An excitable dutch announcer who screams out in the local language which makes the racing sound so thrilling, the always friendly dutch people, and in general just a pleasant atmosphere Lierop is to me right up there with the best rounds of the season.
Places like Latvia, Portugal, England and Germany have been amazing this year, and now Lierop joins those great facilities at the top of the best circuits list.
What a season it has been so far. Drama, action, contraversy, major injuries, team changes, you name it and 2009 has had it. I can't think of a season that has been so eratic.
Lierop, the place where Antonio Cairoli made his name back in 2005, the place he had won his first World title and taken GP victory. Funnely enough, the situation this year was very similar to 2005.
Back in 05 Cairoli came to Lierop leading Andrew Mcfarlane by around 45pts, which is of course similar to the lead he has over Max Nagl. In 2005 Cairoli finished fifth overall with 27pts, this year sixth overall with 34pts.
On both occasions it was enough to take home the number one plate. Coming into Lierop Cairoli looked a sure bet to ride well, but a practise crash left him with a damaged knee and straight away he looked tentative and unsure of himself.
This wasn't the same rider who had strung together four GP wins in the season and generally looked better than his rivals. Slowly but surely he improved, regained some of his confidence and rode well enough to get the points he needed.
What about his biggest rival Max Nagl, like Cairoli this GP wasn't a huge success points wise. Having scored 43pts in England and following that with 50pts in France, 45pts in Germany, 35pts in Latvia, 47pts in Sweden, 40pts in Belgium, and 43pts in Czech Republic he was on a points scoring bonanza, but that stopped in Lierop, when he could only muster 29pts, his worst GP since Valkenswaard (where he scored just 14pts with an injured hand).
The star of the MX1 class in Lierop was none other than Ken "Raging Bull" De Dycker. How powerful is this guy. Nothing can stop the Belgian when he is in the form he was last weekend. If only he could produce that type of form more often, for sure a World Championship would be his.
Still capable of finishing third in the World this season De Dycker is one of the most consistent of the MX1 class 9-4-5-3 in the last four seasons.
His Teka Suzuki team-mate Steve Ramon does have a 3-1-2-12 score card at the moment, and could move into 11th place this year with a good result in Brazil.
The MX2 class was a strange one, but predictable. Marvin Musquin went 2-1 for victory, overpowering his Red Bull KTM Factory team mate Rui Goncalves who went 1-3, and Teka Suzuki rider Ken Roczen was third with a very impressive 4-2 result.
All three riders showed signs of brilliance, and Brazil will get interesting as Musquin and Goncalves fight for the title. Other stand out riders last weekend were Monster Energy Yamaha rider Josh Coppins who put in one of his best rides of the season, also Joel Roelants (KTM) continues to show why he is in the Belgian Motocross of Nations team with some great speed.
.jpg)
Stanley Leroux Design
