IMBA Open England: Belgians solid, British super
In Branston, north-east of Birmingham, the IMBA men had to complete the third round of the Open championship. The local AMCA riders dominated the race with series victories for Richard Cannings - who also became the overall winner - and Brad O'Leary who won the first and last series. The Best Belgian was Stijn Verstrepen (Honda) with fifth place. Kawasaki-Benelux pilot Danny Langenberg was the best MON rider with tenth place. Championship leader Van Uden had a weekend to forget, he only finished 24th.
Series 1: Comeback race for Cambré and Fleerackers
O'Leary made the most of his home advantage on the fast track and led from start to finish. Things went wrong immediately after the start for Kris Fleerackers and Jilani Cambré because they were involved in a crash. Stijn Verstrepen finished 9th and advanced to 2th place in 5 laps. There seems to be more in it for Verstrepen, but when he brakes the engine dead with three laps to go, he falls to 9th place. 'The line' attacks again and still manages to finish 6th. Cambré and Fleerackers finish their catch-up race in 17th and 19th respectively. Unfortunately, Langenberg was unable to capitalize on his brilliant start and finished eighth. Van Uden sends his TM to 11th place. Click here for the full results.
Series 2 for Richard Cannings
A better start for the Belgians in the second round, but the battle for victory is again a British affair. Richard Cannings eventually beats Ben Saunders. Verstrepen copies his first heat in detail! He comes back nicely from 13th to fifth place, but with a few laps to go he brakes to death again. Dropped back to 8th place, Stijn can still advance to 5th place. Jilani rode a consistent race and comes in at 12th place. Langenberg is now 9th, Jarno Verhorevoort 11th. Click here for the full results.
Series 3: Streak a nice third
With Verstrepen in 7th and Jilani in 13th after the start, the two young Honda riders feel that there is more to it. Verstrepen quickly works his way to the front and after a nice duel with the German Franck Jansen Teitz he advances to place 3. Ultimately, Stijn ends up 18 seconds behind the leader. Jilani fought his way to 8th place. Both Fleerackers and Hoolants achieved their best result of the day with a 16th and 22nd place.Click here for the full results. You will find the final score here.
In the standings for the Open IMBA championship, Stijn Verstrepen moves from 10th to 4th place, just 5 points behind Van Uden who is 3rd. Fleerackers is in 16th place, bart is in 26th and newcomer Jilani Cambré is in 30th. Brad O'Leary is the new leader, ahead of Jansen Teitz. The next IMBA Open race is Germany (Ohlenberg) in two weeks.
Photos credit: Ryan & Glenn
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