VSeveral strong guest drivers at VLM yesterday! Strong men Jens Getteman (winner of the 1st heat) and Matteo Puffet shared the spoils, but the Walloon top rider claimed the overall victory.
Thirty internationals at the gates in Retie, on a Duinberg that looked different than usual: the jumps had been largely removed and replaced by banked turns.
Series 1 — Getteman gone, Cordens fights
Jens Getteman set the pack in motion together with Kevin Schellens and Glenn Bielen, and then pulled away lap after lap. Behind him, Matteo Puffet, who started from fourth place, immediately set things straight: he overtook Bielen and secured second place.
The star of the show was Nolan Cordens. Cordens had a mediocre start and dropped out of the top ten during the first lap, but he fought his way through the field and also overtook Bielen in the closing stages. Third.
Bad luck struck Brent Aerden. His bike refused to start before the very beginning — one was hastily borrowed from a national rider — and after a heavy crash, he finished no higher than fifteenth place. Mattis Meersehout and Yirre Saenen crashed in the opening corner and fought their way up to eighth and tenth place respectively.
Series 2 — Puffet finishes it
Getteman completely missed his start and only came through in tenth place. Bielen was the fast starter, but Puffet and Cordens soon dueled for second place, and once Puffet got past them, the race was right up his alley. In the closing stages, he allowed Brent Aerden and Bielen to close the gap to within about four seconds, but the victory was no longer in danger.
Aerden — the same man who had to borrow a bike in heat one — finished second, Bielen third. Cordens crashed and had to settle for fourth place. Getteman managed to claw his way back to fifth, but another crash deprived him of any chance of winning the day.
Day victory and classification
Matteo Puffet wins the Inters 500 at the Duinberg with 47 points, ahead of Glenn Bielen and Nolan Cordens (both 38). In the 250, Václav Janout takes the day's victory with 47 points, exactly the same as Wout Van Beysteveldt (25+22), but with the better second heat. Brent Van de Walle completes the podium. Among the B-riders, Joe Vanderreyt was dominant with a double victory (50 points), ahead of Sten Sauvillers and Dean Van Clapdorp.
There is no VLM race scheduled for next week. In fourteen days, the caravan heads to Gierle for the Samrent team's race.
VLM Inters Retie Race 1
1. Jens Getteman 24:04.563, 2. Matteo Puffet +11.470, 3. Nolan Cordens +20.087, 4. Glenn Bielen +29.012, 5. Enzo Aerden +34.039, 6. Arno Van Mieghem +1:03.794, 7. Alexandre Viltard +1:07.093, 8. Mattis Meersehout +1:26.910, 9. Kevin Schellens +1:29.898, 10. Yirre Saenen +1:32.554, 11. Wout Van Beysteveldt +1:36.432, 12. Václav Janout +1:37.814, 13. Brent Van de Walle +1 lap, 14. Joe Vanderreyt +1 lap, 15. Brent Aerden +1 lap, 16. Jordi Van Mieghem +1 lap, 17. Lars Huysmans +1 lap, 18. Stan Mathieu +1 lap, 19. Manolis Kritikos +1 lap, 20. Tom Cuyvers +1 lap, 21. Dieter Vromans +1 lap, 22. Karel Schepmans +1 lap, 23. Dean Van Clapdorp +1 lap, 24. Sten Sauvillers +1 lap, 25. Raf Belmans +1 lap, 26. Sven Wouters +1 lap, 27. Jens Steensels +1 lap, 28. Boyd Van Endert +4 laps, 29. Bart Janssens +5 laps, 30. Kenzo Bocquet +8 laps
VLM Inters Retie Race 2
1. Matteo Puffet 21:02.950, 2. Brent Aerden +4.548, 3. Glenn Bielen +6.671, 4. Nolan Cordens +18.993, 5. Alexandre Viltard +47.944, 6. Mattis Meersehout +53.154, 7. Václav Janout +1:01.429, 8. Yirre Saenen +1:25.243, 9. Enzo Aerden +1:32.547, 10. Joe Vanderreyt +1:36.797, 11. Wout Van Beysteveldt +1:47.304, 12. Lars Huysmans +1 lap, 13. Brent Van de Walle +1 lap, 14. Kevin Schellens +1 lap, 15. Kenzo Bocquet +1 lap, 16. Stan Mathieu +1 lap, 17. Sven Wouters +1 lap, 18. Sten Sauvillers +1 lap, 19. Dean Van Clapdorp +1 lap, 20. Dieter Vromans +1 lap, 21. Jens Steensels +2 laps, 22. Arno Van Mieghem +2 laps, 23. Boyd Van Endert +3 laps, 24. Jens Getteman +5 laps, 25. Jordi Van Mieghem +6 laps, 26. Karel Schepmans +6 laps, 27. Manolis Kritikos +7 laps, 28. Raf Belmans +10 laps, 29. Tom Cuyvers +11 laps
Inters 500 VLM Retie final standings
1.Matteo Puffet 47 (22+25), 2. Glenn Bielen 38 (18+20), 3. Nolan Cordens 38 (20+18), 4. Brent Aerden 32 (10+22), 5. Alexandre Viltard 30 (14+16), 6. Enzo Mattis (16+13), 17. Meersehout 28 (13+15), 8. Yirre Saenen 25 (11+14), 9. Jens Getteman 25 (25+0), 10. Kevin Schellens 24 (12+12), 11. Arno Van Mieghem 24 (15+9), 12. Sven Wouters 17 (17+), Kenzo Boquet 131 (0+11), 14. Manolis Kritikos 9 (9+0), 15. Karel Schepmans 8 (8+0)
Inters 250 VLM Retie final standings
1. Václav Janout 47 (22+25), 2. Wout Van Beysteveldt 47 (25+22), 3. Brent Van de Walle 38 (20+18), 4. Lars Huysmans 36 (16+20), 5. Stan Mathieu 31 (15+16), 6. Dieter Vromans 29 (14+15), 7. Boyd Van Endert 27 (13+14), 8. Jordi Van Mieghem 18 (18+0), 9. Bart Janssens 12 (12+0)
VLM Inters B Retie — Final Standings
- Joe Vanderreyt 50 (25+25), 2. Sten Sauvillers 40 (18+22), 3. Dean Van Clapdorp 40 (20+20), 4. Jens Steensels 33 (15+18), 5. Tom Cuyvers 22 (22+0), 6. Raf Belmans 16 (16
Tekst: Frank Janssen
Photos: MX Grietje
