Team Alpha Boilers Racing took on the awesome Landshaag race held on the open roads of Austria on the 14th 15th April. Klaus Klaffenböck and his sidecar passenger Christian Parzer won the tough races while superbike rider Michael Witzeneder finished second in his three races Irish Champion, Martin Finnegan was also present to cheer on his team from the side lines. The Landshaag is the only pure road race in Austria, held on a mountain course which is short but difficult. The track istself is dangerous, bumpy and of course up hill! The sunny conditions brought out a good crowd of spectators totaling 20,000. Klaffenböck/Parzer were running their new LCR sidecar that they will race at the TT and they were feeling confident having won the event last year. Austrian rider, Witzeneder was aboard Martin Finnegan’s original CBR1000RR that he will contest this year’s TT on. During practice Klaffenböck/Parzer set the pace with a time of 1min 25.349secs while Witzeneder posted a time of 1min 15.705secs putting him third. Once the racing started Klaffenböck/Parzer further improved on their time, completing the arduous course in 1min 23.882secs and taking the win. Witzeneder came a close fought second place just 0.47secs off the winner’s time. Speaking after the race Witzeneder said, “This is the original bike that Martin will ride at this year’s TT. It has more than 200 PS; it is difficult to control this power!” “The track is not easy, especially in the last sectors; it is very tight, if you don’t find your line you risk touching the guard rails,” he continued, “I have a lot of experience with the Fireblade because I was test rider for Alex Barros in 2006. All in all I did 3 races at Landshaag, and I was faster and faster. If there had been a 4th heat I would have been the winner,” he exclaimed. “Thanks to the Klaffi Honda team. They prepared an extremely fast bike. The CBR1000RR is perfect for Martin and the TT,” said Witzeneder. Klaffenböck said, “Landshaag is very important for Christian and me to qualify for the TT. It is the only road race in Austria, and the roads are in a condition as those on the Isle of Man. Landshaag is a dangerous track and it would be a mistake to undervalue it.” “We used a CBR600RR engine, I thought this would be a disadvantage to go up, but I was really surprised how well the new sidecar did. We were even a second faster as last year with the long F1 sidecar and its 1000 ccm engine. This season we already did 4 starts and got 4 wins a good sign for the TT,” he concluded. Martin Finnegan who visited the challenging race said, “This is my first time at Landshaag and I’m impressed. The course is fantastic and if I’ve time next year I’ll race at Landshaag too.”