King fights back
By Team TMX on 2nd Oct 15
Going into the penultimate round of the IMBA MX2 European Championship, defending triple Champion John Cuppen of Holland held a healthy 118-point advantage over top British rider Lewis King and so must have been quietly confident of sealing crown number four.
However, any plans to celebrate another title success will have to go on temporary hold at least after the Dutchman encountered a simply torrid chain of events both before and during Sunday's meeting held at Amriswil in Switzerland.
First of all Cuppen had all of his bikes and race kit stolen from his home. Borrowing some new equipment, he still travelled to the IMBA event only to then struggle with mechanical gremlins which resulted in just 61 points and a very lowly 20th place overall.
With Cuppen well down the finishing order, British Suzuki pilot King took a strong fifth on the day and reduced that gap in the series standings to 44 points.
While Lewis starred for Team AMCA, it was home riders who took all the glory at Amriswil.
Indeed right from the off the Swiss aces made their intentions perfectly clear, filling five out of the top six qualifying times. And, when the gate dropped at the start of moto one, they hammered their superiority home as Kawasaki-mounted Robin Scheiben led the charge from compatriots Nico Seiler, David Schoch and Martin Lerace.
While the fast Swiss aces quickly stretched their advantage, Paul Neale and fellow Brit Lewis King were having a right old tussle for fifth as Zac Stealey held 11th and Ryan Pottenger 21st.
At the front Seiler took control on lap five as the temperature in that Neale versus King battle rapidly rose before reaching boiling point.
Getting ever closer, the Brits then made contact on the exit from a corner, King accidentally ran into the side of Neale, with the Kawasaki pilot suffering a painful and nasty wound to his right foot.
Paul bravely dug deep and fought back showing great determination to repass King on lap seven.
So as Seiler took the win, Neale somehow got home as top Brit in a gutsy fifth with King sixth, Stealey 11th and Pottenger 26th.
Struggling with mechanical gremlins during practice, series leader Cuppen started with a 15th place finish.
With Neale ruled out of moto two and on his way to hospital for treatment on his foot injury, King made a great start in the second IMBA moto, chasing leader Scheiben.
There was no catching the fast Swiss aces though as Seiler and Lerace then overhauled the gallant Brit, forcing him back to fourth.
In this moto, Stealey worked hard with little reward and had to settle for 14th with Pottenger 19th.
Critically in the race for the title, Cuppen's bike stopped on lap two and although after a long push back to rectify the problem he eventually rejoined the moto, he did not score any points due to a failure to complete the required percentage of laps.
Desperate to make amends, a frustrated Cuppen then found himself in trouble again during the final moto after being halted by a second turn collision.
While the Champion elect circulated down in 25th spot, King had made another strong start, holding fourth behind Seiler, Scheiben and Schoch.
Although King was eventually pushed back to a fifth place finish, he did further reduce Cuppen's lead at the top of the standings as the Dutchman had to work very hard to get home in tenth.
In making that comeback, Cuppen had to pass British rider Zac Stealey. Throughout the day, Zac had been right in the thick of the battle and certainly deserved more reward than his final 12th place overall finish. Again giving his all, the final Brit on duty, Ryan Pottenger took 21st overall after a last moto 19th spot.
So it's off to Kleinhau in Germany this Sunday for the final and deciding round of the IMBA MX2 European Championship campaign.
Cuppen of Holland versus King of Great Britain – who will take home the gold?
