Belgian Road Trip

Last Saturday morning I crawled out of bed at 2.30, woke up my 13-year-old son 15 minutes later, made a coffee and left for Belgium at 3am.

We met the Co-Built crew of Anthony, Anna, Geoff, Guy, Karina and Norm, in two other vans at the Eurotunnel for a 6.50 crossing. 

On the other side we drove the three hours/175 miles to Huesden-Zolder, where they have bread vending machines on street corners, street after street with no two houses are the same, a famous road racing circuit and a speedway track.

The British riders met with the Belgian DTRA contingent, plus the Dutch Brothers (only one of whom lives in Holland, the others are in Switzerland).
The Helzold track is going to host Hells Race, what could be the first ever dirt track race in Belgium, later this summer. Two of the Belgian DTRA riders, Angelo and Bram, have organised the meeting with the assistance of the local speedway club. The idea was to invite one dirt track class to an early-season speedway race for the speedway organisers to see what, if anything, they had to do differently. So this was an invite-only do at the Helzold Stars Speedway international meeting.

Saturday was open practice, Sunday was race day. Above is Belgian David's XT500.

Belgian Bram and his new Co-Built.

Norm and his Trackmaster Triumph twin.

Bram, David, and Hank looking mean. Co-Built Anthony's arm with an old Sideburn patch.

Guy and Geoff on their Co-Built Rotax singles. Guy painted both of them. Two very fast and stylish UK riders were back on the pace after disappointing (for their usual high standards) results at Rye House.

Co-Built Anthony (16), Jan-Willem Dutch Brother (15 - J and M Rotax), Angelo (55 Starracer KTM)

 Geoff and Jan-Willem

 Jan-Willem brought two bikes, his Astro...

and his J and M Rotax, with the wheels he designed himself. I had a few electrical problems, just as race day practice started, and both Anthony and Jan-Willem let me have a few laps on their bikes. Both were great and Jan's is sweet as. Short, great power delivery. I felt comfortable on it instantly.

I've started wearing an Icon AirFrame Pro to race in. It's the first Icon helmet with a flat shield/visor that allows tear-offs. I'm very impressed with the comfort. The lining is light grey, which shows up the dirt, but it is removable. It has carbon composite construction and a quick-release Pro-Lock system (which is similar to the Shoei system for those familiar with that). No tools required to remove it. Icon are so good with the details and I love the anodised gold double D-rings. Mine is an unbranded Rubatone Ghost Carbon and it's not as easy to wash as a gloss would be. Recommended. 

Luckily there was a couple of hours between practice and our first heat race. Anthony helped me find the problem with the bike, the CDI ('They never go wrong,' said Anthony). We swapped it, I turned the rear tyre for a better, but still worn edge and got going. I was disappointed with my results at Rye House, but think I know why. I felt pretty good at Helzold and beat both Anthony and Geoff Co-Built in a couple of the five 8-lap heats, which is a very rare occurrence now, so I can away feeling good.

Jan-Willem's brother, Mick, came from the Netherlands (2-hour drive) with a KTM DTX and this J and M Rotax. He chose to race his KTM and came second in the meeting having hardly raced at all for a year. Those Dutch Bros are fast!

Angelo is one of the men behind Hells Race. He also organises the Flanders Chopper Bash, and I'm sure Hells Race is going to be good.

They better book this flagman...

Support your local racetrack. Do like Angelo and support your local flat track magazine too. Sideburn zip hoodies are heavyweight and last for years.

Belgium is not known for its cuisine. I went for the chav pizza.

We rushed from the track as soon as the meeting ended for 21.20 crossing home. We were booked on different trains, all set off at different times but all got on the same, earlier train. Then it was 170 miles back north through England and home for just before midnight on Sunday night. Back to work (and school for Max) the next morning.

I was only accepted to race only a few days before the event (thanks Angelo!) and if I could have got out of going on Friday night without screwing people about I would have. Work is busy, I'm trying to build a hooligan bike for the next DTRA race,  I could do with saving money, but I'm so glad I went. Good friends, good riding and good spending time with my son. Motorcycle fun times. G

Photos: Stephen Volders, Bart Knops, Carina, Max I, GI

Get along to Hells Race!

Hells Race, Belgium - Entries open

Race entries are open for Belgium's first proper dirt track event, being held on 18-19 June, being organised by our mates Bram and Angelo.

Practice Saturday, race Sunday. There are classes for Newbie, Rookie, Amateur, Thunder, Vintage, Hooligan (presented by Harley-Davidson) and Pro.

Go to Hells Race for more information.

Here's a bunch of info on the event from the organisers...

▪ Track location:

Speedway Club Helzold

Helzoldlaan / Stadionlaan

3550 Heusden-Zolder

Belgium

▪ Campsite will be open from Friday afternoon. On Sunday you can’t arrive or leave the campsite during the entire race.

How to register for any class 

Step 1 : email to info@hellsrace.com with info and bike specs/photo and we'll get back to you ASAP. You can register for multiple classes as long as there are places available. Make sure you mention what class(es) you want to register for and if you will ride 1 or 2 days.

 Step 2 : after approval we'll send you the payment details so that you can complete your registration 

FINAL DATE WHEN PAYMENT MUST BE RECEIVED IS June 8th.

Race numbers will be assigned on a later date. If you are registered with an official flat track competition with a personal official number that you would like to keep (DTRA, Dutch Flattrack cup etc) you need to register and pay BEFORE 1st OF MAY. Make sure to mention your number in your email or comment box (first come first served).

 IMPORTANT : if you'd like to register for more than 1 class on Sunday you'll need to pay the extra 25€ cash for each additional class the day of the race itself. This due to the reason that we reserve the right to cancel a class when there are not enough registrations for that particular class and/or when the additional class is full. We'll make sure you can ride at least in one class.

Training Sat 18th June : 60€ (ride as much as you want)
Race Sun 19th June : 60€ for 1 class (+25€ cash for each additional class)
Training Sat 18th + Race Sun 19th June : 120€ for 1 class (+25€ cash for each additional class on Sun)
Day licenses are included

Contact us Website: www.hellsrace.com 
Email: info@hellsrace.com
Hooligan Series: info@dirttrackriders.co.uk

Hells Race, Belgium

After competing at Dirt Quake III a trio of Belgians bought or built their own dirt trackers and entered the UK's DTRA series. Two or three of them were at every race but one (that clashed with their long-running chopper show back in their home country) and the end of season presentation.

Now they're organsing their own one-off event, the first ever flat track race in Belgium, we think.

It's called Hell's Race, it's at the Helzold Speedway track in Belgium (120 miles from Zeebrugge, 170 from Calais) and it happens June next year. Lots of camping near the track, practice Saturday, race Sunday.

This is not a Dirt Quake-type event, more like a DTRA race, but they have a class for complete novices, on street trackers, scrambler, whatever, and other classes very similar to those we run in the UK. Day licences will be available.

Sideburn will be there and we'll post up more details as we have them. G