Liam shows perseverance in EMX250 GP of Lommel
Devastated, that description comes closest to how Liam felt after two races on the grueling sand track of Lommel! Before the race, many eyes, if not all eyes, were on him! The Belgian hope for a podium place in the EMX250 class! The crowd's expectations only increased after a great qualifying in which he was the fastest in Group 2. Being the fastest in his group, Liam was able to pick a starting gate in second place!
In the first heat Liam reacted a little late when the gate fell. However, the youngster kept the throttle wide open until deep into the corner and was already around sixth place after three corners. Unfortunately things went wrong in the first round. Liam choked on a crashed rider and also went to the ground. This dropped the Yoko-clad pilot back to 24th place. But with plenty of time left on the clock, Liam knew what he had to do. He increased the pace and did not shy away from taking risks while overtaking. One by one and sometimes two at a time, Liam fought his way through the suit. The Liamski Lounge full of VIPs, sponsors and fans of the KTM rider went crazy when with half the race to go, their favorite rider had already found his way to tenth place. For his part, the Foodmaker rider dug deep into his arsenal of power and continued to attack. While others dropped the pace, Liam maintained the same lap times as at the beginning of the race. That helped him to pass a few riders and finish in fifth place!
The second heat started exactly the same as the first. Only this time he got through the first round without any problems. With eighth position after one lap, Liam knew he had no time to lose if he wanted to fight for the win. The 4Gold-supported rider set some real fast laps and moved up to fourth place in four laps. But once in fourth place he noticed that the first three already had a small lead. In combination with the fact that the first series and the scorching start of this second series had already cost a lot of energy, he chose to approach it sensibly. Liam chose a nice but fast enough rhythm and rode to a nice fourth place without any major problems!
His hard-fought fifth place from the first moto and fourth place from the second moto gave the young Belgian fifth place overall in the Belgian EMX250 Grand Prix. The fact that Liam is having a strong and steadfast season is also evident from the championship, where the soon-to-be 17-year-old is in fourth place with 92 points.
Next weekend Liam will contest the fourth EMX250 Grand Prix of the season. This will be held in Kegums, Latvia. On August 15 he will also be at the start of the race on the mythical “Keiheuvel” in Balen.
Photos: Gino Maes
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