EMX300 - Round 4 - Lommel

Lommel is an established GP Track and it was prepared perfectly.  The rained hammered down on the Friday night but the track absorbed it, leaving a deep, roughed up, sand track ready for racing come Saturday morning.

TIMED QUALIFICATION

Brad was out early for the Two-Stoke timed qualification. The track not only had some changes than previous years, but it was being run the opposites direction than usual. Brad took his time to learn the track before the timing kicked in. The sand was deep and soft, creating ever changing ruts.

As the timing commenced Brad was on it and put in a pretty fast first lap before he hit traffic. This moved him straight into 5th position.  Out of 42 riders there was only 7 riders that didn't get their fastest time in the first 3 laps. The track had gotten so rough, but that is how Brad likes it. So 5th gate pick for his two Championship Races.

RACE 1:

Brad got a mega jump out the gate and headed up the start straight a good bike length out front of the other riders. Then as he approached the first bend, another riders cut him up proper, riding straight in front of him. Brad anchored in to prevent him going in the back of him and so came out the corner in 4th place.  Mike Kras, last year’s championship leader, was out front.  Kras is currently sitting in 2nd place in the championship a good 21 points behind leader Brad but still Brad was taking no chances. 

By the end of the first lap, Brad was up into 2nd place and by the 4th lap he had taken the lead.  But the battle was on. Brad held on to the lead for 3 laps then Kras took it back.  It was dog eat dog and Brad took the lead back 4 laps later.  With just 3 more laps left Kras tired and could no longer keep with the British Bulldog of Brad Anderson, who pulled away to gain over 4 seconds lead as he came to the close of the race. So Brad Anderson got 1st place in Moto 1.

RACE 2:

Nowhere near as good a gate jump this time for Brad Anderson.  He hauled up the start straight in 8th place, whilst Kras got the hole shot and powered on out front.  Brad had to get through a bit of traffic and was soon into 4th place.  But the leading three had took advantage of the situation and were a good 20 seconds out front.  Brad chased them down and finally moved on up into 2nd place. He pulled back a good 5 seconds on the leader but was amongst the back marker traffic now and got slowed really down.  Using his head, Brad decided to take no chances and sat back in 2nd place, letting Kras take a well-deserved win.  So moto 2, 2nd place finish for Brad Anderson.

OVERALL:

Brad had a fantastic weekends racing, giving the crowd something exciting to watch as usual. He finished with a 1-2, whereas MIke Kras finished with a 2-1. So despite being on joints points for this round, it was Kras's turn to take the top step and Brad had to settle for 2nd overall. Brad was disappointed as he had taken the Top Step at the previous 3 rounds.  However, he came out of this round in Lommel, having the same 21 point lead that he went in with.

Brad Anderson still retains the red plate with his 21 point lead over Mike Kras, with just one round to go, this coming weekend in Switzerland.

QUOTE FROM BRAD ANDERSON:

I had a good weekend in Lommel, going 1-2 for joint first, leaving me with 2nd overall. Didn't lose or gain any points so still 21 points in the lead. One round to go in Switzerland. A big thank you to Verde Sports Racing, all my sponsors and all my fans.  Let's bring it home!