Mongolian invasion?
By Alex Hodgkinson on 17th Jun 09
No, not Genghis Khan, but Erdenebileg Khaliunbold, the Mongolian champion, who led his country in the MX des Nations at Donington Park last autumn, will contest the German GP at Teutschenthal this weekend for the Teka Suzuki MX2 team.
Okay, the boys from central Asia didn't set the world alight with their performances - 33rd and last in the team classification with Erdenebileg 31st individual, three laps down on Martin Barr, in the B Final on Sunday morning as their best man. But at least they jumped everything, in stark contrast to the Chinese two-years earlier at Matterley Basin.
Zach Osborne and Matiss Karro are both named to race MX2, but the Latvian has decided to sit out the GP at Teutschenthal to concentrate on being ready for his home GP seven-days later.
In MX1 the most interesting 'local' entry is Kornel Nemeth, the Hungarian giant who is actually leading the ADAC Masters - the German equivalent of the British Maxxis series - even though his main target this year is the German Cross-Country title.
Filip Neugebauer, the Czech who registered a 14th place at Mallory Park during one of his irregular GP appearances, will ride in his adopted homeland for Pfeil Kawasaki, while Lukasz Kurowski becomes the first Pole to race in MX1.
Florent Richier sat out last weekend's ADAC Masters round, but hopes that his eye has improved sufficiently for him to race the factory KRTE Kawasaki.
There is no AMA National this weekend, but only Sarah Whitmore joins the regulars at Teutschenthal in the WMX series.
A little closer to home, Scott Elderfield is listed for the European MX2 race at Markelo in Holland, while Par Honda team-mate, Brad Anderson, Eastern Centre all-rounder Aston Bird and Peter Redford are named for the World MX3 class.