Challenge Scootenthole
Project Paul at the 10-hour race in Magny-Cours
The time had finally come again! After what felt like an eternity, during which various endurance races had to be canceled,
Team Scootenthole invited us to the 10-hour
race in Magny-Cours on September 12. Full of anticipation, we from the
Project Paul - A lot of time has passed since the last race, time that team boss Dennis did not let go to waste. With
great support from Scooter Center, he dedicated himself to building a completely new racing scooter, the sixth Paul since the team was founded in 2015. The former PLC racer, a V50 that Andy had raced for years in the ESC, served as the basis. Dismantled into its individual parts, the scooter was rebuilt from scratch and equipped with plenty of power. After a day of testing on the test stand, Paul number 6 was ready to race in France.
[su_spacer][su_custom_gallery source="media: 118308,118314,118320,118326,118332,118338,118344,118350,118356,118362,118368,118374,118380,118386,118392,118398,118404,118410,118416,118422,118428,118434,118440,118446,118452,118458,118464,118470,118476,118482,118488,118494,118500,118506,118512,118518,118524,118530,118536,118542,118548,118554,118560,118566,118572,118578,118584,118590,118596,118602,118608,118614,118620,118626,118632,118638,118644,118650,118656,118662,118668,118674,118680,118686,118692,118698,118704,118710,118716,118722,118728,118734,118740,118746,118752,118758,118764,118770,118776,118782,118788,118794,118800,118806,118812,118818,118824,118830,118836,118842,118848,118854,118860,118866,118872,118878,118884,118890,118896,118902,118908,118914,118920,118926,118932,118938,118944,118950,118956,118962,118968,118974,118980,118986,118992,118998,119004,119010,119016,119022,119028,119034,119040,119046,119052,119058,119064,119070,119076,119082,119088,119094,119100,119106,119112,119118,119124,119130,119136,119142,119148,119154,119160,119166,119172,119178,119184,119190,119196,119202,119208,119214,119220,119226,119232,119238,119244,119250,119256,119262,119268,119274,119280,119286,119292,119298,119304,119310,119316,119322,119328,119334,119340,119346,119352,119358,119364,119370,119376,119382,119388,119394,119400,119406,119412,119418,119424,119430,119436,119442,119448,119454,119460,119466,119472,119478,119484,119490,119496,119502" limit="200" link="image" width="190" height="250" title="never"][su_spacer] On Saturday, the day before the race, there was a lot on the agenda. In addition to setting up the pits and technical scrutineering, we had to make the final adjustments in the practice runs before qualifying, where we actually ended up in first place on the grid - the acid test had been passed and the race could begin!
Exciting 10 hours in Magny-Cours
The alarm clock rang early on Sunday morning. The closer the race approached, the more the stage fright increased - not only among the drivers, it simply infects everyone. So off to the track, woke up Paul and put Felix in the station wagon. Up to this point, everything had gone smoothly. About ten minutes before the start - we were already in position - we noticed that Paul was "letting himself down"... Without thinking twice and wasting unnecessary time, we headed back to the pits. The reason was quickly found: a screw on the clutch cover was not properly tightened. Fortunately, it was no big deal, but the ten minutes remaining before the start were not enough to fix the problem. So the start took place without Paul, who only took up the chase with Felix half a lap later. Start for start, the two of them began to roll up the field from behind. When we arrived in 17th position, bad luck caught up with us again when the membrane plate blew up in our faces. The associated stay in the pits cost us six places, so we took up the chase again from 23rd place. When we reached 14th place, the carburettor rubber thought it would be a good time to make the race a little more exciting and spontaneously separated from the carburettor. Driver Andreas was forced to push Paul off the track into the already familiar pit. Equipped with an additional clamp, he returned to the race to make up lost places. And this time it worked! Team by team and lap by lap, Andreas, Felix, Thomas, Andy and Wolfi worked their way up to
1st place! We "only" had to defend this position for the remaining one and a half hours - not an easy task, as the French team "Superbordel" didn't give us anything for free. The riders, who were also very strong, kept coming dangerously close to us with their fast PK.
Just don't make a mistake now...
40 minutes before the finish, the (planned) last rider change took place. Andy had managed to maintain his position and Andreas started his last stint when the red light came on less than ten minutes later. The race was stopped. All drivers pitted. But where was Andreas? The ambulance and service car sprinted onto the track to a section that was not visible from the pits. Minutes passed, dragging on like chewing gum. The ambulance was the first to leave the track and drove straight through to the medical care area, followed by the service car loaded with our number 6. Our hearts stopped for a moment. Some of the team immediately ran off to check on Andreas, while the others ran to the service car. Andy was still wearing his station wagon and grabbed his helmet, while Dennis, Thomas and Felix gave Paul a quick check-up and started up again. The drivers from the other teams were in their starting positions right next to us, waiting to be let back onto the track. Andy lined up and we were actually able to continue! We were still in the lead with a good two laps to go, and after a nerve-wracking ten hours, Andy crossed the finish line in first place with Paul! The award ceremony brought what was probably
the most exciting race weekend for Project Paul to date to a happy end, as Andreas was also able to take part - despite severe pain in his shoulder - and receive his very own trophy: with a time of
1.29.3 minutes, he burned
the fastest lap into the asphalt!
We would like to thank Scooter Center, which always supports us with the supply of parts, as well as our supporters KR Automation, Egig Performance and FalkR, without whom the construction of such a vehicle would not have been possible. We would also like to thank the organizer for putting on this great event despite the adverse circumstances and, of course, all the other teams for a fair race! It is always a great honor for us to be able to share this passion with friends. Many thanks for this!
Results_Magny-Cours_2021
DE | €
