The Gebben van Venrooy Yamaha team travelled to Portugal for round five of the MXGP World Championship at Agueda. It’s a track the GP regulars typically know well but this year the track ran in the opposite direction and offered tricky slick and rough conditions.
The qualifying race had plenty of drama and crashes but Vlaanderen managed to stay out of trouble rode well to bring home a superb third and eight championship points.
In the first race, Vlaanderen didn’t take advantage of his good gate position as he was tenth on the opening lap but managed to made two passes to finish a solid eighth.
A drier track and a better start in race two helped Vlaanderen. The Gebben van Venrooy Yamaha was sixth on the first lap but capitalized on a mistake by Prado to get into fifth.
Vlaanderen put the pressure on Seewer but just couldn’t make a move stick. 8-5 meant Vlaanderen ended up seventh overall and he holds sixth in the championship standings. The team will now head to Spain this weekend for round six of the MXGP World Championship.
Calvin Vlaanderen (7th overall): I am satisfied leaving Portugal with a consistent weekend. It was a good Saturday with a sixth in timed practice and third in the qualifying race. I had a good feeling on the bike and I didn’t change much all weekend long. The start in the first race was good but had a bad first lap and only came out around tenth. I managed to pass two riders in the moto to finish in eighth. It was tough to pass and it wasn’t easy to set up a move. The second moto was a better first lap, slotted in around sixth and had a good race to finish 5th. Caught Jeremy but couldn’t get close enough to attack for a pass. I knew Jorge was behind me so I couldn’t leave the door open. I’m feeling good so let’s keep progressing.
