Klaffi reflects on disappointing TT
Wednesday 27 June 2007
TT
The Centenary TT races may not have gone according to plan for the Alpha Boilers Honda team, with technical gremlins hampering the bid for glory, but Klaus Klaffenböck and his team still felt it was a huge occasion in their race careers.
He said:
‘Taking part in the TT Centenary was one of the highlights of my career as a rider. It was a unique chance in my life and I’m very happy to be one of those to ride there this year.’
‘We had a great time on the Island. The public were fantastic. Our truck and the awning have been besieged the whole day. But though we had a lot of work we had some time to talk with our fans – from all over the world.’
For Klaffenböck and his sidecar passenger Christian Parzer it was a tough week of racing that saw extremely hard luck. They were unable to finish either of the sidecar races, the first race seeing them retire on the very first lap as they broke a piston ring.
During the second race they were running in third place and looked set for a podium when they suffered an engine failure on lap three of the four-lap race.
Klaffi said:
‘During practice week we set fast lap times as never before. On Tuesday before Race B we have been second fastest with 111.835 mph. In the second race things had been very promising. The podium was already in sight. But then all our good luck was gone.’
Although it was a difficult event for the team they are determined to return and get on the top step of the podium.
Klaffi added:
‘In 2008 Christian and I – we will take part again. We got a lot of very useful experiences this year. 2008 we will be even better prepared than this year. Our goal is to be once on the top.’
The solo member of the team, Irish Champion Martin Finnegan, had better luck than Klaffenböck and Parzer.
He finished fourth in the Superbike race and 13th in the Supersport.
Klaffi said:
‘Martin proved his great performance. Only in Senior TT he had also bad luck – retired some miles after start with a technical problem.’
‘His Supersport result would have been better, but he broke a foot peg on his very first lap and that hampered his race. Going off the line and first time through the bottom of Bray Hill the right hand footrest bent and worked its way loose then so he spent the whole race trying to hold his foot up.’
‘With 37.73 miles per lap of bumps, jumps and tight turns it was never going to be easy with no foot peg. It was tough, he struggled with right-handers, as he couldn’t push on the pegs, but he just did the best he could and finished 13th.’
‘Martin was the hero of the day!’
The 2007 season is not over yet for Klaffenböck, Parzer and Finnegan. They are all taking part in the Southern 100, which runs from July 9th to 12th.
Klaffi said:
‘The Southern 100 is similar to the Landshaag hill climb in Austria. The paddock is in a meadow!’
‘The track is even more challenging than the TT. The roads are narrow and the circuit is tight. In 2006 we did some show laps, but now we have to learn the course again!’
Louise Cain