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The Adventures of Ben Carlson in Mette
By:Glenn Curtiss
Thursday morning came and we in the get
ready to travel in the all night mode. Ben, Georgiann
(Ben's mom), Mark Miller, Eric Pinson and myself were
staying with racer Phil Gee (and many thanks go out
to Phil Gee and his family for putting up with all of
us at his house for most of the week). We were not meeting
up with "Biscuit" Dave and Rich until 5pm,
so we called for a taxi (they were small, so we got
2) and we all headed into town to check out North Hampton,
England. We all made the tour of the city square and
the market. After finally getting a taxi to pick us
up, we were on our way back to pack our things and head
to Mettet.
Upon arriving back at Phil's place, we had found the
Biscuit and Rich were waiting for quite some time for
us to get back. Oops! Ben and Mark went with Rich and
Biscuit in the newly acquired 7-person people carrier.
They were off to pick up one more person and they were
headed to the ferry. We all were scheduled to meet for
the 11pm ferry to France. Phil had to work so Georgiann,
Eric, and I waited for him to come home. Phil's dad
(Tom) showed up and we started getting the motor home
ready for the trip. A little while later, the rig was
loaded with Phil's race bike, all of his gear, and all
of our luggage. Phil said the plan was to drop us off
at the hotel we had booked near the airport in London
on the way back from Belgium. We were off.
It took about 3 hours (or it seemed like forever) to
get to the ferry in Dover. On the way we hooked up with
Jason Chipchase and Warren Steele. Or actually, Jason
flew by Warren and us on the highway, and we eventually
caught up with both on the boat. The carload of people
with Benny in had to wait because we had his passport.
No passport, no boat ride. After a few beers, (and the
word few is being used very loosely) with Phil on the
way down, a passport for Ben, and a boat trip across
the English Channel, we were in France.
The ride to Mettet with Biscuit and Rich sounded like
an exciting one. I don't have all the details so you
will have to ask Ben and Mark on that journey. We, Phil's
RV loaded with people, Warren Steele, and Jason Chipchase
drove a few hours and stopped at a truck stop to sleep.
The next morning saw us driving a few more hours and
we arrived at the track.
Or what seemed like the track. It is actually some of
the town roads and an off-road section behind some of
the buildings. Actually very cool set-up. Not as neat
as RA is for the spectators but I will give it "2
thumbs up" because I can. Friday was basically
getting set up in the paddock area, getting our garage,
and finishing up a few of the last minute details on
the bikes. So without spending too much on this, I helped
change tires on 6 bikes until 9pm. The riders got signed
up and they were off to the hotel. We met up with them
a little while later.
Saturday morning had us back to the track early. Or
maybe I should say the Dave "Lippy" Lippett
had us back to the track early, and in record time.
I don't need to say much here other than the trip that
normally takes about 30 minutes only took us 12 minutes
and 25 seconds. Can you say white knuckles???
Maxxis Goldspeed tires were supplied to us for this
event (Rudy, thank you very much for the support!!!).
After a lesson on grooving the tires the correct way,
I ended up doing most of the tire cutting on Saturday
morning.
Ben was out first followed by Steve Drew and the rest
ended up in the Starbiker practice so they were in regardless
of their qualifying. Ben was a little hesitant at first.
He was riding with a broken bone in his left hand. An
accident at his work the Monday before we left will
prove to be the downfall to his weekend. He toughed
it out and rode. And it appeared that he was riding
fast too. He was especially making the tarmac sections
look amazingly easy. Drew came back with that wide-eyed
"dude!" talk after his time on the track.
I guess he had fun. Ben was 18th fastest in his group
and Steve was 13th.
Next were the timed qualifying practice sessions. Ben
was out first. Knowing that his hand was going to hold
him back, I didn't expect him to make out very well.
Part way through the practice session, he caught himself
for getting pitched at what could have been a huge highside.
In the process of saving a crash, he hit his hand hard...really
hard. He made a few fliers, and then came by shaking
his hand. Then a few more fast laps, then another slow
one. After he came in, we found out that he finished
21st in his group. There are over 40 in each of these
so we thought he did ok for the circumstances.
Drew looked fairly impressive through out his time in
the practice. From the viewing advantage that we had
(the main straight) he was rarely overtaken by anyone.
Drew came in feeling good about his ride. He had run
fairly hard in his session and he managed to get 11th
in his group. Not too bad, but the top 7 go directly
to the semi-final on Sunday.
With both riders finishing out of the top 7 in their
respective groups, the next race for both was the qualifying
races.
Starbiker practice came next. So we were all busy changing
and shuffling tires to the 3 Starbikers and fitted their
bikes with full wets. 28 total riders in this group.
Casey Yarrow was on a CRF450. Bone stock motor with
a WB exhaust and he was flying! Mike Metzger and Mark
Miller were also in this group. Metz was on a CR250/500
hybrid and Miller on a Husaberg 650. The trio made lap
after lap for the first time during the weekend. Casey
had if figured out right away. His best lap this session
put him 9th in the group. Both Metzger and Miller have
not had as much seat time on a motard bike. They came
in 13th and 15th respectively. The group was running
strong.
Superbiker qualifier races up next and Ben was in the
first one. Starting on the 4th row, Ben got an excellent
start moving up about 8 positions by the time they crossed
under the bridge. He then immediately got hit from his
left, which put him into a bike on his right. The rider
on his right went down hard. Ben stayed up and to our
surprise we saw him in the fifth spot when he came off
of the dirt section. He was constantly making a charge
to gain a few spots because he knew that the top 3 advance
to the semi-finals. 4 laps into it, Ben picked up one
spot. Now running in fourth, he continued to charge
ahead. He gained ever so slowly on the leaders. With
the laps running out, and lapped riders coming into
play, he said he knew this was the time to move. On
the last lap, a lapper stuffed him. Then the rider that
he previously passed to move into 4th re-passed him
and regulated Ben to 5th. That is how the raced ended.
Needless to say, Ben was a little hot when he came in.
Drew had a front row start. But spinning the tire on
the line when the light went green did not give him
the jump he was looking for. But coming off of the dirt
section in second wasn't bad though. He looked like
he was making save after save on the asphalt section
after coming off the dirt for many laps. And at one
point you could see him put it on cruise to just make
it home in one piece. That is all he needed as second
would get him to the semi-finals. When he came in I
asked if he had it on "cruise". He said he
almost put it on "coast" because he just wanted
to race on Sunday.
Another notable finish of the day was our host for the
week, Phil Gee winning his qualifier race handily in
a considerable rain. With the British flag flying on
the main straight, and a bunch of happy and crazed friends
and family cheering him on, you could see that he was
enjoying every minute of it.
The Starbiker qualifying practice saw Casey get a flat
on his Honda. He resumed on Drew's Husaberg. He ended
up with the 20th position. Mike Metzger qualified 25th
and Miller followed him for the 26th spot. This was
after he lay in the mud after the jump for a while.
We found him and got him started to try and better his
times.
Ben still had a chance in the Repecharge. That is the
last chance qualifier for us Americans. You could see
that Ben's hand was really hurting him. From the look
on his mom's face, I don't know who it was hurting more.
Him or his mom. He tried but came up short. Ben finished
11th and his official run at the Superbiker title was
over. He had a chance to run in a consolation race on
Sunday but he chose to sit it out and give his hand
a rest.
The festivities at the track had food and drink and
some live music playing into the night. We chose to
go back to the hotel and find the restaurant. Eat dinner
and go to sleep was the plan for most of us. I even
tried to send back the info from the hotel, but I had
no idea how much of a challenge a French keyboard was
going to be. I gave up.
Sunday morning came and Drew was scheduled for the second
of the 2 semi-final races. The consolation races ran
first. We got Steve and his bike ready for the warm-up
(read practice) session first. His lap times were actually
slower than his times in the wet races on Saturday.
The whole group was actually slower because of the cold
and damp conditions.
The final quad race and the half-time show were up next
and then ShowTime for Drew. The first semi-final was
running and we got Steve primed for his race. The bike
and the rider must be in the staging area 15 minutes
before the race. Any heat that the tire warmers put
into the tires were definitely gone by the time he finally
got onto the track. He had been gridded towards the
rear of his semi-final race. He may have gotten second
in his qualifier but all of the people that made it
trough the timed practices made it there first. And
there were about 20 of those guys in this race. Green
light and they’re off. He comes around, after the
first lap, in about 20th position. Twelve laps later
he finishes in 18th. These guys go-fast.... really fast.
And this was not the main. Steve has still got a chance
to make it into the main through the Super-Repecharge
race.
This race is definitely a long shot. 38 riders are in
this race. Only 4 are going to make it in to the main
event. You have to try. Steve did, and finished towards
the back. These guys are like wolves that have not eaten
in weeks. They ride really hard. And some of their moves
show this. Unfortunately, we will have to try again
next year with our team of US Superbiker entries.
But one thing is left. We still have 3 riders in the
Starbiker race. And the same three are automatically
in the Superbiker race. Metzger, Miller, and Yarrow
are all up now for the Starbiker presentation. Let me
tell you, it was really cool to have 30,000 spectators
come and see these guys off on their warm-up lap to
the Starbiker final. Casey was our fast man in the practice
sessions. And he ended up the fastest one in the race.
After 15 laps of competing with the likes of Stephane
Chambon, Chris Walker, and Stefan Everts, our guys had
to settle for a 15th for Yarrow, a 19th for Metzger,
and a 24th for Miller. Mark had a problem with his bike
so he did not complete all of the laps.
For the Superbiker final, our 3 riders were back out
there. And the presentation of the riders for this race
was even more exciting. Air horns, screaming fans, and
big wheelies made for a really cool start to the end
of the weekend. Last race and this was for all of the
bananas... The favorite to win was Chambon. Of course
everyone thought they were going to take the checkered
flag first, but Chambon has had the most wins here in
the past.
42 riders start this race. Of our guys, Casey is favored
to do the best. Metz was really starting to get the
hang of this but the bike he was riding was giving him
fits. So he opted to ride Ben's Husaberg for the final
race. Now he is on a 4 stroke that he has never ridden
before. He has got 2 laps to get used to it. He'll be
OK.
The start of the race is probably the most exciting
time to be at the end of the pit wall. It is also at
the entrance of turn one. When you have 42 bikes that
are all rushing to get to turn one first.... well, that
makes for a loud, bar banging, bike bashing, good time.
And we had a front row seat for it. The riders come
around for the first lap and Ferderic Fiorentino was
in the lead. Chambon was second. And this happened lap
after lap. Fiorentino was even putting a bigger gap
on him with each lap. At the end, he had a 7+ second
lead on Chambon. Casey came around the first lap in
24th position. Remember, there are 42 riders in this
race. We all thought he was doing very well. Until the
3rd lap. He did not come around. Mark and Metz did,
but not Casey. He managed to make it on the 4th lap.
He went down in one of the corners in the back. He got
the bike up and restarted, but the leaders had already
gone by him once. He still put on a good show.
Mark and Metz were still going hard. Mark had the first
turned dialed with some huge slides. Now this guy has
only done about 4 of these supermoto race weekends.
I'd say he has got most of it figured out. He doesn't
get many chances to ride in the dirt. He does have a
XR100 to play with and that is most of his dirt training.
Metz had the knee out on the asphalt sections. And it
actually looked like that was a little faster on some
turns. Other turns looked like sliding was a better
way to go. Either way, Metz was definitely the most
stylish over the jump in the back.
Mark finished 37th. Metz was 38th and Casey finished
40th. It was our first trip to Europe to participate
in a race the size of this. We all vowed to come back
and do better.
I would like to thank the following people for their
support in our journey.
Freddy Tachney and Philippe Dujardin from the race organization
for getting our entries and licenses sorted for us.
Dave "Lippy" Lippett for tracking down the
bikes, getting the practice track, finding places for
us to stay, getting us there and for all the other jobs
that he completed to make this trip happen.
Phil Gee and his family for putting some of us up at
his house for the week and for letting me help him drink
his beer (Phil, we never stopped on the way back....).
Rich, Biscuit, Marc B., and the rest that helped out
driving us, working on the bikes for us, and generally
making us feel like we belonged (or were they trying
to make us feel like we should leave???).
Rudy from Maxxis Goldspeed for the tire support.
MotoMaster for the brakes, and Paul from MotoMaster
USA for the connections with the right people.
More to come.
Glenn Curtiss
SuperBikers2,LLC
(920) 912-3009
www.superbikers2.com
glenn@superbikers2.com
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