KTM Junior Factory Team rider, Jeremy Van Horebeek, has claimed his first ever podium finish at the eagerly anticipated opening round of the 2009 FIM Motocross Grand Prix in Faenza, Italy.
As teams and riders rolled into town on Friday they were greeted by a manicured race circuit basking in the Italian sunshine. Unfortunately this great weather would not hold for the entire weekend. Sunday morning dawned with continuous rain that began to turn the hard pack circuit into a mud bath. This however did not phase Belgian phenom who relishes the tough conditions.
Jeremy lined up on the start gate for heat 1 alongside the world’s best as the rain lashed down upon them. As the gate dropped and mud cleared it was clear that Jeremy was out with the leading group. Coming through turn 3 French rider, Jeremy Tarroux was out front with 2 x Belgian Champ Van Horebeek, chasing in 2nd spot. The leading pair put in a bunch of super smooth laps edging away from the rest of the pack. On lap 8 Tarroux made a mistake and went down in the mud, giving Van Horebeek the gift he has always dreamed of – the lead in a World Championship event. The young Belgian talent continued to circulate in the terrible conditions with amazing control as most of the field battled to even get around the water logged circuit. With a handful of laps remaining Frenchman, Gautier Paulin, who had carved his way through the pack, closed right down on Van Horebeek and was pushing to get past. With the end of the race only 2 laps away, Paulin made a move past ‘The Jerre’, who wisely kept clear knowing the whole season is still ahead. Van Horebeek finished off the race with amazing style as he crossed the line in 2nd position, putting him on the podium at a Grand Prix for his first time in his career.
The rain continued to fall and after a track inspection by the FIM it was decided to cancel the 2nd heat and call the overall Grand Prix result on heat 1’s results, giving Jeremy 2nd overall for the Italian Grand Prix.
Van Horebeek commented after the race: “I didn’t realize until about 20min into the race that I was even in the lead! I looked up one lap and my pit board said P1, I thought I was in 2nd still. So then I realized I had to just control this and I managed to ride very smooth and keep it in control. I could see Gautier coming but I had to wait for a clearing on the one hill because so many riders had crashed. Gautier took a chance up the hill and it paid off for him. I just wanted to keep going and not crash so I was happy to settle for 2nd position and good points.”
Van Horebeek will head to Bulgaria next weekend for round 2 of the 15 round series as he positions himself as an MX2 World championship title contender.
Image: CDS
1 Paulin, Gautier FRA Kawasaki
2 van Horebeek, Jeremy BEL KTM
3 Musquin, Marvin FRA Honda
4 Guarneri, Davide ITA Yamaha
5 Roelants, Joel BEL KTM
6 Lupino, Alessandro ITA Yamaha
7 Aubin, Nicolas FRA Yamaha
8 Maddii, Marco ITA Suzuki
9 Teillet, Valentin FRA KTM
10 Nicholls, Jake GBR KTM
1 Paulin, G. FRA 25
2 van Horebeek, J. BEL 22
3 Musquin, M. FRA 20
4 Guarneri, D. ITA 18
5 Roelants, Joel BEL 16
6 Lupino, A. ITA 15
7 Aubin, Nicolas FRA 14
8 Maddii, Marco ITA 13
9 Teillet, V. FRA 12
10 Nicholls, Jake GBR 11
3/30/2009 11:54am
0 comments
To post, please join, log in or connect to Vital using your Facebook profile Login with Facebook.