Between crates of fish
It was exciting at the 54th fishing port race in Bremerhaven. We were there.
There was fabulous weather, more than 20,000 spectators in a good mood, a spectacular course which had been extended by 650 metres and an international starter field of over 400 drivers. These are the ingredients for a varied and entertaining racing weekend. For the 54th occasion, the engines are droning between the warehouses of the Bremerhaven fishing ports.
The participants can choose between no less than ten classes. Our WRA team entered into the hard fought class one and two. Nina Prinz started with the BMW S 1000 RR in class one, the Fishtown Super Bike Open; Fritz Spenner went for class two, Fishtown Twin + Triples with the new BMW R1200 R on the circuit.
But in order: Whitsunday, training day. For the participants, training is not just doing a relaxing lap. It is a question of the starting positions. And whoever wants to be there right up the front has to "experience" his optimal starting position here. Nina gave everything on the SR1000RR. But it did not quite work out as hoped. The reason: Problems with the brakes. The brake system of the "Piranha" was drawing air somewhere. Even repeatedly ventilating did not really help. Finally, it was so critical that the experienced racing driver drove the rims crookedly on the lane boundary. Hecticness arose - what can we do? At the speed of lightning, the pit crew, Felix Abel, Thomas "Icke" Schuhmann and Holger Nick modified diverse special parts on the replacement machine. It is a real racer and is competing for the first time - full-carbon, 170 kilos and 204 HP on the rear wheel. Although Nina came to terms with this right away, she had to run a single lap to get use to the new motorcycle.
Even Fritz did not run his laps in a carefree manner. He had problems in the starter field of class two with the only BMW Boxer. The brand new DOHC Boxer is not as lively as its predecessor. Although the pit crew managed to conjure up 105 HP from the 97.5 series HP, there was no real help against the slipping clutch. Hence, Fritz could not get out of the corners as he wanted. Of course, that kept up with the time.
Under the existing conditions, we in the WRA team were satisfied with the starting positions, which had been driven on, for the time being. The race could start on the next day.
Whit Monday was the racing day and the day of truth. Thousands of excited spectators were offered a fantastic show. The Fishtown-1/8-Mile-Sprints" were on the programme for the first time, exciting drag racing on the start/finish line. Finally, it became serious and the starting flag was lowered for the main race. It is impressive when the two-wheeled vehicles dash past the straw bales by a few centimetres and just a few meters from the spectators at over 200 km/h. The atmosphere was suitable and our two pilots put up an excellent show in their classes.
We need to imagine it for a moment - Nina sat on the new motorcycle for the first time. She had just one warm up lap to get use to the bike. She hardly knew the track appropriately since she had never been to Bremerhaven before. In addition, she was not allowed to ride in the past six months due to a racing accident. And what did she do? She landed promptly on the twelfth place in the first race with 35 starters and made up for three places in the second race. A great performance! What might be the result in the following year if the conditions are much better?
Even Fritz, who had actually aimed for at least third place, put up a good performance. After all, he achieved seventh place in the first race with the Boxer, but he could increase by two placed in the second race. Fifth place with slipping clutch but still not perfect tight motor performance! Whoever was not lucky to personally follow the exciting racing event in Fishtown, can briefly watch the highlights of team Wunderlich in action on YouTube by clickinghere.
