Dutchman Jannick de Jong leads the standings after a rain delayed second Final in Marmande on Monday.
The original evening staging on Sunday was postponed due to heavy rain and restaged on the afternoon of Bastille Day one day later. The delay did not seem to affect de Jong who, after a last in his first race recovered to pass Stephan Katt in the Final and collect a total of 21 points to leave France with a 5 point lead in the Championship. Already winner of the European Championship this year he is now well on course to add the World title.
Current champion Joonas Kylmäkorpi had a disastrous meeting, having damaged both his machines in practice and forced to race on borrowed equipment, he failed to win a single race. A last place in his semi-final ended any chance he might have had to salvage some consolation from the meeting and falling to fourth place on the leader board, he now trails de Jong by 10 points. With de Jong in such good form this leaves the Swede a mountain to climb in the remaining three rounds if he is to retain his title.
Another in great form is Germany’s Erik Riss with another steady performance to follow his debut in Herxheim. Third again in the Final, he remains in second place overall and four points ahead of Mattieu Tresarrieu who dropped points when he suffered a machine failure in the last race.
Richard Hall was the best of the British contingent with three heat wins and David Howe added to his recent successes with a twelve point haul. Andrew Appleton was disappointing and failed to make the cut for the second successive meeting.
Aussie favourite Cameron Woodward impressed in practice but withdrew from the meeting after a heavy fall whilst leading Heat 7. Another casualty was Richard Speiser who was taken to hospital for a check-up after a spectacular crash.
Leading riders after two rounds:
1. Jannick de Jong - The Netherlands - 43
2. Erik Riss - Germany - 38
3. Mathieu Tresarrieu - France - 34
4. Joonas Kylmäkorpi - Sweden - 33
5. Stephan Katt - Germany - 28
6. Richard Hall - Great Britain - 25
7. Josef Franc - Czech Republic - 22
The third round of the series will be held in Eenrum, The Netherlands next month and a full review will be published here.
Photo © JGB MX Pix