Fourth place for Kevin Strijbos in Dutch sand of Gemert

Kevin Strijbos and Grand Prix Kawasaki Racing teammate Sébastien Pourcel both entered the opening round of the Dutch Championship this weekend in Gemert

It was only the second race of the season for the Belgian star who underwent surgery one month ago after a crash while practicing in Spain. Kevin raced Mantova with this injury and then visited his doctor for further examination. “I had a small piece of bone lost in my shoulder and the best solution was to have surgery otherwise I could have troubles later this season. It was a minor surgery but then I had to rest for two weeks,” explained the GPKR rider who started practicing again three weeks ago. Gemert was Kevin’s first appearance since Mantova and the track was so demanding that he didn’t take any risks. 10th in qualification Kevin got a pair of decent starts and rode safely to fourth and third positions.

Sébastien Pourcel who had never raced in these conditions before retired in the first heat and then collected a 13th position after crashing several times but never giving up.

Kevin Strijbos. “The race was demanding with muddy sand and many ruts, so after the race my shoulder was pretty painful. It was difficult for me but I rode safely and didn’t take any risks, as it was only my second race of the season. Fourth and a third is not a bad result but I think that we need now to test more in the sand - we did some testing but not enough at the moment due to my injury. I will have an international race at my home town next weekend and then the Belgian championship opening round to prepare for the GP season.”

Sébastien Pourcel. “I never rode in these conditions before and it’s the first time that I race on such wet sand with deep ruts. I finished fourth in the timed practice period but it was not so important as there were 50 riders on this one line track so you just needed to be lucky to post a fast lap! I didn’t finish the opening lap of the first heat and in the second moto I crashed twice. Then I waited for the fastest riders and tried to follow them – I learned a lot and that was a good training even if it could have been better with less rain.”

Roger Pourcel. “It never stopped raining this weekend and it was the first time that we raced on this kind of track! Of course we practice a lot on sandy tracks but never this kind of sand – wet and heavy. Seb retired with a technical problem in the first race and in the second moto he tried to ride as he is used to. He was fast but crashed twice and then learned a lot from Ramon, De Dycker and Kevin who are used to these conditions. Kevin did two strong heats for his second race of the season – just one month after his surgery while Alex Rouis didn’t qualify.”

Sebastien Pourcel will race at the second round of the French series with Alexandre Rouis next weekend while Kevin Strijbos will stay in Belgium for an International race.

By: Kawasaki Racing, Photo: Kawasaki Racing