Next race at Knutstorp, 22nd of July, in a beautiful forest in a southern Sweden, was always going to be a difficult race for the team, with the twisty and bumpy circuit hard for the Ducati, against the lighter and more manoeuvrable Yamahas and Suzukis.
In the end the result wasn't too bad, 7th place, and we drop down to 5th place in the championship.
The best start of the season shot us into 2nd place from 11th on the grill, and he managed to hang in for 3 laps, until Lasse Carlbark, R6, forced his way under Stefan, making him run wide, and letting through the following group of riders.
The race was red flagged after a crashed bike rejoined the race, not realising his engine case was leaking oil, which caused the lead group of 4 bikes to crash.
We were pleased to settle for 7th, but disappointed to finish so low down.
Return to the workshop and time for the servicing of both bikes.
So far the Ducati's have been 100% reliable, with only the failure of the mercury switch in Hungary causing a problem. 29th of July sees us in Most, in the Czech Republic.
A great, fast and technical track, sadly damaged by the perverted habit of having truck races each year !! Trucks are fine on the road but have NOTHING to do on a racetrack !
The bumps sadly spoilt the nature of the circuit, and Stefan couldn't get comfortable, qualifying on the 3rd row, then going straight on at the first corner of the race, getting back onto the track in 18th place ! Shit ! But he got the bit between the teeth and was up to 10th place and closing on the next group when it began to rain...ending the race early.
We packed up and headed back to Sweden for a day of rest, then off to Norway ! The Arctic Circle Raceway, about 15 km south of Narvik, was the next race.
This is a truly awesome track, a great layout in a glacier created valley and staggering scenery, surrounded by snow-capped mountains and with the start of the Arctic tundra at the bottom of the hill, it has to rate as one of the most impressive race tracks in the World !
Throw in 22 hours of sunshine and temperatures of between 15 and 22° with a fast and grippy track and Nirvana is close.
Stefan was really confident of a pole position, as the track suited the Ducati so well, but an error with the organisation ended the qualifying too early, and we lost our chance!
A mediocre start had us in 9th position for the first 3 laps, and Krister and I were going red yelling encouragement from the pit wall as Stefan roared past, but the excellent Dunlop 208's and Stefans experience in the hard and long European races (24 laps as against 16 in the Swedish rounds ) gave him an advantage, and he hunted down all but Norwegian ace Kai Borre, to finish 2nd , encouraged, we're sure, by his pit crew yelling him on !!
This took us into the championship lead by 1 point... 24 hours of bus driving later, and we were back in the workshop, seeing some reindeer but no bears or wolves on the long drive through the savage and wild Norwegian and northern Swedish countryside.
By now the team budget was really thin, and unfortunately it was financially difficult to stay with the team for the last three rounds of the Synsam trophy.
So, back to France and into my workshop to prepare more Ducati's...
Krister now had the work of two mechanics to do, although friends at the races helped him out.
19th of August at Karlskoga, and Stefan has a terrible qualifying, starting from 21st place, he has a bad race but manages to save some points by finishing 13th .
World Supersport R6 rider Christer Lindholme, home for a break, wins the race !!
Frustrating for the team and for me, sitting at home...( actually at Ledenon, with one of my clients, Jean-Marc Delmas, who finished 3rd and first Ducati in the 3 hour endurance race during the 2nd round of the French Endurance championship, organised by Michel Fontana.) 2nd of September and once more at Knutstorp, where Stefan has a better qualifying, 9th, and is optimistic for the race.
He starts well, but crashes avoiding another rider who was a bit optimistic on the brakes, remounts and rejoins the race last, eventually fighting back to 14th place and 2 points.
The championship is now lost, but Stefan doesn't give up on a top 3 finish. I was again at Ledenon; this time with Patrick Portas and Eric Ginesty racing in the 2nd to last round of the French Protwin series.
Patrick finished 12th after a bad start, and Eric just outside the points in 17th place, for his first Protwin race on his 996 Ducati.
The race was won by Fred Protat on a 998R Ducati, with fast Ducat' dealer Sebastian Diss 2nd and a determined Franck Tauziède sniffing at their exhaust pipes in 3rd place on his Aprilia RSV.