Micha-Boy De Waal looks back on Valkenswaard
Although Micha-Boy De Waal had only been able to train twice on the Vamo Honda, he immediately made a good impression in Valkenswaard. Lars Van Berkel's replacement scored points in both heats! Ultimately, De Waal collected two points in his own country. Micael Ivanov also made progress on the Eurocircuit.
On the occasion of the first Dutch GP of the season, Vamo Honda showed up in No Fear Energy Drink colors. Both Micha Boy De Waal and Micael Ivanov did justice to the beautiful No Fear design because they fought for what they were worth.
During the first free practice on Saturday, the track in Valkenswaard was unusually fast. For De Waal, the first day was mainly about finding the right settings. Ivanov was also struggling in the strongly occupied second European MX2 race. Micha Boy qualified as 25th, Micael finished 32nd in the qualifying race after a bad start.
As we are used to from him, De Waal rolled up his sleeves the next day. The 21-year-old driver from Veen clocked a nice 15 during the warmupde time. He then set a good pace during both heats. In the first moto he climbed from 35th moved up to 24th in no time. In terms of speed, Micha Boy was certainly the equal of the top 20, but due to two crashes he eventually became 21st.th. The Honda rider also put things in order in the second race after a poor start. In the final phase he seemed to be heading for three well-deserved World Cup points, but De Waal could no longer hold off the pressing Henri Jacobi, so he still scored 19de became.
After an eventful first heat, Micael Ivanov came in at 26thth. The second heat was by far the best for Micael. He now started in the middle of the pack and rode around with more confidence. After a regular race over 30 minutes plus two laps, the multiple Bulgarian champion finished 24thth.
Micha Boy De Waal: “Due to the short preparation with the MX2 engine, it was quite an adjustment. Saturday was bad, but after a good warmup I was at the start on Sunday with a much better feeling. The first heat was reasonable, it's a shame about those two crashes otherwise there would have been a lot more. In the second moto the riding went well but unfortunately I had a problem with the rear brake. As the weekend progressed, things got better and better on the 250. All in all, I'm satisfied and I'm looking forward to Latvia!”
Michael Ivanov: “I am quite satisfied with my speed and the course of the GP, especially because I am not a sand specialist. In the first moto I didn't have a good start, I was really at the back, but I was soon able to pass some riders and got into the top 25. In the first lap I was hit and I fell, after which I stopped the bike again. Stupid, but something like that can happen. For this type of circuit, my riding and speed in the second heat were more than adequate. Unfortunately there were no points, but the feeling was much better than, for example, during the Dutch Masters or motocross.”
Photos: shotbyBavo
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