Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy

Posted on by admin

Table of contents

Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy
Stephen Bower

Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy

Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy

Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy

Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy

11 pictures

Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy
Bower

1/11
Insider report by Horst Saiger about the TT on the Isle of Man.

Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy
Bower

2/11
Insider report by Horst Saiger about the TT on the Isle of Man.

Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy
Borner

3/11
Friends: Horst Saiger (right) and double TT winner Cameron Donald having breakfast in Horst’s TT stay.

Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy
Bower

4/11
Insider report by Horst Saiger about the TT on the Isle of Man.

Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy
Borner

5/11
Ms. Saiger had to go home as a teacher during the TT – the school holidays were over.

Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy
Bower

6/11
Those who treat the Mountain Course with respect can overcome fear and get faster and faster.

Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy
Bower

7/11
Insider report by Horst Saiger about the TT on the Isle of Man.

Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy
Bower

8/11
Ballaugh Bridge: Violent Compression.

Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy
Bower

9/11
Ballaugh Bridge: Actually a pretty slow section, but the bridge follows a left curve, is skipped very high and after the heavy compression it immediately goes right to Ramsey.

Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy
Bower

10/11
You start here every 10 seconds. If you run into others, you know immediately: You are faster!

Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy
Borner

11/11
At his first TT, the cool Austrian got two bronze replicas and two medals as the best newcomer in the Superstock and Senior TT races.

Sports & scene

Motorsport

Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy

Sport: Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy on the Isle of Man
Well done, Saiger

Content of

After the dress rehearsal on the North-West 200 in the Irish rain drowned, PS racer Horst Saiger moved on to the season highlight, his first start at the Senior TT on the Isle of Man, without any experience. His insider report gives unexpected insights into a unique race.

Horst Saiger

06/18/2013

Finally, all that time with onboard videos and months of pondering what will be – now it’s over. As soon as I approach this magical island, I feel a pleasant tingling sensation. I have some time until Saturday evening to prepare everything here. Then it really starts. The weather is perfect for the first newcomer training. My mechanic Bernd and I are under stress because the large tank on Bolliger’s endurance bike is not that easy to assemble. There would be no space for the steering damper, which would be fatal on this bumpy road. And there are no sleeves, a retaining plate and a vent hose with valve.

Buy complete article

Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy

Sport: Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy on the Isle of Man
Well done, Saiger

6 pages) as PDF

€ 2.00

Buy now

For better or worse, the standard tank has to stay on, which means one refueling stop per lap. But that doesn’t matter for the first training session. Behind John McGuinness, I drive my guided tour with two other newcomers. Right after that our real training starts and I immediately notice that it was easier to drive afterwards. For the first time down Brayhill with swing, the Kawa doesn’t steer as agile as I want it to be. I’m always running late or not even getting where I want to.

A wild mixture of lots of speed, punches, crests and compressions turns everything into an act of strength. With sitting and driving, I realized that suddenly, nothing works. Here you have to stand in your pegs, clamp your knees on the tank and use all your strength to force the motorcycle from one bend into the next. On this first lap I registered the first unexpected hits and tried nowhere to go so fast that I wouldn’t be receptive. All concentration is on learning to walk, and I don’t want to get myself into tricky situations. At Bishops Court I turned into the ultra-fast left too late, couldn’t hold the line and was like a pinball in the following curve combinations – actually way too slow, but already out of control!


Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy


Bower, Borner

Fear and adrenaline go hand in hand in racing.

The second lap was better, and on the third I ran into a lightweight rider somewhere in the ultra bumpy section after Glen Helen. He wasn’t wearing a newcomer vest, as all drivers have to wear in training who are competing in the TT for the first time. I thought I could learn something from that, but unfortunately the guy was even more haphazard than me. Then Cameron Donald flew by on his 90 hp lightweight. Unfortunately, by the time I dared to overtake the other driver, Cameron was long gone. “I will overtake him back in the mountains at the latest,” I was convinced.

“He has no chance against my 200 hp ninja.” I only saw him again in the paddock. Conclusion after the first few laps: I’m as smart as before. If I memorize somewhere to come from outside and shift down twice, brake a little faster and only further back, then that is 60 kilometers and 250 bends later, i.e. on the next lap, no longer in memory.

Difficult start


Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy


Bower, Borner

Ballaugh Bridge: Actually a pretty slow section, but the bridge follows a left curve, is skipped very high and after the heavy compression it immediately goes right to Ramsey.

Other newcomers are already a minute faster than me, but that should just leave me cold, says Cameron. “Enjoy learning,” he said and in the evening sat with me in my bright red Nissan Micra, which Milky Quayle bought for me for 460 pounds. Cameron behind the wheel explains to me how from a machine gun, where, how and when to brake and turn. When we get to the point where he passed me, he says that at that point he no longer had the steering damper because something had broken off and he stopped at Ramsey for oil to check it out before he is back over the mountains to Douglas with his 90 hp. Such a huge ass – you can use such motivators.

Tim Reeves, the four-time sidecar world champion, introduced me to his technician, who then built our missing brackets for the tank and steering damper overnight – just great people here in the paddock. There is nothing like it in the whole world. Even Michael Dunlop, who was supposed to win four of the five races, brought one of his steering dampers with a retaining clip as a precaution. The next day of training it storms and rained and so the training started, but not timed, the conditions were too difficult. TT manager Paul Phillips went from driver to driver at the start and warned of wet spots and bends and banks of fog in the mountains. “It’s slippery as hell, please watch out,” he warned everyone.

Deadly accident


Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy


Bower, Borner

Those who treat the Mountain Course with respect can overcome fear and get faster and faster.

How right he was. It was just unpredictable, in the mountains I drove through banks of fog in which you could not see 20 meters. Crazy, but I was happy about the two more laps and some things could be seen better than on the sunny days when the planet was low and extremely blinding. After two rounds it was canceled – red flag. “Sure because of the conditions,” I thought. But unfortunately it wasn’t like that. Our friend Yoshinari Matsushita fell at Ballacry and died. The whole paddock was depressed, everyone knew the always good-humored Japanese, who was always courteous and friendly. Motorcycle racing was his life and his passion, for which he gave everything. There is nothing more to say about this.

Tuesday training was then completely canceled due to rain. Training started later on Wednesday and it was wet again in various sections. As the rain got worse, the qualification was canceled and turned into normal training. My Kawa now had the K-Tech chassis in it and we shifted more weight to the front by going a little higher at the rear. There were also harder springs in the front and slicks. For the first few kilometers it was still reasonably dry and I wanted to see right away how the new overall package worked. When accelerating down Brayhill, however, a couple of rather violent handlebar commuters made it clear to me that the Kawa is very nervous and I had to slow down. When I jumped over Ballaugh Bridge, I landed on the front wheel that I thought I was going to roll over – what a shock! At Ballacry, the next major hurdle was already waiting with the quick jump, where Matsu had a fatal accident.

There is fear


Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy


Bower, Borner

Friends: Horst Saiger (right) and double TT winner Cameron Donald having breakfast in Horst’s TT stay.

I got a real stomach ache from fear. If I land here on the front wheel again, I’ll be in trouble. With the nervous front, that can be fatal. I would have loved to take a turn and go straight to the ferry on my racing motorcycle. At that very moment the rain started and I was able to finish the rest of the lap pretty slowly. Maybe it was Matsu who sent me the calming rain from heaven. I almost couldn’t sleep that night. To be honest, I was really afraid.

On Thursday it was dry and we only changed a few small things, harder springs at the back, softer ones at the front. Bernd put in the Superstock tread tires. The bike was unrecognizable – not a bit nervous and nice to jump. Before Ballaugh Bridge, I almost pissed my pants, but it went so well that I enjoyed every round more and the fear disappeared entirely.

I climbed to a 119-mile average, the weather was okay and I was able to do four laps. On Friday the weather was finally good again, but we couldn’t start. A house was on fire in Kirk Michael. When the track was clear again, there was still enough time for two laps. Because many drivers had not yet qualified because of the limited training time (115 percent of the time from third in training could be achieved), the Superbike race was moved from Saturday to Sunday and two more training sessions were scheduled on Saturday. I could use every lap, in the end it was 39th on the grid in the Superbikes and 36th in the Superstock.

The first race


Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy


Bower, Borner

Ms. Saiger had to go home as a teacher during the TT – the school holidays were over.

Sunday – start of my first race here. We built in a harder spring at the front because I couldn’t turn on the brakes. That worked great, I moved up to 27th place. Because I left the gear in the second pit stop after four laps, we lost time with the rear tire and I went back into the race in 33rd place. On the last lap the ninja wriggled terribly down Brayhill. The steering damper was still there, but the handlebars didn’t stop slapping. On the way to Crosby‘s Jump I saw that the holder had broken off.

I pulled over to the side immediately, it was too dangerous. The nice marshals supplied me with sweets, and a few fans took photos with me. Thank goodness I didn’t drive 100 meters further where the big Crosby Pub was full of fans, I probably would never have gotten away from there. After the race, I simply drove back slowly in traffic with the racing kawa.

Now we had to act quickly, because the next day was the Superstock race. Tim Reeves called the colleague who made the part for us and he welded it back together by the next day. Shortly before the technical inspection, the owner was back at the Kawa. Off to the Superstock race over four laps, on which I found a few seconds again. I tried to run over the hard hits with as much gas as possible, preferably in a wheelie, then you can’t feel them. I slowly got used to everything and started pushing a little. I was able to overtake three guys who had started before me – that was particularly awesome. Everyone starts here every 10 seconds and I was faster than those who were faster than me in training. 122.9 miles on average or 18.24 minutes – not bad for a TT newcomer, everyone told me later. In 18th place I was the best newcomer.


Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy


Bower, Borner

The longer you drive, the more you lose fear.

After a day off, there was only one training round for the senior TT on Wednesday. We changed the setup again and I really wanted to ride with slicks. I should go to the big final of the TT as 21st. The package was definitely quick because I didn’t have a really good lap because of the traffic and the oil flag. But now the Kawa was a little more nervous again, which is why my right forearm cramped. The K-Tech people rebuilt again. What clearly got better were the quick changes of direction. The Kawa now drove great in the fast corners and went much better over all the bumps. Meanwhile I like jumping better and better.

In the evening I made another visit to the Metzeler tent city. The weather couldn’t be nicer and we had a beer. Then a quick interview for Metzeler, and when I told the Italian camera crew about my fears and how I overcame them, I had a really nice feeling. I was happy. “This is exactly my world,” I thought. Then there was an award ceremony at Villa Marina, and I got my first bronze replica and the medal for the best newcomer. What a moment, but it immediately passed when I saw the silver replicas. I wanted one of those now and my good intentions about driving without pressure were gone.

Senior TT


Horst Saiger at the Tourist Trophy


Saiger

aiger is the reigning Swiss champion in the superbike class. At his first TT, the cool Austrian got two bronze replicas and two medals as the best newcomer in the Superstock and Senior TT races.

Friday, Senior-TT, after a lot of back and forth I decided on the tread tires and accepted the longer pit stop to change tires in order to feel safe. The start took place punctually at 1 p.m. It started with a full pot, sixth gear, jump at the traffic lights and the ninja runs like on rails. No twitching, no banging the handlebars – I felt good. The experienced Karl Harris had started ten seconds before me, but it wasn’t long before I saw him. There were yellow flags just before Glen Helen. At the TT, that means going very slowly, because there are no fall zones here. Everything that comes off the track comes back on the track. Two curves later: red – race stopped!

Something bad must have happened there, otherwise it won’t stop here. Everyone must stop immediately. We then learned from the marshals that a driver fell at Brayhill and that spectators were injured. About half an hour later a marshall came on a motorcycle and all the riders had to follow him back to the grandstand. It was funny how all the pilots who started before us stood at the edge of the track and gradually joined in. Michael Dunlop, Cameron Donald and John McGuinness waved from the edge of the track – a surreal picture!

At 4.30 p.m. there was a restart over the full distance, six laps, 360 kilometers or just under two hours. I was on the right track, the Penz team gave me pitboard signals at Gooseneck and a friend of Cameron Donald’s at Creg-ny-baa. I started from 39th place, P24 was on the board before the second pit stop. At the first stop, I had already noticed that we didn’t seem to have the fastest gas pump. The second stop was more problematic, however, because after four laps the rear tire had to be changed, which is not as easy on a Superstock motorcycle as it is on a superbike, where you can change a lot.

But I had a bigger problem: I wanted to drive the last two laps with a very dark visor because of the low sun. That was very clever of me, because I actually had no problem with the sun. Otherwise I saw very badly. The change was too big and I was a bit disoriented. A couple of times it was pretty close, which is why I had to slow my pace. My timing with braking, turning in and accelerating just wasn’t right anymore.

But I wanted to improve, especially because the last lap is the only really flying one, because otherwise you come out of the pits or drive into the pits. I had a good lap with 18.16 minutes. The average was 123.85 miles or 199.3 km / h and put me in 23rd place – again best newcomer. The first thing that went through my head when everyone congratulated me and my team on their great debut at the Tourist Trophy after the race: How can we get faster, what do we need next year and what do we need to improve, what do I have to do? find and who could help us?

But much more important: I have conquered fear, a fear that I did not know before. But it was my own fault because I wanted to impose my will on the route. When I lost all trust in myself and my material in seconds. When I almost fell over Ballaugh Bridge and got the 160 mph jump that killed Matsu. But after I overcame my fear, there was great respect for the track. I knew that she didn’t want to kill me, that I couldn’t fight her aggressively – then she fights back mercilessly. So I circled the Mountain Course in awe. From then on he made us friends, and I got faster and faster and faster and faster…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *