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In part 2 of our story about the Joker Pulling Team, we will continue in the year 2000.

After the 1999 season came plans about to build a second mini modified tractor for the 2000 season. The team started to build the second mini in the winter before Christmas of 1999. The new mini was built out of many components from the old Joker tractors in the past. The tube chassis and many driveline parts of the tractor came from the 1998 Joker. Only the old aluminum roll cage of the 98 chassis had to be replaced by a 2 bar steel roll cage due to the new ETPC safety rules in 2000. The new roll cage was similar to the current Joker roll cage. The tractor received an Arias V8 Hemi engine with components from different pulling tractors.

The Arias engine block came from Eugen Kiemele's old modified tractor called ''Museums Cat'' and the Arias heads and the Littlefield blower came from old stocks of the Joker Team. The new mini modified tractor was painted yellow colors and got the name ''Junior''. The main driver of the new Junior was Manfred Zimmermann. But also, his both sons Claus and Thomas should drive the tractor a few times in the year of 2000.

On the European Champion tractor, wasn't changed much.The Arias Fontana engine received his new crankshaft and the rest of the power plant was overhauled. Also, the tractor received a set of new cut Firestone tires from Bob Parkes in the USA for the 2000 season.

The 2000 season for the Joker Team started in Zwolle, the Netherlands. But the first outing of the season was expensive for the team. After they rolled in front of the sled with the Joker, the Arias engine went out. Manfred tried to fire up again the engine, but without success. Back in the pits, they found out the camshaft and many more components were broken in the Arias engine. A further start for the Joker was impossible at the Dutch indoor pull. After the engine was repaired, the team went to the second Dutch indoor pull of the new century, the European Superpull in Ahoy, Rotterdam.

And the European Champion was back in top form. With an almighty speed right after the start, he was on the best way to a full pull, but a problem in the single wheel break system ruined the chances for a full pull. Thomas tried everything to keep his Joker in bounds, but without success. He was disqualified. That wasn't a good season start for the European Champion.

At the first German Championship round in Weseke at the end of March, the Zimmermann family showed up with 2 minis for the first time. On the new Junior, everything was still in safety mode.

Manfred Zimmermann did the maiden voyage of the new tractor and was satisfied with his first pull. But a second attempt for Junior wasn't possible due to problems with the ignition on the Arias engine. For Manfred was that the first run on a mini modified tractor since Eschach-Seifertshofen in 1991. Not so successful was the event for his son Thomas with Joker. Thomas had a lot of troubles in all 3 runs. The Joker was so difficult to drive, and Thomas had real troubles to bring his power to the ground. Only a 4th place for Joker and a 6th place for Junior in Weseke. Much better was the next round in Füchtorf, Germany for them.

After the difficult handling of the Joker in Weseke, Thomas had this time no problems in Füchtorf. With 2 very nice passes, Thomas could win with Joker the mini class there. Also, the new second tractor Junior ran well. After the problems with the ignition were solved, the engine ran well and Claus Zimmermann behind the wheel of Junior did a full pull. Also, surprisingly, the Cepek tires on the tractor worked pretty well. In the finals, first it looks pretty well for Claus until 40 m mark. The Arias engine short over revved and the tractor lost his left rear wheel.

The reason for the lost wheel was, the wheel with the half shaft ripped apart from the rear axle housing and the Junior was overtaken by his wheel. Claus could laugh about that situation, but the rest of the team was far from impressed, because the next event was a week later and that was their home pull in Eschach-Seifertshofen. Also, the home event was a success for the team from Ettlenschieß.

The track in Seifertshofen suited the Joker and his new Firestone tires very well, and Thomas Zimmermann could achieve his second national win in a row this season.

Junior was after the rear end repaired again, and Claus Zimmermann was back in the hot seat of the tractor. In the first attempt, Junior's engine ran not well again and at 83.47 was the end. In the pits they found out the V8 engine ran only on 5 cylinders and problem was like in Weseke the ignition. The problem was quickly fixed, but Claus didn't make the 2nd attempt. In the second attempt, his brother Thomas drove the Junior. With power from all 8 cylinders, he couldn't keep the Junior in bounds and was disqualified. In the end, it was the 5th place for Junior.

After this 2 national round wins, it was time for the first Euro Cup round of the season. For the 2000 Euro Cup season, the Zimmermanns had registered both minis for the competitions. After the 3rd place in the Euro Cup point standings and no win in 1999, the team hoped for more success in 2000. But the Euro Cup season started very hard for them.
The first competition of the Euro Cup was Herning, Denmark in the mid of May. Due to the European Championship which was held in Herning at the beginning of September that year, the Euro Cup event moved to May instead of July.

But to the competition. Thomas Zimmermann and Joker started with a bitter blow into the Euro Cup season. After a good start with the new cut Firestone tires from Bob Parkes, at around 50/60 m the Joker became unbalanced, the front right tire hit the ground a bit hard, and then it laid the mini on the right side. Fortunately, Thomas wasn't hurt and only had suffered a few bruises in this accident with the Joker. On the Joker were also some damages due to this crash. The front axle and steering were broken, the right exhaust header of the engine, the fuel tank, the right fender and the wheelie bars were bent.

So a second attempt wasn't possible due to the damages that day. Not better was the competition with the second tractor Junior. The mini wasn't drivable that day. Claus Zimmermann drove out of bounds in the first attempt and his brother Thomas had the same problem then his brother. But Thomas was just able to keep the mini on the track. In the daily ranking Joker was to find in 14th and Junior in 18th, not the start what the team wanted in the Euro Cup. In a few night shifts, the mini was repaired within a few days for the next round of the German championship in Anholt.

That round in Anholt was without any damages for the team this time. Thomas could qualify the Joker for the finals, but in the finals he was very carefully and risked not so much with the tractor. That resulted in a 5th place. Also, Junior with Claus Zimmermann behind the wheel managed a full pull. For Anholt, the team had switched to an old set of used Firestone tires on the tractor. Like his brother Thomas, he was carefully on the throttle lever of the Junior and managed only 55.69 m. That was 20 m less than his brother on Joker and only enough for the 7th place.

The next event on the schedule of the team was the Euro Cup round in Bernay, France. But this year the dry track conditions didn't suit Thomas Zimmermann and Joker, only the 6th place for him and almost 34 m behind the winner Stefan Kronvall and Wild Thing from Sweden. In Bernay, Manfred Zimmermann was back behind the wheel of Junior. Like at his son, the track not suited the Junior and his old Firestone tires. In both attempts, he failed to qualify for the finals and finished 9th.
After the disappointment last events for the team, in Haßmoor the team was with Joker back on the top.

On that Pfingst weekend, Thomas Zimmermann had the luck back on his site and could beat everybody with Joker in the mini class. This was rewarded with the 3rd win of the year. Also, his father Manfred had a better day. In his attempt he missed the full pull with Junior by 5 m, but the tractor had a straight run for the first time and Manfred was to find on the 6th place.
A week later was the next Euro Cup round in Grimmen, Germany. The year before in 1999, Thomas finished 3rd in Grimmen, but this year he struggled with the track conditions.

The track had so much traction, that the Joker was almost not drivable in the finals. At 69.15 m, he went off the throttle to keep the Joker in bounds. That meant only the 8th place and more points were lost in the Euro Cup title fight to the leaders. Also, Manfred with his Junior was way down the leaderboard in 12th. The next 3 German Championship rounds were better for the Joker Team. In Verl, Thomas achieved with Joker the runner-up place, in Krumbach-Breitenthal and Edewecht his 4th and 5th win of the season. In Verl the team stayed at home with the 2nd mini Junior and in Krumbach-Breitenthal they had troubles with the gearbox on the tractor.

Much better was Edewecht for the new Junior. For the first time the mini had 2 straight runs on the track and in the finals Claus Zimmermann finished 8th, just 10 m behind his brother Thomas with Joker.

Round 4 of the Euro Cup was in Hörby in Sweden. After 3 disappointing Euro Cup rounds, the team wanted to make ground on their rivals. Hörby was always a good place for the Zimmermann's in the past. But compared to the year before, the weather was completely different. A lot of rain in the days before made the track conditions very difficult, and most of the high-horsepower mini rockets struggled with the track conditions.

Most of them fought with growing wheels or with a totally misjudged weight distribution. That was the chance for Thomas Zimmermann and Joker. After a full pull in the qualifying run, Thomas Zimmermann decided to choose a different line on the track compared to his rivals on the track. With success, he did one of his best passes so far in the Euro Cup that season. With 107.33 m, he has beaten the distance of Lambada 6 with Wim Dingerink from the Netherlands by over 2 m. But at the end he had again to shut off the throttle to avoid going out of bounds. But the distance was enough for the runner-up place and the first podium place in the 2000 Euro Cup season.

Also, not bad was the weekend for Manfred Zimmermann and Junior in Hörby. Manfred needed the second attempt to achieve the full pull with the yellow mini. In the finals, he managed 73.26 m which was enough for the 7th place in daily ranking.
The Joker team's catch-up continued at Six Flags (Walibi Flevo), the Netherlands. At the 5th Euro Cup round in the Netherlands, Joker was again on the podium. The mini was again driveable on the track, Thomas took the 3rd place in the class, behind Lambada 6 from the Netherlands and Crazy Witch from Sweden.

With their second mini Junior, they finished in 11th place. After a full pull in the second attempt, they couldn't return to the finals due to technical problems.
The first win of the 2000 Euro Cup season was finally achieved at the Euro Cup round in Windenhof, France. It was one of the closest finishes in a Euro Cup competition that season. In the finals, Thomas with his could beat the Swede Stefan Kronvall with Wild Thing by 1 cm! After 97 and 98 it was the third win in Windenhof for the German Team.

After all those problems at the beginning of the Euro Cup season, it was a well deserved victory for the Zimmermann's and their Arias V8 Hemi powered Joker. For Junior was the weekend with the 9th place not so successful, but all in all it was a great weekend for the guys from Ettlenschieß.

Only a week later were the German Championship finals in Erkelenz-Holzweiler and there and there the team should make history again. For the first time in their team history, they finished with their both tractors ''Joker'' and ''Junior'' on the podium.

Manfred Zimmermann had one of his best runs of the season with Junior and finished on a nice 3rd place that day. His son Thomas with Joker could beat the distance of Junior by just 8 cm and finished second behind Mr. Rabbit and Jürgen Waibel. That second place in the daily ranking with Joker was enough for Thomas to win his second German Championship in a row and his 5th German title in his career. His father Manfred and his brother Claus finished 5th in the German Championship point standings with Junior. After Erkelenz-Holzweiler was the European Championship in Herning, Denmark.

Before the 2000 EC, everything was refreshed and checked on the Arias engines of Joker and Junior to be ready for the big battle. After the crash with Joker at the first Euro Cup round there in the month of May, the Zimmermann's hoped for more luck here at the EC in September. And the luck was on their site at the first passes of their minis. With both mini modified tractors, they could qualify without any problems for the finals. Thomas Zimmermann with Joker had one of the fastest full pulls in the qualifying run. With that run, Thomas showed that he wants to defend his EC title from 1999.

In the finals, Thomas was the first competitor in front of the Iron Maniac sled from Germany. Like in his first pass, he had a very good start and a lot of speed. It looked like another nice run, but at around 85 m, he came with his Joker very close to the right line, shut off the throttle. The 89.93 m were not enough to defend the title from the year before, but it wasn't also enough for a spot on the podium. In the end it was the 4th place, not quite what Thomas had imagined. His father Manfred with Junior stayed around 3 m behind his son with Joker and achieved the 5th place.

For the little bit under powered Junior was that a great result at this European Championship.
The weekend later, the Joker Pulling Team was again invited to the pull of Karl-Sofus Engen in Trogstad, Norway. Again, they are competed successfully with both mini modified tractors on that 2-day event in Norway.

The final competition of the 2000 season for the Zimmermann's was the 7th and last Euro Cup round in Bettborn, Luxembourg. After the victory at Windenhof in France, they still had chances to finish runner-up with Joker in the Euro Cup point standings behind Lambada 6 from the Netherlands.

For that final event of the season, they were again back on the Cepek tires on the tractor. The reason for that tire switch was, Thomas had sold his Firestone tires to Sweden after the event in Trogstad, Norway. Thomas saw it as a disadvantage to driving with the Cepek tires on the Joker, but the tires worked pretty well on the clay track in Bettborn. A full pull was not a problem for Joker in the first attempt. Also in the finals, the tractor ran well and moved forward to 84.17 m. It wasn't enough for the win, but for another nice 3rd place at the final round of the year.

And the positive point was his rivals Wild Thing and Crazy Witch from Sweden for the runner-up place in the Euro Cup were behind him that day. That meant Joker, Wild Thing, and Crazy Witch were equal in the Euro Cup point standings after 7 Euro Cup rounds. Because of the better result in the final round, Thomas Zimmermann with Joker finished in runner-up position ahead of the 2 swedes in the Euro Cup point standings.
After that difficult first half of the season with the mini in the Euro Cup was that a great success for the Team from Germany.

The second tractor Junior finished 10th on the last Euro Cup round of the year and 8th in the Euro Cup point standings in 2000.
For Junior was that the last pull in Bettborn, already in the summer the team around Thomas, Manfred, and Claus Zimmermann had decided to build a big modified tractor with 4 Arias V8 Hemi engines for the 3.5t and 4.5t class. So there was no place in the workshop and time anymore to work on 2 mini modified tractors. At the end of 2000, the Junior was sold without the Arias V8 Hemi engine to Asbjorn Herikstad and Glen Bjorheim from Norway.

The Norwegians put on the old Junior chassis a blown Keith Black V8 Hemi engine and named the tractor ''Blower Power''. They should compete successfully with the tractor in the 2001 European Championship in Hörby, Sweden.

The first considerations about to build a big modified tractor came after the crash in Herning, Denmark in May. There were 2 reasons for it. The first reason was the already difficult driving and sometimes dangerous behavior of the mini modified tractor on difficult pulling tracks. The 2nd reason was, their friends Karl-Sofus and Hans-Kristian Engen from the Mini Breaker Team from Norway, the Dingerink Family of the Lambada Team, and Egbert Dros of the Simply Irresistible Team from the Netherlands were moving to the big modified classes in the future.

Due to that, they also decided at the end of the 2000 season to build a big modified tractor for 2001. The first parts for the new modified tractor were collected at the end of the 2000 pulling season. After the EC in Herning, Denmark, the Zimmermann's were invited to Karl Sofus Engen's pull in Trogstad, Norway. A few days before the event, they made a visit to Karl-Sofus and Hans-Kristian's workshop to check out the new Breaker modified tractor of Karl-Sofus Engen. Karl-Sofus had purchased Museums Killer and Museums Cat from Eugen Kiemele at the end of 1999. During the year 2000, Karl-Sofus had started to build his new modified tractor, but the Norwegian used almost no parts from the Museums Killer for his project.

He used the Museums Killer more or less as a template for the chassis and drive train. So he built a copy of the Engler chassis and the Engler built drivetrain from better and lighter materials.

The rest of the Killer, like the chassis, landed on the junkyard in front of the workshop and the rest of the driveline components, the rear tires, and the Arias engines were parked in the corner of the workshop. When they were in the workshop of Karl-Sofus Engen, they talked with him about the components of the Museums Killer which he had not used for his new ride. A deal was made with Karl-Sofus and most of the Killer parts went back to Germany to the Zimmermann family.

The Zimmermann's purchased all 5 Arias V8 Hemi engines, the Engler crossbox, the gearbox, and the rear wheels with the rims and tires of the old Museums Killer from Karl-Sofus.

They also took home a tube frame rail of the old Killer chassis. They used it as a template for their own chassis. After all, the parts were collected for the new modified tractor, the team started to build the new tube chassis for the modified machine.

The copy of the Engler tube chassis was made of chrome-moly tubes. All tubes for the frame and roll cage were cut, bent, and welded together in their own workshop in Ettlenschieß.

The team decided to build the tractor with the engine arrangement like the Museums Killer, but only with 4 Arias V8 Hemi engines. Thomas, Manfred, and Claus built the new tractor for the 3.5t modified class and the 4.5t modified class. The 4 Arias engines on the tractor came from 3 different tractors at that time.

One engine was from the Joker, one from the Junior, and 2 from the Museums Killer. The completion of the big Joker modified tractor should take until the beginning of May 2001.
But before the big modified tractor was ready to run, the Joker Team started with the Joker mini another time at the European Superpull 2001.

In Ahoy, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, they tested a spare Arias V8 engine on the mini for the new big modified tractor. They also drove, like at the Euro Cup final in Bettborn 2000 with the Cepek tires. And to the big surprise, Thomas Zimmermann won the strong mini mod competition with his Joker at the Indoor pull. But that Indoor pull shouldn't be the last appearance of the Joker mini in 2001. For the 2001 season, the registered both Joker tractors for the Euro Cup competition. But the mini wasn't anymore registered for the German Championship in 01. The reason for it was, the Zimmermann's only wanted to compete with the mini in the Euro Cup.

And it should also be the last season in the mini mod class for the team for the time being.

The maiden voyage of the new big Joker modified tractor was in Eschach-Seifertshofen on the first weekend of May 2001. The first class for the new Joker was the 3.5t modified class that day.
On the tractor were mounted all 4 Arias engines, but due to the ETPC engine limits, they could use only 3 Arias Hemi engines with the 14–71 blowers in the 3.5t modified class. Thomas Zimmermann's first run with the new Joker modified tractor was very good, and Thomas missed the full pull by just 7 cm.

Thomas, his brother Claus and their father Manfred were very happy with the first run of the brand new tractor, and they hoped for a full pull in the second attempt. For the second attempt they did some small changes to the tractor. The start in the second attempt was again very well, but unfortunately at 74.64m the pass was over with a broken ignition coil on the left Arias engine in driving direction. But the 99.93 m in the first attempt was good enough for the runner-up place behind Güther Bals with Isotov 2 and ahead of Green Monster Stage 3 with Dirk Wessel in the 3.5t modified class.

After the 3.5t modified class, the broken ignition coil on the Arias engine was repaired and the tractor was ready for the final class of the day, the 4.5t modified class. But the third run of the day in 4.5t class was expensive, again the left Arias engine made trouble during the run and at 86.70 m the run was over from Thomas Zimmermann and his new toy. All of a sudden, the left engine was this time bigger damaged than in the 3.5t modified class. During the run, the Arias power plant kicked some rods out of the block, and the old Museums Killer engine was gone. Like in the 3.5t class, the distance in the 4.5t class was good enough for the 3rd place on the podium.

Due to the broken engine on the new Joker, a start on the next 2 German Championship events in Haßmoor and Verl wasn't possible. Also, a start at the Euro Cup opener in Bernay, France was not possible. The reason for it, they waited for spare parts from the USA, and they also wanted to make some changes to the tractor. The Joker Team returned with their modified for the first time on the track in Eext in the Netherlands on the 7th of July 2001. The Joker Team was invited together with their longtime friends of the Breaker Pulling Team from Norway with their new triple Keith Black V8 Hemi powered modified tractor called ''Breaker''. It was the first competition for both teams outside of their home country with their new tractors.

And there they also met the new Intertechno Lambada of the Dingerink family and Egbert Dros new Delta Lloyd Simply Irresistible for the first time in the 3.5t and 4.5t modified class with their new Joker. In the first class of the day, the 3.5t modified class, Thomas Zimmermann did a perfect first pass and made his first full pull with the new Joker. But also the rivals Intertechno Lambada, Delta Lloyd Simply Irresistible and Breaker did a full pull. One of them was already out after one pass. Guestpuller Karl-Sofus Engen with Breaker from Norway couldn't return in the finals due to a broken engine. In the finals it became a fight between the new Intertechno Lambada, Delta Lloyd Simply Irresistible, and the new Joker.

In the finals, Thomas Zimmermann did another nice run and stopped with the sled at 82.91 m. Rival and friend Bert Dijkstra and Delta Lloyd Simply Irresistible, surprisingly couldn't match the distance of Thomas Zimmermann and was more than 2 1/2 m behind the Joker. But then came friend Willem Dingerink with the new Intertechno Lambada and hammered his 3 Keith Black Hemis over 9 m further than Joker. That was the win for Willem Dingerink and the new Intertechno Lambada, but Thomas Zimmermann with Joker finished right behind him in runner-up position, and Bert Dijkstra with Delta Lloyd Simply Irresistible in 3rd.

The podium reminded a bit of the past when all three were still active in the mini class, because all 3 have been on the podium together in the mini mod class before. In the 4.5t modified class, Thomas couldn't repeat the success from earlier that day. Thomas did with the new Joker a full pull, but in the finals, he was very careful on the throttle leaver and was way down the leaderboard in 8th.
After the successful day in Eext, the Netherlands, the Joker Team had already on the next day the next competition with the new tractor. That next pull was in Krumbach-Breitenthal and only 60 km away from their hometown Ettlenschieß.

After driving through the night and a short visit with the tractor in their workshop, the team arrived with the truck and the modified tractor in Krumbach-Breitenthal the next morning. The first class of the day was the 3.5t modified class.
Compared to the event in Seifertshofen, there were some more competitors on the grid in the 3.5t. Like the day before in the Netherlands, the Joker ran very well and Thomas qualified his Arias powered machine for the finals. In the pull off, he did one of his best runs of the season and set with 94.57 m the new distance to beat. Both tractors of the Green Monster Pulling Team couldn't match the distance of the new Joker, and it looked like, the team would achieve their first win with the new modified tractor.

But during the pass in the pull off, one of the 3 Arias power plants ran only on 7 cylinder, because the engine shot the spark plug out of the cylinder head. But that lost cylinder should cost the win in the end. In the end, Thomas was beaten again by Günther Bals and Isotov 2 by just 1.25 m. Again, runner-up in the 3.5t modified class for the 3rd time in a row. After the lost win, the team had some work to do to fix the engine on the tractor for the last class of the day. Without further ado, a transporter was used to fetch a replacement engine from the workshop in Ettlenschieß and transport it to Krumbach, and the damaged cylinder head on the tractor was replaced with a head of the replacement engine.

In the 4.5t class, Thomas had problems in both attempts to keep the Joker in a straight line on the pulling track. He couldn't qualify with his Joker for the finals and finished only 4th. After that successful weekend and the problems to keep the tractor straight in the 4.5t modified class, the German Team decided not to compete that year with the new tractor in the Euro Cup of the 4.5t modified class. Before they want to compete with the tractor in the Euro Cup, they wanted to make a few changes to the tractor after the problems in the coming winter.

So for the rest of the Euro Cup year, they competed only with their Joker mini modified tractor in the mini modified class of the Euro Cup. The first round in Bernay, France was missed due to the damage on the big tractor. Round 2 of the Euro Cup was at the Beachpull in Putten, the Netherlands. The Beachpull was a new venue in the calendar and replaced the Dutch Euro Cup event in Six Flags (Walbi Flevo) due to new plans for that location of the theme park at the time. So the whole track moved from Six Flags to Putten. But unfortunately, the whole event has been cancelled due to inclement weather and a lot of rain on the day of the competition. Due to the rain out, the Joker Team went home like many other teams without a run on the new venue.

But 2 weeks later the weather was much better on the third round of the Euro Cup in Herning, Denmark. Sunshine and hot weather should then ensure good competition again. But the track was difficult, and harder than usual. Due to the sunshine and the very warm weather, the track was dryer and had less grip than in the years before. The Joker Team started with the Cepek tires on their mini and Thomas Zimmermann was back behind the wheel of his Joker mini, and he had not unlearned the driving. The mini ran on the Cepek tires surprisingly very well, and Thomas had no problems making a full pull in Herning. The chances for a good result looked not too bad because the runs of the other competitors were not better.

But Thomas ran out of luck in the finals. Right after the start, the Joker started to jump on the track and Thomas decided to shot off the throttle. The run of Joker was over at 46.75 m and the distance was only good enough for the 8th place.

Only two weeks later was the next Euro Cup round in Windenhof, France for the mini modified class. The year before, the Joker Team won the competition by just 1 cm over Lambada 6 of the Dingerink Family from the Netherlands. But for the 2001 edition of the pull, Thomas handed over the steering wheel to his brother Claus. For Claus was this the 2nd competition on the Joker. Again on Cepek tires, Claus did a very nice full pull in front of the French crowd.

In the finals, he had no chances against the other Euro Cup competitors this year. With 86.17 m, he was over 15 m behind the winner Lambada 6 from the Netherlands. That also was the last competition for the Joker Team with their mini modified tractor. They are not competed anymore on the final round of the season in Bettborn, Luxembourg due to less chances for a good place in the Euro Cup point standings. The final year in the Euro Cup competition of the mini class was finished in 13th place in the standings. At the end of the season, the mini modified tractor was sold without the Arias V8 Fontana engine to Hans-Kristian Engen of the Breaker Pulling Team from Norway. After the sale of the mini, the Zimmermann's now concentrated more on the new big modified tractor. But for the end of the pulling season, the Joker Pulling Team brought the new big modified Joker back to the pulling track for the 4th time.

They were invited again, like in the years before, to Karl-Sofus and Hans-Kristian Engen's own organized home pull in Trogstad, Norway. After all, the repair work was done and all the problems were solved on the tractor, the team traveled to Norway. At the last outing of the year, the tractor ran very well and Thomas did some very impressive runs on the Norwegian track made by Karl-Sofus Engen's Breaker Team.

During the winter break, the Joker Team did some improvements, and the whole Joker was checked for the 2002 season. In 2002, the Joker Team wanted to run the whole German Championship season in the 3.5t and 4.5t modified class, and the modified tractor also was registered for the 4.5t modified class in the Euro Cup again. But at the beginning of the season, Thomas Zimmermann got the chance to drive his old Joker mini at the 2002 European Superpull in Ahoy, Rotterdam.

The tractor got a new paintjob and received with ''Mini Breaker'' a new name. The new toy of Hans-Kristian Engen looked almost just like Karl-Sofus Engen's big modified tractor ''Breaker'' from the colors. The only difference to the Joker was the engine. The Norwegians put a blown Keith Black V8 Hemi power plant on the Zimmermann built chassis. Due to the win of Thomas Zimmermann with Joker at the European Superpull in 2001, he was qualified for that Indoor event in 2002. That also was the reason why Thomas Zimmermann drove the mini modified tractor for his friends from the Breaker Pulling Team. The tractor ran very well with the Keith Black engine, and Thomas managed without a problem a full pull. With 8.34 seconds, he did the fastest full pull in the mini modified class this evening.

In the finals, Thomas had to fight with growing tires and a little bit bouncing tractor during the run and missed the winners distance of Lambada 6 from the Netherlands by 5 m. The 51.05 m with Mini Breaker was enough for third place at the European Superpull. After that great result for the Norwegians with Thomas Zimmermann as the driver, they decided to give him another 2 opportunities to drive his old mini on international events. Thomas also drove the Mini Breaker at the first Euro Cup round of the season in Herning, Denmark, and at the 2002 European Championship in Bakel, the Netherlands.
The reason for that decision by the Norwegians was, Hans-Kristian and Karl-Sofus were too heavy to drive the Mini Breaker on the International events where they competed, and so Hans-Kristian decided to give Thomas Zimmermann a chance to drive his new Mini Breaker.

At the Euro Cup in Herning, like the year before, he struggled with the track conditions and with growing tires and missed the Full Pull in both attempts. The result was a 16th place.

Better was for him the European Championship in Bakel, the Netherlands. Due to bad track conditions (the track was way too dry and had no grip), he missed like in Herning the full pull in both passes, but his 92.57 m in the first attempt was good enough for a 6th place at the EC.

But back to the Joker Team's 2002 season in the 3.5t and 4.5t modified class. The season for the team started in Füchtorf, Germany. But the season started not well for the Zimmermann's in both classes. In the 3.5t modified, they had problems with 1 of the 3 engines and in the 4.5t modified class, Thomas couldn't keep the tractor in bounds and was disqualified. Only a 7th place in the 3.5t and 8th place in the 4.5t modified class. Not the start, what the team wanted.

A week later, in Seifertshofen, everything ran better than in Füchtorf. Again in the 3.5t, they had troubles with one engine in the finals, but the runner-up place was safely achieved by Thomas Zimmermann. Also better was the 4.5t class, with two nice runs and a 3rd place behind the turbine-powered tractors Iwan and Kiepenkerl. 2 weeks later after Seifertshofen was the first Euro Cup round of the season in Herning, Denmark. In the 4.5t modified class with 4 Arias engines, Thomas Zimmermann did a nice full pull at his maiden Euro Cup competition of the biggest modified class. In the finals, he managed 71.06 m and had a small fire on one engine, but that was not bad.

The distance was enough for the 8th place, and he was just 4 1/2 m behind the third placed tractor, the quad-powered Isotov TV2 tractor called Kiepenkerl from Germany in his first 4.5t modified competition. Not a bad start in the Euro Cup. Unfortunately, due to a lot of work during the season on the tractor, the south German team competed in 1 further round of the Euro Cup in 2002. That was in the month of August in Windenhof, France. But due to inclement weather and a lot of rain, the Euro Cup competition for the 4.5t modified class on Sunday was canceled. But the team also ran on Saturday evening the International competition of the 3.5t modified class in Windenhof. A 4th place was achieved in the 3.5t class on a very dry track.
Over the season showed that the Joker had more chances for the title in the 3.5t modified class than in the 4.5t modified. After another good result in a very strong field in Haßmoor in the 3.5t modified class, the team focused from now on more for the 3.5t class and did not participate in the 4.5t modified class most of the time. Over the season some further nice results, like the runner-up place in Krumbach-Breitenthal were achieved in the 3.5t modified class. At the end of the season, the Joker Team and Thomas Zimmermann finished in 3rd place in the German Championship point standings behind the champion Green Fighter and Isotov 2 and ahead of the new Green Monster Stage 4. That was a big success for the team in their first full season with the still new tractor.

That was part 2 of the story. In part 3 we will continue with the history of the Joker Pulling Team from 2003 until now, plus we will show you the technical details of their current mini modified tractor!

For further information, check here: https://www.facebook.com/JokerTeamZimmermann/?locale=de_DE