THE RACE TO THE CLOUDS
P94
Feature
the throttle application—the available maps in the
standard ECU simply don't allow for a clear 1-1/
throttle-to-rear-wheel ratio—and I'm losing valu-
able seconds despite riding as hard as I know. It's
a case of "computer says no."
By the end of the day, I'm five seconds off what
I did on the KTM 1290 Super Duke R in 2018 on a
shagged rear tire, and very pissed off.
That's when we make the SOS call to Noale,
and within 12 hours, Nicola is on a plane heading
to Colorado with a new Marelli ECU mapped by
Aprilia Racing. He will arrive on Thursday, but be-
fore then, we finish up second in class to Vahsholtz
and fourth overall in The W's on Wednesday.
Things are not looking good.
Carlin Dunne is simply on another level. I must
remind myself he is in a different class with about
40 horsepower more on tap (his machine is a
Ducati Panigale V4 S with the fairings taken off and
a one-piece handlebar attached), but we all still
count to the overall result. He is riding the Street-
fighter Prototype like a god, arcing his way up the
mountain a second ahead of his own movements.
Lucy Glockner is also incredibly impressive as
she goes second overall on day two, backing the
exotic BMW in like she's in her usual realm of the
Endurance World Championship.
Day three from Devil's Playground to The Sum-
mit rolls around and Nicola brings the magic ECU
and map. I liken the situation to the team and I'm
standing at the castle gates, pounding to get in,
while Nicola just turns up with the key and walks
through.
Suddenly, the hills are alive with the sound of an
Aprilia V4 at full noise, and I go second to Dunne
overall but more importantly I'm three seconds up
on Vahsholtz.
This increase in speed is confirmed once again
6:00 am on Day
Two in The W's.
You'd have to be
a pretty average
photographer to
take a bad shot
with this light.
