Yentel Martens doubles in VLM Opglabbeek, Jonathan Banken 250 champion!
The 12th round of the VLM championship was overshadowed by the premature title of Jens Van Meer at the Inters. More about that you read here. However, there was also a day's victory to be won, both in the Inters 500 and the Inters 250. Jonathan Banken was also crowned champion in the latter category!
The PR Racing Team led by Iris Siezenis received the VLM and JMS caravan on the Road to Meeuwen. Greg Smets was missing in Opglabbeek because of the EMX300, but the Dutch guest rider Kay Ebben was a welcome reinforcement in the quarter liters.
Jens Van Meer was narrowly the fastest in the timed training and beat the dominant Yentel Martens by 0,091 seconds. Just to say that Jens was already looking forward to it in the morning! Wouter Van Massenhoven and Cedric Grobben were also within 6 seconds of the poleman. The first round was a demonstration of Yentel Martens, as we saw quite a few this year! The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider was in the lead from start to finish.
The #11 of 2017 champion Kenny Janssens also initially performed well at the front. However, Kenny soon had to make way for Jens Van Meer who took second place. Van Meer's BeTeMo teammate completed a great series and finished fourth. However, the spectacle man on duty was Cedric Grobben. Grobben had missed his start completely, but pulled off a real feat by coming back from within the top 20 to an impressive third place!
What if… VLM style!
Everyone hoped for the revival of a titanic battle in which Grobben could also participate. The SHR Motorsports/Bagger Paul rider seemed to be on his way to the holeshot, but unfortunately things went wrong in the right-hand corner. Van Massenhoven also shared the blows because he could no longer avoid Grobben. Outgoing champion Janssens was given a round of head work after which the “Y-Mart” festival started. Martens was able to control and rode smoothly to the series victory. Once again Van Meer was the runner-up.
In the first series, Dietger Damiaens had to settle for sixth place. This time he turned a mediocre start into third place, although “DD” had to leave the podium to Grobben. Cedric stole the show again by storming to the last place.
How we would love to see a sprint race over 2 to 3 laps between Yentel Martens, Cedric Grobben, Dietger Damiaens and Jens Van Meer! However, we deviate. Wouter Van Massenhoven was unable to repeat his strong performance from the first race as his comeback was thwarted by a fallen rider who Wouter was unable to repeat. Van Massenhoven left with painful ribs and an injured groin.
In the quarter liters, Jonathan Banken secured the title after the first heat! No surprise since the Taxi Marcel driver's lead in the standings was even greater than that of Van Meeer. In Opglabbeek, however, this time he found a formidable opponent in Kay Ebben. Ebben, on the 250 two-stroke Yam, won the first heat. However, Banken took the day's victory with his victory in the second series. Enzo Aerden (3-5) deservedly finished third on the podium.
Inters Race 1
1. Yentel Martens, 2. Jens Van Meer, 3. Cedric Grobben, 4. Wouter Van Massenhoven, 5. Kevin Van Geldorp, 6. Dietger Damiaens, 7. Kenny Janssens, 8. Kay Ebben, 9. Kristof Salaets, 10. Jonathan Banks
Inters Race 2
1. Yentel Martens, 2. Jens Van Meer, 3. Dietger Damiaens, 4. Wouter Van Massenhoven, 4. Cedric Grobben, 5. Jonathan Banken, 6. Kenny Janssens, 7. Thomas Vermijl, 8. Bram Schoepen, 9. Frederik Daenen, 10. Dieter Vromans
Inters 500 final score Opglabbeek
1. Yentel Martens 50, 2. Jens Van Meer 44, 3. Cedric Grobben 38, 4. Dietger Damiaens 35, 5. Kenny Janssens 30, 6. Thomas Vermijl 25, 7. Frederik Daenen 25, 8. Kristof Salaets 25, 9 Kevin Van Geldorp 25, 10. Bram Schoepen 21
Yentel “Y-Mart” Martens rode to his 10th series victory in the VLM championship.
Inters 250 final score Opglabbeek
1. Jonathan Banken 47, 2. Kay Ebben 47, 3. Enzo Aerden 35, 4. Brent Aerden 34, 5. Dieter Vromans 33, 6. Jelle Verbruggen 33, 7. Rob Konings 30, 8. Kristof Scheynen 27, 9. Bart Janssens 24, 10. Arno Van Mieghem 11
Interim score VLM Inters 500 championship after 12 rounds
1. Jens Van Meer 493 pts, 2. Kevin Van Geldorp 382, 3. Kenny Janssens 370, 4. Frederik Daenen 297, 5. Wouter Van Massenhoven 292, 6. Yentel Martens 272, 7. Greg Smets 2710, 7. Dietger Damiaens 244, 8. Sven Wouters 236, 9. Cedric Grobben 236, 10. Kenzo Buys 206
Interim score VLM Inters 250 championship after 12 rounds
1. Jonathan Banken 590, 2. Kristof Scheynen 456, 3. Jelle Verbruggen 415, 4. Dieter Vromans 413, 5. Brent Aerden 360, 6. Rob Konings 339, 7. Arno Van Mieghem 319, 8. Bart Janssens 271, 9 .Enzo Aerden 153, 10. Kevin Schellens 135
Photos: Rolly Gee
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