| 6th out
of 51 starters. Quali: 5th. ~500 spectators Finally a smooth race again with good starts. I ran in 3rd position in both races, but unfortunately did not have the stamina to hold on to my positions. Overall 6th position is a good result though to build on. See also my first race onboard videos (links on top of this page). |
| The time since Joure where I injured my angle and knee in addition
to the shoulder was well spent on healing. Everything went fine and I
started to work out and ride a few weeks before the race. Entering
Lelystad, everything was fine. Saturday practice went also well, so I
was all ready. |
| I took it slow in free practice to save my energy for the 15min
qualifying. I got some clear laps and therefore was able to post a good
time during the first half of qualifying. I was in 5th position, just
some hundreth of a second behind 4th, so I waited for a clear part on
the track to make a final attempt. It turned out to be needed. I went
one second faster, but unfortunately Olaf Harmsen could also improve
his time and I stayed a few hundreth of a second behind. But also the
guys behind improved their time, so I was happy to secure 5th starting
position, which is nicely placed in second row behind pole position on
the outside; I like not being squeezed in the middle. Quali result: 5th |
| Yes,
I love this starting position. I came off the starting grid well and
was in third position after the first corner and also after the first
lap. Unfortunately I braked a little late at the first turn after
start/finish and Michiel went through on the inside. I could follow
them for a little but in lap four, Olaf passed me on the inside of a
long right acceleration turn where I have a weak spot. Something I need
to work on and try to fix for the next races. After that, I could
follow them fir a little while but gradually losing ground.
For the second half of the race, I focused on defending my 5th
position, which went well. It was not all easy, but I was able to
control it well. So I was happy with 5th position in race one, sort of
what I hoped for after the unlucky first half of the season. Race 1 result: 5th |
| The
first start was stopped after one lap because of a crash in turn one
and the parametics having to pick up the rider - it didn't look too bad
luckily. However, this meant a re-start. My first start was good, I
came out of the first lap in 5th position. Re-start went even better, I
managed again to be in 3rd position! This time, I lost it in the
offroad, so ran in 4th for a while. Two guys behind me pushed hard and
I defended my position until the eighth lap. Then I made a mistake in
the midfield and they slipped by. At this point, I was really exhausted
and had to let them go quite quickly. Unfortunately, I lost another
position in the process and towards the end, I was even under pressure
from eighth! However, I managed to defend my 7th position, for 6th
overall - happy with the result but of course in a little better condition, it could have been better. Race 2 result: 7th Overall: 6th |
| There is a little break now. I'll go to North of France for a three
days race training and then the hot summer starts with four races within
six weeks - stay tuned! |