The absolute highlight of the year is coming up for the Two Stroke Loft team sponsored by us! The trip is to Zuera in northern Spain - and the boys and girls already have their first big challenge ahead of them before the actual start of the race: the team has around 2,000 kilometers to travel from Hamburg.
Before the official training begins on Friday, everything will be put through its paces once again on site. The final test rides are all about setting up the scooters perfectly and rehearsing all the important processes in the paddock: Every fuel stop, every rider change and every tire change must be perfect when every second counts on Saturday.
After the usual paperwork and technical approval, it was straight down to fine-tuning the scooter. The dampers were precisely adjusted to the weight of the riders and their respective preferences, the position of the throttle grip was optimized and the last little details were checked. The feedback from the team is consistently positive: the scooter runs damn well, feels great on the road and all the riders are absolutely satisfied. After a final training session during the night, the team is eager for the start. They will start from a solid midfield position - a good starting position, because with this starting field and temperatures of 34 to 36 °C, the race will ultimately be decided by reliability and tactics anyway.
We at Scooter Center are super proud to be sponsoring the team on this crazy and brilliant adventure!
Start driver Matze from Kiel (Matthias Wertz) kept his nerve at the Le Mans start in the thick of the action. After just two laps, he had already moved Lofti - the nickname of the trusty racing scooter - up three places. Matze reeled off his laps extremely consistently before the first planned change was due after an hour. Markus Schwarz took over for the second turn in 6th place in the class classification. Markus immediately caused heart palpitations in the pits: During a tough duel in an extreme lean angle, the scooter almost slipped away, but with a lot of feeling he caught the fall and fought his way forward. After two hours, the interim result was 3rd place in the class! The third rider, Witold "Wittek" Kulesza, took the wheel, pushed hard from the very first second and consolidated his position in the field with consistently fast lap times.
Sarah Baur - Albert Lohff - Matthias Trost
Matthias Wertz - Markus Schwarz -Wittek
Night shift and tactical games for the podium
The race developed into a real thriller. After Matthias Trost had delivered strong laps, Sarah took the wheel and pulled out a wafer-thin lead. After the first quarter of the race, the team was in a sensational second place in the class, one lap ahead of P3. But the competition never sleeps: the team with starting number 100 proved to be damn fast. There was a constant battle for the podium places, with the main focus on tire durability and the number of pit stops. Albert Lohff clocked a crisp best time of 1:23 minutes. After 14 hours, he was 11th overall and 3rd in class.
Morning shock in the pit lane
At 7:00 a.m., the peace and quiet in the pits came to an abrupt end: The alarm of the alarm system shrilled sharply! Wittek was immediately at the track in his leather suit to help Markus push the damaged scooter into the pits. The diagnosis: severe rear wheel damage. The bad memories of the previous year's misfortune immediately flashed through the crew's minds. But giving up is not an option for the mechanics! The wheel was changed in record time and Lofti was sent back out onto the track. Despite the incident, the team held on to 9th place in the overall standings and defended their hard-fought 3rd place in the class.
The final sprint to the finish
The final hours dawned. Matthias Trost, Matthias Wertz and Albert Lohff completed flawless laps to maintain their lead. Sarah's time had come 30 minutes before the end of the race: as the final rider, she took over the scooter for the last turn. Now it was no longer about setting new best times, but only about riding home safely and without risk.
Live timing & results: If you want to study the exact lap times and the official classification of the endurance race in detail, you can find all the information directly at Apex Live Timing from Cronosystem.
Live broadcast & timing: vtr24h.com
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