Initial cloud cover pointed towards qualifying day being a relatively cold affair, however, by mid-morning, this had lifted, and the sun shone through the thick woods that surrounds this fantastic 1.98km circuit, not a stone’s throw from Zwolle, in eastern Holland.
Coming into this weekend, it is the reigning champion Patrick Turrini who has the red plate, with young Brit Harry Walker just behind
in the standings, however, the deep sand will certainly play into the hands of former Sidecarcross front-runner, Julian Veldman,
as well as the Dutch locals, Joe Maessen and Mike van Grinsven .
Pre-qualifying Practise
32 riders in total would venture on to the circuit to take part in the pre-qualifying session, which would give the riders the opportunity
to try different lines, as well as ensuring their machines have been dialled in correctly to tackle the difficult terrain.
Taking the top spot in this practise session was the Estonian, Karl Robin Rillo, who was making his first appearance in the championship since Red Brae last year. His laptime of 1:47.524 was enough to take the top spot, ahead of the local riders of Joe Maessen
and Mike Verboven. Reigning champion and re-plate holder Patrick Turrini completed the session 7th quickest, with Julian Veldman trailing behind in 8th and his younger brother Sam Veldman going only 20th fastest. It is worth noting, however, that Joakim Granli in 10th position was just +2.617 from the top spot.
Results
- Karl Robin Rillo
- Joe Maessen
- Mike Verboven
- Harry Walker
- Mike van Grinsven
Qualifying Race
The bellow of a full grid of 4-stroke quad machinery reverberated around the woods as the gate dropped, and it was the fastest qualifier, Karl Robin Rillo, who raced into the lead to take the holeshot ahead of Harry Walker, with hard-charging home heroes Mike van Grinsven
and Joe Maessen looking to impress in front of the supporting fans. Veldman completed the opening lap in 6th position, however, the big news at the completion of lap 1 was that the championship leader of Patrick Turrini was languishing outside of the top 10 – plenty of work ahead for the reigning champion.
Rillo certainly had the hammer down as he had his eyes set on increasing his advantage over Walker in the early stages, but this was not to come to fruition as Walker stormed by the Estonian teenager to take the lead, with van Grinsven and Maessen going with them – this quartet seemingly finding more speed in the deep sand than the chasing field, as the gap stretched to seven seconds between Maessen in 4th position, and Tarald Hellebust in 5th position. Tarald Hellebust, despite not having raced in the European championship since last year, was fighting for the top five positions, albeit 10 seconds away from the leading pack.
Only a handful of laps later, and Rillo slipped to the rear of the quartet, now doing the chasing as opposed to being chased as he had done in the opening laps. A mighty battle was brewing for 5th position, and Hellebust, Mike Verboven and Julian Veldman all looked to put themselves in prime position. In the meantime, Patrick Turrini was trying with all his championship-winning might to clamber back as many positions as he could, to give himself a better gate pick for tomorrow’s races – by the completion of lap 7, he was up to 7th place and less than two seconds behind the fight for 5th.
Walker was metronomically consistent, setting the pace at the front of the race to increase his lead over van Grinsven and Maessen. What once was a quartet, soon became a 2-way fight for 2nd position between the Dutch riders of van Grinsven and Maessen, with Rillo losing momentum as the race drew on. Verboven climbed to 5th position, to make it three Dutch riders inside the top five positions, but Turrini was on the charge and gaining ground with each passing lap. The amount of time left was crucial, and no one knew this better than Turrini at this stage. Veldman, who was showcasing his talents in the sand with a strong start, would drop way back to 24th position in the closing stages - a difficult day at the track for the likeable local.
The board was shown to signify that only 2 laps were remaining in the race, and with a 5 second advantage over his nearest rival, all Walker needed to do was hit his markers, and this would surely be enough to see him take victory in the qualifying race. Compatriots van Grinsven and Maessen had drifted apart on circuit as the amount of time between them opened to, what would become, an insurmountable amount for Maessen, however, a 3rd place finish would be key for the racing tomorrow. Rillo would take the chequered flag in, what developed into, a relatively lonely 4th place, with Verboven completing the top 5. An inspired ride from Turrini would see him climb up to 6th position ahead of Dutchman Richard Ruttenberg.
Results
- Harry Walker
- Mike van Grinsven
- Joe Maessen
- Karl Robin Rillo
- Mike Verboven
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By Bradley Hix
