Job Smits surprising winner in Berghem!
Finally the quad riders were able to choose a place behind the starting gate and that resulted in a surprising winner. Not Mike van Grinsven or Joe Maessen and not Ricardo Phoelich became the eventual winner. It was Job Smits who not only managed to take a podium for the first time, but even took the win, keeping Joe Maessen behind him. Third place went to Rick Haverdil.
First heat
It was the unfit Mike van Grinsven who took off fastest with Joe Maessen directly behind him. Van Grinsven and Maessen quickly took a small lead and were followed by Phoelich, Smits and Haverdil. This later revealed that the first five positions had already been taken. Maessen still put heavy pressure on Van Grinsven, but the door to the leading position remained closed. Knowing that Van Grinsven was certainly not fit, it seemed like waiting for the moment when he had to slow down. However, it did not come to that. Due to a crash by Kelly Verbraeken, the moto was flagged with a red flag before half of the moto had been completed. It was expected that there would be a restart according to the regulations, but the race management decided otherwise, partly due to lack of time. No restart and the heat was declared valid. This was corrected afterwards and this round will therefore not count for the ONK quads masters 2020.
Second heat
Without Mike van Grinsven at the start, it was Maessen who was the fastest ahead of Ruben van Lith, Smits, Oliver Vandendijck (Bel) and Marc de Vries. It was soon the also unfit Haverdil who entered the top 5 at the expense of de Vries. Smits passed van Lith to finish second and van Lith also had to quickly acknowledge his superiority in Haverdil. This seemed to conclude the heat for the most part, but Maessen had to deal with a problem with his quad and ultimately had to drop his pace. Smits took advantage of this and passed Maessen to take the heat and the day victory. Haverdil crossed the finish line in third place. Johan Gommans fought back from ninth place and passed van Lith on the last lap to finish fourth.
Results first round ONK Quads Masters Berghem:
1. van Grinsven, 2. Maessen, 3. Phoelich, 4. Smits, 5. Haverdil, 6. Gommans, 7. de Vries, 8. van Hout, 9. Ruttenberg, 10 Vandendijck (Bel).
Results second round ONK Quads Masters Berghem:
1. Smits, 2. Maessen, 3. Haverdil, 4. Gommans, 5. van Lith, 6. Phoelich, 7. Vandendijck (Bel), 8. de Vries, 9. van Hoof (Bel), 10. Steenbergen.
By: Maycel de Bruijn
Photo: mdbmxpics
Also to read
Gallery: MXGP Portugal 2024 XXL from NiekFotografie
The riders and mechanics had a hard time in Agueda. This also applies to the photographers because the weather conditions were harsh! Yet our #NiekFotografie made this XXL gallery...Jorge Prado in Simon Laengenfelder over Agueda
The Grand Prix of Portugal will be remembered for a long time and may be one for the history books. The heavy rain that descended on Agueda made this 2024 edition a rush…Danee Gelissen on stage in Italy
During the second match of the Italian Women's Championship, Danee Gelissen was allowed to climb onto the podium. The Limburg rider finished second behind Kiara Fontanesi in both heats in Lovolo. The Ceres71 driver starts…VIDEO: Highlights MXGP Portugal 2024
After a two-week break, the FIM MXGP-MX2 World Championship continued in Portugal. The normally sunny south was treated to lots of water this weekend! Liam Everts made very…
Your reactions