Reigning champ Steve Ramon was the loser of the day, he was forced to retire after a crash in the final heat. Spain’s Jonathan Barragan had an off-day as well, finishing a lacklustre eighth overall.

On the other hand former Belgian 125 champion Agair Leok made a name for himself with a fine fourth place. Steve Ramon started his hunt for the ‘Sylvain Geboers challenge cup’ in earnest.

The stylish rider from Jabbeke snatched the ‘Nikon Holeshot award’ from Ken De Dijcker and Jurgen Van Nooten. Ramon was leading early proceedings, but team mate De Dijcker first passed De Reuver then to make his way to the front. Ramon.

Jonathan Barragan was fourth ahead of Manuel Priem. Again Ramon showed excellent starting skills in the second race to lead every single lap. Behind ‘The bomb’ a fierce battle for second and third developed.

However Barragan and De Dijcker were both over-eager and ruled themselves out. Under great support from the crow, Honda-Martin’s Marc De Reuver, climbed up from sixth to second to finish ahead of former team mate Coppins.

Kevin Strijbos, only back on the back for some weeks now, showed his progress by capturing fourth. Scotty Columb managed a credible 10th, an encouraging result on his very first Keiheuvel participation!

Steve Ramon came to Balen on a mission, to score as many points he could in order to secure his title chances at the final championship race in Pierreux next month.

Unfortunately his plans received a serious blow when his bike got stuck on the starting line. Once fired up, by then dead last with a 15-second disadvantage, Ramon chased through the field like a man possessed.

Steve climbed up from 29th to 16th in one lap. His brilliant comeback ended in the fourth lap when he couldn’t avoid Barragan who had just sampled some fine Balen soil in front of him.

Ken De Dijcker and Marc De Reuver pulled away in the meantime and although Marc overtook the lead for two laps De Dycker showed he had the best stamina today.

Josh Coppins pushed as hard as he could, but Estonia’s Aigar Leok stayed cool under pressure to claim a magnificent third.

HEAT 1 1. De Dycker, 2. Ramon, 3. Dereuver, 4. Barragan, 5. Priem, 6. A. Leok, 7. Coppins, 8.Strijbos, 9. Verhoeven, 10. Van Nooten

HEAT 2 1.Ramon, 2. Dereuver, 3. Coppins, 4. Strijbos, 5. A. Leok, 6. Verhoeven, 7. Priem, 8. Barragan, 9. Van Nooten, 10. Columb

HEAT 3 1. De Dycker, 2. Dereuver, 3. A. Leok, 4. Coppins, 5. Priem, 6. Strijbos, 7. Verhoeven, 8. Theybers, 9. Van Nooten, 10. Barragan

Overall “KEIHEUVEL” 1. Marc De Reuver (NED-Honda) 64 ptn, 2. Ken De Dycker (BEL-Suzuki) 57, 3. Josh Coppins (NZL-Yamaha) 52 ptn, 4. Aigar Leok (EST-Yamaha) 51 ptn, 5. Steve Ramon (BEL-Suzuki) 47 ptn, 6. Manuel Priem (BEL-Kawasaki) 46 ptn, 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL-Kawasaki) 46 ptn, 8. Jonathan Barragan (SPA-KTM) 42 ptn, 9. Bas Verhoeven (NED-Kawasaki) 41 ptn, 10. Jurgen Van Nooten 35 ptn

PROVISIONAL STANDINGS UNITED TELECOM TROPHY 1. Ken De Dycker 240 ptn, 2. Steve Ramon 231 ptn, 3. Manuel Priem 203 ptn, 4. Kevin Strijbos 151 ptn, 5. Danny Theybers 139 ptn, 6. Josh Coppins 122 ptn, 7. Marc De Reuver 122 ptn, 8. Jurgen Van Nooten 105 ptn, 9. Bas Verhoeven 102 ptn, 10. Jonathan Barragan 95 ptn

Quotes

Marc De Reuver, winner (Honda-Martin) “At least once luck is on my side! I’m really stoked with this win you know. My riding was okay, although I didn’t have the speed to fight for heat wins today. I was leading briefly in the final heat, but honestly Ken was just too fast. So in the end my consistency paid off. One big difference with GP’s is the blistering speed on those opening laps! Somehow I can cope with the pain of my broke foot when I race in the sand, but on hard pack it’s incredibly painful and even tricky because I don’t dare to put my right foot to the floor. It’s hard to judge how things will pan out in Southwick (note AMA National) next week, the sand is actually not that deep over there compared to the ‘Keiheuvel’.

Ken De Dycker, second (Teka-Suzuki) “It was great to get some wins out there today. With my crash in the second race it was an other matter of what could have been or should have been! In the end that’s racing as well, and I know I have only myself to blame: I misjudged a jump, overshot a bit, flew into a overhanging tree branch and crashed! I had another scary moment in the opening laps when my new brake pads hadn’t really set in yet and I just succeeded in avoiding Ramon. It’s truly a pity that I can not race in Orp on Sunday, because I also gained the championship lead today. Anyhow I gave it my best shot to save my title hopes. Not to race in Orp is not exactly what I like to do given the circumstances, but obviously the team have made their agreements and I will honour them of course.”

Josh Coppins, third (Monster Energy-Yamaha) “It does feel nice to be on the podium again (note: Josh was already third in 2006 behind Everts and Ramon) in my home race! Especially because Keiheuvel is not exactly my favourite track. Today was a race with ups and downs. Also because it’s been two years that I rode here, it’s such a demanding setting, and you only have one short ime practice to get yourself familiar with the track again! On top of that, front runners don’t hold back for these short heats, it’s immediately wide open! My starts could have been better, but that’s sort of what we had expected here. I was racing my practice back and we know it doesn’t have the same grunt on soft soil”

The fifth round of the United Telecom Trophy takes place on August 17 in Orp-le-Grand. Check http://www.united-telecomtrophy.com for more information