9th out
of 47 starters. Quali: 7th. ~400 spectators Mixed day really, my qualifying was good with 7th position. Then I had a terrible start into the first race, ending up in 13th position after lap 1! Overtaking was really difficult on this layout and I was simply stuck – and maybe too cautious trying to pass. Finished 13th in the end. With a lot of anger, I managed a better start and finished 7th and with 9th overall at least Top 10 in the end. |
They changed the layout in Lelystad completely, luckily I went for practice the day before so I could get used to it. Main focus was the jump in the off road though. Last time I crashed there and missed the race. This time I made quite good progress and only the few that fully clear it will still have an advantage there. That’s luckily only a very few. |
Qualification went quite well, got a couple of good laps in and
finished 7th, not far from position 5, so I hoped for a good start and
then see what's possible in the race. Quali result: 7th |
My starting position was quite good, second row. The new layout has
a very wide, fast left corner after the start finish line instead of
the tight left turn. Following this, a short straight and tight infield
– left, right and then left/right chicane. My plan was to stay inside
for the first turn because I expected some jam outside. My start was
great, I even moved up a little during the wide left turn and stayed
inside as planned. Bad choice – two riders in front of me closed the
corner and I had to go on the grass even and almost came to a full
stand. Even worse, I was outside for the next right turn and one after
the other slipped through inside before I could smash myself in again.
Couldn’t believe what happened, suddenly I was stuck in the field! The
front moved away quickly and I was just stuck behind some other riders.
I went inside, outside – looked like parallel riding – but I just
didn’t manage to go by without taking a risk. A crash and finally a
successful move took me to 11th position and within a lap, I closed the
gap to 10th position – just to be stuck again… and then out of nowhere
I lost two positions in the last two laps. The championship point
leader Kevin Schuurman was apparently also in a similar situation and
he came up to me and pulled an action in the offroad, jumping by me and
then at the same spot another one. 13th in the end, needless to say
that I was super pissed… Race 1 result: 13th... |
New game plan, stay outside first turn! I started next to Johnny
Stobbe, 6th in qualifying and 4th in the championship standings. I came
off the line again very well, Johnny went wild though and crossed over,
even hitting my back. Luckily I was already far enough and juts kept
the gas open, so got away unharmed. This time, I moved to the outside
right away to do the first left turn more in the middle to the outside
and to be inside for the next right. Worked perfectly, I came as 6th
out of the first lap! Unfortunately Kevin Schuurman was right behind me
and he passed me in the offroad again. No way to defend him there
unfortunately, so I was riding in 7th. I could follow the speed a few
laps, but then fatigue kicked in and I settled for a slightly slower
pace. In lap 10, a crash in front got me to position 6 again. Johnny
Stobbe came up from the back, he was way back after the start, but
managed to gain one position each lap in the offroad (something I
should have risked more in the first race…). In lap 11, I made a small
mistake before the offroad jump and he managed to jump by – damn it. I
followed him afterwards, but couldn’t attack again. So I defended my
position, had actually two more at my back wheel, but was able to
finish 7th. A pleasant ending, making 9th overall on a rather mixed day… Race 2 result: 7th Overall: 9th |
Next race is already next week in Holten, a street course. Last
year was full rain there and I had a rather good race, finishing 7th
overall. |