Summer break

Hi

The summer break is almost over and soon it's time to fly to Jerez to the next round of the EJC. During the break I have been to auto24ring as often as possible to drive and I feel very good and ready ahead of Jerez. The last races before the break didn't go so good for us so I'm very determined to prove myself in the last two rounds.

A wet lap around auto24ring https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzx7x_DHOOo&feature=youtu.be

Sommu #38

Imola

I'm at home from Imola and pretty disappointed. The weekend started ok as I got good feeling quite quick on the track and with bike. In the first qualifying I was third. It wasn't what I wanted but we had one more qualifying in saturday. In the beginning of saturdays qualifying I tried to go alone but it didn't work and I started to find some slipstream. It worked out and I got second place. This meant front row on the grid which was really good. My start was really good and after first corner I was first. Then started the normal EJC race with really close passings and many action. After about three laps I could make some gap to the second guy and felt comfortable with the pace. I pushed really hard to get away from the group and on the 6th lap I made a mistake in one left turn and went off the line a little bit. The grip wasn't as good there and I crashed out of the race. It was my mistake and I am really sorry for this for the team and fans but things like this happen in racing. It was disappointing but now I'm even more motivated for Donington after two weeks to make a good result there.

Hannes #38

Video of the race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zB2eihhog0

First race in Aragon

The Aragon round is over and we have mixed emotions. From the first practice I felt good with bike and track and did good laptimes so I was second in free practice. The qualifying was in really difficult conditions. There were black clouds so we believed that there was rain about to come. I tried to make my fast lap as soon as I can because when it started raining the qualifying would be over. I could do only two fast laps before it started raining but it was enough to put me second on the grid. After a pretty good start I could stay in the first group. The race was as always in European Junior Cup with 7 riders changing places all the time. Some laps before end I made a mistake and had to work extra hard to catch the front guys back. I could catch them and I went to the last lap second with only some thousands of seconds to first. I moved first but made a mistake before going to the long backstraight. I was passed from slipstream on the straight and when going out from the hairpin lost some time behind a lapped driver and couldn’t make my way back to front and I finished seventh. The final result is not what I wanted for but I got the fastest lap of the race so I know I have the speed to win. Now I’m looking forward to Assen after two weeks.

Alcarras training camp

Hi

The training camp in Alcarras is over and I am really happy with the result. I found my speed and could work a little bit with bike setup. We made some good changes which should help me in Aragon. I had a little crash in the end but nothing big. There are some really fast drivers in the serie so it should be a very interesting year. Now we have some days rest and then we go to Aragon for the first round of the year.

Photos from The Bike Insurer

First Aragon practice

Hi all

The year has started for me with a practice in Aragon, Spain. Our main goal there was to get my feeling back after the injury from Magny Cours. It has been a long time since then and I haven't ridden a bike in this time.
The weather in Aragon was quite cold and very windy. Almost all of the second day was wet. First and second day I spent to get friend with the bike again and on the third day we started to change the setup of the bike a bit. We made some big steps specially on the braking area The last day was again very windy so we didn't drive the last session. Overall the training went really good and now I'm looking forward to the race in beginning of April. Meanwhile I hope I can drive in Estonia in Auto24ring.

Magny Cours

Hello all

We travelled to Magny Cours wishing to improve like every round. On Thursday I was on a trackwalk with Jeremy McWilliams which was a big help for all of the weekend. I had never driven in Magny Cours before so first half of the free practise was all for learning the track. I liked the track really much and by the end of the practise I found the speed to post second fastest time of the practise. Qualifying was wet for us and as I haven't had many time on wet tyres I was a bit afraid of it. That wasn't too bad actually and I was posting top ten times all the time before the red flag came out. That was not good for me as I was on a fast lap but 9. on the grid was okay. Race started good for but soon the Finnish wild card had a technical error when going out of the corner and I lost a lot of time there. First group was gone so I had to do my best to be first in the second group. On the fifth lap there was a red flag and because we had less than half of race distance done there was a restart after second race of Superbike. Before the second start there were spots of rain on the track so we had to decide which tyre to use. Because there was only some spots my team and I decided to go with the dry tyres. The track was dry so it was a right choice. Start went good and soon I was running second and third. Sebestyen was a little bit away from us so me and Fernandez started to chase him. To the last lap there was a group from 1. to 4. place where I was third. I had a plan to attack in the last corner but when I went into the second last corner somebody hit me from the back and I crashed badly. I broke my tibia from two places and fibula from one. The season is over for me which is really disappointing because I saw in Magny Cours that I can fight for the win and try to win in Jerez but now I don't have the opportunity.

The doctor said that I need 6 weeks plasters. After that I start to prepare for next season. I like to thank my sponsors and the EJC people for a really nice season and hope to see you again next year. 

Sommu #38 

Race pics coming soon.

Tv program from the race: http://www.2wheelstv.com/tv-channel/watch/2013~2wheelstv-features~ejc~round-7~full-program 

Disappointment in Silverstone

Hello

Silverstone weekend started good for me in first practise. From the first lap I saw that it was my kind of track. It's fast and flowing. I liked it and in the end of the training I took 5th place. For qualifying I knew everybody will go faster and it wasn't gonna be easy. I also needed slipstream because the wind was against on the long straight. I picked up my speed and then started to find good group. There was only one big group and I knew it was really hard to drive good laptime in the middle of that so I let some gap. On my fast lap I catched the group exactly on the starting straight and in this moment got second time. In the end of the session some more guys improved so i started from 4. in the grid. It was my best starting place this far and my hopes were high. My start was good but when I took a wider line for turn two many guys passed me and after the chicanes i didn't good speed to long straight. On first lap I lost many places. I tried as hard as i could to get back to the front of the group but every time I tried other line to get better speed out of the corner somebody passed me. It lasted like this for five laps and on sixth lap there was a big crash just in front of me in one slow chicane. I managed to avoid bikes laying on the ground but right after that there was red flag. Finally I got 13. place which was a big disappointment when you start from the second row. I have learn from this and try to do better in Nürburgring, which is the only track where I have driven before.

Sommu #38