Verbruggen starts the season strongly in Mantova
Kjell Verbruggen of the Jumbo No Fear BT Motorsport team managed to score a top five place in the Italian 125cc Championship in Mantova. Verbruggen opened strongly in the first moto and led for a number of laps. Unfortunately he crashed and finished in fourth place. In the second moto he started with stomach pain, but he still managed to come back from the back to fourteenth place. Scott Smulders had a hard time in his first major race in the 125cc class, but he gained a lot of experience.
It was the first competition of 2019 for the team. “The course was in good condition and nicely sandy. I felt like it was a circuit where I could show something. However, due to the crowds, it was difficult to achieve a perfect lap in training," says Kjell. In the timed training the times were all close together. Scott qualified nineteenth, which put him just one second behind the tenth man.
Kjell started the first heat with a good feeling. He got a good start and managed to move up to second place in the second corner. A lap later he took the lead in the race and managed to keep it for a number of laps. However, due to a mistake he crashed and finished the first heat in fourth place. Scott did not get away well at the start and then drove around the circuit in cramps. This meant that there was no more than twenty-fifth place.
In the second moto Kjell did not start with a good feeling. “Between the heats I started having stomach problems and I wasn't myself on the track,” Kjell explains. After the starting gate fell, he was boxed in, causing him to come out of the first corner at the very back. Despite not feeling well, he fought on and still managed to finish fourteenth. Scott also had to catch up in the second moto after a bad start. However, during his advance he came into contact with another rider in the heat of battle and crashed with him. “I was lying under my motorcycle and burned my elbow and hand. I know what I have to work on in the coming weeks, but for me this has been a very educational competition," says Scott.
With a 4-14 in the heats, Kjell finished in seventh place in the daily rankings and Scott finished the day in thirtieth. In the coming weeks, the Jumbo No Fear BT Motorsport team will continue its preparation for the season.
Posted: Steven van Kempe/KEMCO
Photo: Huub Munsters
Also to read
VIDEO: Roger De Coster about communication with the riders
In a video interview with Roger De Coster, the difficult start of the KTM boys in the US is discussed. It's about the set-up of the engines and how everyone...An update on Tyla van de Poel's injury
Tyla van de Poel crashed during the EMX125 in Arco di Trento and broke his tibia and fibula. Another pilot hit his front wheel on a ski jump, causing him to...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…
Your reactions