18 october 2011: ONK Mill 16 october 2011
The last race for the KNMV Open Dutch Championship Motocross in a series of seven took place on Sunday October 16 in Mill, located in the Dutch province Brabant. The beautiful track "de Kuilen" (the pits) of the MSC Mill/Aldendriel was the decor for this event. Although the fact that the champions in the MX1 en MX2 were already known the battle for the other prices in these classes was still open and also the champion titles in the 85cc big wheels and ladies class were not yet resolved. So there was still enough excitement and the audience could enjoy motocross on a, sometimes literally, high level.
By the youth of the 85cc big wheels was Freek van de Vlist in leading position but still it looked that Ben Watson had the best chances. After all, although Ben had to let go the race in Heerde due to commitments at home, he was only nine points behind Freek. But also Michael Eccles was nine points behind Freek and should also be taken in account. Somebody that didn’t have the intention to give up was. His backlog on the leader in the championship seemed to be insuperable but this didn’t discourage Davy from putting the fasted qualification lap on the clocks, in front of Rene de Jong and Michael Eccles. Freek van der Vlist gained the fourth time and Ben Watson got stuck on the sixed time. In the first race the battle for the leading positions was between Davy and Ben. In the beginning of the race it was Davy on the first position but after a couple of laps Ben took over the lead. In the eighth lap Davy regained the leading position for a moment but Ben didn’t let it go and put Davy quickly back in second position again. Rene de Jong started the race on the seventh position but moved up to the third place. To maintain his lead in the ONK ranking Freek van der Vlist had to score reasonably but this wasn’t achievable. Freek had, as often, a lousy start and was after the first lap in ninth position. He moved up to the fifth position but had to start over again after a tumble. Although he regained a couple of places he couldn’t do better than the eighth position. Because of the lead of nine points was completely gone and now Freek looked at a backlog of three points.
The second race it looked again that Ben Watson should go unthreatened for the lead from start to finish. But a couple laps from the finish Davy Pootjes put a lot of tension on Ben and was able to outmanoeuvre Ben. With this result Davy was the winner of the day with an equal number of points as Ben but the champion title was deserved for Ben Watson, Behind these two lads Michael Eccles and Freek van der Vlist tried everything but couldn’t gain any positions. You could easily see that Freek wanted to make more speed but he was not able to squeeze any more power out of his Suzuki. Michael ended this race on third position, in front of Freek and Rene de Jong. Behind Ben Watson Freek van der Vlist gained the second place in the championship. Michael Eccles completed the British success with a third place in the ranking, just in front of Davy Pootjes who was only one point short for a medal of honour.
The ladies class was again, just like last year, a match the Netherland – Germany. At least for the championship because Chiara Fontanesi from Italy won both races in the latest event which was in Markelo. Larissa Papenmeier from Germany came with a big lead of twelve points on the current champion Marielle de Mol to Mill. Larissa had the strong intention to make sure that the trick Marielle did last year should work this year. Last year Marielle had before the last event also a backlog, then at the German Duitse Steffie Laier, but she was able to bend this into a lead and win the championship. During the qualification Marielle de Mol made the fasted lap, but it close with the lap of Chiara Fontanesi. Larissa Papenmeijer got stuck on the fourth time behind Marianne Veenstra. In the first race Chiara showed that she didn’t come to Mill for the second place. Sara Pettersson had the headtart but quickly Chiara took over the lead and she kept it until the end of the race. Marielle de Mol could follow r reasonably but had to be happy with the second position. Nicky van Wordragen directed Larissa Papenmeijer already soon to the fourth place but unfortunately she crashed really hard on the double.
The second race Chiara Fontanesi showed from the start what her intention was. Although Sara Pettersson again took the holeshot and Chiara, who was entirely on the inside and got stuck and had to begin the race the middle of pack, Chiara was already on the lead after the first lap. And she didn’t give up this position anymore. Behind her the battle was mainly between Larissa Papenmeijer and Marielle de Mol. In the first race Nicky van Wordragen could interfere in this battle but the without consequences of the crash in the first race were clearly visible. In the early stage of the race Nicky tumbled in a turn and could hardly put her bike back on the wheels and she was hardly able to climb back on the 125cc Yamaha. After this she left the race with a face that clearly showed her pain. Marielle had to tolerate Larissa a couple of laps in front of her but in the middle of the race she took over the second position and held this position till the finish. The champion title was therefore not completely unexpected and certainly deserved for Larissa Papenmeijer. Marielle de Mol ended this event, for the fourth time this season, on the second place. So she maintained her second position in the championship, followed on a respectable distance by Shirley Verkade in third position.
In the MX2 the champion was already known and also in Mill Jeffrey Herlings was undisputed the fastest of the complete pack. Nevertheless was Jeffrey forced to go to the starting gate as the last one and had to take place in the second row. During the qualification Nick Kouwenberg fell between the two hills of the double. He put his bike back on its wheel and tried to start it again. At that moment another driver jump literally over Nick. Nick looked up and saw that the flag marshal hadn’t noticed that Nick was tumbled and therefore didn’t use his flag. Because of this Nick dropped his bike and jumped aside to safe his body. After a while the flag marshal flagged clearly and Nick returned to his bike. Jeffrey Herlings came by, ignored the yellow flag and jumped, without slowing down, high through the air to the second hill. The referee punished him completely legitimately so Jeffrey had to go the start gate as number 41. The reaction of Jeffrey was that he not only should go to the start as the last one but that he also should wait for ten seconds after the gates were down. Although also the spark plug of his KTM was malfunctioning this was no obstacle for the young master to go for the lead. Allready after six laps Jeffrey was in first position. Due to the mechanical problem he was not able to ride away a lot from the number two, Joël Roelants from Belgium, the ONK champion of 2007, 2009 and 2010. Also Mike Kras got, when he was in second position, mechanical problems so he finished as on the tenth place. Petar Petrov took gratefully advantage of this, he didn’t only climb to the third position in the race but also passed Mike Kras in the ranking for the ONK, because Petar was only one point behind Mike. Good old Erik Eggens surprised with a nice fourth position in this race.
The second race they went as the fire brigade from the start. Coming from the second start row Jeffrey Herlings took in the first turn a completely other line then most of his fellow drivers. He went completely on the outside of the turn and could instantly pass a significant number of competitors. Still it was Joël Roelants who came in first position out of the first turn. But he could enjoy very long of this because already before the end of the first lap Jeffrey was in first position and was Joël behind him. This sequence didn’t change the entire race and Herlings was able to come ahead of Joël more than 1 minute 17. The bike of Mike Kras performed in this race as it should and Mike was able to finish on a nice third place. Donny Bastemeijer was on the fourth position the last one in the same lap as the winner of the race. Also in this race Erik Eggens performed again very good, a fifth place in these race was enough for the third position in the ranking of the day. Petar Petrov finished this race only on the seventh place but this was enough to maintain his third place in the ONK championship, so Mike Kras ended as fourth in the final ranking. With two second places the position of Joël Roelants was no moment in danger, he was even able to increase his lead of 23 points to 34 points and became the deserved vice-champion.
Also in the MX1 it was no surprise who should take the champions cup home. Herjan Brakke was able to secure his title in his first year in this class already in Markelo. The battle for the second place in the championship was still completely open, because of the fact that Marc de Reuver was due to a shoulder injury not able to compete. Kristof Salaets and Yentel Martens were the candidates with the most chance on this position.
The fastest man of the day in the MX1 was Ken de Dijcker, as well in the qualification as in both races. In the qualification was Ceriel Klein Kromhof only a second slower then de Dijcker and Herjan Brakke was less than a second behind Ceriel. Nevertheless could Brakke in Mill not compete for the first positions, with two fifth places this was also his position in the ranking of the day. Ken de Dijcker lead both races from start to finish. Evgeny Bobryshev tumbled at the start of the first race and had to leaf the race in the third lap. Also Ceriel had his problems, the first lap he was in the last position and finished in the end on the eleventh position. Behind Ken de Dijcker the battle was between Ronnie van Rooij and Stuwey Reijnders. Ronnie pulled the longest straw and Stuwey had to be content with the third position. The second race the holeshot was for Ronnie van Rooij but unfortunately he couldn’t maintain this good position. Ronnie subsided slowly to the seventh place but could climb one position again and finished as sixed. Ken de Dijcker had to come from the seventh position but climbed quickly to the lead en kept it to the end of the race. The battle for the second position was now between Evgeny Bobryshev and Marvin van Daele. Marvin could stay affront of Evgeny for quite a long time but had to let go the driver from Rusland in the end. Ceriel Klein Kromhof performed quite well in the first part of the race, he acted approximately on the sixed position but had to leave the race in the fifth lap.
The winner of the day was obviously Ken de Dijcker, the second position was for Marvin van Daele and as third could Ronnie van Rooij take place on the podium of honour. Behind Herjan Brakke Yentel Martens became second in the championship and the injured Marc de Reuver, teammate of Herjan, stayed in the third position.
The photo’s are in the photo book in the menu of the left (Foto’s 2011) and for the complete results click here.
latest change: October 19, 2011, 11:13