Damon Graulus takes ONK MX2 title!
The first round in the 85cc class was a success for Raivo Dankers. The European and World Champion won the match with great dominance. Yet this was only a footnote. The eyes were mainly focused on Rick Elzinga and Loeka Thonies. These two fought a match within the match. Both were still in the running for the title of 'Open Dutch Champion'. Rick Elzinga finished well behind Raivo Dankers and ahead of Loeka Thonies. That was enough for the young man to clinch the title. A nice farewell gift for his Rockstar Energy Beursfoon KTM team. The second round again went to Raivo Dankers, but the happiest man on the podium was Rick Elzinga, the 2015 85cc ONK Champion.
In the 125cc class we were looking forward to the duel between Conrad Mewse and Cyril Genot. However, it was another Belgian who immediately showed what type it was made of. Jago Geerts took the holeshot in the first heat and the competition did not see the young man from Balen again. Behind Jago Geerts, Conrad Mewse, who was in second place, seemed to win points over a poorly started Cyril Genot. Although Cyril initially fought his way back to fourth place, a loss of points seemed inevitable until a few laps before the end of the first moto Conrad Mewse braked the Red Bull KTM to death. First the Brit saw Naud van Kraaij fly by and then saw his arch-enemy in the championship battle Cyril Genot pass by. The Briton, who was struggling with clutch problems, barely got the engine running again. However, a fourth place and two points loss to Cyril Genot ended the first round. The second heat promised to be at least as exciting and exciting. Aluwel Cyril Genot was once again unable to get away well and immediately ruined all chances to put pressure on Conrad Mewse. The Brit rode in second place, behind another impressive Jago Geerts, unthreatened to the title.
In the MX2 class, the title battle was between Lars van Berkel, who was kicked out by his team on Tuesday and competed here in Mill on a KRT (CLS) MX2 Kawasaki, and our compatriot Damon Graulus. However, it was neither of them who managed to win the first round, that victory went to the Estonian Finn Harri Kullas. The pilot employed by Jacky Martens managed to fight his way to victory after a top five start. Behind him it was time to see how many points Lars van Berkel could make up. However, it was a disappointing balance for the Kawaski pilot. Two meager points were the spoils in the first heat. Thanks to his excellent second place, but also because of Damon Graulus's third place, Lars Van Berkel was able to reduce the deficit in the ONK from ten to eight points. But these eight points turned out to be irreconcilable points. Lars van Berkel crashed at the start and immediately lost all chances of winning the title. The Kawasaki pilot raced through the pack like a man possessed and eventually finished in third place. But that wasn't enough once again due to the fact that Damon Graulus finished second behind Harri Kullas. This Estonian Finn immediately won the overall with both of his moto victories. Damon Graulus won his first ONK MX2 title in his area, after he already won the French MX2 title last year.
The ONK MX1 title battle was even more exciting. At the start of the weekend, William Saris could count on a two-point lead over Ceriel Klein Kromhof. The start of the first round seemed like a Belgian motocross championship with a holeshot by Marvin Vandaele followed by Kevin Wouts, Jeremy Dewulf, Nick Triest, etc. However, our compatriots were quickly persuaded by the title pretenders Ceriel Klein Kromhof and William Saris, but also by Michael Hool, making his debut on a 450. With his great performance, this Michael Hool also ensured that he became the joker in the entire title story. William Saris won the first round ahead of Michael Hool, who managed to take sour points from Ceriel Klein Kromhof. Who immediately saw his deficit increase from two to seven points. A huge job awaited him for the second heat. An impossible task, as it turned out. The second heat had two starts, in the one before the red flag Ceriel Klein Kromhof seemed to have an easy race with a holeshot and also a poorer start for William Saris. However, this one came through the peloton with great urgency. But after about ten minutes of competition, the boys were shown the red flag, due to a fall. The achievements were thrown in the trash, series two had to be repeated. In this restart, CKK and Saris already met at the start. Both came out of the first corner just inside the top 10. Ceriel Klein Kromhof was the first to rush to the front, but was called to order by major competitor William Saris. The sight of William Saris' back and rear made the HSF Logistics pilot extremely restless and his mental spring broke. Like a beaten dog, CKK completed the race and only came in eighth place, meaning William Saris was more than sufficient for third place behind Rick Satink and our promising Belgian Jeffrey Dewulf.
The full results can be consulted at Mylaps.com
Text: Matthias Van Eeckhoven – Photo: © Frederik Van Eeckhoven
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