Comments Coupe de l'Avenir & Coupe 85cc
Jeremy Delincé, Team Belgium Coupe (1-1, individual winner): “I always had a good start and was able to lead from the start. After that I was able to build a lead and ride at my own pace. That lead allowed me to calmly plan my race and concentrate well on my lines. I am very satisfied with my own performance and the team's victory. I wouldn't call it revenge for Markelo because we didn't have the team to win in the sand, but here we fulfilled our role of favorite.”
Ceriel Klein Kromhof, Team Netherlands Coupe (6-3): “On Saturday I suffered from some sore forearms, but during the races it went better after we adjusted the suspension a bit. In the first series I missed my start, but I was able to quickly return to sixth place. In the meantime, a gap had already opened up for me, so I simply finished sixth. My start was better in the second moto. I came out of the first corner in fourth place, was able to move up to third and came within four seconds of Steve Lenoir. I came third individually and second with the Dutch team, so we can be satisfied.”
Kevin Wouts, Team Belgium Coupe (4-15): “I am very happy with our collective victory, but I cannot be satisfied myself. The first series wasn't really bad, but far from good. I just couldn't get the right rhythm, so there was certainly more to it than fourth place. In the second heat I started with a lot of enthusiasm. Especially because I was in the top five at the start. On the first lap I made a small mistake. However, I didn't just get away! At first I thought it was the clutch, but in the end the gearbox turned out to be broken. So I rode in third place for the entire series. The riding was better than the first moto, and with fifteenth place I still got the most out of it. It's a real shame, because last year I also had a broken engine in Angreau.”
Micha Boy De Waal, Team Netherlands 85cc (1-1, individual winner): “I'm happy with the way the weekend turned out. Winning individually and winning with the Dutch team, it couldn't be better! Personally, it was also very nice to recover after the qualifications on Saturday. I came third but the difference with Brent Van Doninck was too big. On Sunday I was able to do my thing twice. Especially in the second heat it was a struggle with Van Doninck, but my pace was a bit higher than his. Sunday would like to win the Dutch title in Harfsen. The difference with Brian Bogers is two points, so I am very motivated to go for it!”
Nick Triest, Team Belgium Coupe (9-1): “We actually had no pressure to win again after last year. Of course we wanted to win as a team. I would have liked to win individually too. Jeremy was of course very strong and I had problems with my front brake after a collision in the first start in the first series. Then I rode the entire series without a front brake. Fortunately, I was able to take my revenge in the last series. Without making many mistakes, I won easily.”
Brent Van Doninck, Team Belgium 85cc (2-2): “In the first heat I quickly got tired and had to let Micha Boy (De Waal) pass. The second moto was much better, even though I didn't have such a good start. I passed Bogers, I passed De Waal twice, but he is very strong today also conditionally. I then finished the series in a controlled manner in second place. I was still satisfied with the second series.”
Glenn Coldenhoff, Team Netherlands Coupe (7-3): “The weekend itself did not go wrong, as a team we unfortunately fell a bit short on Belgium. The first moto wasn't that good for me, but the second moto was just great. I was second and then I fell, but then I went from fifteen to third.”
Steven Lenoir, Team France Coupe (4-2): “Apart from some problems with the engine on Saturday, everything went very well, but I still set the second fastest time in the qualifying sessions. In the first moto I had a good start and was fourth. There might have been a bit more, but it went fast everywhere and you really had to be careful where you could overtake. Before the start of the second series I was surprised by the starting gate. I was able to come back to second place behind Triest. I also managed to make up ground on him until I started to feel the fatigue. But I had a good time and Angreau is a beautiful circuit.”
Yannick Heylen, Team Belgium 85cc (3-4): “We did our best as a team and I can look back with a good feeling. On Saturday I also exceeded expectations, as I finished fifth in the qualifications while I had initially aimed for a top 10 place. Sunday was the icing on the cake with a third and fourth place. I would never have dared to hope that I would come third individually! Last year I also rode in Angreau, but with team Flanders. That wasn't such a success, so it was nice to get my revenge! I used to feel more like a sand rider, but now I'm increasingly finding my way on hard surfaces.”
Donny Bastemeijer, Team Netherlands Coupe (13-10): “The time training was quite disappointing on Saturday because I was only 25th. I then boosted myself up for Sunday and from the morning on I was actually feeling okay. In the first moto I was around 20th place, then I have come to 11. At the end I had to let two more men pass. The second moto was similar, again the start was not so good around 20, I got to 11 again. Then I fell for a moment and I came in as 10de. I'm quite satisfied, especially because I haven't driven on such tracks for a long time. It also gave me a kick to be there with the Dutch team because I had a difficult season, not even riding for a while. This was good preparation for Harfsen, I want to go for it again next weekend.”
Luca Nijenhuis, Team Netherlands 85cc (6-6): “It was a strange weekend, I enjoyed the beautiful track and the circuit and the driving also went well. There could have been more in terms of results, but fortunately we still won as a team. I always had to start with a bad place at the fence. I had to overtake from 30th place. In the first race I finished sixth and in the second race it was almost the same. After the start I was 27th, but I was able to get back to six.”
Daymond Martens, Team Belgium 85cc (13-11): “Bwaah, it was a reasonable day, but it wasn't really great either. I had two bad starts and overtaking didn't work so well in the first moto. In the second moto I rode a bit more aggressively after my bad start. That worked out pretty well from the 24thth I'm still down to 11th placede took place. There certainly could have been more, but riding such a weekend with a team was fun. The atmosphere was good and it was a great experience.”
Photos credit: Michel Hennebert, Plan-B
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