MON: First day victory for Kevin Simons
Last Sunday a race was scheduled for the MX2/MX open inters in Venlo. Due to IMBA obligations of William Thijssen and Demyan van Loon, this competition for the open class did not count in the battle for the title. This was certainly noticeable in the turnout in this class. However, this sometimes put the battle in the MX 2 class in the spotlight. So far, the battle for first place has mainly been between Jelle Bankers and Jamie Lucas, followed closely by Kevin Buitenhuis. Ilja Rutten and Kevin Simons follow behind, fifty points behind.
The day's victory went to Kevin Simons with a second and first place. With a first and third place, Ilja Rutten took his first podium of the season with second place. Championship leader Jelle Bankers followed with third and second place in the heats. He kept Tyler Eltink and Kevin Buitenhuis behind him. In the MX open inters class, the day's victory went to Jeremy Knuiman with two heat victories. Enrico Schell took advantage of the absence of many competitors on his home track and took second place. Tristan Evers kept Ricardo Abrahams behind him in the second round and was able to take his place on the lowest step of the podium.
First heat
The holeshot went to Enrico Schell ahead of Simons, Abrahams, Ilja Rutten and Jamie Lucas. Even before the first crossing of the finish line, Simons took the lead and Ilja Rutten moved up to second place. Abrahams fell back to fifth place and Jeremy Knuiman started his rise and was in fourth place. Three laps later it was Knuiman who had passed Enrico Schell, Ilja Rutten and Simons and took over the lead. Kyle van Zutphen was now in fifth place, but he quickly crashed and then we saw Buitenhuis who came through in fifth. Meanwhile, Jeremy Knuiman had also crashed and fell back to third place. Just past the halfway point of the heat, Jeremy Knuiman had fought past Simons again and started chasing Ilja Rutten, passing him a little later and ultimately winning the heat with a large lead. Ilja Rutten took his first moto win of the season at the MX 2 inters with second place and he was followed by Simons. Behind it, it was Bankers who came up, but the gap with Simons was far from bridgeable and he saw the checkered flag in fourth. Enrico Schell followed at more than seven seconds.
Second heat
It was now Abrahams who was the fastest ahead of Enrico Schell, Evers, Simons and Jeremy Knuiman. Already in the first half lap the top five were mixed up and when crossing the finish line Jeremy Knuiman had the lead ahead of Simons, Enrico Shell, Abrahams and Evers. It didn't take long before Abrahams and Evers dropped back and it was Zutphen and Ilja Rutten who now came through in fourth and fifth. Van Zutphen advanced to third place at the expense of Enrico Schell and was quickly followed by Bankers. However, Van Zutpen made another mistake and Bankers moved to third place and Enrico Schell returned to the top five. With this most of the battle was over. Jeremy Knuiman was supreme and won the heat with more than a minute lead and took the day's victory in the open inter class. Simons came out quietly at the end of the heat and with his second place took the heat victory at the MX 2 inters and also his first day victory of the season. Bankers followed behind with a wide lead over Ilja Rutten. Enrico Schell managed to keep Evers to four seconds in the battle for fifth place.
First round MX 2 / MX open inters Venlo:
1. Jeremy Knuiman, 2. Ilja Rutten, 3. Simons, 4. Bankers, 5. Enrico Schell, 6. Buitenhuis. 7. Eltink, 8. van Zutphen, 9. Lucas, 10. Abrahams.
Second round MX 2 / MX open inters Venlo:
1. Jeremy Knuiman, 2. Simons, 3. Bankers, 4. Ilja Rutten, 5. Enrico Schell, 6. Evers, 7. Eltink, 8. Buitenhuis, 9. van Zutphen, 10. de Weerd.
Day class MX open inters Venlo:
1. Jeremy Knuiman 120, 2. Enrico Schell 108, 3. Evers 97, 4. Abrahams 97, 5. Marnick Schell -.
Day class MX 2 inters Venlo:
1. Simons 114, 2. Ilja Rutten 110, 3. Bankers 104, 4. Eltink 92, 5. Buitenhuis 92, 6. van Zutphen 86, 7. de Weerd 80, 8. Lucas 80, 9. Pijpers 72, 10. Damien Knuiman 72.
Net standings MX 2 inters 2022:
1. Bankers 726, 2. Lucas 700, 3. Buitenhuis 688, 4. Simons 669, 5. Ilja Rutten 666, 6. Pijpers 492, 7. Otten 451, 8. Müller 400, 9. Sasha Rutten 375, 10. de Weerd 364.
By: Maycel de Bruijn
GALLERY: mdbmxpics
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