" The Coolest Roadracing in The World "

Hi Mototune USA fans !! Way up in the north of Norway lies one of the most remote and exotic race tracks on Earth. The city is called Mo (Pronounced "moo") and just outside of Mo is the Arctic Circle Raceway, which is about 20 km south of the actual arctic circle !! Surprisingly, the weather here is much warmer than it would be at this latitude in Canada or Alaska, because of the warm westerly flow of the gulf stream coming in from the North Sea. Norway is very rugged and mountainous, and the nature is absolutely breathtaking. The Norwegian people are very friendly, and they definitely know how to have fun !!  A huge thanks to http://www.brewery.no the Norwegian Budweiser importers for helping me to bring this race coverage to you ! When you drink a Budweiser in Norway, you must first say: "SKÅL" (pronounced "skoal" in English ... & it means "cheers" ) So, wherever you live, go get yourself an Ice Cold Budweiser, say "SKÅL" as you enjoy my tribute to the racers in the land of the midnight sun !!! ~ Pat McGivern     " MotoMan "

Ice Cold           Budweiser !!                  " SKÅL "

                      " Velkommen til Norge !! "
                                                                    (Welcome to Norway !!)

Tom Aarskaug	Even Flaat	Dag-Steinar Sundby Jan-Tore Skoglund Even Flaat	Vegar Hjellødegård
Chris Calvert Norvald Haaland	Thorleif Netland	Tage Solberg	Erlend Rolstad
Arnt Sølvsberg	Morgan Ølnes	Nina Hagen	John Inge Asperheim
Bjørn Bye	Magnus Eker Christoffersen	Robert Petterson	Espen Sandbakken

Thorvald's Comeback !!!

Thorvald Sæby is one of roadracing's "winningest" riders. He's not only well known in Norway, but America too ! Anyone who has been to Daytona Bike Week will remember hearing the name "Thorvald Sæby" over the loudspeaker many times over the years. I first met Thorvald at Daytona in 1993, and I've had the opportunity to build some of his race engines for his Daytona adventures. Throughout the mostly "ups" and occasional "downs" of roadracing, we've been great friends on and off the track ever since.

Then, the tough times struck in 2000. While racing for another Norwegian Championship, Thorvald had a nasty crash... in the fall he dislocated and partially "re-located" both shoulders as he tumbled. As if that wasn't bad enough, a few months later he was in a serious car accident that resulted in severely broken ribs ... and nearly ended his life ! 

After 2 years of recovery, which included a bout with what he describes as a "Mental Flu", or depression from all of the time spent in the hospital and severe pain from the injuries... Thorvald made his surprising return to roadracing !! He was invited to ride the Budweiser Yamaha R6's after André Løwen's retirement from racing. To the astonishment of all, Thorvald finished an impressive 3rd place in his first race back !! He continued with a consistent string of top 3 finishes, pushing past the pain and lack of movement in both shoulders. At the end of the 2002 season, Thorvald Sæby has proven to everyone that he's the Real Deal .... as he took 2nd place in the 600 Production Championship  !!!

Thorvald Sæby...

The Real Deal !!

" This Bud's For You, Thorvald !!! "

Jens Helge Jacobsen	Jens Helge Jacobsen	John Grøsland	John Grøsland
Hårek Flathaug	John Rasmussen	Trond Lervik	Kai Christoffersen
Kim Marius Olsen	Knut Bråstad	Lars Vadseth	Roger Vatshaug
Frode Haug	Bjørn Erik Engebakken	Superbike Start	Marius Malmo

Jon Fredheim Photography
I'm honored that Norway's top photographer and moto-journalist has offered to provide Mototune USA with these super action photos.  It's great to have Jon and M/C Avisa helping us to further promote the sport of roadracing !! These pictures add some great action and a second "viewpoint" of the race weekend.

The 600 Battle !!	Jan-Tore Skoglund is about to win the SS600 race ahead of Dag-Steinar Sundby &  Tage Solberg	600 Production Start Norvald Haaland on pole position.	Oddgeir Havnen leading on lap one ahead of Thorleif Netland and Rolf Kåre Valderhaug.
Liss Anne Lie (14) and Ingvild Bolme (11) battle for 3rd place in the ladies' race.  Liss Anne won the duel.	Sweden's Stefan Olgarsson won the 250 Production class by riding like a "devil" !	Superbike Grid:  Oddgeir Havnen Yamaha R7 on pole, Rolf Kåre Valderhaug, Suzuki.	Susann Wassmo Steinbakk making her preparations for the ladies' race.
Local club NMK Rana's fastest lady Susann Wassmo Steinbakk ahead of  Nina Askeland.	Tanja Stauning leads eventual winner Nina Hagen.  Nina went on to become the Ladies Champion !!	Click Here To Visit M/C Avisa Online !! http://www.mc-avisa.no

Norvald's Crash !!
Jon Fredheim caught this wild sequence of photos as Norvald Haaland goes past the limit in Friday's practice ! It's never easy to re - focus after a crash like this and get back to winning form, but that's exactly what Norvald did. He went on to win both races on Saturday and Sunday, taking his first Norwegian National Championship ! (600 Production)

 Congratulations from all of us at Mototune USA !!! 

Norvald Haaland  "Exploring The Limits"

" Catching Some Air "

" #@&^%*# "

Mette Kjaer Sørensen	Jan-Tore Skoglund	Nina Askeland	Thorleif Netland(34) Frode Haug (8)
Norvald Haaland	Norvald Haaland	Oddgeir Havnen	Stefan Åeng
Rune Pedersen	Per Kristian Mausethagen	Per Utterstrøm	Petter Solli
Roger Ruud	Rolf Kåre Valderhaug	Ronny Sørli	Stellan Hedlund

Komatsu Sundby Racing
Dag-Steinar Sundby is super fast on the track, and his wild hanging off style makes him a real crowd pleaser !! The effort doesn't stop there though...

The Komatsu Team has set up a truly interactive display of their products. The construction equipment is available for a "test drive" right at the track ... and I just had to try it out ! Arne Sandum, the sales manager for Komatsu in Norway, gave me a quick lesson and soon I had the big machine digging huge rocks like an expert. This has to be the best promotion for a roadrace sponsor I've ever seen !!

Dag-Steinar and his team really have to be commended on their creative promotion, and also on winning the 600 Supersport National Championship at the final race at Våler.  

Dag-Steinar Sundby	Team Komatsu	Team Komatsu
MotoMan "Digs" Komatsu !!!	For Komatsu Sales In Norway: Please Click Here: http://www.hesselberg.no   Arne Sandum Sales Manager

Remi Andre Eikel	Bjørn Sjærvik	Rolf Kåre Valderhaug	Ronny Sørli
Stefan Olgarsson	Terje Kaltoft	Hårek Flathaug	Svein Ivar Slaaen
Andre Dizerens	Nina Askeland and Terje Sellereite	Anne Winness	Anders Nafstad
Bent Inge Bakke	Bjørn Erik Engebakken	Jan Erik Wagner	Terje Sellereite

Fast Bikes !!

Getting The  Fast Bikes Ready!!

Rolf Kåre Valderhaug Fast Bike !!

Jørgen and Mags Super Mechanics

Light Rear Brake !!

Stine Karlsen	Geir Aasheim	Geir Holmberg	Tommy Ellertsen
Marius Oustad	Einar André Tørl	Espen Brandstad	Jørgen Ersnes
Tage Solberg	Geir Bjertnæs	Harald Haneborg	Gjøran Moe Bjørnsen
Glenn Haagensen	Gunnar Haraldsen	Erik Rønning	Jan Ivar Engelsta

Tanja Stauning is Energized With ...
                 ... Battery Energy Drink !!

Another big story of the weekend was the huge surge forward by Tanja Stauning. The Battery Energy Drink Team had been working hard all season to get up to the level set by superfast Nina Hagen. Tanja started out the weekend with some very fast laps in practice, and by the time the final qualifying session was over, she had taken the pole position for the race !! 

Both Saturday's and Sunday's Ladies' races saw some of the most exciting action of the season, as Tanja was suddenly competitive with Nina !! The two traded the lead for lap after lap, and in the end Nina won both with Tanja right on her back wheel at the finish line !!

"I'm so close to Nina's speed now, it's just the best feeling" said an Tanja after the races. Battery is the top selling energy drink in Norway, and it's a great match for this Energetic up and coming roadracing star !!!     

Tanja and her tuner Lars discuss some last minute bike set-up

" Go Tanja Go "

The Arctic Sun Shines On Tanja Stauning !!

" It Keeps You Going !! "

Øystein Borch's 2 Stroke Tuning Trick
I first met Øystein at Daytona in 1995, where he impressed many of the Americans with his speed at the high horsepower track. How does he manage to keep his GP bike running so fast ?? With a detonation sensor !! 2 stroke tuning is a fine balance between the best fuel and air mixture for power. If the engine is a little too lean, it will be very fast, but it will also detonate (explode) the fuel-air mixture instead of smoothly burning it. Excess detonation will quickly result in seized pistons ... not good !! 

Many tuners stay on the safe side by running the jetting a little too "rich", but the engine loses power and throttle response from the excess fuel. By measuring the number of detonation "shock waves" in the cylinder, the detonation sensor allows Øystein to run the engine lean enough for best possible power, while keeping the detonation just below the limit of piston failure.

Øystein Borch	The detonation sensor records the average number of detonation "shocks" for every 1,000 revs.  If there are too many "shocks" ... then the motor "pops" !!	Øystein Borch !!
Polished combustion chamber ... you can use it for a mirror !!!	This photo shows just how lean the engine is... There's no carbon build-up, except for where the incoming fuel sweeps across the piston !!! The green arrows point to where the head gasket was trying to leak. At the race in Karlskoga, Sweden the week before, Øystein had to use epoxy to mend a broken o-ring ...  incredible, but it worked !!

Speed Up Your Bike !!
Thorvald Saeby, Dag-Steinar Sundby, Oddgeir Havnen, Tanja Stauning, Tom Aarskaug, Even Flaat, Jan-Tore Skoglund and many more fast racers from Norway have signed up for my free horsepower tuning newsletter:

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