Keeno talks about Kei Hill & Matterly Basin
A victory at the legendary Keiheuvel in Balen - and the accompanying Sylvain Geboers Trophy - were still missing from Ken De Dycker's record. The Red Bull KTM rider made short work of this on Wednesday! De Dycker convincingly won two heats and finished second once. In the BC standings, Ken remains firmly in the lead with 27 points ahead of Tanel Leok
De Dycker was by far the fastest during the qualifications. In the morning, Keeno lapped almost 1,8 seconds faster than Leok. There was no limit to De Dycker's supremacy in the opening heat. After Max Nagl's holeshot ahead of Strijbos and Van Horebeek, the strong Lubbeken native quickly made his way to the front. From 5th place at the start, he took the lead on the second lap and quickly expanded his lead. At the finish he had more than 11 seconds ahead of Nagl. The fastest lap time of the orange powerhouse also commanded respect; 2,3 seconds faster than its nearest competitor!
In the wheel of teammate Nagl, Ken stormed onto 'the Kei' for the first time in the second heat. And again he proved elusive! Ken was in the lead from start to finish. Under almost tropical, sunny conditions, the many thousands of spectators enjoyed De Dycker's helmsmanship. The Keiheuvel rightly bears the title of being one of the toughest sand circuits in the world. Keeno, however, completed his rounds playfully. A promising preview of what we can expect during the important sand appointments in the coming weeks, starting with the Benelux GP in Lierop and the MX of Nations in Lommel at the end of September. As expected, national coach Joêl Smets announced today that De Dycker will represent our country alongside Clément Desalle and Jeremy Van Horebeek during the 'Olympic Games of Motorsport'.
During the third race of the day, Ken once again set the fastest lap time on his KTM SX-F 450. After a joust with Leok, the latter appeared to be slightly fresher during the final sprint of 25 minutes plus one lap. With the British GP looming, De Dycker slowed down a bit in the last part of the race. He crossed the finish line with a wide lead over Van Horebeek and De Reuver.
Ken Dycker: “Driving went well today. I never had the holeshot, but I always got away well. In the first two laps I kept pushing hard. After opening a gap in those first two races, I was able to control well. That way I could save my energy and it was also satisfying to be able to ride to victory quite comfortably! In the last moto I took it a bit easier. There is already a GP coming up next weekend and with this warm weather we had to be careful not to get any bruises. Fortunately, you occasionally pass between the trees on Keiheuvel because it was really hot. As soon as you even moved, you started sweating! Nevertheless, Keiheuvel was in good condition. There had been good spraying beforehand and the new layout of the start turned out to be an improvement. I think that in consultation with the club we can still make some improvements to make the new start next year even more spectacular.”
About the British GP in Matterly Basin
“I'm really looking forward to riding in Matterly Basin again. There are many classes on the program, which will certainly make the track difficult. And according to the weather forecast it could also rain. I like such circumstances. But the jumps are also very beautiful there. As far as I'm concerned, Matterly Basin is the most beautiful course of the season! Even though many different types of motorcycles are in action - from the 65cc to the MX1 - I don't think we will notice any of this on the surface. They will certainly work on the track, and the heavier engines that run on Saturday and Sunday in particular set the tone for the driving lines and pits.”
Photos: CDS
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