Estonia’s Tanel Leok (winner of two heats) won the event ahead of Ramon and local hero Desalle. Steve Ramon grabbed the Nikon holeshot award, but Red Bull-KTM’s Max Nagl was in a league of his own.

The likeable German took the lead in the first lap and pulled away quickly. De Dycker bounced back from sixth to third, eventually to finish second after passing team mate Ramon. Kawasaki mounted Manuel Priem was fourth ahead of his team mate Tanel Leok.

MX2 World Champion Tyla Rattray showed blistering speed around the spectacular, fast track, but he dropped back as the race progressed due to arm pump. Nagl won with a healthy 8-second margin over ‘Keeno’.

Estonian Express Tanel Leok took the holeshot and confirmed his late season charge with a flawless victory. Again Rattray made a name for himself battling the more powerfull MX1 bikes, but he arm pump forced him to back off once more.

After a mediocre start Steve Ramon was on fire to clim up from five to three. The audience was spoiled with an intense battle between Suzuki pairing Ramon and Desalle. Eventually the more experienced Ramon passed his younger countryman for second.

De Dycker and Coppins completed the top five. De Dycker’s lead over Ramon going into the decisive heat was only 7 points. But Leok was clearly the most hungry for the overall, with Priem and Desall fighting for second behind him.

Steve Ramon’s title hopes received a big blow when he got stuck behind Nagl who stalled in the first corner. However ‘The bomb’ put his head down and sliced through the pack to keep his title dreams alive.

Meanwhile De Dycker was keeping himself – rather uncharacteristically- quiet in fourth, steadily racing towards his first national title. Technical gremlins abruptly ended his ambitions, while team mate Ramon was handed title number four on a plate. Leok won ahead of Desalle and Priem.

HEAT 1 1. Nagl, 2. De Dycker, 3. Ramon, 4. Priem, 5. Leok, 6. Rattray, 7.Coppins, 8. Desalle, 9. Caps, 10. Salaets

HEAT 2 1. Leok, 2. Ramon, 3. Desalle, 4. De Dycker, 5. Coppins, 6. Priem, 7. Rattray, 8. Priem, 9. Nagl, 10. Breugelmans

HEAT 3 1. Leok, 2. Desalle, 3. Priem, 4. Ramon, 5. Rattray, 6. Nagl, 7. Coppins, 8. Van Loon, 9. De Belder, 10. Columb

Overall “Piereux” 1. Tanel Leok (EST-Kawasaki) 66 ptn, 2. Steve Ramon (BEL-Suzuki) 60 ptn, 3. Clément Desalle ( BEL-Suzuki) 55 ptn, 4. Manuel Priem (BEL-Kawasaki) 53 pt, 5. Max Nagl (GER-KTM) 53 ptn, 6. Tyla Rattray (RSA-KTM) 45, 7.. Josh Coppins (NZL-Yamaha) 44 pt, 8. Ken De Dycker (BEL-Suzuki) 40 ptn, 9. Scotty Columb (NZL-Suzuki) 30 ptn, 10. Kristof Salaets (BEL-Honda) 28 ptn

UNITED TELECOM TROPHY FINAL STANDINGS 1. Steve Ramon 291 ptn, 2. Manuel Priem 283 ptn, 3. Ken De Dycker 280 ptn, 4. Josh Coppins 230 ptn, 5. Kevin Strijbos 196 pt, 6. Danny Theybers 186 ptn, 7. Scotty Columb 168 ptn, 8. Jonathan Barragan 167 ptn, 9. Jurgen Van Nooten 152 ptn, 10. Bas Verhoeven 139 ptn

Quotes

Steve Ramon, second and Belgian champion (Teka-Suzuki)

“I always kept the faith so it’s nice to be rewarded in the end! Of course I feel for the way Ken lost the title, but I didn’t steal it either you know! I had my share of bad luck in Nismes and Balen... I hadn’t been riding this week and combined with the demanding track that was hard pack in some places and soft and sandy in others that caused some arm pump in he first heat. Luckily things improved after that, I had some good lines out there and I was able to race carefree and focused. It was cool to race on this awesome new track as well.”

Tanel Leok, overall winner (Kawasaki Racing Team Europe)

“Things went really well today. It’s always nice if you finish the season like this. I was close to a perfect run, only my start in the first heat was not so good. The organizing club did an amazing job here, this is definitely the kind of track that you want to be racing! ”

Clément Desalle, third (Inotec-Suzuki)

“The level was very high today and I didn’t always have such good starts. Still I’m happy to beo n the podium again. Especially because I’m a member of RMC Pierrux who organized the event. Dicing with Ramon in the second race was cool, unfortunately he was just a bit faster. It’s going to be great that I’m able to compete in the complete series next year.”

Ken De Dycker, third in the United Telecom Trophy final standings (Teka-Suzuki)

“It sucks to lose out on the title like this! Yes I used some strong language when it happened. Even more because it was so close to the end. I didn’t really need to attack full-on today, because I was pretty much in control, but no one could see this coming. And I have to admit that so far this season I have few technical DNF’s to complain about. Anyway, riding the track was very enjoyable it makes me even more wanting to ride my guts out in Donington!”

Manuel Priem, second in the championship (Kawasaki Racing Team)

“I’m happy with my racing today. My back pain didn’t influence my riding and I could attack most of the time. Still it’s funny to see how fighting for the championship has its way with you. When Steve (Ramon) flew past me in the second race I could only think how he was stealing another two points from me. I tried to chase him and follow some of his lines, but that’s when I started making mistakes and Coppins passed me in the end. I had a good start in the last race, but Desalle was a bit stronger. Overall I’m pleased with the Belgian Nationals this season. Again I came second, so I confirmed last year’s result was not a fluke. I had some great races, the level was high and we visited a couple of awesome tracks- especially today!.”

Tyla Rattray (Red Bull-KTM)

“I suffered arm pump in the first two heats. A shame really because the speed was there and I had to back off after about 10 or 15 minutes. Finally we made some changes to the front suspension in the final heat and that made a huge diffence. I’m really happy with how the day went. The speed is fine and my fitness is great as well. Racing against the 450’s is also what I will be doing in the MX of Nations so it was good to get in that groove already.”