Spectacle on sunny Molenbergen! (Extensive + Photos)
Last Sunday the 46th edition of the annual 'Molenbergen' motocross was held in Wuustwezel. With numerous top players on the list of participants and the weather gods being kind, everything was in place for a great day.
We had a great day! In the Inters MX1/Nationals MX1 we saw five fighters who did not want to give each other an inch. These fighters went by the names Shaun Simpson, Christophe Charlier, Kevin Strijbos, Tanel Leok and Max Nagl. The latter, not surprisingly, took the holeshot on the Molenbergen, immediately followed by Shaun Simpson. The Briton immediately made it clear in the first round that this was no play, and sent his German colleague over the sandbank. Tanel Leok could also benefit from this. After his short detour, Max Nagl finished third ahead of teammate Christophe Charlier.
While Kevin Strijbos fought past Rick Satin and Christophe Charlier to fourth place and to the wheel of Max Nagl. An interesting fight arose at the front, a fight that quickly grew into a duel between 4 gentlemen, all eager for sporting success.
Shaun Simpson, however, was resolute. The KTM pilot did not feel like giving up his first position and therefore did not do so. While the Briton rode his way to victory and also fought his way through the doubled. We saw Kevin Strijbos still working to move up. First Max Nagl had to accept it and then Tanel Leok. The Estonian also made a mistake just before the end of the heat, allowing Max Nagl to easily move up to third place.
In the second moto we got more of the same goodies. But unfortunately without Shaun Simpson at the top. The Brit lost all chances of winning the final, but out of respect for the large audience he continued to go all out! This way he was able to finish eleventh from a lost position.
However, for the victory it was between Tanel Leok, Kevin Strijbos and Max Nagl. However, none of these three managed to take the holeshot. Because this honor belonged to Christophe Charlier. Max Nagl's teammate was the first to start. He also managed to hold onto first place for three laps, but then his teammate stormed past. Competitor Kevin Strijbos was unable to immediately and quickly follow the passing movement and remained stuck behind Christophe Charlier for three long laps. Laps that Max Nagl used to open a gap. A gap that could no longer be completely closed by Kevin Strijbos. The home driver finished second again in this heat. For Tanel Leok who in turn managed to pass Christophe Charlier.
In the final score, home driver Kevin Strijbos was just one point short of keeping Max Nagl from taking the overall victory. A second place was his share, this for a very strong performing Tanel Leok.
In the MX2 class we saw a very strong Pauls Jonass who was opposed by Brent Van Doninck in the first moto. The Latvian KTM Pilot was the first to exit the Wuustwezelse chicane, ahead of teammate Josiah Natzke and Conrad Mewse. The British EMX pilot from Jacky Martens' team was quickly pipped by Brent Van Doninck who had started just behind these three. But the young man from Herentals needed four laps to pass the New Zealand talent Josiah Natzke. Time that his teammate Pauls Jonass managed to use to create a gap. Once Brent had rounded the New Zealand cliff, he was in full pursuit of the leader in the race. This led to an interesting but also innervating cat and mouse game. Did he succeed or didn't he succeed? No, it just didn't work. The Kemea Yamaha pilot finished just second after Pauls Jonass and ahead of Max Anstie, Bas Vaessen and Cedric Grobben.
The second got another KTM holeshot. We got a holeshot from Davy Pootjes. However, the Dutchman quickly had to conclude that his teammate Pauls Jonass was faster. The Latvian showed enormous class and freewheeled to victory, behind him Davy Pootjes kept Max Anstie talking for several laps. But half way through the race, the red-haired Briton from the Rockstar Negaan Husqvarna team had had enough and passed the Dutch talent. That Dutch talent in turn managed to hold on to third place ahead of Conrad Mewse and Bas Vaessen.
And what about Brent Van Doninck, you may wonder? The Prince from Herentals had to come to the front after a mediocre start, from eighth position, but remained stuck in fifth place for many laps. That seemed to be the way to go for a long time. This until his Yamaha machine stalled during a jump in the air in the penultimate lap. The young man became the crash dummy of his motorcycle and was catapulted headfirst from the motorcycle. This results in a dislocated hip. A sad incident that we will come back to later.
Let's move on to the overall classification in the MX2 class. With two series victories, the victory of course went to Pauls Jonass, ahead of Max Anstie and Davy Pootjes! Due to Brent Van Doninck's bad luck, but also due to his own strong performance, Cedric Grobben was the best Belgian in the MX2 Inters Class.
- Maximilian NAGL (GER) 45 pts
- Kevin STRIJBOS (BEL) 44 pts
- Tanel LEOK (EST) 38 pts
- Shaun SIMPSON (GBR) 35 pts
- Christophe CHARLIER (FRA) 32 pts
- Yentel MARTENS (BEL) 32 pts
- Kevin WOUTS (BEL) 28 pts
- Milko POTISEK (BEL) 28 pts
- Rick SATINK (NED) 26 pts
- Jeffrey DEWULF (BEL) 22 pts
- Pauls JONASS (LAT) 50 pts
- Max ANSTIE (GBR) 42 pts
- Davy POOTJES (NED) 35 pts
- Bas VAESSEN (NED) 34 pts
- Conrad MEWSE (GBR) 29 pts
- Josiah NATZKE (NZL) 29 pts
- Cedric GROBBEN (BEL) 28 pts
- Max ENGELEN (NED) 26 pts
- Sven VAN DER MIERDEN (NED) 26 pts
- Brent VAN DONINCK (BEL) 22 pts
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