Stoppelcross season has started. Kickoff at Handel once again. By BdJ

Nov 06, 2014

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 2814 times

It's that time of the year again for BMX-ers to step on a motorized bike and hit up the Stoppelcross season. The corn is gone and tracks will be roped off on the field for the entire month of November. The first one took place in Handel last Sunday. The race actually came a bit sooner than expected and I had not touched the bike since the last race in Volkel last year. Needless to say, the physical preparation was horrible. The broken shifter was fixed on Thursday and other than making sure the bike was running, I did not ride at all.

As usual we left with a group of (former) BMX-ers to ride the race. Once in Handel we ran into more. Everyone was excited especially as the weather was nice for a change. The hottest November day since 1943! Normally we're freezing our asses off in the pits but not this time.

Frank Weckert had shown up from Germany and we rode some practice laps together. I tried to overtake the German but slid out in the wet grass and kept sliding. Nothing broken so all good and back for a couple more laps.

Whenever I step on the KTM I have to figure out again how it works. Shifting with the left foot, front brake on the right, rear brake on the right near the foot peg and clutch on the left. Seriously, after all those years this is still not second nature for me but it came back quickly. It had to, because the first qualification moto was coming up shortly.

The MX2 hobby class was split into two groups. Each group had 45 riders in it and 22 would make it to the A-final with the rest going to the B-final. MX2 hobby riders that you might have heard of were a.o. Wilco Groenendaal, Pieter Does, Patrick Claessens, Jeffrey van der Biezen and Eric Mulders. For the first qualification round you have to draw a number.

The gate has 30 spots. I drew number 51 which wasn't the best as I had to start from the second row. When the gate dropped the adrenaline started pumping and the throttle was opened up. I figured I came out of the first turn mid-pack and tried to keep that spot. The race was long though and that '1-lap-to-go' sign couldn't come quick enough. Pieter ended up getting 4th in our heat, Mulders 14th and I ended up making A-finals with 17th. Patrick had a crash and got 26th, Bryan Huysmans finished 31st, Jeffrey got 33rd and Wilco finished on spot 36. In the other heat Frank Weckert just missed out on the A-final by finishing 23rd.

Other BMX riders in MX gear that day were a.o. Raymon van der Biezen, Sem Kok, Govert Schonewille, Evil Ivo van der Putten, Harm van Brussel, Jurgen Meijer, Ryan Verhagen and many more. All split over several classes. The popularity of the race is crazy. Within an hour 90% of the classes were booked up. I had to sign up from Texas during Texas Toast and when I wanted to register in the 125cc class I got a note that it was already full. I entered the MX2 Hobby class and I'm actually glad I did because the competition is on with Eric Mulders now.

When the riders lined up for the A-final I once again was stuck on the second row. At this point I was exhausted already from race number one before the gate even dropped. I cut sharp in the first turn and passed a bunch of riders and was in a decent position. In the second turn lost was happening and people were fighting for postitions. I decided to take the outside and keep the speed going until I found a rider on the ground in front of me who I could not avoid. I flew head first on the ground on the other side of the rope. The bike was still running and I got back up but everyone was gone at this point. The race was over but I managed to catch up and finish the race. Pieter Does finished 15th, Mulders 31st and I scored two points with 39th place happy to be alive.

Martijn van Bakel did well in the 125cc class and scored a 4th overall. Govert Schonewille scored a trophy with his 7th place in the moped class. Boyd Karsmakers signed up for the Off-Road class and got 2nd behind former BMX-er Rob Verstegen. I'm sure I forgot to mention half a dozen BMX-ers but I don't know everyone and it's hard to follow the races when you have to prepare and ride yourself. Next up: Boekel. Round two of the 2014 SX season. Stoppelcross that is.

BdJ