J-Rod's A Dane buster
By Alex Hodgkinson on 17th Feb 12
Euro Supercross went big at the weekend as Denmark welcomed the continental regulars to the largest stadium floor in Europe inside the Boxen Arena at the National Exhibition Centre of Herning.
And Portuguese man of war Joaquim Rodrigues used all of his US experience to whip the youngsters for a resounding double win on his return to Honda.
With room to play with, Freddy Verherstraeten could build a track to command respect and J-Rod's rivals, groomed on slow, tight arenas, were left gasping – even at the end of the eight-lap qualifier sprints.
It was a lesson in class, but there was plenty for the locals too as two Danes made the Main of right each evening and Kasper Lynggaard rode his socks off to make the podium on the opening night.
After narrowly missing the podium one week earlier in Finland, Jack Brunell was looking for even more success as he qualified on pole, but the Rabbit Racing Kawasaki legionaire was out of luck all weekend in the racing and his only haul was a second night 11th.
The Windsor indoor specialist opened the show on Friday with a runaway heat win as Rodrigues opened conservatively with a no-stress second to Florent Richier, but from there on in it was J-Rod all the way.
Only once did he fail to negotiate turn one outside the first two, and that race was red-flagged as nine bikes snarled-up at the end of the long straight.
Even when headed out of the gate, Joaquim was in front before the end of the lap as the rest locked horns for second.
Speed was not a problem for a whole bunch of chasers, but the real action came around lap six as the track took its toll and positions changed every lap.
The 100-yard-long combination was particularly significant; miss a shift or lose traction entering the first step up and a rider could go from second to sixth before the next turn, as the break in rhythm meant rolling the remainder of the obstacles so close together that they offered a remarkable number of potential permutations.
While Rodrigues and Richier went through the card, Brunell and fellow heat-winner Jurgen Wybo, potentially their main threat, came together on the first lap of their opening night semi and never really recovered.
Wybo was troubled by a stiff neck for the rest of the show, the Brit never regaining his early speed or gating, while a mid-race error cost Jack his hopes of top six in the Saturday Main.
The Danish crowd, predominantly local and so numerous that only a small percentage could possibly be hardcore fans, were kept on the edge of their seats both days by the local riders.
The entire field carried 128 stickers on their number plates out of sympathy for Rasmus Kjaer Jörgensen.
FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE TMX FEB 17
KING OF HERNING
1 Joaquim Rodrigues (P - Honda) 1-1
2 Florent Richier (F - Kawasaki) 2-2
3 Fabien Izoird (F - Yamaha) 6-4
4 Kasper Lynggaard (DK - Kawasaki) 3-12
5 Dennis Ullrich (D - KTM) 9-5
6 Khounsith Vongsana (F - Suzuki) 7-8
FRIDAY: 1 Rodrigues, 2 Richier, 3 Lynggaard, 4 Tiger Lacey (US - Kawasaki), 5 Thomas Ramette (F - Suzuki), 6 Izoird, 7 Vongsana, 8 Mickael Musquin (F - Suzuki), 9 Nicolai Hansen (DK - Suzuki), 10 Ullrich.
SATURDAY: 1 Rodrigues, 2 Richier, 3 Yohan Lafont (F - Yamaha), 4 Izoird, 5 Ullrich, 6 Hansen, 7 Jurgen Wybo (B - Kawasaki), 8 Vongsana, 9 Dano Aulseybrook (US - Suzuki), 10 Ludovic Macler (F - Yamaha), 11 Jack Brunell (GB - Rabbit Kawasaki), 12 Lynggaard.
"KING OF SX 2012” final standings: 1 Richier 82 pts, 2 Izoird 73, 3 Vongsana 60, 4 Ullrich 58, 5 Lynggaard 57, 6 Musquin 51, 7 Rodrigues 50, 8 Lafont 49, 9 Brunell 46, 10 Wybo 39.
