LS HONDA RACING
Shaun Simpson takes championship lead in Belgium!

LS Honda Racing arrived at the legendary Keiheuvel sand track leading the championship with Ken De Dycker. In spite of De Dycker’s absence due to his neck injury the Honda Europe supported team left with Shaun Simpson leading the highly-regarded series. After an eventful day of racing, which saw Jeffrey Herlings dominating al three motos and Clément Desalle crashing out in the first moto, Simpson scored an overall top five position. The 23-year-old Scotsman now holds a big 63-point advantage over Davide Guarneri, his closest rival for the title.

Close to 10.000 people had gathered in Balen near Mol for what’s arguably one of the biggest international races in Europe. Shaun had placed fourth in qualifying for what was his first ever visit to ‘de Keiheuvel’. Unfortunately he also injured his clutch finger.

“I suspected it might be broken actually, because it really hurt a lot! But I hope it’s okay for Matterley Basin,” said Simpson.

Still Braveheart gritted his teeth an performed consistently all day long. Simpson succeeded to avoid the first lap carnage between Desalle, Bobryshev and Nagl to grab third in the holeshot. During the 20-minute plus 1 lap opening sprint Shaun slipped back one place to finish fourth behind Herlings, Strijbos and Roelants.

The former British MX2 champion went into into the second race looking for a podium finish. This time Shaun had an even better start right behind Herlings. Simpson managed to hold on to second for three laps, but was not able to keep Tanel Leok and Joël Roelants at bay. The final and longest moto of the day was the most difficult for the LS Honda rider. Circulating in tenth on the opening lap Simpson managed to climb up to seventh after passing Triest, Brakke and Guarneri. With Bobryshev retiring Shaun slotted in to sixth, his final position for the race.

Shaun Simpson: “I didn’t have a good feeling today and because of the problem with my index finger it was hard to hold the bike. It was frustrating because the track looked cool and there was a big crowd. I had heard a lot about ‘de Keiheuvel’ before and I wanted to enjoy the experience. Even more so after riding well in the sand at the GP in Lommel. In the first moto I was lucky to avoid the trouble with Desalle and the other guys, but my second start was definitely the best. Leading the championship is nice, yet it feels awkward because I don’t want to win because everyone dropped. I want to win because I’m the fastest.”

Beursfoon Suzuki Motocross Team
Mike Kras takes overall MX2 win at Belgian Championship

The biggest race in the Belgian Championship series was traditionally ridden on the national holiday of 15th August. The "Keiheuvel" in Balen, Belgium got transformed into a spectacular sand track with variation on the different sections. A lot of international GP stars were present like Mike Kras who was presenting the Beursfoon Suzuki team in the MX2 class. Mike was having a good feeling on this sand soiled racetrack as he proved to be in good shape pushing his Beursfoon Suzuki into pole position.

Heat 1:
A misjudgement in the start of the first heat brought Mike only in 15th position, which was not really the place he was looking for. It would be a tough race for Mike making his way up to the front trough the pack. As the race went on he built up his and confidence throughout the bumps and ruts. He landed up in 5th position halfway this first heat and was catching up real quick to a top-3 listing who were loosing their pace. He changed his 5th position for 3rd with only one lap to go and just a 1,5 second gap to second position. He did every possible thing out there on the track but could not make the pass. A third position in this first heat for Mike Kras.

Heat 2:
A perfect jump for Mike as the gates for the second heat dropped. Going into lap two, he overtook the lead of the pack with a free track to go and a comfortable feeling. Soon he got a proper lead of 8 seconds so he controlled the further part of this second heat onboard of his Beursfoon Suzuki. He won the second heat and took the overall win at the Belgian Championship round of Keiheuvel.

YAMAHA VAN BEERS RACING TEAM
Petar Petrov in the top ten at the Keiheuvel in Mol

Petar Petrov of the Yamaha van Beers Racing Team finished inside of the top ten at round four of the Belgian Championship Series at Mol. Petar was riding aboard a Yamaha 450F in the open class. The organisation had done a great job because a lot of Grand Prix riders had found their way to this race. In practice Petar set the 14th fastest time and this was enough for a good gate pick in the three races.

In the first moto he took a good start and came out of the first lap in seventh position. Petar had found his rhythm straight away and in the beginning of the race he worked himself up to fifth position. Petar was riding a strong moto and was able to held on to this position till the chequered flag waved. In the second moto he was riding in eight position for a long time. Unfortunately he made a mistake in the final lap and this cost him several positions. A little bit disappointed he crossed the finish line in 13th position. In the third moto he started around fifteenth position. On the heavy sand circuit he charged back to ninth position but in the closing stages of the race he became tired and this cost him a position. He finally finished the race in tenth position. Overall he finished in ninth position.

Herjan Brakke set the fifteenth fastest time in practice. In the first moto he started the race inside of the top ten. In the beginning of the race he worked himself up to seventh position but in the middle of the race he got passed and dropped back a position. In the second part of the race he held on to this position and crossed the finish line in eight position. In the second moto he was riding inside op the top ten in the first part of the race. Unfortunately he made a small crash and lost several positions. A little bit disappointed he finished the race in fourteenth position. In the third moto he had to retire from the race because of a problem with his front brake. Overall he finished in fourteenth position.

The Yamaha van Beers Racing Team will now travel to Matterley Basin in Great Britain for round thirteen of the World Championship Series.

TANEL LEOK
LEOK NARROWLY MISSES PODIUM AT BELGIAN CHAMPIONSHIP EVENT

Let us start off with a quick motocross track lesson for the uninitiated, and our lecture today will deal with sand tracks. Although sand tracks are generally lumped together in a single category, not all sand tracks are created equal. Take for instance the European centre of sand tracks, in the Belgo-Dutch region, and you will quickly discover that they can vary quite considerably in their make up, roughness, speed, and the challenges they present to riders.

You get Valkenswaard, for instance, that although nominally a sand track, can sometimes develop a hard covering, contributing to surprisingly high average speeds. They get progressively tougher, till you get to sand monsters like Lierop and Lommel, where even the hardiest fear to tread, and where great reputations have disappeared in the ruts and whoops. And then you get Balen. It is not so much a track as a virtual bombing range that gets opened up once a year for a Belgian championship event, drives the riders to distraction with its tough challenges, and then retreats into anonymity for another year or so before the process repeats itself. Let there be no doubt – this is not a play-play track – it is one of your tracks where your favourite rider may as well be on the high seas during a storm as he disappears from sight and reappears in deep, deep bomb-holes.

Tanel Leok actually revels In these kind of conditions, and it was some manner of anticipation that he took his factory TM to the event for the traditional holiday Monday event. The Estonian was in full express mode during qualifying, posting the second fastest time, just behind young superstar Jeffrey Herlings who was veritably flying during his first outing in the open class.

Despite his good qualifying performance, Tanel got somewhat mired in the start in race 1 and had to fight his way back from 13th position. He sailed across the obstacles with ease and improved to sixth position before the flag man signalled the end of the shortish race. A much better start in race two had the Estonian fighting off a better platform, and he used this to good effect, securing second position in the race.

Make no mistake, even though it were “only” a Belgian championship race, the field was stacked with GP talent, and Tanel was aiming for an overall podium finish as the final race of the day rolled along. For half of the race, he had it in hand, circulating in a strong third position, but a small mistake cost him valuable positions, and he finally crossed the line in fifth spot. This dropped him to fourth overall for the day.