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As other  teams, we seriously thought about to buy some Keith Black ftnc’s. (ok mr. police I am joking)
The US Dollar should have made it possible in the past. But after having some actual price offers, we noticed that for 1 competitive KB , even more than our budget we have for building one complete tractor is needed……
Of course we will continue pulling with our big CW engines! Together with Jos, I made a few weeks ago a really unforgettable trip to buy some lovely toys for Christmas eve……

Since the Bettborn event, I spent a lot of time working on the new garage for our bus.( even not finished yet…) Another week passed away by  preparing the tractor for the international racing show in Luxembourg. Then, some parts on the bus needed to be changed for the tech control, finally we passed without any objections. Lot of consideration was spent on the data logger printout of this season, and we noticed that the chassis worked not as expected. Of course some decisions were made to improve hard- and software of our tractor for 2009. Furthermore I spent lots of hours in searching engine spare parts and tools. Facilities in the workshop to handle heavy parts were improved too.

The Roude Léiw junior will be present on the upcoming IMS international motor show in Luxembourg.

 We are proud to be guest on the official stand of the ACL
Event date: 21/22/23 november 2008
Furthermore we hope to present our new web site with more info during the next weeks.

In Edewecht obviously we had some problems with the track. The distance of our first pull was 95,91m. In the second pull we managed to get a full pull. In the pull off we again got some clutch problems. Which a slipping clutch we finished on a 4th place with 83,19cm having exactely the same distance as IsotovII!
The podium was for Green SpititVI with 84,06cm, Black Power 89,00m and the winner of his home pull was Red Painter witch 92,37m.
As again our tractor had no driveline problems at all, we decided to change our clutch back to the same standard as Wild Star is running with. That way we will save some more money buying clutch disks, and of course we hope that way to be fit for the EC in Norway and of course for our home pull in Bettborn. As this modifications will take us some time, it seems that we have to cancel the last german pull in Schmachtenhagen.
A test pull in Bouconville on the 23rd of august is planned.

The final Eurocup round for the 2,5t modifieds in Herning was very disappointed for our team. After all tractors had made their first pull, we were at that moment on a good  4th place with some 92meters. But knowing that our pull could have been much better, we decided to make a second pull. Having problems to start the engine, we were not able to come back on track for our second attemp. BUT a  new shity rule says that if the team decides to make a second attemp, the first one has gone....even if no second attemp is made! So we have been put back on the last place!
We (and other teams) really think that for next year this rule has to be changed as it was before. The 90 meter rule is ok, but please dont stress the teams with very unfair decisions they have to make before leaving the track, and please keep the best distance for good as it is handled in every other (motor)sports......

Finally our Eurocup results are improving!
It was not easy to find grip on the tracks in Putten (NL) but we found good settings and a full pull should have been no problem. But after passing 80 meters most of the tractors drifted off to the left side of the track. So we did, but while braking one tube connection broke off  and I had to close the throttle for a short moment to keep the tractor between the lines. We stopped at 98,80meters which brought us to the 4th place.
Again the engine was running perfect and we had no problems with the driveline.
We will  use the two weeks before the Eurocup final in Herning (DK) to rebuild the brake system and remove the lower cylinders of the engine. Too much oil is lost into the engine cylinders at the moment.

In Verl the engine settings were ok and we could make a rather easy full pull. Unfortunately the clutch started to slip during the last meters of this full pull. We decided to cancel our pull off run in order to avoid more clutch damage.
Back In the pits we immediately opened the clutch. We were using not only crower disks in Verl but also a couple of disks from another manufacturer. The last ones were gone. Obviously the coat of this disks cannot handle with our engine torque. Of course we will assemble again only crower disks for the next Eurocup race in Putten……

We had a great weekend in Bernay! Estimated 20000 enthusiastic spectators, and a very unusual time schedule: The first class was started on saturday evening at 19pm, then pulling under floodlight till 3am in the morning………
The 2,5tmod class was started first. We were very anxious to know if our changes in the fuel system would work?
They did. The engine ran very strong, but I paid a little bit too much attention to the engine behaviour and reacting too late with the brake while the junior was suddenly drifting off very strong to the right side of the track. We were ending up with a disqualification as you can see on this nice foto. (Thanks to Klaus for sending us the pic!)

In Made we got a problem with a cracked diaphragm while warming up the engine. No time left to change before hoocking the sled. Of course the engine could not get enough fuel. We ended up on a disappointed 11th  place.
Now we have to go for a hopefully better result next weekend in Bernay.

12 may in Hassmoor: we really wanted to know if our modified chassis can handle a little bit better the engine torque. Obviously a lot of traction could be made and a full pull was no problem. In the pull off, we got fuel pressure problems, the engine rpm dropped down from 3000rpm to 1800rpm for a short moment, although we manage to finish on a 3rd place, just some 60cm behind Black Power.
Hopefully the new driveline components can handle also in future the engine torque, because we really don`t want to change the look of the tractor (lighter fenders) in order to have more weight available for stronger driveline parts…………

27 april in Füchtorf: a slipping clutch suddenly allowed the engine to enter a never expected rpm region. As far as possible we could not detect any damage on the engine……..

We are happy to inform our fans that for the 2008 season, our first priority will be to participate the 2,5t modified  Eurocup circuit.
This year the EUROCUP FINAL will be held in Herning (DK) on the 26/27 July.
For more calendar details : click here