3.26.10

Today was “The Day Before the Meeting” and it was a big day! This morning, we moved into our Monster Energy motorhome/trailer in the paddock area. Monster hooked us up with a great set up. Tucker got settled inside with his gear while Kirk and Rob set up the work area outside. It’s been a challenge to get comfortable without our regular setup but we’re adjusting well. Monster Energy, Arctic Cat and the promoters have been very helpful to make us feel “at home” in Sweden.

At noon, Tucker along with a select group of riders, did the coolest media event I’ve ever seen. “Porsche on Ice” set up an ice la-mans course right outside of Mala and let the riders drive Porsches wide open! There were three cars to chose from. The riders were allowed to drive all of the cars as many times as they would like. It was wild! Steve and Paul joined Tucker and I on our second run in the GT3 RS-08. After a few times on the course, Tucker started to feel pretty brave. That’s when I said we better call it a day! There was also an ice driving champion at the event who took everyone for a ride with him. His car was much faster and had studs twice the size of the other cars. I went for a ride and quickly learned why he needed those serious studs! It was the craziest ride of my life. Everyone got to ride for one lap but he requested to take Tucker for mutiple laps. Tucker said he really “opened her up” then rolled a rear tire off of the rim. I think he even made Tucker a little nervous.

After “Porsche on Ice” FIM held had a press conference. The Scandinavian/European media is so interested in having Tucker race at the World Championship. Next up was the rider’s meeting. It was incredible to see so many countries represented-Russia, Iceland, Norway, Italy, Sweden, Finland, etc. The Russians are very patriotic. Below is a picture of a couple riders…I think. I guess I should have brought a big American flag with us!

The 40 riders were spilt into two groups for 15 minute practice sessions. The lap times are over a minute. The track is a great combination of rough straights, tight corners(left and right), jumps, elevation changes and rhythm sections. Tucker logged the fastest lap of the day on his final lap of his practice session. Emil Ohman was second fastest. Both Arctic Cat Swedish riders were at the top of the chart too. I think there is a possibility of an Arctic Cat sweep. We’ll sleep good tonight.

Everyone wanted to talk to “The Captain” to get the secret setup. It’s no secret and he was happy to help anyone on a green sled.

Here’s a link of the Ch.4 feature – http://www.nyhetskanalen.se/lokalt/umea. The story is halfway down the center of the homepage.

Tomorrow is the big day. Make sure to wake up early and watch online at freecaster.tv. Click HERE for a detailed schedule and make sure to change the schedule to your local time zone. I haven’t seen a link to watch the event on freecaster.tv yet but have been told that it will be on tomorrow. I’ll be updating Tucker’s Official Facebook Page with results as often as I can.

I apologize or all of my spelling/grammar errors. I’ve been writing these posts late at night!