MPM Super Twin-driver Martijn de Haas looking for traction at Hockenheim

Hockenheim (Germany), August 11, 2014 – MPM-driver Martijn de Haas was on the thin line between traction or wheel spin at the NitrOlympX. His 7.08 sec. in qualifying was the maximum the tricky Rico Anthes Quartermile could hold before going up in smoke. In the quarter final the MPM-Harley had too much power, got wheel spin and De Haas was defeated by reigning European champion Ronny Aasen. “Traction was not good and the track conditions changed every time. That made it even more difficult to find the best set-up for the track at that moment”, said Martijn de Haas.

The NitrOlympX at the Hockenheimring was the third and penultimate round of the FIM European Drag Bike Championship. It was very sorry to see the Rico Anthes Quartermile, the dragstrip of the Grand Prix circuit, was not in a good condition. Traction was not good at all and the heat made it even worse. Good and fast runs were an illusion all drivers already knew before qualifying started. A big disappointment for MPM Super Twin-driver Martijn de Haas as his Joeri (his brother) tuned MPM-Harley runs perfect and is faster than ever before. The first qualifying run for De Haas was a 7.35 sec., not bad at all looking at the conditions. The second run was a great 7.08 sec. and that was the number three qualifying position after day one. De Haas could not improve on day two and with his Friday time, he was the number four qualifier. De gap to number three was only 0.003 sec. and to the number two qualifier 0.076 sec. As the number four qualifier De Haas had to face reigning European champion Ronny Aasen in the quarter final. The MPM-driver had a better reaction time and was close to the fast Norwegian driver. But after 150 meter the track couldn’t hold the power of the MPM-Harley and De Haas suffered wheel spin That was just enough for Aasen to take the win with a margin of 0.2 sec. only. “The team did a great job. All the runs were the best we could do in these conditions. The 7.08 sec. was the maximum the track could hold before going up in smoke. The whole weekend we have been trying to take out power and don’t let the tyre spin. The Alastaro set-up was very useful, but that was not what we wanted to use here. Even more difficult was that the track conditions changed almost every moment and it was hard to find the best groove. You really needed a little luck too. In the quarter final I started far more left then I would normally do. The start was okay, but after 150 meter when the clutch locked up, I lost traction. That’s a shame as we could have won. The last race is at Santa Pod and the track will be much better. There we want to run personal bests again as the bike is perfect”, says Martijn de Haas, already looking forward to the Santa Pod race.
Autor
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Remco Scheelings
Dragracing FIM European Championship Haas Brothers Hockenheim Main event MPM Racing MPM Sports NitrOlympX Super twin Top fuel bike

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