Pattaya 6 hr enduro August /December

[peterpai]

Just came back from the last Pattaya 6 hr Enduro, and it's the best race I ever been to in TH ! Great organization, great format, great track, and they even have a monitor where you can follow the race. There will be two more races in this series August and December check out the organizers site www.enduroracingthai.com from time to time for latest updates. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED !

[Davidfl]

Peter
Good news the event was such a success.
Any pix of your team / the race / the brolly dollies?
Who were the winners?

[Mark Rossi]

i would 100% agree with this peter, it is the premier offroad enduro event in thailand.
it was inspiring to see your pai boys in action, and i think you inspired a lot of people, as the pai team received the biggest applause in presentation.
i was amazed at the speed of the super club class, these guys a faster than 80% of the 250k bht motocross bikes.
i was keeping a eye out for your team as we where racing, and i know you had a lot of mechanical problems as you made your way to 3rd place on the podium, it would be great to here a stage by stage report from you, as i love to here exactly as to all you efforts to win the race.

[peterpai]

Thanks Mark for that encouragement, before I start my story, let me mention that your team won the event laps ahead of everybody else.

So here the story how the boy's from the deep jungle went to to Pattaya:
Bike 1 broke down in the first minutes of training Saturday with cylinder head dammage that was beyond repair. Bike 2 broke it's front steering stem 10 minutes into the race. We dismounted the front end from bike 1, and drove into the jungle and exchanged the complete front end right there in the sandpit where it had broken down. One hour later we had it together again. After only 10 minutes of penalty stop in the pit lane we were allowed to continue, first very carefully with only bike 3 still running and loosing power, and then with bike 2 and it's exchanged front end.
Then bike 3 decided to throw off it's chain, but another excursion into the jungle, and our pit crew had saved this one also.
At this point we were 5th and last and 2 rounds+ behind the next team. But then the other teams started to have problems also, and we managed to "inherit" 4th place. Hour 5 we were just a few minutes behind the team
in 3rd place, and decided to go all out. And yes, 3rd place rider came into sight and our youngest driver manged to overtake him. Then with 20 minutes left the long wait started, both remaining bikes were clearly not in good shape anymore. But they held up untill the finish line and 3rd place was ours. - To our great amazement !
Can't hardly wait for the next race where we'll be back with much improved bikes and especially suspensions.
My company sponsored the event also and it was also a great sucess for our business, we sold a lot of our hammocks and made interesting contacts.

[Davidfl]

Peter
Brilliant stuff pulling off third. Any chance of some photos of your team & some of the action.

Mark, same for you - any photos to share? Especially since you won by a country mile.

[peterpai]

And here the dates for the next 2 races:
16/17 August 2008
6/7 December 2008

More international teams have promised to participate, in those next races, amongst them a KTM team from Austria.
I think this is the future of Enduro racing in Thailand, as it is clearly getting more difficult to stage "normal" Enduro's through the jungle.
E.g.For the first time in many years we will not organize the "Pai Enduro" competition due to resistance from authorities, and landowners.

[Mark Rossi]

i personally dont have decent photo's but awaiting some from friends, will post when i receive.
my team did win comfortabley, but we did have a very strong experienced team.
we originally spoke to the promoter to split our riders between other teams, as to improve the competition, but, it was suggested we stay together as there where to be some very strong teams.
in the end the other teams could not attend due to conflicting dates, a pity, but i cross my fingers for honda factory and ktm factory will be there next time.

[BignTall]

Hats off to you guys Happy Feet for the the win and Peter with the Boys from Pai pulling off third.

I love the ingenuity of getting the chicken chaser bikes sorted for the competition. Last time I talked to Peter in Pai the motors were belting out some serious power. Good luck in developing the suspension. Its gotta be great to reel in the motocross bikes eh?

[Ian Bungy]

Justin,
I love your Little Bouncing Boob Image everytime i see it i get a Laugh even Long and Kung had a Good Laugh at it!!! ( You will be back for the Real Thing Soon ) By the way looks like Luke is Streaking Past everyone in the Purchase of Performance Bikes so you will have to Dig into the Pocket on your Return to catch up!!! I will be selling the Raid and replacing it also but not till after the Motorshow. Want to see if we get any other Options before i choose?
And back to the Subject of this Post: Well Done Mark and your Team for the Win and Congratulations to Peter and His Team for doing so well on a Tight Budget and after so much trouble. Good on you!!!

[Davidfl]

Some pix of bouncing bikes & winners

[jon]

Well done to both teams and good to see Peter giving those Thai guys the opportunity to take part in such an event. Anyway could you tell us a bit more about the race.How long was the course...how long did it take to do a lap...and what was the track like.. and was there much of a turnout in the VIP's.. and how many bikes were out at the same time? Thanks.

[Mark Rossi]

hi jon, if you look at peterpai's original message there is a link to the event website.
but here is a quick run down of the event, its a pony express style event, a 6hr race around a 7km circuit with a maximum team size of 3 riders, this circuit took around the 10min per lap and although not very technical it was still fun, so all levels of riders can enjoy this track, each event the event location stays the same but the course is altered.
it is a tag and go system, so to interchange the riders one riders just touchs the other, in a interchange area on the side of the track and he may go.
this time there where 17 teams, 4 0f which where vip(over 40 years) so each team consisiting of 3 riders, a total of 51 riders, so there was only a mximum of 17 bikes and riders. on the course at once.
its a fantastic event with great facility's, the event has struggled to attract many indigenous thai riders, even though now, it is a 3 race series for a thai national championship. whether this is because the event is organise by a expat, i dont know i dont understand why.
if you or anybody are interested in riding contact me, and i get help fit you into a team if you cant find the riders to put together a team yourself.

[jon]

Thanks for all the info Happy Feet. The event sounds great and I think a 7 Km loop would be good for the riders and for the spectators. What about the start? Does everyone start at the same time?

[Mark Rossi]

there are 4 catergories that start 1 minute apart, pro, amatuer, vip and super cup. so you start only with the riders in your category.
the start in lemans style when the flags drops, its a 20m run to the bikes, start the engine, than go.

[jon]

This question is probably addressed to Mark Rossi and Peter Pai. Do you think there is any chance that a similar event or events will ever be held in the Chiangmai area, maybe even as part of the same series? It would be great to see the whole range of riders and machines up here.

[Mark Rossi]

i can't see it in the near future Jon, but who knows, never the less a 3 day trip to Pattaya to do motorcycle racing, there are worse things in life to experience

[peterpai]

Jon, if anybody has the budget and the energy to organize this event in Thailand I know the organizer would be open to the idea. But I agree with Mark it probably won't happen.