Politics #59

Planning the '09 racing season and 59group website online!

Tue, 9 Dec 2008 08:50:49 GMT

The racing calenders for the both the Dutch and German Superbikes series have been published. The organizing bodies have finally worked together so that there will be no conflicting dates. On another note, developments of the 59 brand are moving ahead step by step. I'm psyched!

In the racing scene things have been a bit quiet lately, the '08 season is over and all we're doing is planning for next year. We will be back in the MRTT-Hugen collors, which means there will be some green on our bikes in '09. Furthermore, I've had talks with some people regarding the catering at the races. Hopefully we will be able to host some guests next year and put on a show.
The Suzuki is getting prepped for next season, a bit finetuning here an there will be good enough to keep is in the top 10 and hopefully into the top 5 in the Dutch Superbikes. We'll be doing the complete 2009 Dutch Superbikes season. It's the first time I'll be doing an entire Dutch Championship season in a long time. The only race I won't be attending is in Oss. The track sucks and is dangerous and the organizers are a bunch of a-holes!.

I'm currently still working on my dissertation at Vandervelde Protection in Zoetermeer. It'll take a while before I've finished my research, especially now my activities surround the 59 brand have increased.

The 59 brand is gradually taking shape and the 59group website has been launched earlier this week. The people involved in the 59 project are psyched as I am to get this thing on the road! To get things going, we'll start off with some simple T's and jackets for our 59gear. My man in Panama is taking care of developing wearable metal (buckles, etc) and we're also planning to get some shades on the market in due time....

I'll keep you guys posted.
Stay Cool!
Politics

Step by step!

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:06:28 GMT

The initial craze about the possibilities of the 59! brand has faded a bit, but the idea is still going strong. We've started taking things more seriously in order for the ideas to finally take form.

As I mentioned before, I've gotten great responses to the idea of the 59! brand. More and more ideas came up, but then we realized we had to make these ideas work, and that's what's been going on ever since. Bit by bit every idea is taking form and producing some output.
- The first shirts for the 59gear arrived last week and we've now decided on the collors we want to go with for the Politics59 shirts.
- I have an appointment with the Dutch motorcycle association to obtain the rights for the 59productions TV series we want to air in 2009.
- In a couple of weeks I have an appointment with a rogue commercial texitle management student. We'll talk about setting-up and designing our 59gear
- A Hotelschool graduate is going to help with the setup of the 59productions television project.
- The 59 logo's have been made and business cards (blegh!) have been ordered. Now we still need to get some website online. HELP PLEASE!
- The first cakes of the 59bakery will be served at brunch at the Prins taverne in a couple of weeks. But we still need to get the webshop going.
- I'll be attending some tradeshows next week to do some networking (blegh!!!!!). It sucks, but it's gotta be done...

As you can see I'm busy, busy, busy. But it's all nice stuff and I still have plenty time for my graduation research:) and partying of course! My mom reached the beautiful age of 60 last sunday, so we had a nice party and I know she had a great time with her friend and family. Some cousins even came over form the USA and the Philippines. Good stuff guys!
Willem Doorduin gave me a cd with the pictures he made at the last race at Assen. He made some awesome shots!!! Thanks Willem, you rule dude! I plan to head out to New York City soon to get some rest and get some creative inspiration.
Sax, the paper of my university, published a very short article about my blog. Kinda funny, you can see it below.

I'll keep you guys up to date!
Stay Cool!
Politics

Nat & Chris funky style on the scooter

Bad acting after the race in Assen

Last lap!

Moving along!

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 08:39:31 GMT

I've had great responses about my ideas for the future. Thanks guys! I've also had many people tell me I'm crazy... That's a good thing!

Many people e-mailed about their interest in my plans and some of those emails led to even more crazy ideas and plans. So things are looking good.
I have a fundraising meeting today and will continue to work out some plans and to get some stuff on paper. T-shirts are in the process of getting ordered and I'm getting some other stuff test-printed today as well.
The logo wizard Tom Geurts sent me a draft of the 59bakery logo yesterday. I think it looks pretty SWEET!

Thanks for the feedback people! Let's make this thing work!
Politics

....turning the page

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 23:41:00 GMT

That's it!

The 2008 racing season has officially ended. Plans for next year are well underway and I'm pleased to tell you great things are afoot. A recap and preview.

We flew to the USA to compete in the last races of the AHRMA championship at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL. It was a great weekend!
The people at AHRMA are really great and the atmosphere in the paddock is amazing. We always love coming back and even more when I can take home a couple of wins. My dad flew in a week earlier to prepare the bikes at our base in the US, Syd's Cycles in St. Petersburg. He and Malcolme Tunstall fixed up the '76 Ducati 900ss that broke at Daytona and he made the '03 Ducati 1000DS race ready. They did a great job!
I had some nice races and eventually ended up winning 5(!) of my 10 races. And also had another great battle with two time ex-worldchampion Superbikes Doug Polen. Sweet isn't it:) Pictures of Barber can be seen here.
I also had the chance to meet up with my long-time best friend, Theodoor. He's currently living in Orlando. It was great seeing him and his wife again. The last time I visited them was in April, when I made weekend trip to NYC and Orlando. (Thanks for the airmiles Gilbert!)

I have not been sitting still the last weeks. Apart from working on my thesis, I am also in the process of putting the 59 brand on the market. The brandname obviously derived from my racingnumber.
The company is in the process of producing a television series and starting an online speciality bakery. Already a diverse offering, and we will be expanding... The next step will be getting our clothing line going!
As you can see at the top of this blog, the 'buttons' for you to click on have changed. So go explore....!
The backbone of the 59 brand will obviously be myself and my racing activities. To give that an extra boost I put one of my frat brothers and artistic genius Tom Geurts to work on a Politics 59 logo. You can admire the result below.

I'll keep you guys regularly updated with news and developments. I would REALLY like YOU to be a part of this and am therefore encouraging advice, ideas, and help. Bring it on people!
Stay Cool!
Politics

My new Politics 59 racing logo!

With Theodoor in Orlando

Working late to get the 900ss going....

And finally at 10 pm the night before we leave to Barbers' it runs

Our Barber setup ~ The cool look, haha

Discussing tactics in the paddock

End of the season.......

Tue, 7 Oct 2008 20:56:12 GMT

Since my last post a lot of things have happened. The Superbikes seasons in Germany and Holland are over but I still have one race comming up in the USA. I moved from Enschede to The Hague to do my research for my thesis and I have some dirt-biking practice planned for a big race in November.

To finish my studies, I'm doing a market research that will serve as my thesis. I'm doing my research at my sponsor Vandervelde Protection in Zoetermeer and hope to be done by February. I'm also working on a project for TV, but I can't say too much about that right now. But if things are going to go as planned, I'm also going to be a producer soon.....:)
I moved to The Hague early september and left Enschede behind. A new chapter in my life has started and I hope to give it a nice swing. Certainly not ready for a yuppie lifestyle just yet! My roommate is really cool, he runs a lounge downtown. I hang-out there a couple of nights a week to relax. It gives me good inspiration for all the stuff I have going on, so I guess I'll keep a tab open there.

The 16th of november will host the Red Bull Knock-Out Beach Race in Scheveningen. As this is just around the corner from where I live, I decided to enter in this crazy circus. The only problem is I haven't ridden a dirt-bike in over 8 years. So I got my hands on a Husqvarna 250cc from Husqvarna dealer Ben van Erp in order to practice and get ready for the beach race. I have a couple of practice races coming up in Twente, all I need now is some new gear.

My dad's heading over to Tampa to get the bikes ready for the last race of the AHRMA season in the USA. I'll be heading over a couple of day later, we'll make the drive to Barber together. I hope to see my best friend Theo before we leave. He's living with his wife Shaira in Orlando now (lucky basterd!). It would be great seeing them again, Theo has played a big role in my life since we were young. As for the races in Barber, I hope its going to be a great weekend seeing all the AHRMA guys again. It is a great racing family! And of course I have complete confidence in my dad to get to two Ducati's prepped at Syd's Cycles in St. Petersburg for the races at Barber. We'll see:)

All the photo's I have of the Race of the Champions are online now. You can find them by clicking here. I got a bit pissed-off with my new camera! My family got me a great new camera for my birthday, but the memory card got busted somehow. A lot of my pictures were deleted without any reason. DAMN! It made me really angry and I lost some great memories that way:( Sorry Renee for the shots of my birthday party. Sorry Liesbeth, Natalie, and Chris for the pictures of Assen. And sorry Lasse, Kalle, Mo, Ingrid, Trish, Melissa for the lost pictures of Kalle's graduation party.....
This might come to a surprise to some of you, but in my 12 years of racing I haven't been able to find the time to get my motorcycle driving license. I would like to ride around on a bike and perhaps ride some enduro races, so now I have to get one. I've just started getting riding lessons (hahaha) from Richard Fluttert, a friend that owns a driving school and is a former Dutch Superbikes Champion! Well that's it for now. I'll keep you guys up to date!

Stay Cool!
Politics

Me getting driving lessons

Last Dutch Superbike race of 2008! ~ Part 2

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 09:41:23 GMT

What a great weekend! Great racing and a hell of a lot of visitors at the last race of the season in Assen. The team did very well and the race was hard and a lot of fun.

The team's hopes were high and we did good all weekend. I qualified 10th (out of 46), but I knew I had some extra left for the race.
My start was pretty good and got into a small battle for 11th place. I took the lead in that group very quickly and let them eat my dust. The gap to the leading group had grown to over a second, but I knew I had to close it. This group was fighting for positions 2 to 10. I took me a hell of a lot of effort and I was able to do my personal best laptime at Assen ever, it paid off and I joined the lead group.
The fights in the group were very hard. I went bar-to-bar several times and was able to move up to 8th place going into the last lap. The gap to the guy in front of me was half a second, but I had two guys breathing down my own neck. Defending my position throughout the entire lap, I saw one guy pass me on the brakes in the last corner of the last lap. He went a bit wide, so I snuck through underneath him and claimed the 8th place after a thrilling race.

A great ending of a season filled with ups and downs!
We're taking out the Aprilia RSV Mille to Oschersleben (Germany) this weekend for a Sounf of Thunder race. And we'll be at Barber for the last races of the AHRMA season in October. Hope to see you there!

Politics

Two umbrella girls (well one's a boy, but what the heck;))

The Pit-Crew

Trying to hide from the camera

Last Dutch Superbikes race of '08

Mon, 8 Sep 2008 09:33:20 GMT

Oschersleben & Spa Francorchamps

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 09:20:31 GMT

My injuries from my Assen crash weren't as bad as they first seemed, so we headed to Oschersleben looking for some good racing. The races turned-out pretty good and the week after at Spa Francorchamps was really successful too.

I was still a bit stiff from my crash at Assen, but qualifying went pretty good at Oschersleben for the 7th round of the German IDM Superbikes series, managing to go a second quicker then last year. The first race was lucky to be dry, I was a bit cautious at the start and had to do a lot of catching-up later on. I finished 19th and did my personal best laptime at the track.
The second race was a full wet race. This was the first time for me to ride the superbike in the rain, so I was a bit careful in the first few laps. But once I got the hang of the handling in the rain, I pushed more and more and made up A LOT of places and managed to nip a point in 15th position!

The week after we headed off to Spa Francorchamps, I hadn't raced at this world famous Belgian track in many years so I was a bit behind in qualifying. I qualified 22nd, but I knew I could do a lot beter in the Dutch Superbikes field. So after the first race was delayed more than an hour, I got off to an amazing start and was battling for a top 10 spot all race long. My quickest lap was 3,5 seconds quicker then in qualifying! I eventually took 10th place, with 9th,10th, and 11th place covered by less than 0,5 seconds.
Unfortunately, the second race got cancelled because of time restraints

Monday I started packing, because I'm moving to The Hague (Den Haag). I'm going to do my graduation research at my sponsor Vandervelde Protection in Zoetermeer, I'll be doing some commercial research for these fellas. I won't be able to move in to my new place untill sep 1st, so I'll be staying at my sisters' for a week:) Tuesday we went to see the rock band Flogging Molly to let off some steam. It was a blast!
Last but not least, I got a new racing boots sponsor. Frey Daytona was gracious enough to provide me with a very neat pair of custom racing boots! Thanks guys!

So, a new chapter in my life is about to start. I hope it'll turn out to be as cool as the last!:)
I'll leave you guys with some pictures from Spa, Flogging Molly, my new boots, and my moving boxes;)

Stay Cool!
Politics

By Zeus!

Mon, 4 Aug 2008 23:35:12 GMT

I had two races since my last post and the difference in results could not be further apart.

We took off to the Pannoniaring in Hungary for the Ducati Speed Week in last weekend of July. I was going to compete with the Aprilia RSV Mille and Suzuki GSXR1000 of Team Polytech.
The Aprilia blew its headgasket in one of the qualifying sessions, so I was down to only one bike. The Suzuki performed really well on this hard to learn, but very fun track. I had a short battle at the start of the race with the Suzuki, but then took off and finished with a 17 second lead. A well deserved victory!:)

The first weekend of August hosted the annual Rizla Plus Racing Days at Assen. Qualifying went really well, eventhough there was a hard wind, I was able to qualify 8th in the Dutch Superbikes class.
But unfortunately Zeus wasn't favoring us for the race, so he made sure a rainshower dropped down in Assen just before our race. It didn't set through, so we thought it would dry-up quickly and we didn't have to change to wet tires. But the track did not dry very fast and I dropped a hell of a lot of places. Eventually the track did dry fast I was able to regain plenty places. But on the last lap I got off line and onto the wet, tried to correct a bit but the bike bucked all over the place and threw me off pretty nastily.:( I didn't hurt myself very badly fortunately, and bike's ok as well.

The dark-side of motorcycle racing showed itself last weekend during the World Supersport race at Brands Hatch. Young and talented Brit Craig Jones had an unfortunate and nasty crash, he was unconscious after he made contact to the ground and died in the hospital that same night. We would like to send our best to his family and friends. Let's hope this kind of disaster will not be witnessed anytime soon........

We hope to get all our stuff together and ready for next weekend for the German IDM Superbikes round at Oschersleben!
I'll leave you with a couple of pics.

MotoGP Laguna Seca!

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:01:30 GMT

Valentino Rossi is the greatest!!

The MotoGP race at Laguna Seca just finished and I can only praise Valention Rossi. What an incredibly good racer!
He knew he was slower than Casey Stoner, so he made sure he got in front, pushed as fast as he could, and fought as hard as he could. Eventually Casey went off the track and dumped the bike in the dirt.
A deserved victory for the Greatest Of Al Time!!!

I'll be leaving to the Pannonniaring in Hungary this coming wednesday. We'll be racing the Suzuki and Aprilia at the Ducati Speed Week.
The week after we'll be at Assen for the annual Rizla Racing Days.
Hope to see you there!

Cya,
Politics

Michael Schumacher shaking my hand after the second race at the Sachsenring

IDM Sachsenring

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:24:35 GMT
It was my first time at this German Grand Prix track, I must say my expectations were pretty high.
Unfortunately the track did not suit me as I thought it would. It is a pretty cool twisty track with plenty of elevation changes, but it just wasn't really my thing.

Qualifying went pretty good. I was putting in a hell of a lot of laps to get to know this difficult track and the laps paid off. I qualified 29th, with many big names behind me and the gap to the guys in front of my was very small. Only thing was that Michael Schumacher was in front of me. Damn!
It was really really hot on and somehow I couldn't really get into my rythm on raceday. My start in the first race was really good, but somehow I could not get to my qualifing laptimes and couldn't keep up with my group. Eventually still finishing 23rd with the many crashes. So the end result was OK.
The second race was even worse, I had a bad start and was stuck behind some slow guys. It took me ages to get passed and then the race got red-flagged. The second half of the second race went a lot better, I was in a good group and got into my rythm. Almost knocking Schumacher off the track, I managed to take 27th.
So overall the weekend was OK, but I kind of expected more from the track and of myself (especially on sunday).

Next race is the Ducati Speed Week at the Panoniaring in Hungary.

Cya,
Politics

Chasing Schumi!

Top 10 @ Assen!

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:47:03 GMT

Finally some result. The weather was looking threatening, but it stayed dry the entire weekend.
I was able to match my best laptime of the last race and qualified 12th.
After a tricky first lap I came through in 15th and managed to work my way up to 10th in 8 laps. I then had a 4 second gap to close to the group in front, who were fighting for 4th.
I separated myself from my followers by putting in my personal best laptimes. With only 3 laps on the board, I just did not have enough time to close the gap to the front even though I was catching-up to them pretty quickly.
Finally finishing a race (it's been a while) and in a great 10th position
Pictures (by Henk Teerink, Mariska Grob, and Willem Doorduin) can be found here.

Were leaving to the Sachsenring this saturday for the next round in the German Superbikes.

Cya later,
Politics

picture by Willem Doorduin

Got to get that monkey off my back!!!

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 08:28:11 GMT

It hasn't been my year up to now. Somehow I've had back luck every time out:(

The annual Ducati Club Days at Assen were next after Oschersleben. We took the new and improved '04 Aprilia RSV Mille Factory out for a spin and all was well. The bike needed some powercommander adjustments, but it ran smooth and fast. Unfortunately the new 1098 Ducati's are allowed to race in the Sound of Thunder class, these beast are unbeatable with an old RSV. But I was able to nibble of 2 seconds off my lap record on that bike, so I was happy to qualify 5th.
But then on raceday, after two weeks of complete sunshine, it started raining. And somehow, the Dunlop raintires we had on the bike just didn't work. I dropped like a stone in the first race, no traction at all. So I pulled into the pits. DNF in race one:(
We made major setup adjustments for the second race, which helped a bit, but people were still riding around me in the corners. I mean, I AM A GOOD RAIN RIDER, so this really pissed me off. I still got to finish 12th, but the day would have been a lot better if the damn rain would have just stayed away.

Anyway, two weeks later at the same track but this time for the Dutch Superbikes Championship on our Suzuki GSXR 1000. We bought a spare engine (just in case) after the Oschersleben disaster. Unfortunately, we needed it. In the first free practice the engine broke again. As allways, a valve broke off. What the hell is wrong with that damn engine????
So we put in our new engine, and it ran like a beauty! First qualifing went really well, I improved my personal best at Assen by 0.5 seconds and qualified 9th. We experimented a bit with the tires for the second practice, this worked out pretty well I just kept on running into traffic in the last 6 laps. So I wasn't able to improve my time and dropped to a respectable 13th position on the grid.
As you can guess, raceday was a disaster. This time the sun stayed out, but some FOOL crashed right into me in the first lap! Can you believe that? What an idiot!!!! The crash pictures are pretty awesome though.

This weekend I'll have a retry at Assen. But there's 90% chance of rain on saturday and sunday!:( So I hope we'll have some good rain tires...

All the best,
Politics

Oschersleben disaster:(

Wed, 21 May 2008 10:04:21 GMT

As usual this year, after two weeks of brilliant sunshine and high temperatures, it started raining the weekend I had to race.
The bike was fixed after in broke at the Lausitzring, but in the second free-practice session the engine quit on me again. SHIT!!!!
It would have been a good race, and I would have ridden in the same field as ex-F1 champ Michael Schumacher. But it wasn't to be:(

This weekend I'll be riding our Aprilia RSV Mille at the annual Ducati Club Races at Assen. This year the new Ducati 1098 are allowed in the Sound of Thunder class, so getting on the podium will be a very tough job. But we were able to get some extra horsepower in the bike and Dunlop gave us some good rubber, so we'll see how far we get:).

See ya! Politics

Lausitzring & Oschersleben > IDM Superbikes

Wed, 14 May 2008 09:10:11 GMT

A couple of weeks ago, the first races of the very very heavily contested German (IDM) Superbikes series were held at the Lausitzring track.
I particularly dislike this track for its layout, it just doesn't suit me. But the Suzuki GSXR1000 ran really good (thanks dad) and our setup worked out pretty good as well. In the end I was 3 seconds a lap quicker than last year!
The only thing was, that in a field of 56 riders and 10 (semi-)factory teams I only qualified in 32nd position. Not bad at all actually.
The first race went pretty good and I made a pass in the last corner of the last lap and ended up finishing in 28th.
We were unlucky in the second race, when I had a mechanical failure in the 3rd lap. DAMN!
No biggy, my race pace was good and the bike ran very well (before it broke). So I'm very confident for the next race coming weekend in Oschersleben.
Oschersleben is really my kind of track and I've ridden there many times, so we'll see how things go.......................

After the races at the Lausitzring I took a plane to visit my friend in the USA. He lives in Orlando, but we spent Queensday (the celebration of the Dutch Queens' birthday) in NYC. We had a blast and partied till late!
I also won a Rugby Varsity tournament in my hometown with my fraternity last week. We fought hard and we took the big win! The days after I had a field hockey tournament in Breda. This was not a very competitive tournament (read: a lot of beer and parties:)).
For now, I'm still rounding-up my studies. Not long to go now.

I'll keep you up to date!

CU soon,
Politics

Walking to Times Square with Theo

With Theo in his Orlando apartment

Winning team of the Enschedese Rugby Varsity

Defending during the hockey tournament in Breda

Partying hard at the hockey tournament:)

Madrid goes Bananas (or vice versa)

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:46:04 GMT

They moved the easter races to the weekend of april 21st, I wasn't able to go there because I had a trip planned to Madrid with my roommates of 'Huize Bananas'.

My roommates at Bananas are very close, and we usually take weekend trip each year. They even followed me to winter practice at Valencia once. But this year we decided to fly to Madrid for three days of fun.
As usual this year, the bad weather followed us to Madrid. It was rainy, which is very unusualy for Madrid this time of year. Nevertheless, we had a great time. We went to see couple of museums (Reina Sofia and del Prado), went partying with the locals and did some shopping. It was a blast!!!

This week I'll be getting ready for the opening of the German Superbikes season this weekend at the Lausitzring.
Peter

Hockenheim: Opening race Dutch Superbikes

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 09:32:06 GMT

This was a weekend I'd like to forget soon, it seems like bad weather has been following me all year and I’m getting sick and tired of it.
It all started in Savannah, GA, it had been nice warm weather all week long but during the two days we had to race it was suddenly very wet, windy, and cold.
We got lucky in Daytona, by moving the races forward we were able to miss the thunderstorms. But the wind was very strong and the threat of rain was imminent .

Then we moved on to the first races of the season in Holland at Assen. They get cancelled because it was snowing! It’s spring dammit, where’s the sunshine???
Finally we’re at Hockenheim in Germany for the Dutch Superbikes championship. But again, after a week of nice sunshine there is a 90% chance of rain and thunderstorms.
Are you kidding me with this??Global warming, where are you when we need you most?
Anyway, back to the racing. Luck wasn’t with us this weekend, first of all we my 2007 Suzuki broke down mysteriously when warming-up the engine. So we had to get-out the ’06 Suzuki at the last minute.
Qualifying was terrible, I hadn’t ridden this bike in almost a year and it was definitely down on power. I had trouble on a drying track and was only able to put in a 25th position. Over 2 seconds slower than I was in free practice with the other bike.
It stayed dry on race day. I didn’t have a very good start and was fighting in a group for 20th position. I was very disappointed with how the race was going and couldn’t get into any rhythm what so ever. So when something came loose on the bike half-way the race, I decided to pull out.

Eventually the problem with the 2007 bike was quickly found and fixed and the bike will be all race ready for the next race at the Lausitzring.

I hope to give you some better news soon:)
Peter

Hockenheim coming up!

Wed, 2 Apr 2008 16:16:32 GMT

After the cancellation of the Easter races at Assen, the first race of the Dutch Superbike Championship will be held at Hockenheim this weekend.
The weather forecast isn't that great, but I hope we'll pull off a few dry sessions.
Everything else is going pretty good over here in Holland, my studies are going well, my mom just got back from a holiday in the Philippines, and my dad has been working hard to get the Suzuki GSXR 1000 up to speed. Definitely looking forward to this weekend, although we might need some earmuffs to keep warm:)

I put the pictures my friend John Kehayas made at Daytona up op the webalbum: http://politiek.fotki.com/2008
You can also find the pictures of the 1976 Ducati 900ss build-off at: http://politiek.fotki.com/2008

Cu soon,
Peter

First races in Holland coming up....(Update)

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 05:37:40 GMT

Well, the weather forecast is in and its horrible. It's going to be icy cold this weekend, which means we're not going out to race.
The organizers must be crazy (in my opinion) if they're not going to cancel the races.
The forecast:

Previous Post: This coming Easter weekend marks the start of the 2008 Dutch Superbike season. Altough I'm really looking forward to it, I'm really really not liking the weather they're forcasting for this weekend. It's gonna be cold and rainy:(
I made a sh*tload of pictures last year and I made a short compilation. It's pretty nice, just click on it in the right part of your screen.
I'll let you know how things are goin in Assen.

Peter

Bikeweek Fun!

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:38:15 GMT

This year's bikeweek was a blast! The weather was great (we beat the storm on Tuesday), the bike was running great, and I took home a great win. The beautiful '76 900ss was the photographer's hotspot in the paddock, too bad the bike only lasted 3.5 laps on track before seizing. We don't exactly know what went wrong, but it's probably going to be expensive.
Luckily we still had the 1000DS to race. The bike was running and handling great and I was able to take a classic Daytona victory by drafting by on the last lap. It was amazing!
We had a great 2008 Bikeweek! Thanks to everybody who helped and supported me before, during and after the races. My dad really worked his but off these two weeks. We did get a stroke of bad luck when we flew back home though. My gearbag with my new Rev'It leathers, helmet, gloves, boots, and trophy was flown to Ethiopia instead of Amsterdam. Can you believe that!?!?!? Hopefully I'll get my stuff back (before the races).
Confidence is up bigtime for the upcoming start of the Dutch Superbikes season. We upgraded the GSXR1000 k7 a bit, and I hope I'll be a bit further up front than last year. There's some tough competition out there, so we'll see. I'll keep you guys udated.

Cu @ Assen,
Peter
#59 Dutch & German Superbikes
#312 AHRMA