Just seven days after their German adventure, the team representing AMCA Team Great Britain were in action again this time tackling the deep sand of Hummelo in Holland. And just like the previous IMBA European Open class rounds they were to give a great account of themselves. Making it three out of three, James Dodd (FUS Marsh Geartec Husqvarna) was to bag a podium place with Henry Williams (Apex GasGas UK) in 5th, Will Hughes (SRH Racing) 9th, Jake Preston (FUS Marsh Geartec Husqvarna) 14th and Aaron Collins 22nd.
Report and Feature Image by Mike Wood
Getting top results in the sand was always going to be a big ask and with the Dutch federation also throwing in several very fast Wildcard riders to mix it up, the task became a whole lot tougher! And the day did not start to well for Dodd as he was involved in an early moto one collision which was to crack the front end of his exhaust system. Undeterred he got his head down to still fight back for a gutsy 6th. Williams though had been right on it in the opener scoring a great 4th as Hughes was 9th, Preston 11th and Collins 22nd.
With the front three of series leader Matteo Puffet, Raf Meuwissen and Jaap Janssen dictating the pace in moto two, Dodd had to be content with 4th this this around. For Williams it was a 6th place as Hughes took 8th, Preston 12th and Collins 21st. In the last one that man Puffet was to again be first past the chequered flag with Doddy having his best ride of the day for a super 3rd, Williams 6th, Hughes 11th, Preston 14th and Collins again 21st. That win for Puffet means that he has took eight out of nine moto’s and is already 89 points clear at the top of the standings.
Yes, it was a tough day for the Brits but they did seem to be relatively satisfied with their results. Afterwards they said the following.
James Dodd, “I qualified in 5th after struggling to put a good lap together. Race one I had an ok start but got hit in the first turn and that caused my front pipe to crack but I still brought it home in 6th. Race two I had a better start and was 4th but couldn’t find anything to challenge the front three. In the last one I again had a good start and stayed with the front two for a bit longer ending up 3rd and also 3rd overall. I was really happy to get a podium in the sand as there was a lot of fast guys out there.”
Henry Williams, “I finished 4-6-6 in the racing which was on a really rough sand track, that earned me 5th overall. The track was fun but challenging and you could tell that a lot of the Dutch riders had competed there on numerous occasions before. I felt I should have done better in the last two moto’s but had a couple of silly falls. But we learnt a lot and had a great time.”
Will Hughes, “The Dutch round was a challenging day. Hot weather and a short turn around between races meant that there was not enough time to recover and prepare the bike properly! I qualified 11th and race one I got home 9th. In race two I had a good start and ran a strong pace for 8th. In the last one I messed up by trying to stop the bike from overheating so I didn’t start it until they had finished watering the track. When the gate dropped though I hadn’t warmed the engine up enough so stalled it! I pushed from last back up to 11th and a 9th overall. Sitting 6th in the Championship, I am now looking forward to the home round at Lower Drayton.”
Results Top 10 Overall 1 Matteo Puffet (Belgium) 180 points 2 Raf Meuwissen (Holland) 162 3 James Dodd (GB) 140 4 Jaap Janssen (Holland) 134 5 Henry Williams (GB) 133 6 Krijn van Vroenhoven (Holland) 129 7 Ilja Rutten (Holland) 123 8 Jonas Salaets (Belgium) 112 9 Will Hughes (GB) 10 Kevin Buitenhuis (Holland) 105. Other British placings 14th Jake Preston 91 22nd Aaron Collins 59.
Leading IMBA Championship standings. 1 Puffet 534 points 2 Dodd 445 3 Williams 430 4 Salaets 403 5 Rutten 341 6 Hughes 333 7 Kristof van Vaerenbergh 323 8 Kimi Isler 252 9 Preston 249 10 Franck Rougraff 222.
