Benny Jerzenbeck’s joy at North West 200 podium

Benny Jerzenbeck
By Phil Wain
May 24 2006

The first outing for Team Benny Jerzenbeck this season came at last weekend’s International North West 200, North Ireland’s biggest sporting event and, for once, it was held in perfect dry and warm conditions.

Benny was riding a 250cc for Norman Rank’s “Motorcycle Competition Team” and the race would signal Benny’s first ever ride on a 250cc machine. The team arrived on the Saturday prior to race week in order to prepare for the race on the Triangle circuit but the cancellation of the Tuesday practice was not what Benny needed. This meant that Thursday evening’s practice session was the only chance to get a good start place on the grid.

Benny said: “We had no experience with this bike and I needed every lap to get familiar with the bike, especially as it was my first time on a bike since October last year. With time running out, our session on Tuesday was cancelled and without any laps, it made my job even harder. There was a lot of work to be done during practice like finding the right gearing, carburettor setting and then I had to put in a good lap time also.”

However, despite the limited track time, practice went very well for Benny and the team and his lap of 106.123mph, placed him fourth on the grid. The only problem encountered came in the closing laps of the session and, after stripping down the engine, Norman decided to change the crankshaft for the race. He had hoped to ride it in in the warm up lap for the first Superbike race but they weren’t allowed to go out, as they didn’t have the necessary permission from the race secretary. Therefore, Benny had to run in the crankshaft in the warm up lap for the 5-lap 250cc race.

In spite of all these problems the race went very well for the team and it was one of the races of the day, with no less than six riders contesting the win. Benny was able to match the pace of all of his rivals and, more often than not, was running in the top four. With a final lap of 108.332mph, the second fastest of the race, Benny was able to claim a well deserved third place, becoming the first ever German rider to step onto the podium at the North West 200.

Benny Jerzenbeck

After the race Benny said: “It was an unbelievable race for me. Before the race I was very unsure about the bike and in to the bargain I got a bad cold on Thursday night, which made me feel even worse. As the race started though I forgot about everything and was a little surprised that I could go with the front-runners. Because of the short practise we had the gearing was too long, which meant that I didn’t have enough top speed, so although I was able to stay in the slipstream of the other riders, I was unable to overtake. It also meant that I was having to brake really hard at the end of the long straights to catch up to the riders.

“The rest of the bike was excellent and in the last lap I rode very hard through the Ballysally Roundabout to get enough top speed for the run into Mathers Cross. It worked perfectly and I managed to take the lead going into Mathers Cross but going into the Corona Chicane both Nigel Beattie and Darren Burns overtook me again out the slipstream and I could do nothing. In this last lap I rode my fastest lap, 3 seconds faster than the laps before and the second fastest lap of the race. After I crossed the finish line I couldn’t believe it. It was unbelievable for me to ride against riders like Nigel Beattie and Darren Burns. It was also a very high feeling to lead a race in a meeting like the North West and to be the first German rider to step onto the podium makes it a little more special for me.

“It was my first time on a 250cc bike and I really loved the bike - it was a lot of fun! Last year I rode a single cylinder, four-stroke Supermono so the difference could not be bigger. It was also my first pure road race since the Scarborough Gold Cup meeting in 2003, which I really enjoyed and where I was happy about my bike and my performance. Now I’m looking forward to the next road race and hope to sort out other bikes to ride.”

The Team’s next scheduled outing is due to be the Southern 100 meeting in July although Benny is hopeful of taking in the Scarborough Cock o’ the North race, which takes place the weekend before. As mentioned, Benny is keen to ride in other classes, as well as the 250’s, so if anyone can help please contact him at bjerzenbeck 'at' arcor.de.