IMBA: Josh Waterman wins, Jacky Tausch best lowlander
The open class in the IMBA certainly provided goosebumps at the Ganspoel. Unfortunately, it was a dark day for the Belgian delegation, which proved to be no match for English rule. Jacky Tausch, sixth in the final standings, became the best lowlander in Huldenberg.
In the first moto, the English riders were able to immediately claim the first five places after the starting commotion in which Robin Bakens was involved in a heavy crash. In the meantime, Ryan Crowder had claimed the lead ahead of Shane Carless, Josh Waterman and James Dodd, but then the turbo of the Dark Pit Rickert kicked in. The well-known ADAC pilot simply passed all the top riders and thus won the round ahead of James Dodd, Josh Waterman and Ryan Crowder. Then came Stijn Verstrepen, who preceded IMBA leader Shane Carless.
The English were again very strong in the final series, but now the Belgians also had a good start. Robin Bakens and Glenn Bielen in particular were fighting for the top five, while Stijn Verstrepen and Stef Bastaens had crashed at the start. This time not a good start for Pit Rickert, which allowed the British delegation to battle it out among themselves. Josh Waterman now won his victory through a true kamikaze attack on his compatriot James Dobb. Shane Carless was now able to limit the damage in third place ahead of Robin Bakens and Glenn Bielen.
Double bad luck: Glenn Bielen & Robin Bakens
However, the big anti-climax was yet to come in the final sequence. Once again the British were on their toes at the start event. Ryan Crowder, Gary Gibson and Josh Waterman opened the most exciting heat of the day, but the crowd massively supported the duo Robin Bakens-Glenn Bielen. The two Belgians cut through the peloton like a knife through butter and got into the wheel of the leading duo until disaster struck. Glenn Bielen slipped and damaged his new Yamaha, which immediately ended his race and Robin Bakens suffered a huge crash. Miraculously, Bakens was on his feet again, but the hope of a home victory was immediately gone.
Ryan Crowder won the final series ahead of Josh Waterman, James Dobb and Jacky Tausch and Stijn Verstrepen finished very well. The battle for the title is still far from over, but the Belgian GP was won by Josh Waterman, who got James Dobb and Pit Rickert on the podium more often. Jacky Tausch finished sixth ahead of the first Belgian, Stijn Verstrepen, while Jeremy Joris can also be found in the top ten.
The sixth and final race for the IMBA MX open will take place this weekend in Begdingen, Switzerland.
All results here
First Heat
- Pit Rickert (German)
- James Dodd (GBR)
- Josh Waterman (GBR)
- Ryan Crowder (GBR)
- Stijn Verstrepen (B)
- Shane Carless (GBR)
- Glenn Bielen (B)
- Jeremy Joris (B)
- Jacky Tausch (NL)
- Stef Bastaens (B)
Second heat
- Josh Waterman (GBR)
- James Dodd (GBR)
- Shane Carless (GBR)
- Robin Bakens (B)
- Glenn Bielen (B)
- Gary Gibson (GBR)
- Pit Rickert (German)
- Jacky Tausch (NL)
- Jeremy Joris (B)
10.Stijn Verstrepen (B)
Third series
- Ryan Crowder (GBR)
- Josh Waterman (GBR)
- James Dodd (GBR)
- Jacky Tausch (NL)
- Pit Rickert (German)
- Stijn Verstrepen (B)
- Gary Gibson (GBR)
- Jeremy Joris (B)
- Shane Carless (GBR)
- Niels De Klein (NL)
Final score
-
- Josh Waterman
- James Dodd
- Pit Rickert
- Ryan Crowder
- Shane Carless
IMBA MX open class standings
1. Josh Waterman (GBR) 716
2. Shane Carless (GBR) 707
3. James Dodd (GBR) 701
4. Gary Gibson (GBR) 638
5. Nicolaj Damsgaard (Den) 542
7. Niels de Klein (NL) 475
8. Jonas Salaets (B) 458
9. Jeremy Joris (B) 394
16. Eli Hesen (B) 276
18. Jacky Tausch (NL) 218
20. Stijn Verstrepen (B) 192
Tekst: Heikki Declercq
Photos: Chantelle Chard, Danny Relouw
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