Brit duo impress at Stuttgart Masters...
By Alex Hodgkinson on 18th Nov 10
Two podiums apiece and a stunning 1-2 on the second evening have once again established Jack Brunell and Ashley Greedy as candidates for the German ADAC SX2 Championship this winter.
Having struggled to master a 450 on the first night, Adam Chatfield switched to a 250F on Saturday and was desperately unlucky not to make the Main event in the big class as Matt Goerke went through the card.
"I just need to start getting out of the gate with Ullrich,” insisted Brunell as he reflected on the loss of the regal title for the weekend winner despite topping the SX2 podium on Saturday. "But it was the crash yesterday which really cost me!”
The trip over the bars had come in the first moto of the series as he ripped through the pack in pursuit of local boy Dennis Ullrich: "The bike wouldn't shift into third as I went to hook up out of the turn. The bars were bent and I was stuck in second, but I knew I had to finish.”
The boy from Windsor had learnt his lesson last winter when a DNF cost him the series because the German hang to the philosophy that only those who cross the line after the winner should be classified.
Greedy, second on points after mounting the second rung on the podium each night, was grinning as usual: "I just wanted podiums and a solid start to the series this weekend. You can't afford mistakes out there.”
Ullrich, the German outdoor champion in the Youngsters Cup, had found the recipe for Stuttgart: "Holeshot and stay concentrated. I holeshot all four races, and put my head down to gap the pack before riding it home. I didn't practice SX, but I have worked hard at my fitness and when you're not tired you can concentrate better.”
So what happened in the second race on Saturday? "The footrest caught the rut on landing and that threw me off into the hay-bales. I was so far behind, I was thinking about that the second time I went down, but after a couple of laps I could see the pack and went for it.” At the finish he was through to fourth.
While the 19-year-old was dominating the first three races from the front, Greedy and Brunell were surging through the pack. The Welshman looked to have second secured in the Friday opener but US import, Austin Politelli, pipped him at the line.
The American splattered the whoops in race two and remained trackside, even after defending champion, Boris Maillard, ran into the First Aid crew, until the red flags came out.
Referee Olaf Noack: "He was out of sight from my vantage point, but I was told by radio he was off the track. We were running late so I didn't want to have to rerun unless it was necessary or the public would miss the last tram home.”
Entry tickets at Stuttgart include free use of public transport... and most of the near sell-out Friday crowd is traditionally locals. Six laps run, the race could be scored, the red flags went out and Politelli jumped to his feet. "I knew it!” fumed Noack.
With Ullrich out of the way, Greedy finally inherited the lead in the second race on Saturday, but Brunell had the Welshman in his sights. Lap after lap they sped clear of the chasers, until Brunell jumped inside on the entrance to the rhythm section. Suddenly aware that his rival was alongside, Greedy momentarily took his eyes from the track, gave the hay-bales a glancing blow... and Brunell, his batteries recharged after a seven-month absence from racing, was through.
SX1 was all about two men – Matt Goerke and Cedric Soubeyras.
FOR FULL REPORT SEE T+MX
ADAC MASTERS SUPERCROSS CUP
Rd 1 – Hanns-Martin Schleyer Halle, Stuttgart
KING OF STUTTGART (SX1)
1 Matt Goerke (USA - Sturm Kawasaki) 25 + 25 = 50
2 Cedric Soubeyras (F - Sarholz KTM) 20 + 11 = 31
3 Chad Johnson (USA - ZAP Pfeil Kawasaki) 10 + 20 = 30
4 Teddy Maier (USA - Osicka Pfeil Kawasaki) 11 + 13 = 24
5 Jason Thomas (USA - 20 Suspension Suzuki) 13 + 10 = 23
6 Joaquim Rodrigues (P - Waldmann Honda) 5 + 16 = 21
7 Travis Sewell (USA - EBS Kawasaki) 9 + 9 = 18
8 Cole Siebler (USA - Meyer Honda) 16 + 0 = 16
9 Cyrille Coulon (F - Waldmann Suzuki) 6 + 7 = 13
10 Florent Richier (F - Osicka Pfeil Kawasaki) 0 + 8 = 8
11 Davide Degli Esposti (I - 20 Suspension Suz) 8 + 0 = 8
12 Mickael Musquin (F - KMP Honda) 7 + 0 = 7
13 Khounsith Vongsana (F - Scott KTM) 0 + 6 = 6
14 Kornel Nemeth (H - 20 Suspension Suzuki) 0 + 5 = 5
FRIDAY: 1 Goerke, 2 Soubeyras, 3 Siebler, 4 Thomas, 5 Maier, 6 Johnson, 7 Sewell, 8 Degli Esposti, 9 Musquin, 10 Coulon, 11 Rodrigues
SATURDAY: 1 Goerke, 2 Johnson, 3 Rodrigues, 4 Maier, 5 Soubeyras, 6 Thomas, 7 Sewell, 8 Richier, 9 Coulon, 10 Vongsana, 11 Nemeth
ADAC SX1 Cup standings after 2 (of 8) races: As overall for the weekend.
PRINCE OF STUTTGART (SX2)
1 Dennis Ullrich (D - Waldmann Honda) 25 + 25 + 25 + 13 = 88
2 Ashley Greedy (GB - Sarholz KTM) 16 + 16 + 20 + 20 = 72
3 Jack Brunell (GB - GT Ihle Kawasaki) 7 + 20 + 16 + 25 = 68
4 Romain Berthome (F - ZAP Pfeil Kaw) 11 + 13 + 11 + 7 = 42
5 Jeremy Chauveau (F - Jong Kaw) 13 + 11 + 10 + 5 = 39
6 Dano Aulseybrook (F - ZAP Pfeil Kaw) 0 + 0 + 13 + 16 = 29
7 Nick Kouwenberg (NL - Castrol KTM) 9 + 7 + 0 + 8 = 24
8 Levy Batista (F - Kosak KTM) 0 + 6 + 9 + 6 = 21
9 Austin Politelli (USA - Sturm Kaw) 20 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 20
10 Dominique Thury (D - Sturm KTM) 10 + 10 + 0 + 0 = 20
11 Ludovic Macler (F - AC MoTeC Yam) 0 + 0 + 8 + 9 = 17
12 Lars Reuther (D - Kosak KTM) 8 + 9 + 0 + 0 = 17
13 Laurent Thibault (F - KMP Honda) 0 + 0 + 6 + 10 = 16
14 Nils Gehrke (D - Reinecke Suzuki) 0 + 8 + 7 + 0 = 15
15 Maurice Klijn (NL - MarXparts Kaw) 0 + 0 + 0 + 11 = 11
FRIDAY: 1 Ullrich 1-1, 2 Greedy 3-3, 3 Brunell 9-2, 4 Berthome 5-4, 5 Chauveau 4-5, 6 Politelli 2-DNF, 7 Thury 6-6, 8 Kouwenberg 7-7, 9 Batista DNF-8, 10 Reuther 8-DNF
SATURDAY: 1 Brunell 3-1, 2 Greedy 2-2, 3 Ullrich 1-4, 4 Aulseybrook 4-3, 5 Berthome 5-9, 6 Macler 8-7, 7 Thibault 10-6, 8 Chauveau 6-11, 9 Batista 7-9, 10 Klijn DNF-5, 11 Kouwenberg DNF-8, 12 Gehrke 9-DNF
ADAC SX Cup standings after 2 (of 8) races: As overall for the weekend.
