Lipponen sees the positives after FIM-E Super Twin opener

After a frame up overhaul of his blown OHC V-Twin, Vesa “First into the Fives” Lipponen spent a lot of the recent Main Event weekend thrashing to get the bike to the line let alone putting in a competitive appearance at the FIM-E Super Twin championship opener. In the end, a rolling double digit qualifier got the Finn into eliminations but a puff of exhaust smoke ended his day. Despite these setbacks, Vesa is confident the team have a handle on what went wrong.

“Due to delays in completing the bike rebuild, we were forced to rely on older components and had to assemble the bike at the track under tight time constraints. Unfortunately, this meant we couldn’t fine-tune the setup, which impacted our results.

Since then, we’ve identified the problem areas and have already begun reassembling the bike. This time, we have enough time to fully prepare for the upcoming Tierp race, and I truly believe we’ll be very strong there.”

Returning to the scene of Lipponen’s barrier busting run in 2018 with a freshened ride could certainly pay dividends for the SPTR backed Harsh bullet.

FIM-E Dragbike championship 2025
Remaining rounds

7th-10th August, Summit Racing Equipment Internationals 2025, Tierp Arena, Sweden
29th-31st August, NitrOlympX, Hockenheimring, Germany
4th-7th September, Euro Finals, Santa Pod Raceway, UK

Text and photos: Ivan Sansom & Rose Hughes