Coldenhoff and Covington triumph on Keiheuvel!
What has been a tradition for years has been maintained today. On August 15, many motocross enthusiasts and motocross riders descended on the Keiheuvel in Balen. This is to see pilots such as Shaun Simpson, Glenn Coldenhoff, Kevin Strijbos, Petar Petrov and others at work in the Inters 500 class. In the Inters 250 class, the top names on the bill were mainly Jago Geerts, Thomas Covington, Anthony Rodriguez and Brent van Doninck.
Inters – National 500
In the first round of the Inters – National series we saw Glenn Coldenhoff take the lead from the start of the race. This for Kevin Strijbos and initially Jonathan Bengtsson. However, the Swede was quickly passed by Shaun Simpson, who started in seventh place. After a few laps, Kevin Strijbos and Glenn Coldenhoff also had to die. The Dutchman held on to Shaun Simpson, but he felt a little better in this first heat and won the first heat with a narrow lead, ahead of Glenn Coldenhoff and Kevin Strijbos.
The second heat was a real victory parade for Glenn Coldenhoff from start to finish. The Dutch KTM pilot took the lead in the race at the start, initially ahead of Petar Petrov and Kevin Strijbos, and never relinquished this leading position. Shaun Simpson, who started very poorly, raced through the peloton from fifteenth place to push Kevin Strijbos and Petar Petrov down in the rankings in the last lap. After his overtaking yacht, the Scottish Yamaha pilot finished second ahead of Petar Petrov, Yentel Martens and Kevin Strijbos.
The overall victory went to Glenn Coldenhoff with a second and a first place on the Keiheuvel. Shaun Simpson was second on the podium with the same number of points and in third place the audience received local hero Yentel Martens. Kevin Vangenechten was the triumphant at the National.
Inters – National 250
At quarter-litres, the crowd in attendance saw Thomas Covington win both heats. The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna pilot from the Jacky Martens team managed to hold off Jago Geerts and his teammate Anthony Rodriguez in the first moto. In the second moto the Husqvarna pilot proved too strong for Brent Van Doninck who finished second and Jago Geerts who finished third.
These two series victories were of course sufficient for the overall victory. Thomas Covington was therefore on the highest podium as the winner of the day on the boulder hill. This for Jago Geerts and Anthony Rodriguez. Ninth place in the first heat ended Brent Van Doninck's podium chances, he finished fourth overall. In the National 250 category it was a great day for old faithful Andy Truyts who managed to claim the day's victory in this class.
The matches we discussed above actually only count for the “normal” Belgian championship. Not so long ago I called them the JRT competitions and then the Belgian Nationals. This year you can only earn real points for the major Belgian championship in the super final in which the best Inters – Nationale compete in an open super final. The 2018 champion will therefore have performed well in two series, once in the boulder hill and once in Orp.
Belgian Masters of MX – Superfinal
In this super final we again saw Glenn Coldenhoff who took the lead from the start. For most of the match, the Dutchman had to take into account a well-performing Shaun Simpson. However, when he fell back to fourteenth place on the penultimate lap, the road was completely open for Glenn Coldenhoff. This way the lowlander was able to pick up his second bouquet of flowers from the organization and make his friend Nikki happy. Kevin Strijbos took full advantage of Shaun Simpson's setback and finished second. His best result of the day and that puts him in a good position to compete for the Belgian title in Orp. Yentel Martens finished third ahead of Jago Geerts who was the first MX2 machine to finish.
It is not immediately clear to us whether both classes will have a separate champion. Otherwise we will have a very nice duel in Orp-Le-Grand with both Jago Geerts and Thomas Covington at the start!
You can get all the results view at speedhive.com
Text: Matthias Van Eeckhoven – Photos: Dieter Jans
Also to read
Jago Geerts: “I want to come back to Lommel”
Jago Geerts is working hard to bounce back from an injury he sustained in early March during the opening race of the 2024 MXGP World Championship in Argentina. The Belgian, who at…Andrea Bonacorsi on his move to MXGP: “That was the most difficult decision of my life”
Reigning EMX250 Champion, Andrea Bonacorsi, will move to the Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team for the remainder of the 2024 FIM Motocross World Championship season, replacing…Entry lists MXGP of Portugal
The Motocross World Championship will continue next weekend with the fifth race on the MXGP calendar. In Agueda, Portugal, in addition to MXGP and MX2, the boys from EMX250 and EMX125 will also compete…Tom Vialle is chasing the US title
There is one race left in the US East Coast Supercross Championship. It will take place in two weeks in Salt Lake City, the city that has become accustomed to…
Your reactions