Five minutes with Micha Boy De Waal
At the beginning of this season, there was little indication that Micha Boy De Waal would still drive on a quarter-liter. The spectacular driver from Veen rode for the No Fear Jumbo BT Motorsport team in the MX1 and had a great time on the 450. When De Waal was allowed to fill his place for the rest of the team after the departure of Lars Van Berkel at Vamo Honda, World Championship MX2 changed everything. The 22-year-old No Fear Energy pilot had a season with ups and downs, but he did demonstrate his speed in Assen.
You made a relaxed impression all weekend and in terms of driving it looked very good in Assen.
De Waal: “Wouldn't I be relaxed otherwise? (laughs) Assen was of course also different from my first GP of the season in Valkenswaard. You are familiar with the competition in the World Championship again, it was the eleventh Grand Prix with the same team and the same engine. I didn't feel any pressure because it was a home game. On the contrary, it's nice that people come to encourage you!”
What did you think of the tour?
De Waal:“Okay, it is a sand circuit which is positive for me, but you can't compare Assen anywhere else. It is of course a temporary circuit where everything is constructed in a short time and then there was the heavy rain in the days before. I can tell you that the track was very tough!”
How did it go on Saturday?
De Waal:“Saturday was dramatically bad, at least in free practice. The qualifying training was not good at all. I don't know what I was doing, but it didn't even look like racing at all! The heat on Saturday was good. The riding went well, and I finished sixteenth. Too bad about that small fall, otherwise there would have been another place or two."
Surely there would have been more on Sunday?
De Waal:"I think so. In the first moto I had a very bad start, but I went from last place to 20th within one lap. After that I was quickly able to get to 16th and had a nice duel with Jed Beaton. Unfortunately we ran into a problem with the engine. We drove with slightly different petrol, which the carbon tank proved unable to withstand. This caused the gasoline to become contaminated and that was it. We had never experienced anything like this before, so everyone is a little wiser. The second heat was very similar. A bad start, quickly went to the front but I crashed. The radiator was damaged. I lost a lot of water and the engine lacked a lot of power. Still, I managed to get to 22. All in all not bad, but an improvement on my best performance of the year would have been possible on Sunday.”
Next week the last GP of the season in Villars-sous Ecot.
De Waal:“One more and then the World Cup season is over! Give it your all one more time, hopefully we will get paid for our work in France. In any case, I learned a lot from the GPs I rode this year. (smiles) I can't say yet what 2018 will bring, but it looks pretty good.”
Good luck in France
De Waal:"Thank you!"
Photos: shotbyBavo
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