Nearly 7,500 fans braved the unrelenting summer heatwave to watch the fifth round of the ADAC MX Masters at Tensfeld. They saw six enthralling races on the reconfigured 1.53km sandy circuit. In the ADAC MX Masters class, Tanel Leok (A1M Husqvarna) dominated the proceedings, winning both races. "It was great for me to be competing in the ADAC MX Masters again," said the Estonian. Leok won the ADAC MX Junior Cup in 2000 and has fond memories of his first competitive action in the series. "The competition was strong, but I felt really good on the track and was able to win both races without many problems. I really enjoyed the weekend. If things work out, I would like to challenge for the title every weekend next year."
In second place was another guest contestant, namely Harri Kullas (POL Motors, Husqvarna). The Finn gave Leok a run for his money in both races but was ultimately unable to fend off the attacks by his Estonian opponent. "Obviously, I would have liked to win," said Kullas, "but in the first race I had problems with my clutch and I was unable to go on all-out attack in the second half of the race. In the second moto, Leok was simply faster than me, so I have no complaints." Another top-class World Championship rider sharing the podium glory at Tensfeld was Julien Lieber (Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing). Despite making far from perfect starts to both races, the Belgian finished third both times, an outcome that he was by no means dissatisfied with. "Unfortunately, I did not get off to the best of starts, but each time I came back to secure third place," said Lieber afterwards. "By the time I got myself into the leading group, Leok and Kullas were already so far away that I couldn't catch up with them. That's why I didn't take any unnecessary risks and opted for a controlled finish."
Although seventh-placed Henry Jacobi (STC Husqvarna Racing) lost four championship points to his closest rival, Jeffrey Dewulf (KTM Sarholz Racing Team) in P4, the Thuringian rider held on to his lead in the standings. "That wasn't necessarily my weekend," conceded Jacobi. "I was mediocre on Saturday, and Sunday wasn't much better. Consequently, I have to look back on this weekend as a damage limitation exercise. I had problems getting into a good rhythm on the sandy track. It wasn't until the closing stages of the second race that I performed marginally better. Anyway, the upcoming races at Gaildorf and Holzgerlingen should suit me far better, so with a 22-point margin, we're still looking good. All that matters is that I'm still in the lead after the final race of the season."
ADAC MX Youngster Cup
In the ADAC MX Youngster Cup, Roland Edelbacher (Dimoco Europe Racing, KTM) put in a strong performance to claim a second successive victory. Although Edelbacher had to let Jett Lawrence pass (Team Suzuki Germany) in the first moto, he resolutely warded off the attacks of his fellow Austrian Rene Hofer (KTM Junior Racing) to hold on to third place - a solid basis for the second race. "The second race did not get off to the best of starts, but it turned out OK in the end," said a delighted Edelbacher, who by no means classes himself as a sand specialist. "We don't have any sandy tracks as such anywhere in Austria, and the only practice I've had here at Lommel was before the race. Nevertheless, things went really well and I was able to advance to second place. I feel sorry for Rene Hofer after he fell while in the lead; I hope he hasn't hurt himself badly. The win here has obviously made me very happy, because we hadn't been expecting it in the run-up." Hofer's retirement in the race also meant that Edelbacher also took the lead in the overall standings.
Moving up to second place is Jett Lawrence, who had cruised to victory in the first moto at Tensfeld and made spectacular progress through the field in Race 2 to finish third. "I was involved in a crash on the first corner and had to roll up the field from the back," said the 15-year-old Australian. "It all went surprisingly well, but towards the end I was held up by a lapped rider. Otherwise, I might have finished even higher. More importantly, I am now in second place in the overall standings and only 12 points behind Edelbacher."
Third on the day was Hardi Roosiorg (WZ-Racing, KTM) ahead of Miro Shivonen (KTM Diga Junior Racing) in fourth. Roosiorg had a bad start in both races but was able to battle his way forward; in the second moto, he even put the race leader under pressure. "At one point, I had got past Edelbacher," said the Estonian teenager. "But on the next corner, I expected him to attack on the other side, and he got away from me again. All the same, it's nice to be back on the podium! "
ADAC MX Junior Cup 125
Raivo Dankers (Team RD10 by Mefo Sport, KTM) celebrated his second ADAC MX Junior Cup 125 Sunday victory at Tensfeld. The Dutch teenager had already shown what he was capable of on sand in the season opener at Fürstlich Drehna and gave another demonstration in northern Germany with a P1 and a P2 finish. Dankers was almost apologetic about only finishing as runner-up in the first moto: "I started badly in the first race and had to fight my way through from the rear of the field. In the second race, I was up at the front right from the start and maintained my position through to the finish."
Current championship leader Filip Olsson (Team Diga-Procross, Husqvarna) was happy enough to be joining Dankers on the day podium in second place. "In the first race, I quickly managed to get out in front and control the race from that point on," said the Swede with evident pleasure. "In the second race, I was in third place and saw that Raf Meuwissen was a few positions behind me, so I decided not to take any risks and to settle for extending my lead in the championship."
Raf Meuwissen (Raths Motorsports, KTM) did not get off to a satisfactory start in the second race and struggled to improve his position. But the Dutch youngster had already obtained a decent points haul from the first race. "Third place in the first race was all right," said Meuwissen. "But sixth place in the second moto cost me points on Olsson - I lost a full ten points on him at Tensfeld. That's not good for my championship prospects." In the current championship table, Meuwissen is second, 15 points adrift of Olsson.
The best of the action from the ADAC MX Masters can be seen on TV throughout the 2018 season. Motorvision is putting out the highlights from the seven race weekends in a 30-minute magazine which is beamed to more than 100 countries. The first showing of highlights from the ADAC MX Masters in Tensfeld can be watched on Motorvision on Sky at 13:30 CEST on 12th August. Motorvision International will be broadcasting the magazine for the first time on 26th August starting at 17:30 CEST.