The Flying Dutchman Finishes Season With An Easter Effort
MVB Racing posted Tuesday April 10, 2007.

The 2007 Easter Sprintcar Trail was nothing spectacular for Mike Van Bremen and his team, but on the positive side the car is straight and the confidence is good as they look to the 410-thing next season!

On the opening night of the Easter Trail at Geelong’s Avalon Raceway on Good Friday, Van Bremen was in the thick of the action qualifying directly into the 30-lap A-Main in front of a standing room only home track crowd.

Earlier in the night, the V#6 Action Blast Cleaning / CSR Methanol Maxim set the 14th quickest time in time trials on a greasy racing surface.

“We were caught out a bit in time trials on a greasy track. Time trials are important in the Easter Trail as it gives you bonus points. If you are not in the top eight fastest cars you are struggling to make the final,” said ‘The Flying Dutchman’.

In the opening heat race, Van Bremen started seventh and drifted back to eighth. In his second heat, Van Bremen moved from fourth to third and this effort was enough to gather enough points to be the last direct qualifier into the main show to start from 16th.

Five laps in, Troy Shiells rolled over in turn two and Van Bremen was forced to stop in the incident and he was sent to the rear. For the remainder of the final, Van Bremen battled strongly in an attempt for a top ten finish but 12th was the best that could be achieved.

“We were solid and it was good to move forward in the final, but it was nothing spectacular,” said Mike.

The team elected to skip the second round at Mt Gambier’s Borderline Raceway in preference to making sure that they were set for a red-hot go in the final round at Warrnambool’s Sungold Stadium-Premier Speedway on Easter Sunday night.

The track was incredibly fast all night long at Warrnambool and time trials were extremely competitive with half a second separating over half of the field. Van Bremen set the 18th quickest time, which meant a bit of work had to be done in the qualifying heat races to make the final.

In the opening heat, Van Bremen started and finished fifth on a track where passing was near impossible because of just how fast every car was going.

“The track was fast, as it always is this time of the year in Warrnambool. In the first heat I did three or four laps that were actually faster then my time trial lap,” said Van Bremen.

In the second heat, Van Bremen had to pass cars to make the final, as he explains: “I started from sixth and my plan was to go to the outside and try and pull off a big move in the first two turns. Unfortunately it didn’t pay off and the car took a bike and I lost some positions.

“It was a risk that had to be taken, but it didn’t pay off and I finished eighth in the heat and found myself in the B-Main.”

Van Bremen started the B-Main from fifth and he was confident of finishing in the top two and transferring to the main event, but that confidence was soon lost on the start when there was a concertina effect in the field. The start failed when the field banged against each other and Van Bremen was among the unlucky drivers with a bent front end.

Van Bremen was disappointed with the finish, but he soon realised it was his final race in a 372 motor as they switch to 410s for next season.

“We will convert our big Maxwill engine into a 410, I’m looking forward to it… it’s exciting,” he said.

The MVB Racing team would like to thank the following sponsors for season 2006-2007:
Action Blast Cleaning
CSR Methanol
Wholesale Automatics
National Rod Ends
Speedway Motors Australia
www.sprintcarworld.com.au

Release by Jarryd Stokes
0400 912 581
stokesy24@hotmail.com

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