As an organizer of a race there are a few things you cant plan for. You just hope for the best and plan for the worst. Two weeks before this years race we realized that it might be rain and the closer we got, we knew that we had to plan the schedule according to what we had to look forward too, partly rain, partly sun.
All photos taken by Burt racings JP Purtilo
The rain came already on thursday when two time world champion Finn Lasse Kurvinen held Flat Track School for Swedes, one german and a bunch of Norweigans. Hard work but also lots of development for the riders. Lasse made a great job, trying to help everyone becoming the best rider version of themselves.
Friday was the day for fun and the race that starts of the weekend, Trotteln I Taket. With a lot fewer riders on the starting line than we are used to in Trotteln i Taket, the ones who was battling made a great job in the partly rainy weather. Everyone got dirty and maybe most impressive was riders like Nils Johan Palm, Peter Totte Johansson and Claes Lindblom who all came to start on really old and also heavy bikes. They where all handling the track well Claes Lindblom crashed though due to a to tight fight against Stefan Axelsson in the middle of the corner. All good and after straighten the bar he could continue to a restart. The rain got worse and some riders had to exit due to mud in the carbs, some kept “better safe than sorry” as the word of the day and just finished, which we really appreciated. All riders ended this years Trotteln in one piece and some where ready for next days battle. Winners of Trotteln this year was Martin Trofast on the fastest time of the day, Peoples choice belonged to Mikael Axelsson on his 60 cc with passenger seat and cargo rack in the front and The oldest couple was Nils Johan Palm on his rare Harley from 1928. in non final Martin Trofast took the lead followed by Mikael Axelsson and Ronny Karlsson.
Friday night ended after race practise with a riders dinner and the band Fem Gula Blend who did an amzing gig in front of really tired riders, still the few ladys in the house, German Martin Hüning and Finns Ossi Rantala and Riku Haapamäki showed their moves on the dance floor when the band served some good old 80’s punk and rock n roll. Race day on Saturday ended the night early and except for some crazy Finns and Norweigans the camp was a sleep at midnight.
After a heavy rain during friday night the track was good already early in the morning Saturday. We knew that the rain would start around 14.00 and after a short meeting before practise we agreed with all riders to push the schedule as much as possible to be able to finish all heats and all finals before the weather got too bad.
We almost made it. The heats went perfect some amount of rain but nothing steady. In time for the final the rain started about the same minute and already in the first heat containing Junior, Rookie and Amateurs the track got hazy. The riders had to fight hard and first to slide into the ground was Amateur rider Norweigan Malene Solvang.
Malene Solvang certainly adapt the instructions from the Flat Track School with Lasse and watch her ride in the qualifying heats on Saturday was pure fun, and we are not the only ones dissapointed when her bike refused to start after crashing and two restarts of the finals. The whole pit was waiting to watch this talented young girl showing the guys whos who. In spite of her ex of the final her riding skills rapidly extends and her future is very bright and we can for sure, without a medal in the final, establish that she now belongs to one of the fastest female riders in Europe.
The first heat in the final ended a little bit like expected except that we were missing Malene. Junior rider Finn Saku Purtilo won just on the finish line over Martin Trofast in Amateur class. Second in Amateur was Finn Aku Lantto who did his second race in flat track due to a break in dragracing this year. Third place Dennis Hilmersson.
The Rookie class which was also in the same heat was won by Robin Björge who made a great job among more experienced riders.
Vintage true gold was a class that a lot fewer riders came to start. Engine problems and other reasons made this class a fight between five riders and it was uncertain how this would end until the end. Gunnar Solvang didn’t attend the final and Marting Hüning who won two heat and exed one in the qualifying heats got off with a bad start and couldnt pass Magnus Kempe who got away good on the now wet track. Kempe ended first, Martin Hüning second of course a little dissapointed but third Claes Lindblom was more than happy with his result especialy considiring his crash on Friday, a sore body and than that this was his absolute first offical participations on a big track with his 1926 Husqvarna 730 Special.
Vintage Real Deal and Supergirls teamed up in the same heat. Camilla Eriksson was represented in both classes and she gave the guys in Vintage Real deal a good fight ended up second after winner Örjan Engelbrekt. Third was Roy Abrahamsson who was happy after a muddy final, but was complaining about that he was really dirty after riding in the dirt after Camilla the whole day :). The Supergirls couldnt end another way since only two riders signed up, Camilla Eriksson took the the win way ahead of the editor who didnt had any tear offs and a little bit “shaky legs” in the slippry conditions.
Vintage Modern Classics was almost a repeat of last year in spite of some new riders. Trofast, Nesse Nilsson and Simon Bergman was the podium triple after final was done. Martin Trofast who have been away for a while certainly showed that he still got it and got home after the weekend with three wins, great job.
Pro Open this year might have been the absolute fastest riders we ever lined up. We did most of us after watching practise, put our money on Lasse Kurvinen, but next in line was uncertain cause there where a few really fast one like Ondrej Svedic, Mikko Koskinen, Ossi Rantala and Øyvind Dahl who had a great race in Finland. The podiums rode smart and choosed the inner line due to the wet conditions and after a fast and exciting final with a though track Lasse Kurvinen pretty easy took the win before young Ossi Rantala and Ondrej Svêdik from Czech Republic. Mikko Koskinen ended just outside the podium on a fourth place. Saku Purtilo the very young Finnish talent ended up five in this very fast crowd also in his first year in Pro class.
The Hooligans was already decided in the qualification… we assumed. The changed conditions certainly made a differens though and the start and more than half of the laps Norweigan Karl-Espen Mølmen owned. He almost from the start took the advantage of riding the lines of the Pro class while Jacob Kenty Mattsson choosed the outer line until he realized what Mølmen choosed. After a though takeover only two laps to go Mattsson took the lead and past the finish line half a corner before the rest of the riders. Mølmen ended up second after an amazing run and third place Ronny Karlsson claimed on his Ironhead Sportster.
Last run of the day belonged to Thunderbike Open. The qualification rounds was a battle between Conny Ivarsson and Åke Jansson, both very experienced riders and it was a pleasure watching them fighting. Due to the rainy track Åke Jansson who was points leader after qualifying decided to leave “walk over” and did not finished the race. Ivarsson got off with a bad start and ended behind Simon Bergman for the first two laps. Bergmans lead didnt last though and Ivarsson passed him first and kept the lead until the end. Even Nesse Nilsson got the chance to pass young Bergman and Thunderbike ended up being a sweet podium for the hosting club Vetlanda Motorsällskap.
This weekend belongs to so many people. The club crew our track boss Alve, all volounteers, Johnny Dansk, Trofast family, our speakers Nesse on Friday, Calle on Saturday, JP Purtilo who took awesome pictures and also managed the Finns with small and big stuff, Lasse Kurvinen and Saku Purtilo who helped out with Lasses School. The spectators who came in spite of the rainy weather and not least all the riders who signed up and most of them kept battling until the end in bad conditions but still with a good spirit and race mood alive.
Thank you all for a great weekend, great races and good sportsmanship. Thank you for taking the long trip to Vetlanda and again making this weekend to one hell of a race, still the biggest flat track event in Scandinavia. C ya in Norway and welcome back to Vetlanda 2025!
