After the sessions the bikes were totally pulled apart to clean them, as the dirt had got in EVERYWHERE!!!! Never have we seen such dirty conditions, and that, sadly, went for the facilities as well.
The Portuguese cleaners worked really hard, but the showers were.........incredible.
The race day however dawned fine, and Stefan recorded his best result of the European championship so far, finishing 5th, despite running straight on at the crappy chicane three times....!!
And having to wait 10 seconds each time by the flag marshal before he could rejoin the track!
French rider Mathieu Lagrive had led the race, pulling out a comfortable lead, until he lost the front end 4 laps before the race ended!
Alessio Corradi won the race, and the title of European Supersport Champion with it, as his closest rival, Michael Schulten, had crashed out at the start of the race.
Then it was time for the long drive to Cartagena, and the sunshine and beaches of the Mediterranean coast.
Here again was a nasty surprise, the race track was still unfinished after being totally re-sealed, when we arrived there were no markings, no gravel in the gravel traps, only half a pit lane wall, dirt and debris all over the track from the construction trucks, no curb-stones and the impression that if the track was ready on time, then it would truly be a miracle !!!
.....so we went to the beach for a couple of days. Happily the track was (just..) finished, but if the gravel traps had been correctly filled and graded, then rapid Austrian rider Christian Zaiser wouldn't have crashed his CBR Honda straight into the tyre wall on Fridays free practice, badly braking his leg, when his brakes failed just at the entry to the double right before the start finish straight.
This was a shame for Christian, but he managed all the same to hold onto 3rd place in the championship when his rival 'Nanna', Ducati 748, DNF'd with brake problems in the race, and next closest challenger, French R6 rider Mathieu Lagrive, couldn't stay with the Corradi / Schulten R6 battle raging at the front of the race, and did not score enough points with his 3rd place.
After the very quick Kai Borre Andersson , down in Spain for the last round, crashed out on the dirty track whilst challenging Corradi and Schulten, the race became a procession, as Corradi upped the pace, and the rest of the riders held onto their positions.
Stefan was suffering from what was later diagnosed as meningitis, and gritted his teeth to take 7th place.
This enabled us to finish 8th in the championship, only 2 points behind 6th place man Soren Hole, which was a good result considering the level of the championship this year, but disappointing when we know Stefan is capable of finishing in the top 5.
Maybe next year...... So, after a few cold beers, it was pack-up time, we loaded the Duke's into the bus (that brought a tear to my eye, so long 748's, you've been great the whole season) and off back to France I went, tired, but really pleased with the overall result of the season, and really happy to have worked with Folkesson Racing and especially to have met so many new and excellent people, in the brilliant Swedish race season, and in the sadly under mediatised European championship.
The team completed the long trip back to Sweden; Stefan got urgent medical attention for his meningitis, and is now training hard and searching for the sponsors and support needed for the 2002 season, which promises to be a great one.........

Full championship details are available on the Official European Motorcycle Federation site : www.uem-online.org

Check out Stefans Folkesson site at : www.folkessonracing.nu