October 2004 - Universal MXdT, Helmond, Netherlands
It takes a lot of time, effort and energy to organize an event. We have put on plenty of BMX events in the past and decided to hold a motocross race. Not knowing what to expect we got to work. The Motocross Des teams (MXdT) was going to be a warm up race for the Motocross of Nations which is considered the Olympics of MX where countries send in their best teams to battle for the gold. That race was going to happen in Lierop (2-3 October) which is only 4 miles from Helmond.
We were hoping the American team would show up in Lierop. That way their (USA) fans and sponsors would have a chance to ride some MX themselves at the team race we put on on Wednesday. After some hectic times around Team USA it was finally decided that no team would make it to Lierop for the MXoN. This left our concept in flames but we decided to have the team race regardless.
It had rained loads leading up to the race so things got a bit stressful. Add to that a threat from the KNMV (governing body) that they were going pull back the permission for the race because we were blowing up the "local club race" into an "international event with pro riders" and you understand that we've had better nights of sleep. It did rain in the morning but the weather was supposed to clear up later that day. Luckily it did otherwise it would have been a complete mud fest.
The teams started showing up and it became an international bunch. Team Haggis racing from Scotland, Lippe, JD and crew from Germany, a bunch of Joel Smets fans from Belgium, team Wonder Warthog and Team O'gio from the USA, Lord Alfred's fanclub from England and 12 teams from the Netherlands. Not a bad turn out considering the circumstances. Practice got underway a bit after schedule but after that things were going fairly well. The first few riders were drenched in mud but after an hour or so of practice the track had dried up pretty good. Some serious ruts were showing up though which gave the less experienced riders some problems but luckily the event was set up to have some fun.
Joel Smets (5 times World Champion) explained the rules on the microphone before a Le Mans style start set off the 2 hour race at 16:00hr sharp. With one rider per team on the track we constantly had 18 riders on the Mac De Helm circuit. When it was time to change riders, the Universal wrist band was switched over to the next rider of the team. After 2 hours of racing, the team who had done most laps would be the winner of the MXdT race. With loads of (ex-)Grand Prix riders in many teams it was going to be an exciting race. They all thought they had a chance to win this.
Big favorites however was the V.D. Wetering/Galvin MX team consisting of Heikki v.d. Berg, Patrick Roos and Pascal Brons. However, Heikki's bike left him stranded and Pascal and Patrick had to do 2 hours of racing on their 125cc KTM's among the two of them. Close competition came from the Twin Air team until Boyd Karsmakers had to pull out with a broken clutch. Stuart Flockhart and co (Haggis Racing) were catching up towards the end of the race as they passed the O-store team of Robins, Mandigers and Driessen for 5th.
Late entry and surprise of the race was the Bud Racing team who had three strong riders who kept the gas on until the end to finish third. The team of Oscar Vromans, Van Dalsem and William Saris looked strong on paper and finished in 2nd behind the KTM duo of Pascal Brons and Patrick Roos.
Both American teams couldn't blow away the competition in Helmond. Team O'gio faced an injury when Steve Bauer went OTB and hurt his ribs leaving McCormick and FMX-ers Andy Bell and Jimmy Verburgh stranded in the Dutch mud. The Wonder Warthog team faced a mechanical and completely missed the start while they were putting on a new shifter. With half a lap behind, it was hard to catch up until they used their wildcard rider in the name of Marc de Reuver! That red cape seriously started flapping in the air when he got on the track making sure the team wouldn't finish on the spot that they started the race in.
Other highlights were Lippe riding in a ditch, free Eastpak, Bardahl and Twin Air goodies for each team, Joel Smets on the microphone (with the help of Martin v.d. Velde), sunshine all afternoon, the Bioracer set-up, Jan's Limousine and the smiles on everyone's faces. It's fair to say that today was a good day.
BdJ
Results:
1. 26 V.D. Wetering Galvin MX Team
2. 22 Jumbo- EZ-UP
3. 4 Bud Racing
4. 9 Twin Air
5. 20 Haggins Racing
6. 18 American Eagle/ O-store-nl
7. 1 Universal MX
8. 15 Team Locals
9. 24 TMV
10. 10 JH Motoren
11. 7 O`Gio
12. 2 Pauls`s Boutique
13. 23 Lord Alfred`s Fan Club
14. 11 WW Racing Team
15. 16 Race Tech
16. 3 Joel Smets Fan Club
17. 17 realmx.com
18. 8 Universal 2
Co-sponsored by: EBC, Paul's Boutique, Eastpak, Twin Air, Bardahl.
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