Yentel Martens and Greg Smets dominate VLM Keiheuvel
The VLM riders had a real classic in Balen: the infamous Keiheuvel. Yentel Martens, dominant in the Inters 500, and Greg Smets, his equal in the 250, followed in the footsteps of their illustrious fathers.
For the Novices 250, Novices 500 A, Novices Open B, Novices Open C; Juniors Open and National Open points were scored at the Keiheuvel. For the Inters, the stakes were limited to the honor of this classic on the calendar.
A motivated Jens Van Meer started his day well with a first time in the timed training. However, the difference with top favorite Yentel Martens was incredibly small; 0,069 seconds! Only Dietger Damiaens at 0,6 seconds seemed to be able to match the pace of the big guns. In both the first and second heats, Martens was completely out of bounds. Starting fourth, he quickly overtook leader Sillien in the opener and built up a lead of no less than 47 seconds. The same Sillien achieved a nice second place, although he had very little margin over Damiaens who once again showed a fantastic catch-up race. Van Meer also had a bad start and eventually finished fourth. The VLM champion in turn followed shortly behind Damiaens!
Van Meer did well in the recovery, but had to acknowledge his superiority in Martens. The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna sand hare led from start to finish. The fact that Dietger Damiaens managed to reach the final podium speaks volumes about his condition because now he was only the penultimate on the track. DD finished third after just over 24 minutes of racing ahead of the surprising veteran Kristof Salaets! The flying facteur is clearly in good form. In the final standings he came fifth after all the top players!
Ex-MX3 world champion Sven Breugelmans stole the show twice in the quarter liters with a super start. However, BeTeMo teammate Greg Smets needed a start in the sub-top to quickly put things in order. The British Jack Bintcliffe came second ahead of Bruegelmans and Cordens. Series two had a similar course, although Smets' lead was even greater! The surprise of the day was served by Dieter Vromans. After a tumultuous first moto - read an early fall - the #98 KTM rider now managed to get through the first laps neatly. Vromans followed this up nicely, moving from 4 to 2 and becoming second overall ahead of Bintcliffe. He had an equal number of points, but Vromans' better second heat was the deciding factor.
All results here
Inters 500cc Race 1
1. Yentel Martens, 2. Roy Sillien, 3. Dietger Damiaens, 4. Jens Van Meer, 5. Kristof Salaets, 6. Mike Vanderstraeten, 7. Kevin Van Geldorp, 8. Kenzo Buys, 9. Sven Wouters, 10. Jasper Van der Mieren
Inters 500cc Race 2
1. Yentel Martens, 2. Jens Van Meer, 3. Dietger Damiaens, 4. Kristof Salaets, 5. Mike Vanderstraeten, 6. Roy Sillien, 7. Glenn Bielen, 8. Kenzo Buys, 9. Kevin Van Geldorp, 10. Dave Van Dun
Final score Inters 500cc
1. Yentel Martens 50, 2. Dietger Damiaens 40, 3. Jens Van Meer 38, 4. Roy Sillien 37, 5. Kristof Salaets 34, 6. Mike Vanderstraeten 31, 7. Kenzo Buys 26, 8. Kevin Van Geldorp 26, 9. Tom Cuyvers 21, 10. Dave Van Dun 18
Inters 250cc Race 1
1. Greg Smets, 2. Jack Bintcliffe, 3. Sven Breugelmans, 4. Nolan Cordens, 5. Brent Aerden, 6. Dieter Vromans, 7. Wannes Vandevoorde, 8. Jordi Van Mieghem, 9. Arno Van Mieghem, 10. Bram Vanes
Inters 250cc Race 2
1. Greg Smets, 2. Dieter Vromans, 3. Jordi Van Mieghem, 4. Kristof Scheynen 5. Nolan Cordens, 6. Jack Bintcliffe, 7. Brent Aerden, 8. Bram Schoepen, 9. Enzo Aerden, 10. Arno van Mieghem
Final score Inters 250cc
1. Greg Smets 50 pts, 2. Dieter Vromans 37, 3. Jack Bintcliffe 37, 4. Nolan Cordens 34, 5. Jordi Van Mieghem 33, 6. Brent Aerden 30, 7. Kristof Scheynen 27, 8. Bram Schoepen 24, 9. Arno van Mieghem 23, 10 Wannes Van de Voorde 21
Photos: DBMX photography
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