RESULTS
(courtesy of Steven van Kempen/KEMCO)


MX2:

Moto 1
1 Shaun Simpson GB KTM (pictured right)
2 Wyatt Avis RSA Honda
3 Joel Roelants B KTM
4 Valentin Teillet F KTM
5 Jeremy Delince B Honda
6 Tom de Belder B Honda
7 Herjan Brakke NL Honda
8 Kevin Wouts B Honda
9 Dennis Verbruggen B Yamaha
10 Kenny Vandueren B KTM
DNF Dennis Dierckx B Honda
DNF Aigars Bobkovs LAT KTM

Moto 2
1 Shaun Simpson GB KTM
2 Joel Roelants B KTM
3 Wyatt Avis RSA Honda
4 Kevin Wouts B Honda
5 Kenny Vandueren B KTM
6 Stephan Mock D KTM
7 Dennis Dierckx B Honda
8 Arnaud Tonus CH KTM
9 Rinus van de Ven NL KTM
10 David Goosen B Honda
DNF Dennis Verbruggen B Yamaha
DNF Valentin Teillet F KTM

MX2 Overall:
1 Shaun Simpson GB KTM 50
2 Joel Roelants B KTM 42
3 Wyatt Avis RSA Honda 42
4 Kevin Wouts B Honda 31
5 Kenny Vandueren B KTM 27


MX1/MX3:

Moto 1
1 Ken de Dycker B Suzuki (pictured right)
2 Kornel Nemeth Hon KTM
3 Sven Breugelmans B KTM
4 Kristof Salaets B Honda
5 Tom van Loon B Yamaha
6 Marvin van Daele B Suzuki
7 Anne Advokaat NL Honda
8 Robert Carlsson S Yamaha
9 Jurgen Vannooten B KTM
10 Antti Pyrhonen SF Suzuki
DNF Patrick Roos NL KTM

Moto 2
1 Ken de Dycker B Suzuki
2 Marvin van Daele B Suzuki
3 Kornel Nemeth Hon KTM
4 Sven Breugelmans B KTM
5 Jurgen Vannooten B KTM
6 Magnus Lindfors S Yamaha
7 David Cools B Yamaha
8 Patrick Roos NL KTM
9 David Segers B Yamaha
10 Anne Advokaat NL Honda
DNF Antti Pyrhonen SF Suzuki

MX1/MX3 Overall:
1 Ken de Dycker B Suzuki 50
2 Kornel Nemeth Hon KTM 42
3 Sven Breugelmans B KTM 38
4 Marvin van Daele B Suzuki 37
5 Jurgen Vannooten B KTM 28

LS MOTORS HONDA
STRONG SEASON DEBUT FOR LS MOTORS HONDA RIDERS
(Pics by Leon Van Der Lee - www.Leonvanderlee.nl )

IN temperatures that dipped well below zero, a horde of motocross racers descended on Grobbendonk as the proverbial whistle blew for the start of the Belgian motocross season. The LS Motors Honda Racing team looked good for a race all on its own, with the gleaming new Hondas of all six team members on proud display under the awning of the brand new team truck. Team owner Steven Lettani would have made even a busy beaver look on in amazement in the few days leading up to the race, as in a whirlwind of activity he made the final preparations as matters came to a head.

Belgian motocross fans are legendary for their willingness to brave all and any kind of weather to view their favourite sport, and race starved as they are after a winter lay-off, even the ambient temperature that dipped to a teeth-chattering -8 degrees centigrade in the morning was not going to deter them from arriving in numbers. The paddock was equally stacked with human activity, as a few hundred riders from various classes ran up the temperature of their motors.

Team spearhead Wyatt Avis (pictured right), just back from South Africa, was ready to get his season off to a flying start. He qualified second in the time practice, and underlined his reputation as a rapid starter by storming to the front in the first race, closely tailing Shaun Simpson. He put the pressure on the Scot, but just could not find the break. Some back markers hampered his progress later in the race, and he crossed the line in second position. In the second race, Wyatt again found his place amongst the leaders, initially shadowing Dennis Verbruggen. It again became a two -way fight for the lead between Avis and Simpson when Verbruggen retired, but Wyatt had perhaps pushed too hard too early in the race, and Simpson could make the break. The South African then had to contend with a strong Joel Roelants, and had to let the Belgian go as well. Nevertheless, with two podium finishes in the two races, Wyatt was a deserved overall podium finisher during h first outing in his new team livery.

The most pleasantly surprising performance on the day arguably came from Kevin Wouts. The young Belgian qualified in 12th position for the event, and built on his good gate position to launch well into the race. During the course of an eventful first heat, the strong youngster barged his way from 12th to 8th in the pack. In the second race, Wouts really shone. Starting off just inside the top 10, he rode with a rhythm and smoothness that belied his relative youth, mixing it with the top riders in his class. Towards the end of the race, he actually edged towards team leader Avis, and finished in fourth position. The strong performances during the day hosted him to fourth in the overall standings, a position that he would have signed for if he were asked beforehand.
 
The second South African in the team, Sacha Naude, came into the race in a bit of discomfort after a hard training crash earlier in the week. He produced a workmanlike performance in qualified in 20th position. He probably enjoyed the most attention as the knowledgeable Belgian fans speculated just where he would slot into the MX2 motocross elite. In the first heat, he made waves as he moved into the front half of the field. He saw off a number of the more experienced International class riders and rode with a new found smoothness and easy control. Making the most of his skills on hard surfaces, he made headway on the still frozen track, and came home in 12th position.

The second race had an altogether less enjoyable result in store for the hapless teenager. An errant rider at the start crossed paths with him, putting him down and forced to catch up. Two laps into his catch up effort, things went even more pear-shaped for Sacha. The setting sun made visibility very dodgy on the track, and when he had to take a different line than the normal one to pass a rider on a jump, he did not see a dangerous kick-bump, resulting in a head over heels thump into the ground. The medical services quickly attended to him, and after a while of observation he was able to trudge back to the truck unaided, but very sore and stiff. The second race DNF put all chances of a top 10 overall result in the shredder, but the fans had seen enough to know that a new rider had arrived in the international class with some conviction.

Dennis Dierckx, whose parents promoted the event, used all of the local support that he could gather as motivation to qualify in fourth position. He shot out of the gates like a man possessed in the first race, and was holding down a strong fifth position when Latvian Aigars Bobkovs jumped on his hand in mid air, bringing both riders down with a resounding thud. Dennis lined up for the second race with the fingers on his right hand resembling a bunch of bloodied bananas, and despite the discomfort, or maybe because of it, he was extra motivated. He held his own in the top 10, and crossed the line in seventh position, which meant that the team had 3 riders in the top 10.

Team veteran Tom de Belder qualified in 12 the in the strongly-occupied field. He joined team-mates Wyatt Avis and Dennis Dierckx in the top 10 of the field as race proceedings got underway, and converted this good platform into a solid sixth position at the end of the race. The quiet campaigner again placed a solid foundation under his feet as he started the second heat, rapidly moving up from 12th to eighth position. Suddenly he disappeared off the score sheets, and an observant fan pointed him out on the track. The treacherous and rough track had claimed yet another victim, and De Belder's day was done, relegating him to a single race result in the points, like team-mates Dierckx and Naude.

Nicholas Illegems opted to first find his feet after two injury-plagued years and entered in the National Class. The fact that this class is one level down form the International category, does not imply that the racing is any less intense, and each position was hard fought for throughout the day. Nicholas qualified well in 10th position, a good start to the day. Unfortunately, his lack of saddle time due to injury recovery counted against him, and he battled to a game finish in the mid - twenties in both heats.

Team manager Steve Lettani reflected generally positively on the day. "It was a good start to the year in general," he said. "we had some bad luck on the track, but a number of top 10 results and third and fourth overall on the day is nothing to sneeze at. We are still improving in many areas, and are fixing all that needs to be ironed out before the championship season starts.

Kevin Wouts