Lierop

That was sick! Thanks for posting!

Yes, that certainly was a rough sand track, but notice particularly that there was no place to take any rest, or break at all.

Been there a few times, incredible track, was there when Herlings lapped the field (or was it up to second) and also when Simpson beat Cairoli fair and square on the private Yamaha. 

Good to see it being used again. 

I'm helping out Ricardo Bauer a bit... Track was pretty gnarly.

What's the deal with Lierop these days, is it open to the public during normal weeks? 

You can train on the track if you are a member of the club. 

Track was superfast in the 1st sessions (2 laps free practice followed by timed session) and i thought oh this isnt THAT bad. But once the 125s had their first race it was super rough.

Nice setup btw that the WMX riders (van Drunen, Valk, vd Vlist etc.) raced in the 125cc class.

Lierop is my favourite ever track to spectate at - been to loads of MXGPs there in the past. Racing is always incredible - it's so good being in the trees during lap one of an MXGP waiting for the field to come past. Track is always brutal and you can't beat watching the world's best riders round there. Oh and it's way more picturesque than Lommel.

Praying GPs get to race there again one day.

It's a fantastic track but as a spectator you can only see a very minimal amount as the track goes trough the woods for the best part. It is an exciting dynamic to see who get's in the woods first but also who get out of it first. Hopefully they find a way to organize a GP again here but there is another great track that might come back on the calendar soon.

Valkenswaard? 

This is what makes it so great. For me i'd much rather have this, standing a metre away from the riders as they come through the woods, as opposed to 100m away from riders where binoculars would be useful (Ernee style)

Didn’t AC think he had bike problems in moto 1? I believe it was his first race on a 450 finished like 4th or something like that as I remember the second moto AC put over 40 seconds on the field in less then 7 laps to leave no doubt about the day. 

Nice, i'm going to live in Veghel between June and August so i'll have to try to ride there a couple of times if they accept anyone as a member.

Maybe it's just me but the video doesn't make it look that bad. I have watched videos of Lommel where it looks much rougher.

I remember that my lad said Simpson was flying on the saturday , that i missed cos i was working in the pits, but on sunday, he won the first one and didnt need to win the second to take the win. 

Pretty sure at some point AC won cos someone tipped off. 

Is there a foto of Herlings crash from race 1?

Its way worse, no bottom to it, and it digs out way deeper than Lommel. 

If you get the rhythm right, you can fly, if you dont you are miles off.  We watched from about 2/3 of the way round, and on lap one of the MX2 class, Herlings had been and gone before anyone else was in sight, think he was 12 seconds up after 1 lap, you dont do that at Lommel. 

My favorite track in Holland.... to watch a Grand Prix

A sand track in Holland rougher than the  Daytona sx track? Shocking

Edit: I do thank you for posting. These Euro mx races have got me pumped for mx racing. Bring on The Great Outdoors 

Favorite sand track in the world. Also my favorite moto video was shot there, Herlings on a 250 going back 10 years or more? It was incredible 

This track is gnarly!!! There is no part in me that would like to ride it. 
I've been there once back in a day when Roczen was in Teka Suzuki and Musquin was fighting for championship. Good times.
Track has amazing atmosphere, I wish they would bring back MXGP there instead of Asian races... 

I don’t think they still have the infrastructure to host a MXGP anymore.. They already cut the track a little short with removing the start and the split line section on the grass side.

Thats all parking right now for the races and it was already full with no big trucks. 
Back in the day the could park and camp on all the grass fields around it, but those aren’t grass anymore as the farmer turned it into something else. There was grass parking at the other side off a busy road but don’t know if that’s the way to go for a busy GP weekend as there was already traffic jams with one single day. 
 

On the other hand, why should they risk it or go for it? It’s already magic that the track still exists and could open again.. Something almost never happens in Holland. 

But yeah, how great would it be it came back? With De Wolf and Herlings still on the gate, this place would get nuts, that’s for sure! 

I was there in 2002 for the GP when Smets and Reed both won their respective classes. After his victory lap, when Smets rolled up to the podium all the fans surrounded him and began singing a song in Dutch about him. It wasn't a chant, it had lyrics and everything but I just remember JOEL.....JOEL......  I feel blessed to have been able to experience that. After they stopped running the GP, I just assumed the track got shut down. Glad it's still open. 

Anybody know the deal with Valkenswaard? I went to a few GPs there too and really loved it. Is it still operational? Do they have local motocross events there? 

I was there for the MXdN in 2004. Awesome!

You have a point. If this legendary track is still operational and once a year they make there a Dutch championship with some MXGP heavy hitters, I'm happy. I just wish for healthy motocross scene in Netherlands, Belgium, France and Italy, which countries I consider as a cradles of motocross in Europe.
And I'm keeping my finders crossed for preserving some of those old school, gnarly MX tracks. 

I don't think there's ever been a better opening lap than that...

Anstie is a decent sand rider too & he still got lapped. 

We saw it happen right in front of us. He got really lucky there. Typical Herlings to be honest, he rode amazing and in control. Out of nowhere he crashed. He told the fans via the speaker that track was sketchy that first moto (speed difference was big in all classes). Anyways, moto 2 he rode really calm behind Geerts and I thought he would settle for second place. However he went to improve his laptimes by +5 sec per lap and still passed Geerts in the final lap. Amazing to see

125cc I was really impressed with Doensen, he dominated the field.

MX2 we had De Wolf dominating as well. Coenen brothers had a few heavy crashes and issues. All in all great racing

And yes.. many fans will never forget 2012 Lierop. Those first 3 laps of that first moto will be something that will be forever in my top 3 of best moments I have witnessed at the races

Respect to anyone doing a full moto on that