Dutch of class

 Herlings and Toni Cairoli each notched up their fourth consecutive victory at the Eurocircuit, factory team-mates Jordi Tixier and Ken De Dycker completed a 1-2 in each class and Jake Nicholls finally broke his podium duck!

 

"I've been so close so many times last year and I was wondering if it was ever going to happen, particularly after my disastrous start to the season, when I crossed the line I was just so relieved,” said Nicholls.

 

Jake was not the only UK based hero, as Max Anstie raced to third in the MX2 opener, Gert Krestinov took support honours in MX3, Nat Kane was on the podium in WMX, Tanel Leok raced the factory boys for fourth in the first MX1 moto and there were top ten finishes for Tommy Searle, Mel Pocock and Elliott 

Banks-Browne.

 

Overnight frost every night for nearly a month had left the ground base harder than anyone had ever known it and temperatures didn't move above freezing until mid-day all weekend. 

 

Cairoli said: "I have never raced in such cold weather – I ruined four pairs of gloves in the waiting zone on Sunday trying to keep my hands warm on the exhaust – and the bumps were so sharp.” 

 

An extra surprise for all concerned was the decision to return to racing the course anti-clockwise.

 

The ultra-rapid old-school chicane start was rightly considered too dangerous to send 40 four-bangers into at once, but the left-right-left solution after a short blast out of the gate, although safer, made starts something of a lottery.

 

Herlings gave the large Bank Holiday crowd a ride to savour with his second-moto blast from last to first, after a disqualification in qualifying ‘earned' him last gate pick for the GP motos.

 

"I think I can still win... but there is no way I can holeshot from out there and it may be the closing laps before I can get to the front,” he admitted on Sunday evening.

 

"And I can't afford to crash again,” he added.

 

His win in the opening MX2 moto was actually ‘easy' as Herlings was able to sneak through to third by the end of lap two and took his time to hunt down Anstie and Tixier.

 

"Jordi was riding well and I didn't want to risk us both going down,” he said.

 

Anstie had pushed the Frenchman through the early laps before settling for third.

 

"Finding the right tyre for the strange conditions was tricky and the mousse went soft towards the end, but I had enough in hand over the rest to stay out of danger,” he said.

 

Only just, however, as Nicholls stormed past Glen Coldenhoff with an enthralling pass to head the chase and the second orange wave got within a second of Anstie at the chequered flag.

 

Already carrying a sore knee from timed training, Pocock took a blow to his left bicep in the quali race and could hardly lift his arm by Monday morning.

 

 

WORLD MX2 CHAMPIONSHIP

Rd 3 – Valkenswaard, HOLLAND

 1 Jeffrey Herlings (NL - Red Bull KTM) 25 + 25 = 50

 2 Jordi Tixier (F - Red Bull KTM) 22 + 22 = 44

 3 Jake NICHOLLS (GB - Wilvo Nestaan JM KTM) 18 + 20 = 38

 4 Max ANSTIE (GB - Rockstar Suzuki) 20 + 15 = 35

 5 Glenn Coldenhoff (NL - Standing Const KTM) 16 + 18 = 34

 6 Alexander Tonkov (RUS - ESTA Honda) 10 + 13 = 23

 7 Mel POCOCK (GB - Monster Energy Yamaha) 11 + 12 = 23

 8 Priit Ratsep (EST - KTM) 12 + 10 = 22

 9 Pascal Rauchenecker (A - Standing Const KTM)  8 + 11 = 19

10 Romain Febvre (F - Wilvo Nestaan JM KTM)  0 + 16 = 16

11 Julien Lieber (B - Rockstar Suzuki) 15+0=15, 12 Elliott BANKS-BROWNE (GB - HM Plant KTM UK) 0+14=14, 13 Even Heibye (N - Scott KTM) 5+9=14, 14 Jose Butron (E - Silver Action KTM) 14+0=14, 15 Petar Petrov (BUL - Kemea Reytec Yamaha) 13+0=13, 16 Tim Gajser (SLO - KTM) 4+8=12, 17 Harri Kullas (SF - Gariboldi Honda) 2+7=9, 18 Stefan-Kjer Olsen (DK - Jtech ESTA Honda) 9+0=9, 19 Brian Bogers (NL - KTM) 3+4=7, 20 Brent Van Doninck (B - KTM) 7+0=7, 21 Dylan Ferrandis (F - Rockstar BUD Kawasaki) 0+6=6, 22 Christophe Charlier (F - Monster Energy Yamaha) 6+0=6, 23 Maxime Desprey (F - Monster Energy Yamaha) 0+5=5, 24 Micha-Boy De Waal (NL - KTM) 0+3=3, 25 Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS - Honda) 0+2=2, 26 James DUNN (GB - HM Plant KTM UK) 0+1=1, 27 Alessandro Lupino (I - CLS Monster PC Kawasaki) 1+0=1.

RACE ONE: 1 Herlings, 2 Tixier, 3 ANSTIE, 4 NICHOLLS, 5 Coldenhoff, 6 Lieber, 7 Butron, 8 Petrov, 9 Ratsep, 10 POCOCK, 11 Tonkov, 12 Olsen, 13 Rauchenecker, 14 Van Doninck, 15 Charlier, 16 Heibye, 17 Gajser, 18 Bogers, 19 Kullas, 20 Lupino.

RACE TWO: 1 Herlings, 2 Tixier, 3 NICHOLLS, 4 Coldenhoff, 5 Febvre, 6 ANSTIE, 7 BANKS-BROWNE, 8 Tonkov, 9 POCOCK, 10 Rauchenecker, 11 Ratsep, 12 Heibye, 13 Gajser, 14 Kullas, 15 Ferrandis, 16 Desprey, 17 Bogers, 18 De Waal, 19 Brylyakov, 20 DUNN.

SERIES STANDINGS after 3 (of 18) rounds: 1 Herlings 150 points, 2 Tixier 101, 3 Febvre 98, 4 Coldenhoff 97, 5 Butron 74, 6 ANSTIE 72, 7 Charlier 71, 8 Ferris 69, 9 NICHOLLS 64, 10 Lieber 62, 11 POCOCK 58, 12 Lupino 57, 13 Petrov 49, 14 Tonkov 34, 15 Rauchenecker 34, 16 Olsen 33, 17 BANKS-BROWNE 31, 18 Ferrandis 24, 19 Kullas 24, 20 Ratsep 22,... 31 DUNN 1,...

NEXT ROUND: April 14 – Arco di Trento, ITALY.

 

WORLD MX1 CHAMPIONSHIP

Rd 3 – Valkenswaard, HOLLAND

 1 Antonio Cairoli (I - Red Bull KTM) 25 + 22 = 47

 2 Ken De Dycker (B - Red Bull KTM) 20 + 25 = 45

 3 Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS - Honda World) 22 + 18 = 40

 4 Kevin Strijbos (B - Rockstar Suzuki) 14 + 20 = 34

 5 Max Nagl (D - Honda World) 15 + 15 = 30

 6 Gautier Paulin (F - KRT Kawasaki) 16 + 14 = 30

 7 Clement Desalle (B - Rockstar Suzuki) 13 + 16 = 29

 8 Tanel Leok (EST - Route77 Honda) 18 + 10 = 28

 9 Tommy SEARLE (GB - CLS Monster PC Kaw) 11 + 12 = 23

10 Rui Goncalves (P - Ice1 KTM)  8 + 13 = 21

11 Joel Roelants (B - Monster Energy Yamaha) 7+11=18, 12 Xavier Boog (F - Ice1 KTM) 6+9=15, 13 David Philippaerts (I - Gariboldi Honda) 12+0=12, 14 Matiss Karro (LAT - STR KTM) 3+7=10, 15 Augusts Justs (LAT - Latvia Elksni Honda) 4+6=10, 16 Jeremy Van Horebeek (B - KRT Kawasaki) 10+0=10, 17 Shaun SIMPSON (GB - Ricci TM) 9+0=9, 18 Davide Guarneri (I - Marchetti KTM) 0+8=8, 19 Nathan WATSON (GB - HMP Red Bull KTM UK) 1+5=6, 20 Jonathan Barragan (E - STR KTM) 5+0=5, 21 Lauri Lehtla (EST - KTM) 0+4=4, 22 Mikola Paschynskyi (UKR - KTM) 0+3=3, 23 Nikolaj Larsen (DK - Honda) 0+2=2, 24 Marc De Reuver (NL - Stabilo KTM) 2+0=2, 25 Ivo Steinbergs (LAT - KTM) 0+1=1.

RACE ONE: 1 Cairoli, 2 Bobryshev, 3 De Dycker, 4 Leok, 5 Paulin, 6 Nagl, 7 Strijbos, 8 Desalle, 9 Philippaerts, 10 SEARLE, 11 Van Horebeek, 12 SIMPSON, 13 Goncalves, 14 Roelants, 15 Boog, 16 Barragan, 17 Justs, 18 Karro, 19 De Reuver, 20 WATSON.

RACE TWO: 1 De Dycker, 2 Cairoli, 3 Strijbos, 4 Bobryshev, 5 Desalle, 6 Nagl, 7 Paulin, 8 Goncalves, 9 SEARLE, 10 Roelants, 11 Leok, 12 Boog, 13 Guarneri, 14 Karro, 15 Justs, 16 WATSON, 17 Lehtla, 18 Paschynskyi, 19 Larsen, 20 Steinbergs.

SERIES STANDINGS after 3 (of 18) rounds: 1 Cairoli 142 points, 2 Desalle 116, 3 De Dycker 115, 4 Paulin 108, 5 Strijbos 89, 6 Bobryshev 87, 7 SEARLE 87, 8 Goncalves 73, 9 Leok 61, 10 Roelants 58, 11 Boog 56, 12 Philippaerts 49, 13 Frossard 47, 14 Nagl 45, 15 Guarneri 41, 16 SIMPSON 35, 17 Van Horebeek 24, 18 Barragan 24, 19 Justs 19, 20 Karro 10,... 21 WATSON 6,... 25 LAW 4, 26 DOUGAN 4,... 

NEXT ROUND: April 14 – Arco di Trento, ITALY.

 

WORLD LADIES MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP

Rd 1 – Valkenswaard, HOLLAND

 1 Chiara Fontanesi (I - Yamaha) 25 + 25 = 50

 2 Meghan Kat Rutledge (AUS - Kawasaki) 22 + 22 = 44

 3 Natalie KANE (IRE - KTM) 20 + 20 = 40

 4 Stephanie Laier (D - Kawasaki) 18 + 18 = 36

 5 Larissa Papenmeier (D - Suzuki) 16 + 16 = 32

 6 Jessica Moore (AUS - KTM) 13 + 15 = 28

 7 Nancy Van De Ven (NL - KTM) 15+12=27, 8 Britt Van der Wekken (NL - Honda) 12+14=26, 9 Nicky Van Wordragen (NL - KTM) 14+10=24, 10 Nina Klink (NL - KTM) 9+13=22, 11 Anne Borchers (D - Suzuki) 10+11=21, 12 Marielle De Mol (NL - TM) 11+7=18, 13 Brenda Wagemans (B - KTM) 7+9=16, 14 Justine Charroux (F - Yamaha) 8+8=16, 15 Joanna Miller (PL - KTM) 6+4=10, 16 Britt Van Der Werff (NL - Yamaha) 4+3=7, 17 Marianne Veenstra (NL - KTM) 5+2=7, 18 Gabriela Seisdedos (E - Kawasaki) 0+6=6, 19 Kimberley Braam (NL - Kawasaki) 0+5=5, 20 Samanta Josta (LAT - KTM) 3+0=3, 21 Ebba Bergstrom (S - Honda) 2+0=2, 22 Amie GOODLAD (GB - Honda) 0+1=1, 23 Stephanie Stoutjesdijk (NL - KTM) 1+0=1.

RACE ONE: 1 Fontanesi, 2 Rutledge, 3 KANE, 4 Laier, 5 Papenmeier, 6 Van De Ven, 7 Van Wordragen, 8 Moore, 9 Van der Wekken, 10 De Mol, 11 Borchers, 12 Klink, 13 Charroux, 14 Wagemans, 15 Miller, 16 Veenstra, 17 Van Der Werff, 18 Josta, 19 Bergstrom, 20 Stoutjesdijk.

RACE TWO: 1 Fontanesi, 2 Rutledge, 3 KANE, 4 Laier, 5 Papenmeier, 6 Moore, 7 Van der Wekken, 8 Klink, 9 Van De Ven, 10 Borchers, 11 Van Wordragen, 12 Wagemans, 13 Charroux, 14 De Mol, 15 Seisdedos, 16 Braam, 17 Miller, 18 Van Der Werff, 19 Veenstra, 20 GOODLAD.

SERIES STANDINGS after 1 (of 8) rounds: As Overall above.

NEXT ROUND: June 9 – Orehova Vas, SLOVENIA.

 

WORLD LADIES MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP

Rd 1 – Valkenswaard, HOLLAND

 1 Chiara Fontanesi (I - Yamaha) 25 + 25 = 50

 2 Meghan Kat Rutledge (AUS - Kawasaki) 22 + 22 = 44

 3 Natalie KANE (IRE - KTM) 20 + 20 = 40

 4 Stephanie Laier (D - Kawasaki) 18 + 18 = 36

 5 Larissa Papenmeier (D - Suzuki) 16 + 16 = 32

 6 Jessica Moore (AUS - KTM) 13 + 15 = 28

 7 Nancy Van De Ven (NL - KTM) 15+12=27, 8 Britt Van der Wekken (NL - Honda) 12+14=26, 9 Nicky Van Wordragen (NL - KTM) 14+10=24, 10 Nina Klink (NL - KTM) 9+13=22, 11 Anne Borchers (D - Suzuki) 10+11=21, 12 Marielle De Mol (NL - TM) 11+7=18, 13 Brenda Wagemans (B - KTM) 7+9=16, 14 Justine Charroux (F - Yamaha) 8+8=16, 15 Joanna Miller (PL - KTM) 6+4=10, 16 Britt Van Der Werff (NL - Yamaha) 4+3=7, 17 Marianne Veenstra (NL - KTM) 5+2=7, 18 Gabriela Seisdedos (E - Kawasaki) 0+6=6, 19 Kimberley Braam (NL - Kawasaki) 0+5=5, 20 Samanta Josta (LAT - KTM) 3+0=3, 21 Ebba Bergstrom (S - Honda) 2+0=2, 22 Amie GOODLAD (GB - Honda) 0+1=1, 23 Stephanie Stoutjesdijk (NL - KTM) 1+0=1.

RACE ONE: 1 Fontanesi, 2 Rutledge, 3 KANE, 4 Laier, 5 Papenmeier, 6 Van De Ven, 7 Van Wordragen, 8 Moore, 9 Van der Wekken, 10 De Mol, 11 Borchers, 12 Klink, 13 Charroux, 14 Wagemans, 15 Miller, 16 Veenstra, 17 Van Der Werff, 18 Josta, 19 Bergstrom, 20 Stoutjesdijk.

RACE TWO: 1 Fontanesi, 2 Rutledge, 3 KANE, 4 Laier, 5 Papenmeier, 6 Moore, 7 Van der Wekken, 8 Klink, 9 Van De Ven, 10 Borchers, 11 Van Wordragen, 12 Wagemans, 13 Charroux, 14 De Mol, 15 Seisdedos, 16 Braam, 17 Miller, 18 Van Der Werff, 19 Veenstra, 20 GOODLAD.

SERIES STANDINGS after 1 (of 8) rounds: As Overall above.

NEXT ROUND: June 9 – Orehova Vas, SLOVENIA.