Kevin Strijbos demonstrates for his own people!
In Wuustwezel was 44 todaye international motocross of the Molenbergen on the program. With an impressive poster in both the MX1 and MX2 classes, excitement was assured. To complete the day, we were treated to lovely sunshine and a pleasant temperature.
MX1
We'll start with the biggest guys. In the MX1 class we saw guys like Tanel Leok, Shaun Simpson, Kevin Strijbos, Joël Roelants, Dennis Verbruggen, Davide Guarneri, Xavier Boog, Petar Petrov and so on. In the first heat it was Shaun Simpson with the holeshot, followed by Joël Roelants and Dennis Verbruggen. Home driver Kevin Strijbos did not mind his poor start and started a great catch-up race. The new kid started his passing maneuvers with great intensity, catching Dennis Verbruggen in the very first lap. Roelants and Simpson, in turn, were involved in a fierce duel for first place. However, Strijbos took advantage of this and passed both riders in no time. Just after the halfway point of the race, Roelants took second place and Simpson had to make do with third place for the time being, but the Brit had not traveled to Wuustwezel for that. The HM Plant KTM opened fully, unfortunately a little too open, Simpson had a serious fall and injured his hand. Guarneri therefore finished third, ahead of De Reuver and Xavier Boog.
In the second series it was Kevin Strijbos who took the holeshot and never gave up. Roelants, who had started second, tried to catch up with his J-race Honda machine, but had to let go of the wheel after a few laps. Behind the two Belgians there was a pair of TM riders, so Guarneri and Leok fought a nice duel for third place, with Leok winning the race. Xavier Boog edged his 24MX Honda teammate Jens Getteman in 5th place.
MX2
Who else but Jeffrey Herlings would have walked away with the victory in this class. The Brabander managed to win both heats with a wide lead ahead of Frenchman Romain Febvre. The Husqvarna rider got 40 seconds in the first heat and 56 seconds in the second heat, all in a 20-minute series. As Belgians we can be proud of our brand new French champion, Damon Graulus, the Standing Construct rider managed to finish both heats in third place and therefore managed to defend himself well in this deep GP field. Harri Kullas and Aleksandr Tonkov each finished fourth once and fifth once, but it is the Finn Kullas who will take fourth place in the daily rankings.
Super poles
New in Wuustwezel today was the Superpole. The best five riders from the timed training of the MX1 & MX2 classes were allowed to compete against each other again in one fast lap, so the riders were given one reconnaissance lap and then they had a blast one by one. However, this new competition was a true thriller, as first home driver Kevin Strijbos had set a time that was 2 seconds faster than anyone else. With only Shaun Simpson, Tanel Leok and Jeffrey Herlings left, it seemed like we had to wait for 'The Bullit' to see if Kevin's time was untouchable. That was not taken into account by Simpson, the Briton clocked a time that was another 3 tenths faster than that of Strijbos. A surprise à la Lierop was in the making. Jeffrey started his lap last and gave everything he and his MX2 machine had. At the finish we had to wait for the transponder time because by hand his and Simpson's times seemed almost the same. Finally, the transponder indicated that, with a difference of 0,008 seconds, Jeffrey Herlings clocked the fastest time.
Jago Geerts vs. Jorge Prado Garcia
I, the spectators, the employees and even the birds present in Wuustwezel enjoyed one of the most beautiful moments in motocross history. The best two 85cc riders in the world, Geerts and Prado Garcia, met again. Sahktar ktm Vs factory RedBull ktm, a school going boy Vs. a home-schooled boy, a Belgian against a Spaniard, two different riders, but with one thing in common, they both have loads of talent. In the first moto these two gentlemen worked like crazy, one corner Geerts was in the lead again and the other corner it was Prado Garcia who passed him inside. On the slightly harder track of the Molenbergen, the Spaniard was able to latch onto Geerts very well and put him under pressure. Until our compatriot Jago Geerts decided to keep the throttle open at a ski jump and jump almost into a bend behind. Don't ask me how, but somehow he managed to slow down enough and take the corner like crazy, a general "OOOWWHH!!" + applause came from the audience. This impressive passing movement was immediately enough for the series victory.
In the second series the circuit was already more difficult and the drivers paid less attention to each other. Yet we once again saw a great duel between these two top talents. Jorge Prado Garcia held on to first place for a very long time, but eventually had to admit his superiority to our compatriot Jago Geerts. In both heats Glenn Bielen was ridden within a minute and a half, but the way Geerts and Prado Garcia are currently riding, that minute and a half is nothing to be ashamed of. Reigning 65cc world champion Raivo Dankers finished fourth.
Text & Photo: Frederik 'VePix' Van Eeckhoven
Results
INTERS MX1
1 STRIJBOS Kevin 25 + 25 ; 2 ROELANTS Joel 22 + 22 ; 3 GUARNERI Davide 20 + 18 ; 4 BOW Xavier 16 + 16 ; 5 GETTEMAN Jens 15 + 15 ; 6 SATINK Rick 12 + 14 ; 7 VAN DAELE Marvin 13 + 12 ; 8 SALAETS Kristof 11 + 13 ; 9 BRIDGE Dennis 14 + 10 ; 10 HOUGHTON Ryan 10 + 11 ; 11 LEOK Tanel 0 + 20 ; 12 THE MALE Marc 18 + ; 13 GHYSELS Gunther 8 + 9 ; 14 TRUYTS Andy 9 + 8 ; 15 VAN MORE Menno 7 + 7 ; …
INTERS MX2
1 HERLINGS Jeffrey 25 + 25 ; 2 FEBVRE Romain 22 + 22 ; 3 GRAULUS Damon 20 + 20 ; 4 KULLAS Harri 16 + 18 ; 5 TONKOV Aleksandr 18 + 16 ; 6 VAN DER VLIST Frederik 15 + 14 ; 7 MARTENS Yentel 13 + 15 ; 8 KUTSAR Karel 14 + 13 ; 9 KINGS Robin 12 + 10 ; 10 VOS Patrick 9 + 11 ; 11 BRUISES Daan 7 + 12 ; 12 PLESSERS Mathias 11 + 8 ; 13 HEYLEN Yannick 8 + 9 ; 14 VROMANS Dieter 10 + 7 ; 15 ROOSIORG Hardi 6 + 6 ;…
HOPES
1 DISTURB Yannick 25 + 25 ; 2 HORSTEN Nick 22 + 22 ; 3 HUYLEBROECK Tallon 20 + 20 ; 4 MAZZONI Boris 16 + 18 ; 5 ROOSE Mike 18 + 14 ; 6 COLEMBIE Robin 14 + 16 ; 7 DELVOY Thomas 15 + 11 ; 8 DONEUX Benjamin 11 + 12 ; 9 LAENEN Dylan 13 + 10 ; 10 DELBRASSINNE Quentin 6 + 15 ; 11 GOETHALS Giles 9 + 9 ; 12 FRAIKIN Rémi 3 + 13 ; 13 BRUYNINCKX Salty 7 + 8 ; 14 CLINE Bart 10 + 4 ; 15 HERINNE Arnaud 12 + 2 ; 16 KENZELER Jordy 8 + 5 ; 17 GEYSKENS Justin 4 + 6 ; 18 DUCHENE Maximilien 1 + 7
MX1 NATIONALS
1 NOS Heikki 22 + 25 ; 2 WILLEMS Erik 25 + 22 ; 3 SCHMIDT Donny 20 + 18 ; 4 COEMANS Jannick 18 + 14 ; 5 DOSQUET Steve 15 + 15 ; 6 SILLIEN Roy 16 + 12 ; 7 THE MERLIER David 14 + 8 ; 8 WALCKIERS Jochem 1 + 20 ; 9 PEETERS Steven 10 + 11 ; 10 HIGNY Giovanni 11 + 10 ; 11 VANHOOF Jelle 12 + 9 ; 12 FRAIKIN Marc 2 + 16 ; 13 SMET Joey 3 + 13 ; 14 LILLO Gauthier 8 + 7 ; 15 PACINI Dimitri 9 + 5 ;
MX2 NATIONALS
1 ROELANTS Axel 20 + 22 ; 2 PAINS Rik 22 + 20 ; 3 SPROUT Kevin 14 + 25 ; 4 ROELANDT Sven 16 + 18 ; 5 SALAETS Jonas 25 + 9 ; 6 BAUTERS Ian 18 + 14 ; 7 SCHEPMANS Karel 10 + 16 ; 8 FUCKS Nick 13 + 13 ; 9 CATCHES Kevin 15 + 11 ; 10 KOCH Daimy 9 + 15 ; 11 GILISSEN Robin 12 + 12 ; 12 JANSSENS Nick 11 + 10
NATIONALS 125cc
1 ANGELS Max 25 + 25 ; 2 ANGELS Bryan 22 + 22 ; 3 CORDENS Nolan 20 + 20 ; 4 BAESTAENS Stef 18 + 18 ; 5 VAN DER MIEREN Jasper 15 + 16 ; 6 VAN ERUM Thomas 16 + 15 ; 7 DEHOUX Michael 14 + 14 ; 8 CARLIER Jens 13 + 0
JUNIORS MX1
1 BAELEMANS Glenn 20 + 25 ; 2 VANDECASTEELE Randy 22 + 20 ; 3 JANSSENS Bart 25 + 16 ; 4 JANSEN Gert 13 + 22 ; 5 VANLEEUW Martin 15 + 18 ; 6 BAETENS Niels 12 + 15 ; 7 CLARINVAL Melvin 11 + 14 ; 8 KAIVERS Romain 14 + 9 ; 9 GUILMIN Xavier 9 + 13 ; 10 SBAIZ Corentin 8 + 12 ; 11 BURGHGRAEVE Geoffroy 18 + 0 ; 12 PETERMANS Kevin 10 + 7 ; 13 PARIDAENS Timothy 6 + 10 ; 14 WESTERN Quentin 16 + 0 ; 15 CALADO-REYES Ricardo 4 + 11 ;…
JUNIORS MX2
1 VERMOESEN Nicky 22 + 25 ; 2 DE MEY Kevin 25 + 20 ; 3 FEYTONS Joshua 20 + 16 ; 4 NELEN Kristof 12 + 22 ; 5 CRAEGHS Ken 14 + 18 ; 6 AERTS Mathieu 15 + 15 ; 7 BEYENS Marco 18 + 8 ; 8 DENYS Nathan 10 + 12 ; 9 YELLS Mike 11 + 10 ; 10 DE SOETE Nick 13 + 7 ; 11 LECLERCQ Jonathan 5 + 13 ; 12 JANSEN Niels 6 + 11 ; 13 BRUYNINCKX Michael 16 + 0 ; 14 QUIRYNES Simon 0 + 14 ; 15 CORNIL Jammy 8 + 6 ; …
YOUTH
1 GEERTS Jago 25 + 25 ; 2 PRADO Jorge 22 + 22 ; 3 BIELEN Glenn 20 + 20 ; 4 DANKERS Raivo 18 + 16 ; 5 KIMBER Harrie 13 + 18 ; 6 BRICKS Jens 15 + 15 ; 7 GRIMSHAW Tom 16 + 14 ; 8 THE SWEEMER Ian 12 + 13 ; 9 VANNIEUWENHUYZE Emilio 10 + 12 ; 10 VERGEYLEN Jari 9 + 11 ; 11 MAÎTRE Jérémy 11 + 9 ; 12 BONNE WINE Ryan 8 + 10 ; 13 HAESEVOETS Andy 6 + 8 ; 14 VERHELST Tallon 14 + 0 ; 15 VANHAEREN Chiel 7 + 6 ; 16 LILLO Aubry 5 + 7 ;
M
1 BALL Pascal 22 + 25 ; 2 ALENTEYNS Hans 25 + 22 ; 3 SIRIEZ Eric 20 + 20 ; 4 LANCE LOCK Gunther 16 + 18 ; 5 SCHURMANS Patrick 18 + 15 ; 6 HEMELAER Peter 14 + 16 ; 7 DEHOUX Claude 15 + 13 ; 8 GUILMIN Roland 13 + 14 ; 9 MORADI Mehrdad 12 + 12 ; 10 DROESCH Daniel 11 + 9 ; 11 DELCHAMBRE Pascal 7 + 11 ; 12 HACHEZ Jean-Marc 8 + 10 ; 13 SMETS Bruno 9 + 8 ; 14 PAYEN Jean-Marie 6 + 7 ; 15 DORISSEN Jean Marie 5 + 6 ; 16 GOETHALS Patrick 10 + 0
SENIORS
1 NIJS Robin 25 + 25 ; 2 JANSSENS Jef 22 + 20 ; 3 GOETHALS Tim 16 + 22 ; 4 LUBKEMANN Moreno 18 + 18 ; 5 MARGETIC Niki 20 + 16 ; 6 ALENTEYNS Andy 15 + 15 ; 7 BRUMENIL Frédéric 12 + 13 ; 8 HANON George 9 + 12 ; 9 GONZALEZ-ALVAREZ Geoffrey 6 + 14 ; 10 EXELEMANS Matthias 8 + 10 ; 11 RAATS Koen 7 + 9 ; 12 WILLEKENS Michael 14 + 2 ; 13 UAES Romain 10 + 5 ; 14 FRAIKIN Michael 13 + 1 ; 15 HENAUT Jean-Michel 0 + 11 ; 16 FREEDOMERS Nico 3 + 8 ; 17 PAUWELS Michael 11 + ; 18 VAN LOOVEREN Raf 0 + 7 ; 19 VERSTRAETEN Kristof 1 + 6 ; 20 MEELBERGHS Pieter 2 + 4 ;
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