Mid of season review

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When things get too quiet on here, it usually means people are either busy or recovering from the start of the season.
It's about july and for the Europeans that means the summer holidays start, people are on vacation and the Pullers are almost half way through the season, licking their wounds from an extremely tough competition from the last 3 months.
And it's been an expensive competition for some, too.
It all started in the little town of Weseke on a sunny day in march. Was a nice day of pulling including the first public presentation of the Dragon Fire tractor, which burnt pistons in a test run before and has not been seen in a progressed state since then. Rumor has it, there might be a chance it will be back out in august with a different fuel injection system. The dutch twin Griffon machine "the Judge" prooved it's in good condition for the points season again, after it's great performance in Zwolle.
For the Green Spirit Team the Pull Off of the 4.5t mod ended with a rod out of one of their Griffons - but it was not the last Griffon engine to die this year.
The Green Monster did pretty well in the 2.5t demo run, being out on HP tires, a rather rare sight in the light mod class so far.
Next stop for the Pullers was Arnhem. A little low on numbers, the pull went ok and the Delta Lloyd Simply Irresistible put it's stamp on the mod class. The new MPM Seaside Affair made it's first steps, but engine trouble prevented bigger success that day.
The Pro Stock class was extremely low on numbers and a piece of cake to win for the danish Bukke Bruse.
The Super Stocks struggled with a too hard track and the results didn't mean much at the end of the day.
The dutch TWD class could celebrate a new winner in it's ranks: The Screaming Bobcat machine showed it's potential with it's first victory at it's third event ever.
On we went to Füchtorf.
After a long day of pulling Farm and Hot Stocks, it became clear things are moving forward in germany in the lower level of Pulling. Still by far not where the dutch are, but potential is there.

The day after, the young boys of the danish Fox Team showed they by now have their act together and left germany with a 1st and a 2nd place and also the Iwan team showed they've been busy over the winter, having the good old Iwan perform like never before.
The Claas Team struggled with major engine trouble, but had both tractors "in the game" with top 3 finishes.
The next weekend it was Euro Cup time in Denmark and the first really big international competition in 2007.
The Super Stock class laid down a good show, having it's number back up to the point where they can provide good competition. David Jones on the Just Smokey had the first victory and pretty much put it on the dutch and the other british machines. Competetive tractors from other countries are unfortunatly still rare though...
The 4,5t mod class had a very close competition with the just repaired Green Fighter coming out on top of it that day.
The 2.5t mod, having it's first appereance on the Euro Cup ever the day after, probably put on the best show seen in a Euro Cup event for a long time. Four tractors showed to have the potential to matter in the points race: Black Power, Green Spirit, Le Coiffeur and Green Monster.
Pro Stock competition remained as close as last year and still had the same people on top: The Herlevi Family on their ever strong Valtra machines and mixed within the danish John Deere and the dutch Rocky.
The dutch point season was opened in Wierden a little later and showed the Pro Stock class in horrible condition. Only one machine was running right (Rocky)!
The 3.5t modified was won by a Bandit on the loose. This triple KB machine must be the miracle of the season. The boys from Putten put it REALLY badly on the rest.
The Simply Irresitible continued it's great performance in the 4,5t at Wierden and left the others scratching their hads.
A surprising victory of Zapo in the Super Stock class added some extra thrill to the points race to come and with Lambada and Little Rascal taking the top two places in the Mini Rod competition the top machines of last year were at it again.
The german circuit continued in the south at Seifertshofen, the home of Eugen Kiemele.
Track conditions were a little tough for the light mod classes and Isotov 2 took home the victory in front of the Green Monster there. The Le Coiffeur struggled with engine problems and did not really recover from that for a while to come.
Hans Schwaiger, one of the few Diesel SS Pullers left in Europe had a good day and took home the victory ahead of the Alky Burners of the Kaiser family, while the Green Fighter passed the Iwan in the 4,5t class. In the Mini rods "Mr. Rabbit" was back into old shape and caputured the win there, starting a points battle with the Ghost Buster team and the Blue Magic tractor. The german Pro Stock class was showing some improvements, but they all have long ways to go until they can catch up with Klaus Mühlenbrock on the Back to Europe, who was heavily complaining about a way to light sled setting and no traction, leading to a run without making enough boost to get the water injection engaged.
Back to the Netherlands and some shake up in the points at Emmeloord.
The Runaway Deer Team showed they can run with the very best and beat the famous Rocky in the Pro Stock class. Edward Beukeveld on the Snoopy Ford managed a third place and showed he is a reliable hooker for points, that people have to keep an eye on.
The Dingerinks ran their Lambada to the maximum and captured two wins in the mod classes, while the Bandid boys had problems with the boundary line and the Delta Lloyd Simply Irresistible lacking power when the Hemi guys get their power to the ground. The Judge continued with strong performances and seddled in 4th position of the 3.5t while a good running Popeye and Whispering Giant battled for 3rd in the heavy mod class points. The new MPM Seaside Affair was still not running at full potential though.
In the Mini Rod class it was again Little Rascal and Lambada who were the ones to beat and the TWDs had a rare winner: The Intertechno Predator beetle left no doubt, it has to be considered in the points race this year, too.
In the Super Stocks the Bits'n Pieces team set some things straight again, but the Aerdvruter Team showed it can be right on their back now.
To the north of germany and Hassmoor: Good track, full house and good competition.
The Claas team battled it out with the danish guys in the light mod classes, while in the heavy classes there was no way past the Iwan again.
Rowdy had another win in the Super Stocks and now lead the Super Stock points!
With Mr Rabbit being absent, the Blue Magic Mini won the class up north against the danish tractors and the Ghost Busters and kept the Mini points open for more competition.
Pro Stock wise, Klaus Mühlenbrock showed what happens if the sled is set heavy and he can build some boost - WAY ahead of the rest.
Off to France and more Euro Cup pulling.
The 2.5t mod again made a hell of a show and had one mory team showing it's capability for top spots: Stefan Kronval on the swedish Wild Thing twin Hemi hammered down a second place finish behind Black Power, leaving only third and 4th place to the V12 powered machines Green Monster and Green Spirit.
The heavy 4.5t modifieds had a battle with a track that was really going away and a smart Bert Wuytak, who put it on all of them with his Baby Duck turbine tractor. The Claas team was lucky to have an early hook and coming in second in the end, giving them the lead in the points for now. But the Green Spirit is right on their back with the twin Griffons. The V8 guys sure seem to be in trouble right now and have a lot of catching up to do in the events to come, if any of them still wants to win the points.
In the Pro Stock class we had a red machine on the podium for the first time, that hasn't been there for a long time: The dutch Extreme Temptation stayed behind the best Valtra, but put it on John Deere, the other two Valtras and also the Rocky!
The Super Stocks were a power battle again, won by Willem Veldhuizen ahead of David Jones and Edwin Derksen. Peter Clarke and Geoff Ashcroft of the Clarke Pulling team probably have to come up with something this season, if they still want to turn the Euro Cup around in their favour!
A look up north to Denmark.
While the danish championships, except for the Pro Stock class, are struggeling having real top machines running seriously for points, a lot of work is done in the lower rankings. For example the Starfighter Team with their two "odd" radial tractors is having a good season and a lot of nice new iron is out in the B-Level competition. A lot of young blood that will for sure bring the danish championship back up in quality soon.
Also in Finland and Sweden the sport is getting back into better shape with lots of new blood and new tractors.
The absolte surprise is the italian circuit though.
With the aqusition of the triple Allison Starlight Express, they now have a top modified machine running for points in Italy. Should we say "for luck for the others" the new team is still struggeling a little with reliability? Anyhow - the stands a full and if some of that money is passed on to the teams and not ending up in the promoters pockets only, the circuit will grow strong. Their Pro Stock class already needs to be considered as one of the better competitions in Europe.
But back to the top of European Pulling, the competition in Made. I have written quite the report about it further down and most of you have probably read it.
Runaway Deere again won the Pro Stock class, and with Rocky having engine trouble, Edward Beukeveld captured a runner up, adding to his good position in the dutch Pro Stock points.
The new MPM Seaside Affair had a terrific day and crawled up some in the mod points. The Lambada team destroyed two engines, lacking traction, but came out with good results. The Simply Irresistible Team as well as the Bandit team both had bad weekends and the results were just good for scrap results.
Willem Veldhuizen seems to be the king of Super Stocks again while the Aerdvruter Team has made excellent progress and took home a runner up position. Little Rascal seems to be the mini to beat again, having the Lambada well under control and the Mission Impossible providing spectacular flips this season, rather than usuable results for the points race.
The TWD remains thrilling, the top for guys are really having a battle and it's not forseeable who will be the winner in the end.
But there also was Euro Cup competitions in Made and one of those was the finals for the light mods, where the Green Spirit team could turn it all around in their favour to a Euro Cup title, after Poul Ager Jensen kicked a rod out of the Black Power. Frank Bartholomé on the Le Coiffeur totally screwed up, laying the single Griffon on it's side while the Green Monster came in on a save third place ahead of Wild Thing. One thing is for sure though: The European Championship competition of that group in Herning later this year will be an interesting one!
It's also not getting boring in the Pro Stock class. The danish John Deere took home the victory at Made ahead of two Valtras and the Rocky. They ain't done in that class yet!!!
After Made the dutch had another event at Oudenhoorn under really bad weather conditions.
The Runaway Deer team managed another victory and now has the points lead in the Pro Stock competition ahead of Rocky. Edward Beukeveld only finished 5th but sits on a nice third spot in the points.
The Bandit boys did it again and blew the competition off the track in the 3,5t, where the MPM Seaside Affair now seems to work a little better than in the beginning of the season and the Lambada is struggeling with traction problems, causing too high revs on the engines (heard they broke the third engine for this season there).
The Predator won the TWDs there - man are they fighting there!!!
Again Little Rascal on top of the mini rods (ouch - 950 kg modified for the dutch of course), slowly heading towards the dutch championship?
Willem Veldhuizen get's things under control in the Super Stocks, but Zapo, Aerdvruter and the other Bits'n Pieces are by far not done fighting for the runner up yet.
Finally with a good result in the heavy class at Oudenhoorn again: Green Spirit! Strong in the Euro Cup season but trouble plagued in the dutch championship. The 4.5t class in the dutch championships by far ain't over yet!!!
The last pull I want to put a little scoop on was at Verl/Germany.
Excellent track, good weather, the Fox and Green Spirit teams joined the competition.
The Larsen boys again did everything right in the 3.5t and beat the Claas machines, who have taken over a far ahead lead on the german points though.
The Pro Stock class is still in horrible shape, but getting better. At least some of them guys are finally building boost and start to have their little competition behind the top two machines.
The mini rod competition remains interesting, as the Mr. Rabbit could capture another victory and there is still four machines that can capture the title.
The 2.5t mod class seems to be again the class of the Green Monster, which at Verl even managed to beat the Euro Cup Champion Green Spirit. Frank Bartholomé had his Le Coiffeur machine back on the track, but broke the supercharger drive shaft. Nothing but bad luck for him this season.
The heavy mod classes are the "IWAN SHOW" this year. The team from Langenberg puts it on pretty much everybody this year. No Green Fighter, no Fox, no Kiepenkerl that can run with it in the points.
Might become interesting at the European Championships, as the team still refuses to run the Euro Cup season: "Too much stress...."