Tacho Karacho II

Outside SIP’s Landsberg HQ is an arrow-straight piece of road 400 metres long. Perfect for the third race of this year’s German Scooter Championship.

It probably didn’t enter the mindss of Rolf and Alex when they moved to their new premises that the industrial estate on which they’re based would make a perfect race track. Now in its second year, ‘Tacho Karacho’ is rapidly becoming established as a key fixture in the Deutsche Blechroller Meisterschaft (DBM or Germann Scooter Championship).

Sunshine, two stroke and spills

Unlike last year’s event, which was blighted by wet weather, this year’s fixture, held on July 27, was blessed by glorious sunshine. This, together with massive quantities of cold beer and freshly cooked pizza, brought the crowds out in force. Roughly translating in slang as ‘full throttle’, Tacho Karacho benefits from the type of professional organisation only seen in events such as Grand Prix racing. From pit girls to LED result boards to celebrity commentators in the form of German hockey legend Harald Birk and DBM co-organiser Andre Scholz, the crowd was both entertained and kept up to date with results as they happened.

This year marks SIP’s 25th anniversary and the company had chosen the event as another excuse to celebrate their success. The prospect of a great day’s racing, combined with an after party, saw German riders and spectators rubbing shoulders with the racing elite from Austria and Italy. In all, 40 riders reported to participate in the different classes.

As usual, the contingent from Italy proved to be strong and included top riders such as Simone Bertani from BFA and Ivan Maghini from Tiniracing. Sadly, for German riders the home turf advantage was negated by a series of technical problems and it was an Italian, Claudio Maffi from Team Cinquini, who claimed victory in the ‘Best of All’ category. The Italians didn’t have it all their own way however, as Frank Schiemer made it through to the final to do battle with the quick Italian drivers, only narrowly failing

to succeed. A new event record was set by Maffi, who took just 6.52 seconds to complete the 150m sprint. A measure of the sheer horsepower on tap is evidenced by the fact that six riders achieved terminal speeds of around 137km/h (85mph) from a standing start.

Regrettably, there were two unfortunate incidents. Julian Junginger lost control of his scooter just after the start and crashed. Incredibly, after receiving hospital treatment he was back on the circuit by the end of the day. A second, potentially serious incident was only avoided by the quick reactions of riders who were completing their runs to find that a disgruntled resident was spraying water on to the braking area. Racing was suspended whilst the situation was resolved, although the incident failed to ‘dampen’ the day’s superb atmosphere.

In the evening riders, visitors and helpers celebrated the race and SIP’s birthday at a Soul Night in Landsberg’s beautiful town centre. The next morning feeling both tired and satisfied after an excellent weekend, friends old and new parted ways across the Alps.

The next DBM event is to be held in Aachen, but will next year see Tacho Karacho III? Who knows, but if this year’s event is anything to go by there must be a good chance. Readers are advised to follow SIP’s web blog or Facebook page for details of events held in Landsberg throughout the year. Whether it’s an open day, race meet or ride-out, they’ve a very different atmosphere from British rallies, and from personal experience we can say that well travelled visitors are made especially welcome.

The next DBM event is in Aachen from September 6-8. www.deutscheblechrollermeisterschaft.de www.sip-scootershop.com

Stan