Valencia - Round 1, Circuit Ricardo Torma, Valencia, Spain. Practice and Race Report. After a long and hectic winter schedule of re-building the bike and training to get fit for the 2001 season, Valencia came around awfully quick….but we were ready, untested, but ready. Practice started well for the team and saw the boys upto 10^th place straight away lapping at 1:49:151. This was the first time that the bike had been driven since the Brands Hatch incident in October of last year. Further adjustments and learning the circuit, allowed the boys to better their times in the next and final session, and at one stage the boys where upto 8^th fastest and looking like they might make the Superpole top eight positions. The final session concluded with the team qualifying in 10^th with a fastest time of 1:47:898. This was very encouraging and only 6 seconds behind the pole position time set by Klaus Klaffenbock/Christian Parzer. The start of the race the team got a flying start from the grid as the lights changed, and saw them progress upto 7^th- 8^th into the first corner. Then disaster, under braking at the next left hander, the bike got onto a dirty part of the track, skidded and suddenly careered off to the right and straight into the armco barrier at about 120mph. Both Chris and Pete were flung from the machine and Chris was hit by several other riders behind him. The race was stopped as medical staff and marshalls attended to the boys. Both Chris and Pete were hospitalised but were very fortunate to get away with only minor injuries. Unfortunately the bike was destroyed. (See NEWSFLASH). The race was eventually restarted and was won by Klaus Klaffenbock/Christian Parzer. 

1^st.  Klaus Klaffenbok/Christian Parzer    Suzuki  AUT
2^nd. Steve Webster/Paul Woodhead         Suzuki  GBR 
3^rd. Jorg Steinhausen/Andy Hetherington Suzuki  GER 
4^th. Steve Abbott/Jamie Biggs                 Yamaha  GBR 
5^th. Tom Hanks/Phil Biggs                         Yamaha  GBR 
6^th. Stuart Muldoon/Trevor Crone            Yamaha  GBR 

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Donnington - Chris and Pete make a comeback.....The first race back after such a horrific crash was always going to be difficult and both Chris and Pete knew it would be an uphill struggle. The crash at Valencia had taken its toll, with the sidecar being written off and the both the boys suffering physical injuries. Chris’s injury was the most severe, with a snapped PCL ligament in the back of his left knee and two fractures in his left foot (braking foot). Pete fractured bones in the back of his left hand, but otherwise got away without injury. Chris had the option of a synthetic replacement ligament and 12 months of rehabilitation, but decided to strengthen his knee muscles instead. Chris has been having two hours of physiotherapy, every day for the last five weeks. The team have also worked closely with Louis Christen in Switzerland to rebuild the bike in time for the British Round of the World Championship at Donnington Park. This was a very ambitious target but an ideal place for team to make a comeback. The team worked up to the last minute and arrived at Donnington with an immaculately presented, brand new 2001 spec outfit. After being passed fit to race on the Friday, the team knew that qualifying was always going to be difficult, especially with a new bike that needed setting-up. The boys eventually qualified 17^th but progressively got faster in the last free practice session and where 7^th fastest in the Sunday morning warm-up. Chris had his Physio with him all weekend at Donnington, to work on him and help ease the aches and pains in his knee. The boys were apprehensive before the start and decided that a steady race would be the best approach. For the first couple of laps the boys stayed out of trouble at the back of the field, but steadily progressed mid race up to the scrap for 7^th to 12^th, alongside wildcards Vince and Robert Biggs. The boys were lapping faster than all 4 teams directly in-front of them. Unfortunately Chris lost the feeling in his bad leg and braking foot with 6 laps to go and having seen the P 12 board, decided to settle for a finish and 4 World Championship points. After being lifted from the bike, Chris, Pete and the team were more than happy with the result and a successful comeback after such an awful start to the season. The team look forward to the rest of the season and finishing well up in the World Championship. 

                        Des Founds, 
                            Team Manager for Team Founds Racing.

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Lausitzring - When it rains in Germany, it certainly rains as the team encountered to there cost, at the weekend. Not many drivers like mixed weather conditions and at a new circuit where the track could be dry within 15 minutes, this only adds to the problem of selecting tyres and suspension set-up. After a promising qualifying session saw Chris and Pete into 14^th position, the boys where improving all the time. In one of the wet practice sessions the boys where 9^th fastest and finally 11^th fastest in the Sunday morning warm-up. 14^th on the grid was reasonable with qualifying sessions dogged with clutch slip and a broken 5^th gear. An engine change on the Friday evening improved the situation but even this couldn’t combat the inclement weather of the Sunday race day. Wet conditions usually favour the Team and the boys where looking forward to a good race. Just before the race it rained torrentially for about 30 mins and then stopped. The Team decided to put intermediate tyres on and would then assess the track conditions on the sighting lap. As the team pulled up to the assembly area the officials closed the pit lane exit 5 mins. earlier than they should have done. This left about 10 teams stranded in the pits, who then all had to join the race at the end of the field on the warm-up lap. The pit crews where waiting on the line to change the tyres, but this wasn’t possible. As the boys started the warm up lap from the pit lane, they realised that the intermediate tyres they had selected where the wrong choice for the standing water and the now raining conditions. A terrible start on “slick”, cold tyres and poor visibility saw the team slip backwards down the field to a lowly 16^th place and outside of the points. They were not alone, however, with even experienced teams such as Abbott and Steinhausen, experiencing the same problems. With more rain falling and visibility becoming worse the boys then suffered with gear change problems and were unfortunately forced to retire, some six laps from the end. Dismayed and wet ! the Team headed home to dry out and get ready for hopefully a warm Misano, Italy in two weeks time.

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Misano - From one extreme to another, the weather at this years World Championships has certainly been mixed. Misano was absolutely scorching with temperatues into the high 30’s. The weather heartened the teams spirits after Germany and Chris and Pete certainly enjoyed the heat. After a good qualifying session put the team onto the 5^th row and in 11^th position, their career best so far, the boys kept on getting faster. The morning warm-up practice saw a best placing of 6^th, which stood them in good stead for the race. As temperatures soared, fluid intake was crucial and stamina was going to dictate the pace of the race……
Starting at 17:15 the heat had slightly lessened, but at 27 ^oC, it was still hot, hot, hot.
On the dirty side of the track, off the racing line, Chris and Pete got a terrible start. This immediately put them back into 16^th position, with a lot of catching up to do..

Chris :  “I was concerned about the heat, but after such a dreadful start, as the bike just wheel span off the line, my thoughts rapidly changed to fighting through the field.”

This was more difficult than expected as the slower riders wanted to use all the track and left little opportunity for passing.  After several hard outbreaking manouvres, the team managed to climb up to 12^th.  This had taken its toll though on Chris, who then started to loose the feeling in his still injured leg and struggled to change gear and brake for the last 6 laps.

Pete :  “ It was a shame that Chris couldn’t hold the pace, as we were really going well, but he did good to finish and rode a race anyway.”

The team benefited from one or two of the other teams going out with mechanical failures at the end of the race and eventually finished a respectable 11^th, in only their second proper ride since the smash.  With a further 5 championship points to add to the tally, the team now sets its sights on the European Round at Brands Hatch on 29^th July 2001………See you there……….

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Brands Hatch - Four weeks between rounds is always a nice breathing space, to allow teams to catch up with themselves.
This enabled Team Founds to get prepared for Brands Hatch and make the required technical regulation changes to the bike.
Racing in front of the home crowd would always be enjoyable, especially with 125,000 people there to cheer the home riders on.
Friday’s qualifying went well for the team, ending up 7^th fastest after free practice and 12^th after the first qualifying. The Team put new tyres on for the second and final qualifying session on the Saturday, but struggled with suspension set-up. This saw them relegated to finish 16th overall and start the race on row 7 of the grid. The boys were still only 5 seconds behind pole sitter Steve Webster, who put in a time of 1:30:24, demonstrating the closeness of the field.
The Boys improved during the following two free sessions and finally arrived at a set-up for the bike, which gave them more confidence to start the race with.
The Team laid on hospitality over the weekend for all sponsors and invited guests, which was well received and added to the overall package.
Sunday race day was marred with more confusion and politics regarding an FIM ruling concerning the 65mm ground clearance. All the bikes had to be checked prior to the morning warm-up, which led to further debate and heated discussions.
The weather was scorching at Brands, some 35^oC, and with a huge crowd would set the stage for some entertaining racing. At 16:45, the Sidecar race started.
The Boys starting from the 7^th row, unfortunately went backwards off the grid and into the first corner lying in 24^th place and with a lot of work to do.

Chris said; “The bike just wheel span off the line and I couldn’t get any grip or forward momentum, it was very frustrating seeing everyone passing me”

The boys pushed hard through the traffic and eventually got up to 13^th place before the race was red flagged and classed as a result, on lap 17 of 23.
Following a technical inspection of all the bikes after the race, the Van Gils pairing where disqualified for a technical infringement, which elevated Chris and Pete upto 12^th.

Pete said; “I’m disappointed that we didn’t get away with the field but we still picked up 4 points and are now 17^th in the Championship”

Chris still needs to work on his fitness, with him suffering from loss of feeling again in his lower legs, resulting from the Valencia accident. Chris will be adopting a programme of strengthening his upper body and lower legs, between now and the next meeting on 2^nd September at Oschersleben In Germany.

Best Wishes

Chris Founds
Team Principal For Team Founds Racing

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Oschersleben - Following the 12^th position picked up at Brands Hatch, the team knew they could improve on this at Oschersleben, having already competed at this circuit, at the end of the 2000 season.  The next twio meetings where what we call “double headers,” with Assen in Holland being the following weekend, which meant that the team stayed on the continent between meetings.  The small and twisty circuit at Oschersleben didn’t provide any distinct advantage to any of the teams, but perhaps favoured the smaller engined machines.

  Friday’s qualifying went well for the team, ending up 7^th fastest after the first official qualifying session, in glorious sunshine.  The Team some adjustments between first and second qualifying sessions and just missed out on a “Superpole” qualifying by two places, ending up 11^th on the grid.  The boys were still only 6 seconds or so behind pole sitter Steve Webster, demonstrating the closeness of the field.  The Boys improved during the following two free sessions and posted the 6^th fastest time and 8^th fastest time, respectably.

  The Sunday race was always going to be a race of attrition, after several of the outfits had blown-up during practice, leaving yet more questions about oil containment and affecting the race programme.  The weather was sunny but there was a small chance of rain, later in the day, typically when the sidecars are on !.  The Sunday morning warm-up had been cancelled for fear of more oil being dropped onto the track, this meant that immediately prior to the race, the track would be open for 10 mins for un-official practice.  There was mixed feeling between the teams as to whether this should happen or not, but Chris and Pete took it as an opportunity to get “dialled-in.”  

  The Boys starting from the 5^th row, this time got off to a good start and managed to maintain track position.  This enabled them to get involved with a dice for around 10^th, with other evenly matched teams.  A great scrap ensued, which was only marred when one of the bikes was spraying oil out.  Chris’s visor became covered in oil, making visibility difficult.  Eventually the Team managed to pass the bike spraying oil and pushed hard for the last part of the race, with other teams in hot pursuit.  They managed to maintain a 2 second lead over the 7^th place team up until the finish, rewarding the Team with 6^th place, the best ever finish to-date.  

  Chris said; “I just pushed very hard in the final third of the race, with the pit board telling me I was only 1 second ahead of the next man.  There was no way I was going to lose that place ”

  The Team where extremely pleased with the result, which landed them with 10 championship points, elevating the crew to 14^th in the championship……….and onward to Assen, in Holland.

  Chris Founds

Team Principal

For Team Founds Racing

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Assen - The team had an excellent break in between Oschersleben and Assen, visiting the heartland of their German supporters club and other sites of interest, en-transit.  When they eventually arrived at Assen, the first day was spent preparing the bike for the weekend and altering the set-up for this fast circuit.  The weather for the weekend was forecast miserable with intermittent rain and storms forecast for the Sunday.

  The first qualifying session on the Friday was wet, with torrential rain showers.  Unfortunately during the session, one of the teams dropped oil and the session was stopped.

The second session, and first qualifier, was on a drying track and tyre choice would be critical.  The team opted for full wets, which was the right choice for the first half of the session, but had to change to intermediates tyres for the second half.  The team ended up 11^th, which considering the conditions was reasonable.

  Chris said, “ the conditions change so fast that one minute the track is dry, the next soaking wet, and the track drys out so quickly”

  The second qualifier, on the Saturday was dry, but with none of the teams having a dry weather set-up, this was going to be a dash for places.  After circulating faster and faster, the team were some two seconds off superpole, and ended up with the 14^th fastest time and on the 7^th row of the grid.

  Sunday weather was absolutely horrendous, with gale force winds and torrential rain.  This coupled with the occasional sunny spell, which completely dried out the track, created real awkward conditions.  Whilst on the line, the rains came and wet the track.  Fortunately this was not enough to create a wet race and the strong winds soon started to dry the circuit.

The team got a good start from the 7^th row, but with the long drag down to the first right hander, they were soon caught by the larger engined machines.  This put the team back into 19^th place and a struggle ensued to climb up the field.

  Chris said, “I was far too cautious in the first couple of laps and basically lost the advantage of a good qualifying.  I need to work on this and be able to hold track position.”

  The boys eventually pulled themselves up through the field and challenging for 9^th, were thwarted when one of the bikes again spilled oil on the track, causing visibility problems.  The team also had a lucky escape on the last lap, when a plastic sheet blew across the track in-front of them.  Chris swerved at the last minute to avoid the debris, but the sidecar behind them wasn’t so lucky.  The plastic wrapped around the drivers head, causing the bike to swerve and flip upside down at over 120mph.  Fortunately both the team were ok and got away with just minor bruising. 

  The Team were disappointed to make a meal of the race again, but pleased with the points, which keeps them around 15^th place in the Championship with one round to go.

  Chris Founds

Team Principal

For Team Founds Racing

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