GP Fethiye, Turkey race report

Turkish GP was in Fethiye which is only 90min catamaran ride away from Rhodes island. It was the first time that we had a GP in Turkey and everybody had some doubts about how the organizer could manage a race of this level without previous experience organizing international races. Walking the special tests from Tuesday to Friday we discovered something different to other GPs. For example the Enduro test was very slow resembling more like an Xtrem test on a rocky hill side. Giovanni Sala is the course inspector for F.I.M. and upon his arrival on Thursday he made the necessary changes. He opened up some slow corners and took off the sharpest corners in the steepest part of the hill. After these modifications it was still very slow but reasonable. It was mostly on this rocky hill having all the difficult off camber corners but it had also a flat area in the middle with more tight cornering. The Xtrem test was also really slow up and down a ravine with some steep but short uphills and some artificially made obstacles in the pine forest. Sala modified also this test trying to made it a little more rideable. These modifications of the special tests were easy compared to other problem he had to face: the poor marking of the course. There were not enough arrows pointing the way and there was no logic in the way they were put up. There was only one almost hidden arrow in some crossroads while in some crossroads there was no arrows at all. It’s good to have Sala as inspector of the course but there’s not much he can do when the F.I.M. sends him to the race place only two days before the race! The MX test was on a kind of MX track just made with a bulldozer on the hills near the Xtrem. The profile of the track was beautiful but the strange mix of sand, stones and hardpack made the soil tricky. I liked the MX test and didn’t mind having slower Enduro and Xtrem test for a chance so I had a good feeling about the race and finding two turtles on the way to see the special tests on Friday confirmed my good luck to come. These turtles were bigger than those I had seen in Serres. They seemed like an old couple having their peaceful afternoon walk crossing the main asphalt road in front of our car. I slowed down and stopped to take a look. The bigger one was covered with dried mud and it acted more cautious than the clean and smaller one. The smaller one didn’t mind us looking at it very closely but kept wandering about the front yard of a house next to the main road. What a dangerous business was that road crossing for these slow moving creatures! I don’t think their carapaces would save them if a car runs over them at 90km/h! I also doubt their ability to see the cars from distance and judge the time necessary to cross the road safely between the cars. Lucky turtles!

We didn’t have Super test on Friday so after having checked the pre-riders on the special tests and put the bikes to parc ferme I had a photo shoot with my friend Antoine Meo for Dario Agrati. We are both proud TOMMASELLI handlebar riders so we had some fun posing together with our Tommis!

The race started on Saturday morning one rider at a minute like in Greece in order to avoid the dust. The first part of the trail lead out of the city of Fethiye up on the mountain that was incredibly stony. Very slow pathways on the mountain crawling over the sharp edged rocks. I was trying to avoid gaps between the stones and not to brake brake discs and chain guide. After this long trail we arrived to the Enduro test but it was not timed on the first lap. After the Enduro test we had more trail of gravel roads and rocky paths leading to the MX test. The trail was so poorly marked that riders went the wrong way many times but some way or another everybody made it to the service before the MX test. We had about 15mins at the service which was about 5min too much but better that than 5min too little! The organizer had done incredible job with the MX test. After they had made the track with the bulldozer they had also used a roller to flatten it and watered it on Friday so on the first lap it was nice and smooth! The track went over the hill tops and turning at the same time in few places so it was crucial to remember the right riding lines and angles in order to jump over the hilltops. The most dangerous place was at one hilltop that had almost chicane-like curve on it. The track was wide but I had studied a perfect line to jump straight and even if I misjudged the angle a little I thought I would land safely only one meter off the perfect line. I thought most of the riders would ride the same line and jump like I was planning but I was wrong. I had ridden good so far but when I turned from the berm of the corner before this hilltop and went much wider than I had planned. I tried to correct my arrival angle to the ramp and took off lined with the lines other riders had made on it. Once airborne I realized my fatal error! I had corrected my line way too much and trusted other rider’s lines and now I was going to land too far and completely off the track! My heart jumped and the time froze so I had time to think and see myself getting injured and ending up in the hospital throwing away my championship!! There was a deep ditch and uneven terrain with some rocks on my landing area and I couldn’t believe my luck when I found my self bouncing off from the ground still clutching the handlebars and suddenly I was back on the track! Half a meter shorter and I would have landed in the ditch! Half a meter longer and I would have hit the big stones!! I ended up in the middle of the corner and to save myself from going over the berm and off the track again I turned sharply against the berm keeping the momentum. The problem was that I had to turn to the right while the track went to the left! I knew I lost some precious time but I was just so happy to be alive!! I was so relieved but I tried my best to re-focus and finish the special test properly. I ended up doing 5:03:90 being only one second slower than Cervantes who did the best time of E2! I knew that next lap without mistakes I could be much faster though! After the MX we had more trail and a couple of short but deep river crossings where the water reached the number plates and the holes of the air filter box! I was terrified thinking what would happen if the engine would suck in some water! I wondered what was the point of putting these river crossings on our trail. Imagine if someone looses his championship for this? These crossings were only about 2-3m wide but there was no way around them. You had to just dive in and hope for the best. If you reached the river crossing soon after another rider it made it even worse because you couldn’t see the bottom and the stones! On this trail I got lost and came back to find the right way again and ended up riding so slowly trying to catch a glimpse of a piece of bunting that marked the way. Some arrows pointed also the wrong way and in some places there were no markings at all so you had to kind of guess where to go! The Xtrem test was timed on the first lap too and I tried to be quick in all the sharp corners and did 3:07:47 beating Ivan by 1,3s. The best time was done surprisingly by the French two stroke Husky pilot Marc Bourgeois! After the Xtrem we had more badly marked trail leading back to Fethiye and the paddock. There was some kilometers long section in the riverbed and it had only some pieces of bunting here and there marking the course. Entering the riverbed there was no arrows pointing the way so most of the riders decided to ride up on the river bank on the gravel road as it was a lot more comfortable than riding in the riverbed with stones and bumbs water and mud. At one place the riverbed turned muddy from side to side and there was some water and weeds also to make it more difficult to see where to pass. I tried the right side of the river and when I advanced slowly in the mud my bike started to sink. Instead of trying to go trough full gas I was quickly off the gas and stepped down from the bike. The terrain was hopelessly soft and I was glad for my decision when I saw Ivan taking the left side after me. Terrain was harder there so I lifted the bike up from the mud and pushed it carefully backwards from the swamp and followed Ivan. It took a long time following the riverbed slowly and trying to avoid the swamps and see if the trail continued on the river or if it turned away. Finally arriving to the road I saw that the time was running short and we were still far away from the paddock. I had 10min and unknown amount of trail left so I started to ride as fast as I dared on the roads leading to Fethiye center and the paddock. When I arrived I had only 2min left so Luca quickly filled my bike up while I drank and ate a little and then the second lap started.

Long rocky terrain over the mountain with a nice panoramic view to Fethiye and the sea. Not much time to admire it though. We had to face the Enduro test full gas this time. Ivan did the best time 7:57:10 while I was second fastest but a little over 3s slower! On the second lap the trail started to be more visible and after all the wrong turns of the first lap it was easier to pick the right way. On the MX test I pushed hard but avoided crazy jumps and this time the best time 5:02:51 was done by Salminen! I was only 0,4s slower but more importantly 2,5s faster than Ivan. The next time check was going to be after the Xtrem and the long trail at the paddock so I tried to be faster on the trail this time. Riding faster I arrived to one ditch too fast and when I realized I can’t slow down enough I opened the throttle again jumping over the ditch. There was one stone sticking out on the other side where I landed and it put my head and my Tommi handlebars to the collision course. The stone kicked my front wheel sideways and upwards and my right hand clutching the handlebar hit my chin hard! I literally almost punched myself out and felt a little dizzy for a while! It made me ride slower hoping I would recover before I reached the Xtrem test! Ivan made the best time 3:00:41 but I was only less than one second slower so I was doing OK! The riverbed trail was easier on the second lap for you knew that you should continue all the way and knew where the mud holes were. Riding all the way faster without taking the wrong way saved a lot of time and I had about 10min at the paddock. At the paddock taking off my helmet mechanics realized my chin was bleeding and asked what had happened. I told them I just punched myself hard to make myself more concentrated!

Third and last lap started and I was fighting to beat Ivan. Only couple of seconds were separating us and I knew I had to push hard on the Enduro test to beat Ivan who was surely feeling more like home on this kind of terrain. I had a very good ride on this slow off camber zig-zag special test and did the best time 7:53:34 while Ivan some problems being 8s slower! I continued to ride hard on the last MX and did the best time again 5:01:53 beating Ivan by 1,4s. Only the last Xtrem to do and this time I was the one who was leading and Ivan was the challenger who tried to beat me! I ended up doing a little nervous ride almost crashing but still improving my time by 0,76s which I thought was fast enough. Ivan did incredible ride doing 2:56:20 beating me by 4,2s and for a moment I wasn’t that sure about my victory! Marika confirmed that I had won but only by about four seconds! I was surprised that I won also the overall of this first ever Turkish GP! After the prize giving and the autograph session I headed to the Xtrem to see if the organizer had modified it and found better line for the first uphill. It was getting dark already when we got back to our apartment and after the dinner I hit the bed not feeling so tired like after the Saturday in Greece.

On Sunday morning the temperature was couple of degrees higher than on Saturday and I felt the sweat flow down my spine as I started the engine of my CRF450. This time the Enduro test was timed on the first lap and I had a good ride doing the best time of E2 7:42:72 but couldn’t believe time that another Finn Eero Remes had done in E1: 7:35:91!! I had a 33 point lead over Cervantes so I had no pressure at all and I threw myself on MX test just purely for fun and tried to win just for the sport of it! I was on the gas cornering perfectly the sandy berms and knew I was about to do a killer time when it happened. It was the first very slow corner of the test towards the end and I just entered a bit too fast and made a mistake in the braking killing the engine and falling down (you can see this on the video). My faithful Honda fired up at the third kick but I ended up being 10s slower than Salminen’s best time 5:00:51 and about 7s slower than Ivan! It didn’t matter though. I was feeling good and I knew I could still win. On the Xtrem I pushed hard for I had walked through it Saturday evening. There was one obstacle that played a nasty trick on me though. Guess which obstacle? The damn old used truck tires that were 1/3 buried upright in the ground! The thing with these obstacles is that you have to judge your speed correctly when you go over them. If you hit them too hard they will bend and bounce just when your back wheel is rolling over them and your front wheel is pointing down. This causes you to fly over the handlebars. On Saturday I avoided this situation by taking the tires in between two of them so the weight of my bike was divided by two tires. Clever. It worked out perfectly on Saturday but now I had to face a new problem: The tires weren’t fixed to the ground strong enough and there was a gap opened up between them! I realized it too late and could only wheelie and hope for the best! No way. My bike stuck between the tires so hard I couldn’t even push it through! I had to get off the bike and yank it few times backwards with all my strength to release it. Then I had to back off and try again. This time I got over them but in the end I had lost too much time. I was 15s slower than Ivan who made the best time!! When the first lap was done I was about 20s behind Ivan. No good.

The second lap started and the heat started to build up. The curious thing about the marking of the trail was that it kept improving lap by lap. I mean there was no point in improving it after the chaos of the first lap because after that everybody already knew where to go! On the Enduro test I pushed hard but found Ivan and also Thomas Oldrati beating me! Thomas only by about half a second but Ivan by 1,65s. Damned! I pushed really hard on the MX and did the best time of E2 4:59:36 beating Ivan by almost six seconds! There was only one other rider in the race who was able to go under 5min. It was E1 rider Eero Remes with incredible fast time again 4:57:81 and on a sandy track that required some horsepower!! Eero was on fire in the Turkish heat!! After the good MX I was too eager to catch up lost time on the Xtrem and fell down in the first corner when my front wheel pushed through the berm! Like this wasn’t enough I crashed again in the middle of the pine forest when I tried to corner fast around one tree. There was a stone on my line and my front wheel just washed out from it! I couldn’t believe it!! Two crashes on the same special test! I felt like an idiot doing bad time again and over 14s slower than Ivan’s best time!! The second lap ended and I was 6th!!

The last lap started and the heat was taking it’s toll. I kept drinking a lot but it was just hot. Nothing to compared to the heat of Serres a week ago but still a little bit too hot! On the Enduro test I pushed as hard as I could and was totally exhausted after 7:47:48 of very aggressive riding! It was a hard job in this heat to do that because the special test was so slow that I was on the first gear most of the time! This time around Pierre-Alexandre Renet was second best but 3,3s slower. I knew I had to keep pushing hard and make no more mistakes to make it to the podium. I had another great ride on the MX test that had got rougher doing the best time 5:02:22 while my team mate Balletti was the second fastest 5:03:91! On the last Xtrem test I finally managed to pull myself together and did 2:53:49 which was the second best time and only one second slower than Ivan’s best time. I was happy that I had it right this time because my team mate Balletti made third best time only 0,3s slower than me! In the final results I got third only 4:47s in front of Balletti but in the other hand only 3:76s behind Oldrati!! I considered it a small victory after three crashes and that unlucky episode with the tires of the Xtrem!

Overall I consider also the Turkish GP a good race for first timers! Only minus I have to give for the bad marking of the trail. The MX test was awesome! The Enduro test and the Xtrem were very slow but hey, it’s good to have different kind of special tests after all!! The people turned out to be friendly and supportive including the kids at the riverbed pointing the way! Also local Honda dealer KIVRAK MOTOR was really helpful providing us another service assistance so I can only say that the first ever Turkish GP was a very positive experience for me! Thanks a lot again for all the people for the support!

Now I am leading by 28 points from Cervantes and only last weekend to go... but hey! I am already the winner of the Enduro Special Trophy!! It’s the Finnish site following the overall championship. This is a new record for me. I have won it twice before but never two days in advance before!!