Podium at the 65cc European Championship in Denmark
We travelled to Denmark for the first time, to Slagelse in the county of Zealand to be precise. After the nine-hour journey, we first took a close look at the track conditions. The ground was already very soggy due to all the rain in the days before, so the continuous rain that followed until the morning hours on Saturday was to make the conditions even worse.
On Saturday morning, however, I coped very well on the muddy track and was able to set the fifth-best time in free practice.At lunchtime, qualifying began to determine the starting grid for the qualifying race. Here, too, I was able to set solid times and was listed in sixth place at the end.
In the afternoon, things were about to get exciting for the first time.The start to the qualifying race was modest and I lined up tenth after the first corner. I was able to make up a few places over the course of the race and finished third.
This season I’m racing for the Dutch AK Bouw-Hutten Metaal Junior Team. I was very focussed on Sunday morning, because I wanted to show the team that I was fully back after my overall victory at the Supercross Dortmund and the subsequent knee injury.In the morning warm-up, I left no doubt about it, setting the fifth fastest time and proving my ability with a calm and confident riding style.
Before the start of the first run, it was time for another track walk, as the course in Slagelse offered only a few overpasses and was peppered with ruts and some edges at the jumps.
The start of the first race didn’t go well. On the extremely deep start straight, I shifted into the next gear too early and immediately lost contact. Over the course of the first lap, however, I fought my way back to fourth place. I was fighting for third place in a group of three with the Belgian Timeo Mohring and the German Jamiro Peters. Mohring clearly held us two Germans up, so that the Dutchman Teunis Spijkermann, who was in second place, was able to pull away.
We two Germans had a great duel for third place when we passed the Belgian Mohring, which I was able to win. In the last two laps I was still within reach of second-placed Spijkermann, but I was never able to jeopardise him. Harry Dale from Great Britain won the race, ahead of Teunis Spijkermann from the Netherlands, and I finished in third place.
The start of the second race was a copy of the first. Again, we were only around tenth place through the first corner, but this time we also came out of the first lap in fourth place.In a great three-way battle for the spectators, the young riders Teunis Spijkermann, the Belgian Torre van Mechgelen and I showed all our riding skills. After about half the race distance, Spijkermann went down so that we could pass him as his pursuers. I had an exciting duel with van Mechgelen. On the last lap I had the Belgian on my tail and wanted to pass him. But at that precise moment, I was unfortunately severely hindered by a rider who was trying to lap me, so I had to pull back. Despite this, I was beaming after crossing the finish line and was overjoyed to have secured my first podium in the European Championship. Harry Dale won the race ahead of Torre van Mechgelen and me.
I came second in the day’s classification.The podium now looked like this. Harry Dale once again secured victory on the day, ahead of me, and Belgian rider Torre van Mechgelen completed the podium in third place.This coming weekend, the young up-and-coming talent will head to Göggingen for the first round of the German Youth Motocross Championship 65cc.
