HThe circuit in Agueda was transformed into a large mud pool by the heavy rain. Maxime Renaux – who was finally given the green light to start – and Calvin Vlaanderen both drove a strong series and therefore dived into the top 10. Jago Geerts remained in 12th place.
Maxime Renaux, who was given the green light to start in Portugal at the last minute, fought back from 25th position to 10th place in the qualifying race after a bad start. That scenario was repeated one day later in the first series. This time Renaux had to come back from 22nd position. The way he did it was impressive. One by one he took the competition to task. Sometimes even two – Horgmo and Herlings – in one corner. His impressive overtaking race brought him to fifth place.
A good start in the second race (fifth) for Maxime, but an early fall knocked him back to thirteenth place. The Frenchman had to hunt again. His comeback brought him to ninth position this time.
Renaux: “Fifth and ninth: that’s a good result. A few days ago I thought I wouldn’t be able to ride here. In the first race I crashed twice, but I was still able to return to fifth place. In the second race I had to do a large part without a front brake lever after a crash. So I couldn’t push as hard as I wanted. That was a bit frustrating, but I came here to score points and I succeeded. So I have to be satisfied.”
Not a good starting position for Jago Geerts in the first series, after a disappointing qualifying race – only 19th – on Saturday. The Balenaar just missed the top 10 in the first corner, but dropped back to P15 in the early stages. Jago then played yo-yo a few times: 14th, 15th, again 14th. In the final stages he was able to move up one more place, good for eight WC points.
Geerts crashed with another rider in the first lap of the second race and had to fight back from the back again. And he did a great job: from P22 he went to P12.
Geerts: “I started the series badly twice. My starts let me down each time. In MXGP it is already difficult to make up positions, but in these conditions – in all that mud and with all that rain – it is even more difficult. You have to take risks. Twelfth and thirteenth. It is what it is. Although I am quite satisfied with the riding itself. Now on to Lugo. Rain? That is allowed, but please not too much.”
Vlaanderen immediately felt comfortable in the Portuguese mud on Saturday. The South African steered his YZ450FM to a brilliant second place in the qualifying race. And he seemed to continue that good line a day later in the first race. Calvin quickly moved up from P9 to P6. But in the penultimate lap it went wrong: Vlaanderen slid down and dropped back to 12th place.
In the second race Calvin did not let himself be caught out with a big mistake. After one lap he came through in fourth place and the South African was able to hold that position until the end.
Flanders: “Actually, this was a fairly positive weekend. On Saturday, I was in the top five in all sessions, including a nice second place in the qualifying race. In the first race, I was on my way to the top five again, but a small mistake at the end cost me a lot. Frustrating. The second race was very solid again with that fourth place. Now let's hope that it stays dry next week.”
Photos: Full Spectrum Media
