Austria and Finland…and what happened in between
WEDNESDAY – January 24
Isn’t “different” the reason we travel?
When I leave San Clemente, California, and go on vacation I have some expectations. I want things to be different than what I have at home. If things weren’t different why would I want to leave home in the first place? I want to see different climates and geography. I want to meet new people and eat different foods. I DON’T want where I am visiting to be just like home. If I wanted “home” I wouldn’t need to leave home! Maybe you feel the same way.
My trackchasing hobby is all about “one more”.
I thought today might be the most exciting day of our entire European trip. We were leaving Switzerland and heading to Austria. Why Austria? I wanted to see an ice race in an American state, Canadian province, or other country where I had never seen an ice race. Coming to Austria today I had seen racing in 25 American states, Canadian provinces or other countries (Yes! Russia). Here’s the list.
| Alaska |
| Alberta |
| Andorra |
| Belarus |
| British Columbia |
| Finland |
| France |
| Iowa |
| Italy |
| Maine |
| Manitoba |
| Massachusetts |
| Michigan |
| Minnesota |
| New Hampshire |
| New York |
| Ontario |
| Quebec |
| Russia |
| Saskatchewan |
| South Dakota |
| Sweden |
| Vermont |
| Wisconsin |
| Wyoming |
A lonely, desolate Austrian farmhouse apartment? Why not?
Once we arrived in Austria, we were going to be staying the night at a farmhouse apartment in the small ski resort town of Altenmarkt I’m Pongau. This town is located in the Austrian state of Salzburg. They are known for their winter tourism. Atomic Skies are manufactured here.
When was the last time you shared an apartment with two strangers?
We don’t get a chance to stay in a farmhouse apartment very often. To top it off, we were going to be sharing a two-bedroom apartment with two men from Belgium. They were coming to Austria for the same reason we were…ice racing. We had never met these two gentlemen. How often have you done such a thing when you vacation?
I had all the confidence in the world that these guys would be upstanding and fine Europeans. People like this are exactly the kind of people we like to meet.
When was the last time you shared an apartment with two strangers that you met on Facebook?
I encounter a lot of people on Facebook. Quite a few of these folks give me leads on worldwide trackchasing opportunities. They are my “eyes and ears on the ground” if you will. In the past, I’ve actually gotten a chance to meet up with several of these people all around the world. I’ve stayed in their homes, met their relatives, been served meals where I was the only guest. I’ve had a great time meeting people whose cultures in most cases are much different than mine.
Bart!
Tonight, Carol and I were meeting up with a Belgium named Bart A. What was my prior relationship with Bart? I met him on Facebook. We have corresponded back and forth over the past year well over 100 times. Some people might be a little intimidated meeting a “Facebook friend” during their vacation travels. Not me.
I just don’t look at life that way. Of course, the past frequency of my encounters with Bart made me feel 100% comfortable. I know that some people reading this will be thinking, “Randy, you’re crazy. This guy could be a serial killer”. As I frequently say to some folks close to me, “There aren’t enough criminals to commit all of the crimes you imagine”. However, I am comfortable knowing that I will never convince the naysayers on this topic. In the meantime, I will do my best to meet and enjoy the company of other people regardless of the historical circumstances.
Bart is from Belgium. He speaks several different languages. That’s good for me in one very unusual regard. On most of our trips to Europe when I return home, I find that I have gotten a speeding ticket or a toll violation citation. Those doggone speed cameras! Sometimes these notifications are nearly a year in arrears. Sometimes the speeding fine is for a very small amount over the speed limit. Quite frequently, the letters I get are written in the local language of wherever I allegedly committed a violation. That’s a little troublesome because from what I can understand from these missives is that if I wait much longer, the penalty fees will be several times what the actual fine was.
Thank you!
Bart has helped me on two different occasions. He has translated the penalty messages so that I know when, where and how much I have to pay. I then use PayPal to send Bart the fines and he pays my fine for me. Without him, I might now owe literally thousands of dollars to France and Belgium!
Vignettes! Don’t like ‘em. Gotta have ‘em.
Several days ago, we purchased a vignette for driving in Switzerland. Vignettes are required for us to drive on Swiss highways. The vignette is a sticker that is applied to the windshield of our car. With it we can use their roads without penalty. Without it we can be fined nearly 200 euros just as I was when I was driving in Austria, without this sticker, about a decade ago. This Switzerland vignette can only be bought in a one-year increment at a hefty charge of €42.
It was time to meet Bart…in the dark…at a lonely Austrian farmhouse.
Bart had given me the longitude and latitude coordinates for the farmhouse where he and his cousin were staying. His cousin, Ronny is also from Belgium. Bart and Ronnie had towed their race car 10 hours from their home near Brussels for this weekend’s ice racing.
We didn’t get to our farmhouse accommodations until after dark. By that time, it was raining and with falling temperatures, the rain was turning to ice. We navigated some winding nearly one-lane roads almost totally in the dark until we arrived at the farmhouse.
During this time, Bart and I had been messaging back and forth using the Facebook messenger application. Messenger is virtually identical to texting in the United States or WhatsApp that most of my worldwide friends use.
When we pulled up to the barn at the farmhouse, just a few meters away Bart was standing out in the dark, cold, and rain. This was our very first chance to meet him in person. Once again, do you travel like this? If not you might want to reconsider what makes up an adventure vacation.
Welcome to Altenmarkt im Pongau, Austria.
This farmhouse had three different apartments to rent. It even came with a Finnish sauna! I suspect that these rentals handle the snow-skiing population most of the time.
The town of Altenmarkt im Pongau hosts ice racing just once a year which was what brought us to Austria this weekend. I had planned to come to Altenmarkt im Pongau last year. The weather didn’t cooperate. With warmer than expected weather they canceled in 2023 on just a few days’ notice. We weren’t in the clear with the weather this weekend either. Heavy rain was in the forecast.
Now it was time to meet our hosts.
Soon, Bart was helping us with our luggage as we climbed the stairs to the cozy little two bedroom apartment. This was also our first chance to meet Bart’s cousin Ronny. Ronny was just a bit older than Bart. Both were super friendly and happy to have us. When rooms were hard to find these guys agreed to give up one of their two bedrooms so we would have a place to stay. At first I didn’t want it to seem like we were imposing.
Then after we got to know both Bart and Ronny the idea of being able to sit around the kitchen table drinking Belgium beer until well past midnight seemed like a great idea. Ronny was a former beer brewer in Belgium so that helped with our introduction to Duvel the famous Belgium beer.
As soon as we dropped our luggage we all hopped in the Randy Lewis Racing Eurocar-sponsored Mercedes E 220D race machine. On the slick and icy roads, we headed off to a very upscale ski resort restaurant way up in the mountains of Altenmarkt im Pongau. This gave us the chance to drink some beer, have some steaks, and get to know each other. Based on the road conditions everyone recommended I not partake so I could get us safely back to the farmhouse!
I felt like I already knew Bart since we had communicated so frequently in the past. It was fun to learn that Bart had worked for Toyota in Japan for a couple of years. Bart and Ronny live about 30 minutes apart back in Belgium. They’ve been doing their racing thing for years. Carol said her filet mignon was the best she had ever had. When dinner was finished we headed back to the apartment and sat around just getting to know each other even better.
Rain is not good for ice racing…or in some case for making memories.
As mentioned the weather forecast was more than worrisome. It was going to rain all night. Rain meant temps were above 32° Fahrenheit. If it rained too much, the water would simply sit on top of the ice. This would create an undrivable ice racing track. If that happened our Austrian ice racing adventure would be canceled. I always say it is the trackchasing opportunity that BRINGS us to wherever we visit. Then it is the people and the sights and the food and all the rest that will “MAKE THE MEMORIES”. Remember, all of this is done to make memories in the long run.
At least we had inside information.
Bart and Ronny are co-drivers of their Ford-powered race machine. Bart was getting constant messages giving him updates on the weather from the track promoter. Sometimes the messages seemed to reassure us the race would go on. Then when a message came in that brought a frown to Bart’s face I got worried. As we headed off to bed all we could do was hope for the best.
With just two bedrooms in the apartment, Ronny moved over to sleep in the same bedroom as Bart. Carol and I moved into Ronny’s bedroom. I didn’t like imposing but their invitation for us to join them was so nice that we felt lucky to have the opportunity.
THURSDAY – January 25
Race delayed!
At 8:30 this morning, Bart got a message saying the race was being delayed. There would be a drivers’ meeting at 11 a.m. That wasn’t exactly encouraging because the race was initially planned to start at 9 a.m.
We had a birds-eye view of the ice racing track.
The location of our apartment was fantastic. From the balcony, we could see the track. I’m going to guess the race track was 400-500 yards from the apartment. We could see the activity at the track very clearly. It was encouraging to see one lonely truck making slow laps around the track.
We were all planning to hang out at the apartment for the next couple of hours when another text came in at 8:31 a.m. This text said the race was now going to start in 29 minutes at 9 a.m. Oh my. That happens sometimes. The apartment was in scramble mode now.
Bart and Ronny, being racers, were out the door in five minutes. Their race car was already at the ice track. They would take their race car hauler, a huge SUV from the apartment to the track. The SUV only had two front seats for “tax reasons” as Bart explained. The race was scheduled to be a six-hour endurance race. The rain had stopped for the most part, but the impact on the track from nearly 2 inches of rain overnight was going to be a big deal.
The guys had bought several provisions for breakfast. As they left they told us to check things out and make our own breakfast. Soon Carol and I were enjoying ham and French rolls and getting our stuff packed up. After the racing, we were driving to Munich, Germany.
Austria ice racing. In the books…barely!
The race did start at a little past nine. Carol and I watched the start for about 30 cars from the balcony of our apartment. Considering it was going to be a six-hour endurance race we figured we would get everything organized and be out of the apartment in a couple of hours. That would still give us three or four hours of racing at.
We got some FB messages from Bart during the race itself. I think after seeing racing at nearly 3,000 tracks that had to be a first. A.J. Foyt never texted me from the cockpit of his Indianapolis 500 race car!
The race organizers, given the uncertainty of the weather, and the uncertainty of the track conditions were flying by the seat of their pants. Soon we got a message from Bart. The six-hour race had been shortened to less than three hours. Oh my…again. I was just glad that our apartment had such a great view of the racing. The track was ringed in snow-capped mountains. What we had seen from the balcony would allow me to count track under trackchasing rules.
When we got to the track, we had a chance to meet the event organizer, Hans Wietgasser. Hans and his sister Lies, whom we had a chance to meet later have been running this event for years.
Hans did tell us there was a good chance that they would no longer be holding the ice racing in Austria due to the warming weather conditions. He said they might even think about moving it to Finland, which was where we were headed next.
We did get the chance to be at the track. It was fun seeing all of the race cars up close. They had a little bit of everything and the cars were very colorful. And yes, I did make a video from today’s racing adventure. Check it out. Here’s the link.
Ice racing in Austria – Altenmarkt im Pongau Ice Circuit
Bart and Ronny made us feel like insiders.
The track had a huge tent, set up with all kinds of round tables, ready to have the post-race luncheon. However, when the weather conditions turned south, they moved the luncheon to a large restaurant in downtown Altenmarkt im Pongau. Carol and I were invited to join all of the racers including Bart and Ronny for lunch and the award ceremony. That was fun.
Hey guys. Thank you for the hospitality!!
Now, all too quickly, it was time to say goodbye to Bart and Ronny. They made our trip to Austria well worth it. As a matter of fact, meeting up with these guys was the true highlight of the entire trip. Not many people get to meet folks under these circumstances. They would stay on for a few more days and get to race again, weather permitting.
From there, Carol and I headed back to Munich, Germany. Just seeing the mountains reminded me exactly how beautiful Austria is. In my opinion Austria, Switzerland and New Zealand are the most beautiful countries we have visited. Tomorrow morning we will be catching a flight from Munich to Helsinki, Finland to continue our ice racing adventures. We stayed at a Marriott Residence Inn near the Munich airport.
FRIDAY – January 26
Meet Russian woman. Have some drinks. What could go wrong?
I had been to Finland two other times. The first was back in 2010 for an ice race. That race was memorable. I had a devil of a time nearly 15 years ago getting information about the race. It was bitter cold and I drove through a major snowstorm in Helsinki. However, my most memorable event from that trip was sharing a drink at an ice bar with two Russian women in downtown Helsinki!
Have you ever slept overnight in a highway rest area in Finland?
Then last year I had a major trackchasing trip planned for Sweden. After I had arrived in Sweden I found I had a couple of “open” days in my schedule. Those open days turned into a brief trip to Finland. I actually drove overnight from Sweden to catch a couple of race tracks in Finland. I remember the sun not going down until about 1:30 a.m. and coming up about an hour later! I slept for that hour in my car in a parking area just off the main road. No, I think we can both agree, I don’t travel like most folks.
This would be Carol’s first trip to Finland. When we landed in Helsinki, we had one of the better meals we’ve had on the trip at a restaurant in the airport.
Eurocar works well for me in Europe.
I’m using Eurocar for our rental cars on this trip. In Munich they gave me a brand new Mercedes E 220D. In Helsinki, I got a Toyota hybrid C–HR. Believe it or not I actually liked the Toyota far better than the Mercedes.
I wish I could stay in more boutique hotels.
We would be staying in a boutique hotel named Hotel Katajanokka. This hotel was a “Tribute Portfolio Hotel” and part of the Marriott Bonvoy frequent stay program. I love boutique hotels. They are kind of funky and always trend toward being unique and exclusive. The benefit to my titanium elite status with Marriott was getting the hotel’s free buffet breakfast.
When we checked into our room we found that the refrigerator wasn’t working. That was not going to fly with Carol. Happy wife; happy life, right? I headed down to the front desk to rectify things. Soon I was negotiating. I am built for negotiating.
Dana was great!
A very nice woman named Dana was more than helpful. She readily agreed to give us an even better room that did have a working refrigerator. I asked if we might be able to be compensated for the inconvenience. “What did I have in my mind?” she asked. I told her it might be good if they didn’t charge us the €22 per day parking fee. She agreed. That saved us €66. That savings would pay for most of our Uber rides in Helsinki.
I do much of my planning at the very last minute. That has always worked well for me.
We didn’t have anything planned for tonight. That being the case I quizzed Dana about what our entertainment opportunities might be. Dana told me the favorite part of her front desk job was helping people find fun things to do. After some searching, she came up with two choices. The opera or a hockey match (not a hockey game). Although I’ve been to many operas, I preferred going to a hockey game this evening. Carol concurred. Dana ordered and printed out tickets.
Another Trackchasing Tourist Attraction.
Tonight’s hockey match was being played in the Helsinki Ice Hall. The hall was built in 1966. Since then, it has been replaced by a couple of newer arenas for bigger events. Entertainment icons like Frank Sinatra, KISS, Motley Crew and Bon Jovi have performed there many times.
I like to see big-time sporting events.
SM-liiga colloquially called the Finnish Elite League in English or FM-ligan in Swedish, is the top professional ice hockey league in Finland. Tonight’s home team was the Jukurit Jokers! Nope, never heard of them. Tonight, the Jokers were hosting the Kalevan Pallo (KalPa). Kalpa plays in Kuopio, Finland at the Olvi Areena. The Jokers prevailed by a score of 4-2 this evening. I wanted to get a souvenir shirt of some kind with the Joker’s logo which is a jester. Sadly, they didn’t have my size.
The home team the Jukurit Jokers used to be part of a Russian hockey league. When Russia invaded Ukraine, the Jokers dropped out of the league and have now re-joined with professional hockey in Finland. This is what the LA Times had to say about the situation.
“Russian President Vladimir Putin is a former spy well known for starting wars with his neighbors. His expansionist dreams have also extended to his favorite sport.
In 2013, three Russian billionaires acting at his behest bought 49% of one of Finland’s most storied hockey teams, Jokerit. As part of the deal, the team moved to Russia’s top league.
This was nothing short of sacrilege in hockey-obsessed Finland — a betrayal engineered by a bigger, more powerful nation that had long been looked upon with distrust and suspicion.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has had a profound effect on Finland. Ordinary citizens are bracing for war should Russia decide to open a new front. The government has rewritten its foreign policy and is applying to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization military alliance.
And Jokerit is coming home to Finland’s premier professional hockey league.
When Jokerit was in the Finnish league, fans piled into buses and trains to see their team play in cities across Finland.
But the KHL was strange and different. Its 23 other teams were spread out over the breadth of Russia as well as Belarus, China, Latvia and Kazakhstan. Travel costs and visa requirements were prohibitive for most fans.
“The community broke apart,” said Roope Räty, vice chairman of Eteläpääty, Jokerit’s independently operated fan club. “There was a lot of anger.”
He said fans would never accept the Russians: “That’s built-in here, how we don’t trust them.”
The animosity worsened after 2014, when Putin invaded Ukraine and annexed the Crimean Peninsula.”
Die with Zero goes with me everywhere.
I am constantly using elements of the Die with Zero program that I have shared with you several times in the past. Tonight, we had several seating choices in the hockey arena. We could sit in the nosebleed seats or do much better. It didn’t cost that much more to have seats right at the glass directly behind the penalty box. I have been upgrading Carol’s and my entertainment choices and hotels and restaurants simply because I better understand things with Die with Zero. I am optimizing for personal enjoyment and comfort.
We were able to treat our twin grandchildren to a nice long stay in New York City. I hosted J.J. and Dustin on a first class trip to Kuwait simply using these Die with Zero learnings. An important reminder is that Die with Zero does NOT mean that you want to die with zero assets! It simply means you want to enjoy the money that you’ve earned and create even more memories, rather than having your funds sit in a Vanguard account. Some people get that concept and far too many do not.
Tesla in the cold? I guess Finland has a statement about that.
Finland is one of the coldest countries in the world. Never would I have expected to see that several of their taxis were Teslas. On top of that private usage of Teslas was heavy. I guess that would tell you that Tesla can operate effectively in cold weather climates contrary to the point of view ship held by several Tesla obstructionists.
SATURDAY – January 27
Eat now; pay later.
Breakfast at the Hotel Katajanokka hotel was outstanding. I kind of got stuck on their pancakes with fresh whipped cream and cherry preserves. I’m sure I will pay for that in weight gain when I step on the scale back home.
This is our version of kicking back.
Today was a kickback day. I went out for a walk in the afternoon and discovered the Helsinki SkyWheel. I’m sure you’ve seen these big Ferris wheels in other major cities. I bought a ticket. The office was selling hot chocolate with vodka. How can one ride a Ferris wheel in the middle of winter in Helsinki, Finland without having a hot chocolate with vodka? I hopped on and made certain I didn’t spill my drink. We did three slow rotations. The wheel overlooked the Vantaa River, which was nearly frozen solid.
Yes! The ballet! Ballet would balance out our activities on the cultural scale.
This evening’s entertainment activity was going to be at the Finnish National Opera House. What a beautiful building. We were here for the Romeo and Juliet ballet. Ballet is an excellent entertainment choice when you are visiting a foreign country where the performance language wouldn’t be in English. Ballet doesn’t have dialog! I know. You knew that.
When Dana ordered the tickets there were only four seats left. Two were in the balcony and two were in the orchestra section just seven rows from the stage. It’s Die with Zero, baby. There was no way I was going to watch Romeo and Juliet kill themselves from the balcony. If someone thinks that an extra $100 or so if going to break them especially if they are past middle age (middle age is about 40- 45!) they might need a new financial calculator.
Dana. Dana. Dana.
Dana, our more than knowledgeable front desk friend recommended a restaurant for dinner within walking distance of the opera. I think she was surprised when I tipped her for her expertise. Believe it or not, we dined on gourmet burgers served on fine china. We were surprised by how upscale the theater was. The patrons were all dressed well. What a lovely evening. We used Uber to get there and back simply because parking is difficult in these big cities and it’s just easier to move around without your own car.
SUNDAY – January 28
What a day!
Today is the last full day of our robust European vacation. It is also one of the biggest days from a trackchasing point of view that we have had in a very long time.
Carol. The Littlest Trackchaser.
The world trackchasing rankings are determined by the number of countries where a trackchaser has seen a race. Currently, I sit at the top of those standings having seen racing in 87 countries. Today was not about me. It was all about Carol aka “The Littlest Trackchaser”.
This might come as a surprise to you but Carol had the chance today, in Finland, to move into a tie as the World’s #2 trackchaser. That’s right. When she sees a race in Finland today, she will have seen racing in 52 countries. That will tie her with another chaser from Belgium. This is Carol’s trackchasing country list.
# 1 – UNITED STATES OF AMERICA – Wisconsin State Fair Park (oval) – Track #1, West Allis, Wisconsin – circa 1955
# 2 – AUSTRALIA – Parramatta City Raceway (oval) – Granville, New South Wales – 1989
# 3 – UNITED KINGDOM – Northhampton International Raceway (oval) – Northhampton – 1999
# 4 – CANADA – Varney (oval) – Varney, Ontario – 2005
# 5 – GERMANY – Nurburgring (road course) –Nurburg – 2005
# 6 – NETHERLANDS – Lopik (oval) – Lopic – 2005
# 7 – NEW ZEALAND – Western Springs Speedway (oval) – Western Springs – 2006
# 8 – MEXICO – Triovalo Bernardo Obregon (oval) – Tiajamulco de Zuniga, Jalisco – 2007
# 9 – SWEDEN – Sturup Raceway (road course) – Malmo – 2008
# 10 – DENMARK – Ring Djursland (road course) –Tirstrup – 2008
# 11 – GUYANA – South Dakota Circuit (road course) –Timehri – 2008
# 12 – CHINA – The Guia Circuit (road course) –Macau – 2008
# 13 – BAHRAIN – Bahrain International Circuit (road course) – Sakhir – 2009
# 14 – UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – Dubai Autodrome (road course) – Dubai – 2009
# 15 – HUNGARY – Hungaroring (road course) – Mogyorod – 2009
# 16 – SWITZERLAND – Hock Ybrig (road course) – Hoch Ybrig – 2009
# 17 – ITALY – Vighizzolo d’Este Stock Car Track (road course) –Vighizzolo d’Este – 2009
# 18 – DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – Autodromo Mobil 1 (road course) –Santo Domingo – 2009
# 19 – MALTA – Ta’Qali Race Track (road course) – Ta’Qali – 2010
# 20 – MOROCCO – Circuit de Marrakesh (road course) – Marrakesh – 2010
# 21 – BRAZIL – Circuit de Caruaru – Aryten Senna (road course) Caruaru – 2010
# 22 – ESTONIA – Laitse Rally Park (road course) – Laitse – 2010
# 23 – LATVIA – Bikernieki (road course) – Riga – 2010
# 24 – EL SALVADOR – El Jabali (road course) –Quezaltepeque – 2010
# 25 – BELGIUM – Circuit de Spa (road course) – Francorchamps Spa – 2011
# 26 – LUXEMBOURG – Alzingen (road course) – Alzingen – 2011
# 27 – POLAND – Tor Slomczyn (road course) – Slomczyn – 2011
# 28 – SINGAPORE – Marina Bay (road course) – Singapore – 2011
# 29 – FRANCE – Circuit Paul Ricard (road course) – Le Castellet – 2012
# 30 – SLOVAKIA – Slovakia Ring (road course) – Orechova Poten – 2012
# 31 – MONACO – Circuit de Monaco (road course) – Monte Carlo – 2012
# 32 – PERU – Autodromo La Chutana (road course) – Lima – 2012
# 33 – RUSSIA – Moscow Central Hippodrome (oval) – Moscow – 2013
# 34 – LITHUANIA – Marijampole Autocross Track (road course) – Marijampole – 2013
# 35 – INDIA – Buddh International Circuit (road course) – Noida – 2013
# 36 – TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO – Larry Gomes Stadium (road course) – Arima – 2014
# 37 – AUSTRIA – Speedway Natschbach (oval) – Loipersbach – 2014
# 38 – TURKEY – Istanbul Park (road course) – Akfirat – 2014
# 39 – AZERBAIJAN – Streets of Baku (road course) – Track #2,037, Baku – 2014
# 40 – SERBIA – Usce (road course) – Belgrade – 2016
# 41 – PANAMA – Circuito Internacional de Panama (road course) – La Chorrera – 2016
# 42 – MACEDONIA – Skopje Street Course (road course) – Skopje – 2017
# 43 – UKRAINE – Autodrome Chayka (road course) – Kiev – 2017
# 44 – SPAIN – Autodromo de Barcelona-Catalunya (road course) – Montmelo – 2018
# 45 – PORTUGAL – Autodromo Internacional Algarve (road course) – Portmao – 2018
# 46 – MOLDOVA – Autocross Colonita (road course) – Colonita – 2018
# 47 – MONTENEGRO – Auto Kros Zlatica (road course) – Podgorica – 2019
# 48 – ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA – Crabbs Raceway (road course) – Crabbs – 2019
# 49 – JAPAN – Fuji Speedway (road course) – Oyama – 2019
# 50 – SLOVENIA – Motorsport Kaps (road course) – Moravce – 2022
# 51 – CZECH REPUBLIC – AMK Humpolec (road course) – Humpolec – 2022
# 52 – FINLAND – Toijalan Satama Ice Circuit (road course) – Toijalan Satama – 2024
Sorry Carol. Your information gravy train is about to stop.
Now that Carol is the World’s #2 Trackchaser she becomes my main competitor. I may have to shut off the “trackchasing information super highway” so that she doesn’t pass me in the rankings. Maybe no more free flights, free hotels and complimentary hotel breakfast buffets! Trackchasing is a very competitive hobby!
Chain hotel or independent?
Our 12-day trip had us flying overnight on an airplane for one night and staying for four nights in both Hyatt and Marriott hotels. Our one independent B&B was probably the worst of the trip. Staying overnight with our Belgium buddies in Austria at a unique mountainside apartment/cabin was the most unique stay and certainly lots of fun.
I’m not sure if it’s a good idea or not to stay in American-branded hotels when vacationing in Europe. The reason I do it is I hold superior status with Marriott on this trip, and superior status with Hyatt given to me by our son J.J. on this trip. It’s hard to pass up all the additional perks with Marriott and Hyatt. On the other hand, staying in unique upscale European properties can be a great idea as well.
I think Carol and I are probably getting burnt out on upscale modern five-star hotel breakfasts. Left my own devices I probably wouldn’t need to eat until about 11 in the morning or even later on most days.
This morning we were making a two-hour drive north of Helsinki to see ice racing. This ice racing would take place on a frozen lake. Most ice racing in the U.S. is done on frozen lakes. It takes about 15 inches of ice for safe automobile ice racing. This part of Finland has had extremely cold temperatures for most of the past month so having enough ice was a problem. Much warmer winters in the United States have caused more ice racing cancellations than races during the past five years.
Thanks to Sweden for our trip to Finland today!
I’ve got to thank my Sweden buddy Nicklas A. for the advance information on this race in Finland. Finland race info is difficult to come by with the language barrier. It seems like Finland racing information is not nearly as accessible using Google as it is in other places.
I met Nicklas and his significant other Susanne last year on a mega-trackchasing trip to Sweden. I always say you don’t really have a friend unless you have played a round of golf with them or shared a meal. Last summer Nicklas, Susanne and I went to three races together in their home country of Sweden. We had a chance to go out to dinner and spend some time together. That’s always the most fun for me to do as an international trackchaser.
This was Carol’s 52nd trackchasing country. She’s #2!
Today’s ice racing was above average. There were five different classes of stock car racing with about 7-10 competitors in each class.
The cars were racing on a flat frozen lake road course configuration. They all ran with studded tires, which gives extra grip on the ice. I was very much surprised at how fast they were going. I’m going to guess they were traveling to 80-100 mph. That’s pretty fast on an ice track. By the way our rental car also came with studded tires.
This group called Jaarata also races several divisions of cross-karts. The cross-karts race on a smaller track. I had a difficult time finding out if any of the cross-cart divisions were open to adult racers. If that was the case, I would be able to count racing on the shorter track. If the cross-kart divisions were limited to kids, under 18 years of age, I would not be able to count the smaller track. Those are the rules of trackchasing. The cross-karts were racing in the morning. Although I got some conflicting information, it seemed the smaller track would not offer any countable racing. That wasn’t the end of the world. This allowed us to sleep in for an extra couple of hours. There is always a silver lining isn’t there?
Although we were standing on a frozen lake in the middle of Finland we would not starve. Eating at the races is an art form. Today we found where everyone was heading during a break in the action. This was going to be lunch. I was surprised they accepted my payment using my Apple Watch with Apple Pay. I think Covid did a lot for hands free payment. We rarely used cash for anything on this entire trip.
The weather was decent for Ice Racing. The ambient temperature was 2°C, which is about 35°F. There wasn’t any wind. It is always the wind that makes these events super cold.
I recommend you take a look at my YouTube video that I made from this race to see what the on the track action was like today. Here’s the link.
Ice racing from Finland – Toijama Salaam Ice Circuit
As noted Carol was seeing racing at her 52nd country. I was seeing racing at 2,941st track in 87 countries. This was also the 499th track where I have seen racing outside the United States. I estimate it’s taken me about 300 international trips to get that done. Folks, that will wear out a passport pretty fast.
Trackchasing requires research.
I do a lot of behind-the-scenes research to find out when and where all of these tracks around the world are racing. It’s much easier to do this for racing in the United States than outside of our country.
Trackchasing is sort of like the hobby of genealogy. The more time you have to research the more complete result you will get. Facebook and Google are my friends. People, many of whom I have never met, continue to give me leads and good ideas for future trips. As I was trying to find out if the cross-karts allowed adults to race I came across a Finnish fellow named Jari from JaNo Productions on Facebook. He was associated with today’s ice racing group We started communicating via Facebook Messenger.
Jari? Jari? Where are you?
I had hoped to meet up with Jari at today’s race. When I messaged him after getting to the track he told me he would not be in attendance. Jari was seeing a race today but at another location in Finland!! I was disappointed to not meet Jari but his message was now turning on all kinds of lightbulbs for me. For the rest of the day Jari and I continued to message each other. He was nice enough to send me a picture of his family.
Yes! During the course of our conversation, Jari mentioned that he was watching racing at a different track in Finland today. Really? I asked him to tell me more about it.
It turns out he was watching a three-hour endurance ice racing event in Brusas, Finland. Brusas was about an hour and 20-minute drive from where we were at the moment. Someone surprisingly Brusas was only 86 miles from the Russian border! When I told Carol about the situation and that we might be able to sneak across the Russian border for a look see I got a big frown. It was time to leave the kids on skis on a frozen lake…and trackchaser!
Brusas here we come!
Jari told me the race he was attending had started at noon. We had already watched all of the heat racing and several of the feature events where we were. I decided to hop in the car and drive as fast as humanly and legally and safely as possible to try to catch a trackchasing event in Brusas.
Most local short-track racing is not all that well organized. These types of shows often start late and finish late. You can almost start your watch and then rue the tardiness of these racing programs. According to Jari, his race was going to end exactly at 3 p.m. We didn’t need to stay any longer where we were at. Unluckily, the walk from the ice track to the car was the better part of 15 minutes. At this point, time was of the essence.
We made it!
When we got situated in the car my GPS told me that we would arrive at Brusas at 2:49 p.m. That would let us see exactly 11 minutes of racing. What did we have to lose? If we got there too late at least we weren’t very far from our hotel in Helsinki. I pressed the accelerator just a little bit harder. I kept a close eye on our ETA. Carol just smiled. She knows in situations like this it’s better to just lay low. I tried to drive just 5-10 mph over the speed limit. If I got a speeding ticket and missed the race that would just create a better story, right? Remember, I’m all about creating memories. Die with Zero, baby! We pulled into the farm field racetrack at 2:47 p.m.
I never would have been able to pull this off if Jari had not sent a Google Maps link. That link worked perfectly. This track, the Brusas Ice Circuit was located out in the country on land, not a frozen lake. About a mile away, as we approached, we could see what looked like the paddock area. This was just another in a very long line of exploits that would never have been possible without the help of my foreign-based friends.
Indeed, most of the race was already finished by the time we arrived. Trackchasing rules state that a trackchaser must see “competitive racing”. There is no mention of how much of an event has to be seen. By rule seeing the very smallest amount of actual racing allows a chaser to count the track.
Free and a preferred parking spot.
By the time we arrived, they were no longer charging admission. We scooted off the highway and into the paddock area at a high rate of speed with the snow flying off of our winter-studded tires. I parked and looked out the front windshield. Here came 50 race cars racing directly at us before making a right-handed turn to avoid running into our car. Luckily, a huge snowbank separated us. The cars made a right hand turn and continued on around the ice course configuration that probably measured about 3/4 of a mile in distance.
I was surprised how many cars were racing. I talked to one of the competitors after the race. He told me they had 50 racing today but normally have 80-100.
We saw just 13 minutes of racing action. They had a huge clock counting down the three-hour time limit. The racing was exciting because they had so many cars. I’m not sure I could ever recall seeing an ice race with 50 cars competing and I’ve seen ice racing more than 130 tracks.
When we were finished, we spent some time talking to a father/son duo. The dad was taking pictures and his son was racing. They were nice folks and surprised to see we had come all the way from Southern California to their racing spot in Finland.
Just in case this is not clear to anyone reading this I am a trackchaser. Most of the time my hobby is not so much about the “track” but the “chase”. Make sense?
Today was Finland’s presidential election.
It was sad to hear that Jari had left the track just as we were arriving. He and I continued to Facebook Message each other. I could give you one hundred guesses on why he had to leave at the checkered flag. I don’t think you would ever identify the reason. Jari and his family had to leave early because today is their presidential election day in Finland. Jari and his family wanted to vote. That’s a first. Pictured above in the current president of Finland… Sauli Ninistö. He is 75 years old.
We took pictures of all of the cars. We walked around the paddock. I kind of felt like we had stolen one today. That makes up for all the tracks that have cancelled for so many lame reasons in the past. There have been several.
Do I have a video from today’s racing. Yes! Take a look. Here’s the link. Watch this and you’ll feel like you were there!
Finland ice racing from the Brusas Ice Circuit
Today was a special day for me. I was seeing my 500th track outside of the U.S. Those adventures, and they have been adventures have taken me to 86 countries beyond the United States. It’s been a great ride and continues. Wanna see my complete foreign track list?
Randy’s Complete Foreign Track List
We headed back to Helsinki. Along the way, we saw a rural pizza establishment and stopped in for some really good-tasting pizza.
Gas is beyond expensive in Europe and Finland in particular.
Then it was back to Helsinki. I needed to fill our Randy Lewis Racing Eurocar Racing Toyota Hybrid C-HR gas tank to the brim. This would be our only gas stop in Finland. Gasoline was priced at $7.71 per gallon. I haven’t been able to compute the fuel mileage yet.
I cannot tell you how I did all of this traveling before the invention of GPS. I really don’t remember. It almost seems to me it would have been impossible to find all of these rurally located tracks with just a paper map. Tonight, I figured when I asked “Siri” to take us to a gas station near our hotel I would get an excellent recommendation. Nope. We were riding across the brick-laden streets in heavy Helsinki city traffic for what seemed like forever. We had a very difficult time finding a gas station even with GPS.
Diverse. Yes, this was a very diverse vacation trip.
This trip had been very diverse. We saw a professional hockey match, a professional, ballet, and ice racing in three different countries. We stayed overnight with a couple of new international friends and had dinner with them. I did a television interview in France on the famous Trophëe Andros streaming network. The people in France and the people in Austria gave us Souvenir beanies and scarves. We drove about 2200 miles in 10 days. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a pretty active vacation to me. I like to think of us as adventuresome travelers. Stay tuned. I expect to be in this part of the world sometime in the next few months.
We were lucky with the weather. It was cold enough but not too cold. During our entire time in Europe, we never saw a single flake of snow falling from the sky. Our rental cars were good. I would take the Toyota SUV over the bigger and generally smooth-riding Mercedes.
When we got back to our hotel this evening, I watched the UCLA – usc basketball game played yesterday using my YouTube TV subscription. Some folks think you can’t watch YouTube TV outside of the United States. However, if you know how to operate a VPN you can.
Our wake-up call comes tomorrow at 3 a.m. here in Helsinki. We have a 7 a.m. flight from Helsinki to Munich. In Munich, we have a three-hour layover before hopping on a 12-hour and 15-minute flight from Munich back to Los Angeles. It’s been a busy trip but tomorrow is going to be a super busy logistical travel day.
MONDAY – January 29
Here’s my simple strategy for flying.
Today we flew for more than 15 hours. We grabbed business class seats for the longer MUC-LAX journey. I never really mind long flights. Remember, I am the most laidback person most of you know. What’s my strategy for a long flight? It’s simple. I get on the flight. I sit in my seat. When the plane lands I get off. How much easier and simpler could things be?
I’ve been working on this for a looooong time!
Two days after we landed I picked up my new 2024 Tesla Model X. When I sell my 2020 Tesla Model X that will complete the circle and I will tell you all about it.
Did my tale make you feel like this?
I hope when you finish reading this you feel as if you shared a farmhouse apartment in Austria with Bart and Ronny. I hope you feel like you stood out on a frozen lake in Finland to watch some ice racing. I hope you sensed the excitement of sitting at the glass watching a professional hockey match and the next night, despite being a little underdressed, hobnobbed with the Helsinki elite at the Roman and Juliet opera performance.
See you next time,
Randy Lewis – World’s #1 Trackchaser
Carol Lewis – World’s #2 Trackchaser