers are sure opening many eyes. All the best to you for a fabulous season . . and keep the exciting news coming. Court | ||
| Ebear |
Great reporting Jens....I look forward to every one.Keep up the excellent work! | ||
| Blake |
Almost too good to be true, but we know better. Outstanding effort and the results to prove it. Great reporting as usual. Thanks for taking time to share the ride.  | ||
| Bob_thompson |
Jens, for comparison purposes; would all or most of the bikes you guys compete against be able or even eligible to race, without any changes, in AMA Superbike. When our 1190RR starts racing here in AMA I believe its going to be really competitive. Would you agree? I know Erik, Geoff & Michael Tjon thinks it will be in short time. Just wondering if the other bikes are comparable in the two different series. You guys are really strong there. | ||
| Davegess |
Great results! | ||
| Jens |
Harald is excited to compete oo the Erik Buell Racing 1190 RR with Frankie Chili in the B.E.A.R.S at the upcoming Festival Italia. Sorry it´s in german language: http://www.speedweek.de/art_19911.html | ||
| Court |
Jens: The website appears to be in German:
I tried to translate and got:
Is that close? | ||
| Crusty |
Sounds like a good translation to me!  | ||
| Jens |
Translate: He need to compete there against the strong competitors from Aprilia, BMW, Buell,Ducati and MV Agusta. That is the competition I dreamed about when i vote for forming the BEARS again. And as I hear more real competition will show up. | ||
| Jens |
Festival Italia Mission 1 of 4 completed: Another Erik Buell Racing 1190 Victory for Harald Kitsch in Superbike open Race 1 of the CBR 1000 RR, 3rd Ferdinand Schmarje / S 1000 RR. | ||
| Imonabuss |
YES! Way to go, Jens, Thomas and team! Congratulations to Harald!!! | ||
| Court |
Jens . . . GREAT NEWS . . . Another victory for the Erik Buell Racing 1190RR . . Congratulations to you, Harald and the team. Court | ||
| Court |
Jens: How is Franky doing? | ||
| Jens |
VICTORY at the BEARSrace for Harald Kitsch and the Erik Buell Racing 1190. 2nd: Nina Prinz, 3rd: Pierfrancesco Chili. Well done Team! Maybe we should give Franky a ride on the Erik Buell Racing 1190, he would accept he said. Stayed at our pitbox to watch the Moto GP races, very nice man. | ||
| Imonabuss |
Would love to see what Franky would think of riding the bike. One of my heroes for sure. He was so fun to watch in WSBK! | ||
| Rde48 |
2 more wins on the Erik Buell Racing 1190RR makes us very excited to see the Erik Buell Racing 1190RS debut. We are hopeful it is just a few weeks away. Congratulations and keep up the good work to the entire team. You continue to impress and are making us proud! | ||
| Jens |
Four in a row, Erik Buell Racing 1190´s unbeatable weekend at Festvial Italia At one of the most important race weekends of the season, the Festival Italia, with fresh competition (IDM Rider Nina Prinz) and special guest Frankie Chili on the track, you like to look good. When everything will go wrong, it is not of much help to have Thomas Wanner, the Team owner himself, joining the team for his first real motorcycle race weekend in the Pro BEARS competition. Yes, Thomas decided to release the brave air-cooled XB R racer from standing around in dark workshop corners and brought it back to the track. A honorable idea, if there was not a legend from Italy, a super quick German girl and our frivolous idea to sign Harald and the Erik Buell Racing 1190 RR for 4 races that weekend, what we had done with the intention to get some real good competition for Harald. So we had all over 6 races in front of us 2 x BEARS / 2 x Superbike open for Harald and 2 x Pro BEARS for Thomas. The weather reports said again changing conditions from sun to rain and backwards for the complete weekend, wonderful it looks that this follows us the whole season. We prepared the pit box Wednesday night to have all ready for a first rollout at the free track time on Thursday morning. The day started nice and sunny, Ronnie Kreeft from AST Suspension arrived in time with some new parts and then Harald was a bit past 8.00 o clock out on the track and rode his first laps. The Motorsport Arena Oschersleben is the Teams home track so we know a lot about it, but for 2011 they changed the layout of the super quick right/left chicane with fixed plastic pylonsflaps to press the riders to ride the chicane in place of going over the curbs through it. Haven’t counted on a rider like Harald, who just hold into it, witch resulted the plasticflaps whipping first against the bike and then his knee. “On the bike with the old 1125RR bodywork it’s much better, there it goes much more on the bodywork, at the 1190RR it goes full on my knee, that really hurts!” Harald reported. The fairing and his knee was full of orange and black stripes, no idea to go easy at that point, the weekend result of that story was a smashed front fender, a hole in the fairing, 10 meters of Ductape as protection, an overnight reinforcement by Fiberglas and another hole afterwards. For the next Oscherslebenrace we must pop rivet some Aluminum crash covers on the fairing edges which will give the bike that authentic Rollerball outfit…. Anyway, that was only a side show, we had other bigger problems, like that actual Dunlop tires. We love Dunlop, but that final changes of the last batch are a real pain, the usable temperature range is much smaller and the tire wear bigger than ever. At least the lap times you can go with it are still extra quick, but what helps you to go 7 laps a half second quicker and loose for that on the other half of the race each lap a second. That way Thomas had a better life; he raced the Bridgestone R 10, which is solid as a rock as we know since our winter tests. We increased the Team by Jens daughter Julia and her boyfriend Rickard as personal crew for Thomas, so the main Team could do the regular work for the 1190 Superbikes, what is, even with no special problems a 14h shift per day. It wasn´t Thursday Lunchtime when the first 1190 got a problem with a non separating clutch. We located the problem on the engine side and learned that after a while in the pits the problem was gone. So we reassembled everything and sent Harald back to the track, all fine –but at the end of the stint the problem was back. Now a deeper analysis of the problem explained what could be the problem, NO we will not tell you, this problem is so special that we don’t like to talk about it for now, maybe one day…. But after we understand what we must change, the clutch was going perfect for the weekend. Harald rode all 6 stints, but real fast lap times not coming up and the atmosphere was a bit dulled. We are here to win races, 1:32 a professional IDM race rider like Nina Prinz, will go out of the box, she got a 1098 S from Ducati Berlin. Frankie Chili´s last Oschersleben ride was nearly 10 years ago and he was invited as a guest of honor competing on a 1098 of the NL Kock team, he never worked with before. In the evening we resume that we need to ride out a decision with Harald in the morning what 1190 we set as the “A-bike” for this weekend and Thomas should continue to getting familiar with the XB-R Shortstrokeracer to get some lap times, for now he was slower than with his 1470cc big bore XB road bike last year at the Pegasus Buell Experience at German Biketoberfest. Friday morning, we need to pick up Speed, need to find the setup for the tricky Dunlop’s, the world is looking on us….. (-: Go Erik Buell Racing Racing, go Harald! The now upcoming disaster was sneaking in silently. Harald reported on 1190 Bike Nr. 1, a strange throttle response, so we checked the mapping and all parameters, all looked fine, out again, problem still there. So he changed on Bike 2. While he is out we checked Bike 1, what will not start anymore. He came after some laps back into the pits and reported that he is not sure, but maybe the problem starts on bike Nr. 2 now also. Under the pressure of getting laps we decided to send him out again, for some final track time before the lunch break, to have a clear picture, but he didn´t came back. Some minutes later Thomas entered early (after only 4 laps) the pits and reports the XB was a bit strange on the throttle. Harald came back on a trailer, engine wrecked, stucked. First we are all focused on the 1190 bikes try to find answers in the 2D data recording, checked the mappings again, nothing. After a while the connecting link of all bikes popped up, -the fuel. We drained both bikes who were still alive, the 1190 with the 1125RR fairing and the XB, we cleaned the complete injection systems and fuel pumps. We got fresh fuel, filled up the bikes, a push on the button both bikes idle fine and nice. We isolated 3 fuel canisters, 1 with a strange smell. Samples are taken and there will be an analyze what was in. I am not a friend of conspiracy theories, all what we can say for sure is that there was something in our fuel canisters what was killing an engine and let the other 2 start to run bad. We can eliminate that this substance was filled in with our will and knowledge. Both engine worked fine the rest of the weekend, Haralds won 4 races with it, including a new best lap time for the Team. Anyhow why or what, Christian and Alex started to change the engine on the 1190 bike, 3 hours later it was done, early enough to go out for a shakedown in the evening on the last stint. Over the day, God of Thunder send us some rain and Thomas got his baptism of fire with rain tires. Harald pushed the 1190RR finally on a 1:30.high lap time and when I went to bed to have a 4h nap; I was thinking I am so damn proud of this people who form the Pegasusraceteam. All of us go into the next day with the same feeling, if there was a manipulation, watch up guys, now we give all we have.…. Saturday morning, we had 3 qualifying´s, BEARS Race 5 and Superbike open race 5 for Harald in front of us, Thomas the same with his first Pro BEARS race. But we had 3 good running bikes, a good suspension setup, an additional understanding of the Dunlop tires and a lot of extra motivation with former GP and WSBK rider Frankie Chili and IDM rider Nina Prinz joining the BEARS races. At the evening before was a meet and great in the big tent, Frankie had a look on the 1190RR and said: “A so simple rear suspension I haven’t seen since the 80th.” So Thomas replied: “Check out that tail section, which will be your view on the bike for this weekend”. Great start, a great laugh followed, but if you have a big mouth you should be sure that you can deliver what you promised. Thomas trust in his Team honored us, but I was at that point far away from sure that this weekend turn out good.… I follow the progress of Nina Prinz since a couple of years and believe that her place is the IDM; unfortunately she cannot race the full IDM 2011 season, because of the money. I hope that in the future again one of the German manufacturers or importers pick the chance to generate a deeper identification for female riders, one of the last real growing target groups. Nina have a great sport record, she is the 2007 and 2008 Superstock 1000 European Women´s Champion, finished in the IDM SBK 2008 as 12th and was in 2009 and 2010 on 21th and 24th (Supersport). As expected Nina was very quick getting feeling familiar with the 1098S prepared from Ducati Berlin. We took the competition serious, in the past she was able to go on a factory backed IDM Yamaha R1 a 1:28 laptime at Oschersleben. While Harald and Nina cutting down the laptimes in the first time practice, Frankie Chili was after the first lap out again with a technical problem. It was not the weekend of his Team, one of the Kockbrothers got badly hurt in the 3D Ducaticup, all the best for him from here! So it was to see that Frankie took it easy for now, while Harald and Nina battling over all 3 practice for the pole. At the end our Team and the Erik Buell Racing 1190RR got another BEARS pole followed by Prinz less than a second behind and Chili on third. At the SBKopen Harald let Steve Jacobs on Honda CBR 1000 RR and Ferdinand Schmarje on BMW S 1000 RR behind him and got also the pole. Precisely, we had the fastest lap all over the event. Thomas in the Pro BEARS was with 17th on the grid not happy, knowing that the bike was able to go faster. Before the races Frankie visited us in the pit box and watched together with Harald the Moto2 and moto GP races at Assen. After he had seen Haralds performance, Frankie had a lot of questions about the Erik Buell Racing 1190 and we invited him for a test ride if we come next year eventually to Italy or meet maybe at begin of the season in Spain. In the BEARS race Harald showed who is the Boss and rode 5 laps under 1:30, with the fastest 1:29.734, what is 1/1000 slower than his official record with the 1190RR at Oschersleben. With the changed chicane, the wider 1125RR bodywork, related to our tyreproblems and the low temperatures it is in fact a very good result. So we took the BEARS victory with 11 seconds in front of Nina Prinz, the podium completed Frankie Chili. Same result at the SBKopen race what we win also with 11 seconds ahead, before Jacobs and Schmarje. Mission 1&2 completed! The hottest race action was booked for Thomas. First start cancelled because a Ducati caught fire in the grid, just before green. New start, another Ducati in front of him did not get away from the grid, so he needed to follow the complete field, fighted back to 14th , when the race was stopped after another crash. Restart from his old 17th grid and again on 14th . Not bad for the first race, the laptimes were still not as expected, but he was able in all that chaos to ride his race. Sunday brought the same result for the BEARS, but Nina was getting closer, not only because our Dunlop’s gave up at half of the distance, she found also a half second in her laptimes. Ducati Berlin signed Nina also for the Superbike open Race later at that day and she managed it after a start out of the pits to fight through the field on the podium. 2nd place Steve Jacobs took home. So for the Erik Buell Racing 1190 and Harald Kitsch the Mission 4 victories in a row were completed. We heard that Nina Prinz will join us at the Finals at German Biketoberfest and then her 1098 will not only be equipped with the newest Nemesis Tractioncontrolsystem, like now….. The cream on the cake for the Team was Thomas, who was running the whole weekend in the 1.50low´s. He had a great second race which he finished 12th. Again he was acting cool, running mostly between 11th and 12th, when he got the next restart after a crash, plowed at the end in the “Shell-S” through the gravel bed without losing his position and had finally a 1:47high on the counter. 2 seconds quicker than before this weekend and a new personal best laptime for Oschersleben. Maybe he should fine-tune his right foot position, when he came in he had lost a good part of his race boot on the asphalt including the sock, precisely the bare skin was looking out….. Ok, when we draw the balance, we lost an 1190RR engine and a boot, earned 4 victories and a happy Teamowner, WHAT A WEEKEND! Follw us! on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=10000098104 9734&ref=ts on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/pegasusraceteam | ||
| Blake |
What a great story and fantastic results! Truly heroic. Will be interesting to learn what is discovered in the tainted fuel and how it arrived there. Thanks for sharing the epic ride Jens! | ||
| Rcf2 |
I'm short of words to congrat yours for the results. Fantastic to see again the small Buell on top by your team hands! | ||
| Jetbuilder |
Jens I am going to Heilbronn next year to visit the inlaws with my wife and kids. I will most likely try to come to see you guys race I am coming in the late June early July time frame. Red | ||
| Moxnix |
Toll! | ||
| Jens |
Thanks all for your support. Jetbuilder, let me know when exact you will be in Germany and we will organize something. June/July mostly is Festival Italia, but for 2012 for now is not clear what competition we will join. Just drop me an eMail or PM and we will see. Jens | ||
| Manxboy |
Jens, Great results under bad conditions. Hate to see you damage an engine over bad fuel too. Congratulations on fighting through all the problems! Pat. | ||
| Jens |
Harald Kitsch is BEARS and Superbike Open Champion 2011 on the Erik Buell Racing 1190RR. New alltime Best Laptime for Pegasusraceteam and Erik Buell Racing / Buell and fastest Biketoberfest Laptime overall, with 1.29.50. Danke Harald! | ||
| Reepicheep |
Congratulations! | ||
| Blake |
Amazing. Harald is incredible and so is Pegasus Race Team. Thomas, Jens, Harald and company have set the standard for road racing in Germany and abroad. Let the world take note. I'll not be surprised to see Pegasus Race Team on the grid for WSBK some day. I think that they are that talented, that competent, and that tirelessly hungry for victory. | ||
| Blake |
When may we order shirts and caps declaring the mighty victories of Harald and the Pegasus Race Team and EBR? | ||
| Jens |
 |
