Vlaanderen misses out on Assen podium despite second place in race two
Calvin Vlaanderen was among the leading protagonists of today’s race day at the TT Circuit Assen as he rode his Honda CRF250RW machine to second place in race two – after crossing the line in fifth position at the end of the first moto. With the MXGP of the Netherlands now in the history books, the standard bearer of Team HRC in MX2 will turn his attention to the season finale which takes place at Imola in two weekends time.
Despite something of a tentative start, Calvin was able to ride safely through turn one and was seventh at the end of the opening lap of the first moto. Before the halfway point of the race, he managed to get past Henry Jacobi and was then promoted to fifth place when Hunter Lawrence crashed out of fourth.
Calvin had a much better start to the second race and was already up to third after a few turns. With a very competitive pace, the young rider from Cape Town chased down Thomas Kjer Olsen and passed his Swedish opponent after the crossing the line for the seventh time. After being virtually third overall for most of the encounter, Vlaanderen dropped down to fourth in the GP classification due to Thomas Covington’s crash, which helped Olsen move up to third and take the final spot on the podium.
Calvin Vlaanderen 10
Assen is over and I’m actually leaving in a happy mood, even though I’m obviously a little disappointed at not finishing on the podium. Fourth overall is not something we can complain about. I struggled a little to find the rhythm in the first race as I was chasing Ben Watson; I tried to pass him, but I simply couldn’t make it stick. Seeing Jeffrey Herlings winning the title gave me a lot of motivation heading into race two; I had good speed and flow so I was happy to finish second. I would like to thank the team and my crew especially, and now we can get ready for the final GP at Imola!
Marcus Pereira de Freitas
It’s a shame that Calvin did not make it onto the podium because I think he deserved it after what he showed in race two. This is all part of motocross, however, as being on the podium depends also on the combination of the other riders’ results in the races. In any case, it was nice to see him back on the pace on Sunday, and we leave Assen in a very confident mood!
Race 1
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Race 2
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Rider standings
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Constructor |
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Location Information
Assen, The Netherlands - View in Google Maps
