Santa Pod (England), May 29, 2014 - MPM-driver Martijn de Haas was the man in the spotlights at the opening round of the FIM European Drag Bike Championship in the Super Twin class at Santa Pod Raceway. In a sport where thousands of a second make the difference, De Haas smashed his personal best by 0.3 seconds. Driving the Joeri de Haas tuned MPM Harley, De Haas’ time was 6.787 seconds and with this run the MPM-driver broke the magic 7-seconds barrier for the first time in his career. De Haas was the number two qualifier and now is one of the fastest Super Twin drivers in Europe.
When Martijn en Joeri de Haas stepped up to Super Twin a few years ago, the brothers were hit by all kind of problems. Last year they decided to do it their own way and rebuilt the MPM Harley from scratch. The almost new bike had its first outing in Hockenheim last year and impressed again at the European Finals at Santa Pod. De Haas came close to his personal best (7.06 seconds) and the MPM Harley already was more reliable and consistent. Last winter new wiring was the next step. “Too many times we were hit by problems with the electronics, caused by the bad wiring. So to solve that problem, we renewed all the wiring”, said Joeri de Haas, crew chief en tuner of the MPM Harley.
Round 1 at Santa Pod Raceway, the opening round of the FIM European Drag Bike Championship, was the first race for De Haas Brothers to prove they were working in the right direction. Their goal for this season was, more reliability and breaking the 7-seconds barrier. The first qualifying run was a 8.09 seconds and run number two a 7.11 seconds, a first indication for the things to come, as this was already close to their personal best. In the third run, already far before De Haas crossed the finish line, it was loud and clear the Dutchman was rewriting his record books. The MPM Harley lifted the front wheel immediately at the starting line and put it down close to the finish line. An unbelievable 6.787 seconds and 207 mph lit up on the scoreboard. In a sport where thousands of a second make the difference, De Haas broke the 7-seconds barrier by more than 0.2 seconds and smashed his personal best by 0.3 seconds. De Haas was the number two qualifier and is now one of the fastest Super Twin drivers in Europe. “At last everything came together in one run. We knew this was possible with the adjustments we made this winter, but such a big step so soon, that also surprised us.”
Eliminations were washed away by persistent rain, so De Haas could not show his great form on race day. The next race in the FIM European Championship is at Alastaro in Finland, the first weekend of July.
- Author
- Remco Scheelings
- Photographer
- Remco Scheelings
Dragracing FIM European Championship Haas Brothers Main event MPM Racing MPM Sports Santa Pod Super twin Top fuel bike
