Super result for Vesa Kallio in Estonia: two race wins and two track records!

The Finnish road racing star Vesa Kallio won both the Superstock 600 and Superbike class races at the combined Finnish, Latvian and Estonian road racing championship round on the 7th of September on the auto24RING in Audru, Estonia. He also managed to set new track records in both classes.

Kallio rode the fastest lap on motorcycle on the new auto24RING track ever in the Superbike class and the record time is set at an incredible 1:14.348 (fastest speed 153.494 km/h).

In the qualifying for the race on Friday the one minute 14 seconds barrier remained unbeatable for all riders. The fastest lap was set by Sami Penna at 1:15.002. Kallio, who made his first visit to this track, had the third best time. Yet there was no doubting of the winner during the race: Kallio pushed himself to the lead already on the second lap and stretched the difference between himself and the closest competitor, Sami Penna so long it seemed like a century. Behind their backs two other Finnish riders, Erno Kostamo and Kari Vehniäinen, played out a dramatic duel for the third place. Although the old fox Vehniäinen, who had previously also won the Honda CBR 250R class, rose to the third position temporarily, Kostamo still managed to pass him before the finish. Penna's team-mate in the Yamaha team was helpful enough to keep Vehniäinen, the contender for the second place in the Finnish road racing championship at a safe distance. Hanno Velt, the fastest Estonian rider, finished the race in the sixth position, dropping two places during the race. Velt secured his Bridgestone Estonian Championship Superbike class title ahead of Penna.

„I started to become a little exhausted towards the end,“ said Kallio at the Superbike race award ceremony. He even skipped the Superstock 600 class prize-giving ceremony earlier in order to preserve energy. Still, Kallio's overall impression of the weekend was extremely satisfactory.

In the Superstock 600 class race Kallio also raced far ahead of his competitors and set the new track record with the lap time 1:15.968. Behind his back the fastest Estonian rider Martin Pärtelpoeg disappointed a little his fans because after having raced in the second position for most of the race he let the Finnish competitor Jani Käkelä pass and did not manage to regain the second position. The two Finnish female riders, Jasmin Sarjos and Kirsi Kainulainen, unfortunately dropped out of the race.

„This was the most exciting race of my life,“ commented the winner of the Honda CBR 500 beginners class Karl Pärtelpoeg, brother of Martin Pärtelpoeg. Karl and the leader of the class in the season Mihkel Osula rode the whole race as a tight tandem and passed each other more times than anybody could count. There were a couple of places on the track that seemed to suit better the one competitor and some places that were more suitable for the other. Since the one place favoured by Pärtelpoeg was closest to the finish, he passed Osula one last time and won the race. The difference was a mere 0.099 seconds! Allar Jõulu took the third place – he had the honour of offering competition to the motolegend Peeter Koval who raced his first competition after a long break. Koval is also familiar to the Finnish motorcycle enthusiasts as a test rider for Bike magazine.

In the Sidecars race a new track record was also set and the fastest lap is now 1:18.459, set by Petri Makkula / Timo Karttiala (FIN). They won the race ahead of Eero Pärm / Peeter Küüt (EST) and Tapio Mustonen/ Kim Friman (FIN).

In the Rookie 1000 / Superbike B class race two Estonians, Erkki Maripuu and Siim Soomann competed furiously for the third place and Soomann came out as the man on the podium since Maripuu and the Latvian rider Ilmars Rudzons crashed in one corner. The first and second places of the race were won by two Finns, Mika Hautala and Joni Leino.

In the Rookie 600 / Supersport B class race the first place was won by Janis Eglitis (LAT), the second and third were the Finns Aki Valkila and Henry Junkkarinen. The fast Estonian female rider Anastassia Kovalenko, who was previously second in the Biker 24 C-class race, was the 7th in this class. The Biker 24 C-class race results were decided to fix after the 5th lap since Normunds Lojans had a bad crash during the 6th lap and the race was stopped. Lojans still took the third place in this race, the winner was Aivo Avik (EST).

The last race of the day, the riders of the Historic / Classic motorcycles class brought an air of nostalgia and awe to the auto24RING track. More than 30 legendary riders on legendary bikes were in the start. The most famous of them, at least for the Estonians, was Lembit Teesalu, many times winner of the Kalevi Suursõit TT. Teesalu finished the race in the 8th position, Mati Reinup was 16th and Urmo Kadakas 18th. The winner was Jari Sihvonen.

12.09.2013.