Motorcycle mountain classic

The totally weird problem of the lean angle emperor

PS star Franky Zorn starts in April at the Upper Austrian motorcycle mountain classic from Landshaag to St. Martin! But unlike the ice speedway bike, his Yamaha 400 will of course have brakes! Which is something completely out of the ordinary for the lean angle emperor.

Racers only brake when they see God. The really fast ones only do so when they shake God's hand. But despite his European championship title, runner-up world championship title and world championship bronze, Franky Zorn normally never brakes when racing!

But that will change on April 20 and 21 at the motorcycle mountain classic from Landshaag to St. Martin/M.

I first have to get used to having a lever on the right.

Franky Zorn über die Motorrad-Bremse

When the 53-year-old swaps his ice speedway machine, equipped with 30-millimeter spikes but without brakes, for his private Yamaha 400. "I'm looking forward to thrashing it up the hill," says the lean angle king, who has a quirky problem. Original quote: "But I first have to get used to having a lever on the right."

High-speed track
By which he means the brake on the handlebars. Which is just as rare on the ice speedway as any other. Which the Red Bull driver needs on the 3620m high-speed track, especially on the difficult forest entry: When the drivers grind together from 260 to 100 km/h.

Landshaag is regarded as an absolute high-speed track.(Bild: Manfred Binder /SMP)

"It's particularly difficult for me, as I always have to get used to the brakes first, even in traffic," says Zorn in all seriousness. Although he has already been to Landshaag twice. "Even if I don't drive my bike up at 300 km/h like others, you have to pay attention, drive with your brain and stay seated," he says. Ahead of his third appearance in the Mühlviertel: Zorn doesn't want to crash and has respect for the uphill chase.

Appeal to debutants
OC boss Markus Altenstrasser recommends this to all debutants ahead of the 43rd edition of his classic, appealing in particular to those heading towards the infernal high-speed premiere starting in the Himmelreich district: "Please start at 80 percent - after all, we have an average speed like in MotoGP!"