VToday the second round of the 'Open Dutch Championship' was contested in the Dutch Mill. In the 85cc class we saw our compatriot Jago Geerts narrowly beat the upcoming Dutch talent Roan Van de Moosdijk in the first round. In the second heat the roles were reversed. Jago managed to outdo Roan and so not only the second series but also the day's victory went to Jago Geerts. In the overall ranking he remained ahead of Roan Van de Moosdijk and Sander Agard Michelsen. Our compatriot Jarni Kooi managed to achieve a great eleventh place in general, Tallon Verhelst achieved a fourteenth place.
In the 125cc class in Mill it was all about Davy Pootjes. Even a minor collision with a double and an associated crash could not worry the Dutchman and KTM Factory pilot. He won both heats with a show of strength. In both heats, Pootjes outpaced former 85cc competitor and now opponent Bas Vaessen. Max Engelen managed to place him in third place in both heats. These three boys were immediately one, two, three in the daily rankings. Cyril Genot had a day with ups and downs and finished the day in eighth overall. The other compatriot in the class, Nolan Cordens, managed to collect two points and that was good for a twenty-seventh place.
The MX2 class then, for these guys the day started with a commotion. Jeffrey Herlings did train, set the sixth fastest time, but decided not to start after a crash and shoulder pain. So no Herlings and therefore a huge option for victory for Coldenhoff. An option that the Suzuki pilot immediately adopted. He took the lead from the first lap of the first heat. Behind 'The Hoff' we saw a very interesting duel between the Husqvarna boys. Tonkov and Febvre went hard against soft. Febvre managed to outwit his teammate and thus claim second place. Tonkov finished third ahead of Petar Petrov and Luke Styke. In the second moto the same picture again for the lead, namely Glenn Coldenhoff who authoritatively leads from lap 1 to lap last. For second place we also got approximately the same picture as in the first heat, except that in addition to the two Husqi boys, we also saw Petar Petrov among them. The three made a nice spectacle of it until the Bulgarian from Kemea Yamaha crashed hard. After Petrov's fall, the Husqvarna pilots Tonkov and Febvre decided among themselves who could come second and third. As before, it was Febvre who trumped Tonkov. This time fourth place went to Harri Kullas and fifth place was reserved for an impressively driving Brent Van Doninck.
In the MX1 class we saw two holeshots for Todd Waters, the Australian was in the lead in Mill for about 90% of the time and in both motos. Yet unfortunately the Husqvarna pilot did not win a single round. In the first moto we first saw a duel between Kras and Marc De Reuver for second place, after which Kras pushed through to Todd Waters and went up and over the Australian. Todd Waters managed to finish second ahead of De Reuver who was struggling with a steaming Honda. In the second moto we again saw Todd Waters and Mike Kras take the holeshot. Waters' pace was just too fast for Mike Kras, but not for Joel Roelants, who started deep in the pack. The Belgian sand hare, who dropped out of the first round, flew over the course in Mill, briefly hooked up with Todd Waters and went over in a hiccup. Once again Todd Waters had to make do with a second place ahead of Mike Kras, Marc De Reuver. Pascal Rauchenecker managed to steal fifth place from Filip Bengtsson in the last lap. With this result, the day's victory went to Beursfoon Suzuki pilot Mike Kras.
Text: Matthias Van Eeckhoven – Photo: Frederik 'VePix.be' Van Eeckhoven