Salzburgring 3rd to 5th July
We were quite excited about coming to Salzburgring as like many of the other tracks we've been fortunate to visit, it has quite a bit of history. That excitement changed to trepidation when we cycled round it for the first time on the Thursday evening.
Steeped in GP history it may be, but safe it is not! The entire track is bordered by Armco which is very close to the sides for much of it and in some corners the only protection is straw bales, with air barriers around one turn at the end of the back straight. I wasn't that happy and probably made a big mistake allowing him to ride as this particular venue was to have a very adverse affect on his confidence, but Josh was advised to ride within himself and see what he thought. The first two sessions of free practice the following day were wet so everyone had to be cautious and Josh managed quite well for his first real run in the wet on a 600.
Even though Jeremy hadn't been there since 1994 he was very fast and right on the pace in the wet. The final session was dry and was the only one the boys had a chance to find a dry setting for qualifying the next morning. Both guys came in for changes to try and fine tune the settings in the short time frame, but Josh was to be caught out trying a bit hard on a rear tyre that was not ideally suited to the track. It remains a point of debate about which there are differing views but suffice to say in hindsight prudence would have dictated that particular dual compound tyre should not have been used. Anyway, he had a massive high-side exiting the first chicane landing heavily on his rear right side. He was fortunate to be just bruised and battered as he flew quite high! Sore but undeterred he decided to soldier on and try in qualifying the next day which was dry.
With much of the previous day's dry session missed due to the crash, set up was not the best and Josh struggled with this and some discomfort. He managed to put in some respectable times nevertheless and got 20th on the grid, with Jeremy a superb 6th.
As an earlier downpour dried off the track for the start of race one there was still some damp patches. Josh made a good start and true to his usual form, began making progress beyond his qualifying position. Having made it to 13th on lap two and being 'all over' the big group in front he tried a wide entry into a left hander to get a good drive on exit. Unfortunately the front just 'washed out' on entry and he slid straight into the bales covered Armco hitting it hard and bringing out an immediate red flag. After a few minutes he regained his breath and managed to be helped into the ambulance. The medical centre Doctor admitted him to Salzburg hospital as he was concerned about internal injuries, and blood in the urine confirmed a damaged kidney. So racing was over for Josh but Jeremy few the flag for the team well recording a superb 2nd place in the restarted race. He led for the last few laps which wasn't the best place to be up the back on the last lap because of the slipstreaming effect. Sure enough Sascha Hommel popped out to take the win.
In race two the following day Jeremy was again involved in a 6 rider scrap for the win but just missed out on a podium being pipped on the line finishing 4th.
Josh was released from Hospital on the Sunday night to allow him travel north to Germany for the flight home the following day. Although he was in quite a bit of discomfort on the journey home, he recovered quite quickly once he was able to get good rest at home.
We decided to miss the next round at Schleiz to allow Josh good time to recover.
Words: Julian Elliott