Lommel, the godfather of sand races, is underway

FIM MX World Champs 2015

maddix park mx

www.mxgp.com

LOMMEL (Belgium), 01 August 2015 – The godfather of sand races and the fourteenth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship got underway today in the grueling sand of Lommel where the Brits, Hitachi Construction Machinery Revo KTM’s Shaun Simpson and Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki’s Max Anstie took the qualifying heat thrones.

KTM Factory Junior’s  series leader Jorge Prado took the first race victory and his third of the season here at the seventh round of the European Championship EMX125.  NZ's Josiah Natzke came in 6th.   Maxime Renaux, who was recently crowned 125cc Junior World champion, and who is currently third in EMX125, was forced to withdraw after a crash earlier in the week while training when he fractured his collarbone. Despite the break the Frenchman tried to compete in the rough Belgian sand but found the injury too painful to handle during free practice.

Both the rider and the team will now assess his fitness and progress ahead of the last fixture of the EMX125 series at Assen towards the end of August.

GL12 Yamaha Racing’s wildcard Brad Anderson signed up and won the first race of the sixth and final round of the European Championship EMX300.

Speaking of the European Championship EMX300, last year’s runner-up Marco Maddii kept a cool head for eighth in the race which was enough for him to be crowned the 2015 European Championship EMX300 champion.

 

With exceptional weather and a sand track that had shaped up gnarlier than ever, the gates dropped for the qualifier and the rookie sand sensation, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Glenn Coldenhoff edged out The KidRockstar Energy Suzuki World MXGP’s Kevin Strijbos for the holeshot.

Strijbos was quick to get around Coldenhoff but it didn’t matter, both Suzuki riders’ claim to fame was short lived asHitachi Construction Machinery Revo KTM’s Shaun Simpson lofted the quad on his way to the front. Speaking of the quad, it is hard to explain just how epic that jump is. The only indicator is that in a field filled with the fastest and most talented dirt bike riders in the world, Simpson was the only rider in any class to do it and whether he won the qualifier or not he was already a legend in the eyes of everyone watching.

Luckily for Simpson, he is more than just an epic jump launcher, and he pulled it all together for his first qualifying heat victory of his career, “I hit a milestone today, I’ve been racing GP’s for eleven years and finally I took my first ever qualifying heat race win” the Scot reminded us, “it’s quite hard to believe. I felt comfortable out there, I had a few good lines, a few bad lines, but that’s the beauty of a sand track, you can make up quite a lot of time and I am looking forward to tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, after randomly whipping out a fast lap in the last second of Timed Practice, Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Romain Febvre tried to challenge Simpson for the lead but eventually let him have it and sat back for an easy second.

Back in third, Strijbos and Coldenhoff made for a fast moving blur of yellow as they tossed the position about. In the end, it was the seasoned Belgian, Strijbos who managed to take third. Coldenhoff put in yet another solid performance for fourth while Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Jeremy Van Horebeek rounded out the top five.

While two Belgians made up the top five, unfortunately Rockstar Energy Suzuki World MXGP’s Clement Desallewill not be racing this weekend after his shoulder popped out in Timed Practice.

MXGP Qualifying Race Top Ten: 1. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 25:04.611; 2. Romain Febvre (FRA, Yamaha), +0:11.856; 3. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +0:19.997; 4. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, Suzuki), +0:21.832; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:25.097; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:32.939; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda), +0:36.356; 8. Todd Waters (AUS, Husqvarna), +0:37.554; 9. Nathan Watson (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:38.729; 10. Tyla Rattray (RSA, Kawasaki), +0:41.277

            

 

Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki’s Max Anstie pulled the holeshot and initially looked to be taking his time in finding good lines. Sure enough he found some that worked for him and let that number 99 ‘dance’ as he would say, for his third consecutive qualifying heat victory of the season. “I haven’t ridden here since I won last year but once you know how to ride around Lommel it kind of stays,” he said “I have a great memory from here, because of last year, but two races tomorrow and we’ll see how it goes.”

Second went to Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Petar Petrov who was so fast all day. He literally lives less than five minutes from the circuit here in Lommel, so for those that know him and have seen him ride in the sand would have known that he was capable of such a performance. Petrov rode amazing for second while Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass withstood the pressure of a charging Kemea Yamaha Yamalube’s Brent Van Doninck for third.

The head turner in this race was definitely the local kid Brent Van Doninck, who put in a lap time a full second faster than anyone else. Van Doninck came from a mediocre start, outside the top ten, for an outstanding fourth ahead ofRockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Jeremy Seewer who rode smart for fifth.

MX2 Qualifying Race Top Ten: 1. Max Anstie (GBR, Kawasaki), 25:32.320; 2. Petar Petrov (BUL, Kawasaki), +0:04.866; 3. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), +0:07.716; 4. Brent Van doninck (BEL, Yamaha), +0:15.586; 5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:26.879; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:36.102; 7. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:36.979; 8. Ben Watson (GBR, KTM), +0:45.358; 9. Julien Lieber (BEL, Yamaha), +0:46.830; 10. Davy Pootjes (NED, KTM), +0:48.460

           

Click here to obtain the complete results.

All the photos of the MXGP of Belgium will be available HERE

 

MXGP BELGIUM - QUICK FACTS

Circuit length: 1675 m

Type of ground: Sand

Temperature: 27°C

Weather conditions: sunny

 

 
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