Dean Gregoire close to victory and title
The final race of the European 85cc Central Europe Championship was dominated by Dean Gregoire. The KTM rider was fast in free practice, time practice, the qualifying race and the first heat. However, the second heat threw a spanner in the works. The Brabander won the first round on the circuit against Velke Uherce and at the time of the problem he was in third place. That would have been enough for victory in Slovakia and overall in the “Central Europe” region. However, Dex Kooiker won the match and Jarne Bervoets has the most points after four games.
First heat:
On Saturday Dean immediately showed that he felt good on the beautiful circuit. He is the fastest in the free practice, the time practice and he wins the qualifying race. The Alpinestars-supported crosser gets off to a good start in the first heat and comes out of the first corner as the leader. This position is taken over for Bervoets a little later, but Dean doesn't let go for a moment. With four laps to go the lead is regained and the heat victory goes to Geldrop. Thanks to Dani Heitink's seventh place, Dean takes over the lead in the standings and leads by five points.
Second heat:
The start of the second moto is also good and with the Voss-KTM SX85 the 12-year-old crosser takes the lead. In the second laps Kooiker and Bervoets pass by. The student does not lose sight of the duo in front of him, but in the eleventh of thirteen laps bad luck strikes. A stone gets between the chain and causes the chain to fall off. Dean manages to get the chain back on, but of course he loses a lot of time. Giving up is not an option and Dean still crosses the finish line in 27th, but that does not score any points. Kooiker wins the last round and the daily classification while Bervoets wins the 'Central-Europe' region.
Next time:
The semi-final of the EMX85 will be held on June 24-25 on the sand circuit of RES Axel. The best 20 riders from North-East will also come to the Zeeland circuit, after which the best 20 riders from the daily classification will qualify for the EMX final at the Loket circuit. Dean's next competition is on June 17-18 when the ADAC Junior Cup 85cc continues in Bielstein.
By: Steven van Kempen/KEMCO
Gallery: #FvdEPhotography
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