LIEROP (THE NETHERLANDS)-Belgian riders did not upset the public expecting them to be on top; the sandy ground which they are used to saw Stefan Everts clocking his eighth pole position of the season.
The 10 times World Champion completed six laps but the fastest was the fourth one. After that Stefan stayed in the pit lane and waited some time before going out for the last two attempts.
He had to make sure that countrymen Ramon, De Dycker and Strijbos stayed behind and also CAS Honda rider Josh Coppins was someone Stefan had to watch out from.
At the end of the session Suzuki factory rider Steve Ramon was the second fastest, 793 thousandths from poleman Everts. Steve still felt some pain to his right hip and tomorrow it will be a tough day for him, with the sandy track of Lierop being one of the most demanding circuits in the Motocross World Championship calendar.
With Ramon in such condition, Kevin Strijbos can increase his advantage in the Championship where he currently holds second. The 21 year old Belgian from Geel was fourth with a 184 thousandths of a second gap from third fastest Ken De Dycker.
After the third place finish in Desertmartin, the CAS Honda rider seemed to like the Herselse Bossen track: he was fast also in the practice sessions, never moving out of the top five for the entire day.
In the top five there was actually another serious competitor in the Motocross World Championship. De Dycker’s team mate Josh Coppins was the only rider in the top five doing more than 9 laps. Josh completed ten laps, the fastest of which was the sixth one.
His gap from the pole is 1 second 259 thousandths and it does not mean much in a sandy track; from sixth fastest, in the shape of Finnish Marko Kovalainen, gaps are over 4 seconds.
Will Everts be alone like that also in tomorrow’s races? Today he showed enough speed to spend a lonely Sunday here in Lierop
MX2 entertained the crowd with the usual 2 qualifying races won by Christophe Pourcel and Tyla Rattray.
During the first qualifying moto, Christophe Pourcel was surprised in the first corner by local rider Rob Van Vijfeijken coming from the European 125 Motocross Championship where he finished in sixth place.
The Dutch holeshotted the first corner but was passed by Christophe in the second one; current Championship leader kept first place for the entire race and showed a superb and surprising pace on sandy Herselse Bossen track. Christophe worked a lot on suspensions in the morning and will do the same tomorrow before the race; his bike now has also a new engine having more traction and power.
Marc de Reuver was second after some troubles at the start: he shifted in neutral, had to restart from the tail of the group then some riders crashed in front of him and he run wide hitting the green net by the track. He definitely found his way through once he made to complete the first lap in nineteenth place.
There was another KTM behind Marc: it was Rui Goncalves’ machine passing under the chequered flag in third place right ahead of Aigar Leok.
The Estonian fought a lot with Molson Kawasaki rider Gareth Swanepoel but the South African crashed out at the seventh lap; he finished the race in fifth place while behind him there were KTM Sarholz man Marcus Schiffer and European 125 Champion Dennis Verbruggen, finishing seventh ahead of the British KTM rider Carl Nunn.
In the fight for the Championship, Christophe Pourcel seemed to be ready to face Antonio Cairoli’s last attacks
In the second qualifying moto defending World Champion Antonio Cairoli had a storming start and snatched the lead from last year’s winner Tyla Rattray in the first corner. It was a busy first lap with Rattray moving back and forth in the top five and finishing the lap in third place.
He passed David Philippaerts in the second lap, with the Italian crashing while the South African was passing him on the outside line, then Tyla moved up to first place which he kept until the end of the race.
GPKR Frenchman Sebastien Pourcel and Antonio Cairoli were behind the KTM rider fighting for second, with Seb ahead of the Italian; Cairoli passed in the fourth lap but after the crash David Philippaerts was making up ground and getting closer to countryman Cairoli.
David moved past him in the tenth lap and brought second place home; Cairoli arrived to the chequered flag with third place followed by the two Kawasaki of Sebastien Pourcel and Tommy Searle.
But what made today look so special was Brian Jorgensen’s special announcement at the end of the day: it was about Brian’s decision of ending his career as a Motocross professional rider. What made the Honda Martin rider take such an important decision were the results of the last 2 years, characterized by crashes, injuries and bad luck.
Brian showed great strength and determination in coming back to racing after each stop but his high expectations have been blocked by injuries for too many times; “Danish Dynamite” had no regrets because he did all he could to reach the dream of a World Title, with a lot of training and a lot of sacrifices.
The last strike of bad luck was the back injury he had this year. Putting the last frustrating seasons together and thinking of them a lot, Brian Jorgensen decided it was time to stop for him.
As he said he had no regrets, he also said he had good memories from Motocross like the Grand Prix win in Teutschenthal 2004, thanks to 2 back to back wins, and his first podium in MX1 in
This is the Brian Jorgensen everyone will remember.
Brian Jorgensen in action: such talented rider was never kissed by Lady Luck
Tomorrow the first race of the day will be the 85cc National contest starting at 10.30 am while MX2 riders will be at the gate at 12 am for the first moto. MX1 gladiators will be there one hour later, at 1 pm.