ALast Sunday the MX2 Inters and Open Inters were behind the starting gate at MX Park Zaarderheiken of MC Venlo/Blerick. In the MX Open Inters class Kevin Buitenhuis was the winner with two heat victories. In the MX2 Inters class Damien Knuiman lived up to his role as favorite with two heat victories.
Buitnehuis stayed ahead of Tyler Eltink, who came second twice in the heats. Bob Ruijters achieved a fourth and third place and was allowed to report to the canteen for the cup for the third place. Behind him, Jamie Lucas did well in the battle for the championship. With a third and fifth place he became fourth in the daily classification. With this he increased his lead in the championship to twenty points on Krijn van Vroenhoven. Fifth place went to Michon Voets.
Also in the Inters MX2 twice the same run. Sjors Verhees took second place twice and became second in the daily classification. He stayed ahead of championship leader John Cuppen, who became third twice and therefore also finished third in the daily classification. However, his lead in the intermediate standings shrank to five points. Jop Adam and Anthony Visser completed the top five. The next race for the MX2 / Open Inters is on May 25 in Leusden.
First heat
It was Eltink who had the best start ahead of Buitenhuis, Lucas, Remco Ketels and Verhees. Ketels fell back in the first round, after which Voets took over fifth place. In the next round, Voets was passed by Lucas and Damien Knuiman, and a little later Verhees had to let them go. Knuiman passed Lucas and came to lie in third place. Lucas fell in the third round, allowing Verhees and Voets to pass him again.
Eltink and Buitenhuis had a small lead on Knuiman, but he quickly closed the gap. After six laps he had overtaken both and taken the lead. Buitenhuis was now in second place, ahead of Eltink. Lucas had recovered in the meantime and was again in fifth place. Halfway through the heat the positions seemed to be fixed. However, Knuiman made it difficult for himself by falling. He was able to maintain his lead and again extended his lead over Buitenhuis. Nothing else changed in the order at the front.
Second heat
Eltink was again the fastest, ahead of Buitenhuis. They immediately had Damien Knuiman behind them. Ruijters rode fourth, ahead of Van Vroenhoven. In the second round, Knuiman took the lead, ahead of Eltink. Buitenhuis also passed Eltink and came in second. Ruijters followed ten seconds behind, while Van Vroenhoven was passed by Verhees and Cuppen. In the fifth round, Verhees passed Ruijters.
After that, the biggest shifts were behind us. The differences between the first five quickly became bigger. The only battle was for fifth place, where Cuppen strongly pressed Ruijters. In the tenth round, Ruijters lost ten seconds, which ultimately cost him fifth place. Knuiman kept up the pace and won the heat with a one-minute lead over Buitenhuis. Eltink came third, ahead of Verhees and Cuppen.
First round MX2 / Open Inters Venlo:
1. Damien Knuiman 23:49.810, 2. Buitenhuis +16.857, 3. Eltink +37.697, 4. Verhees +46.230, 5. Lucas +1:14.142, 6. Ruijters +1:22.561, 7. Voets +1:28.870, 8. De Ruiter +1:30.809, 9. Otten +1:46.654, 10. Rutten +1:48.648.
Second round MX2 / Open Inters Venlo:
1. Damien Knuiman 24:16.888, 2. Buitenhuis +1:00.222, 3. Eltink +1:18.524, 4. Verhees +1:25.096, 5. Cuppen +1:29.400, 6. Ruijters +1:45.282, 7. Van Vroenhoven +2:12.652, 8. Lucas +1 lap, 9. Rutten +1 lap, 10. Voets +1 lap.
Daily classification MX Open Inters Venlo:
1. Country house 120, 2. Eltink 108, 3. Ruijters 97, 4. Lucas 95, 5. Voets 86, 6. Rutten 82, 7. De Ruiter 82, 8. Van Vroenhoven 78, 9. Otten 78, 10. Van Loon 68.
Daily classification MX2 Inters Venlo:
1. Damien Knuiman 120, 2. Verhees 108, 3. Cuppen 100, 4. Adam 90, 5. Visser 88, 6. Van Mil 86, 7. Platte 80, 8. Peirsman (Bel) 76, 9. Gosepath (Ger) 76, 10. Selen 41.
Net standings MX Open Inters 2025:
1. Lucas 592, 2. Van Vroenhoven 572, 3. De Ruiter 549, 4. Rutten 525, 5. Voets 502, 6. Van Loon 462, 7. Pijpers 422, 8. Country house 416, 9. Otten 419, 10. Ruijters 376.
Net standings MX2 Inters 2025:
1. Cuppen 579, 2. Verhees 574, 3. Visser 512, 4. Peirsman (Bel) 489, 5. Damien Knuiman 480, 6. Wedage 452, 7. Van Mil 443, 8. Platte 432, 9. De Weerd 346, 10. Schrik 340.
Door: Maycel de Bruijn
Photos: mdbmxpics
