Preview: European Open Championship 2022
With no fewer than 69 participants, the European Championship “Open” has gained a lot of popularity. After all, last year during the final there were only thirteen riders behind the starting gate! It is difficult to make a preview because which of these drivers will ride the entire championship? We are looking ahead to this championship with the entry list for the Matterley Basin competition in mind.
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Very unexpectedly, Jose Butron appears in this championship. The Spaniard was never able to show himself at a high level after his serious ankle injury. Can the KTM rider get back into the spotlight in this championship? The same goes for Jimmy Clochet who undoubtedly imagined much more from his MXGP adventure at Beta. Davide De Bortoli will defend his title while Filippo Zonta now plans to ride the entire series. After many years, Zonta put the Honda aside and set up his own team with GasGas engines.
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His last Grand Prix season did not go well for Michael Sandner, but he continues to compete for Raths Motorsport. The Austrian is fast but probably lacks the regularity to compete in the championship. Guiseppe Tropepe has left MX2 and does not want to move to MXGP. The Italian chooses this championship and he can make his mark, especially on the hard circuits. This also applies to the Pole Tomasz Wysocki.
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If he has international ambitions, Dan Thornhill can probably ride in the top ten, but he will probably only ride in his own country. The Hungarian Bence Szvoboda and Czech Martin Venhoda, who played for Team NR2020 in 83, can surprise the boys given their past, but will they succeed?
Striking names
The entry list has a number of surprises such as Dave Kooiker, Brad Anderson and Michael Ivanov. Kooiker uses this race before the EMX250 starts, as his teammates are also riding this weekend. Anderson still can't let it go, but this is just a guest appearance as he calls it. We still know Ivanov as a GP rider, but he has disappeared from the international map.
Belgium Netherlands:
No fewer than 14 Dutch people are on the list for next weekend. In our opinion, Sven van der Mierden is the man with the best credentials to score big. The GasGas rider has MXGP experience and that could be very useful. Micha Boy de Waal also has that, but the Brabander experiences a lot during the competitions. This creates many fans, but unfortunately also costs a lot of points. Freek van der Vlist has climbed out of a deep valley because after the crash in Axel, the Apeldoorn crosser was put in the rag. The speed will not be the problem, but the rhythm of the match could play tricks on him. Mike Bolink also rides the entire championship for Team VIP Lounge 211 and Romano Aspers also competes for this team. The Limburger normally rides in the EMX250, but that starts in two weeks. The other KNMV riders are Jordy van Orsouw, Rene de Jong, Lars Looman, Rutger Baauw, Joel van Mechelen, Mitchell van Essenburg, Damien Wedage and Raf Meuwissen. Three Belgians are in action, Jens Getteman, Thomas Vermijl and Pako Destercq.
Past Champions:
2020 Karel Kutsar
2021 Davide De Bortoli
By: Steven van Kempen/KEMCO
Gallery: Instagram
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