In his first competitive outing since round two of the FIM Motocross World Championship, Glenn Coldenhoff lined up this weekend on home soil for the Dutch International onboard the new GASGAS Factory Racing MC 450F machine. A strong start in race one enabled Coldenhoff to shadow race leader Romain Febvre for the duration of the moto, making a charge for the lead as the race neared its conclusion. The 29-year-old was able to pull to within one second of the race lead, ultimately ending the moto in a strong second place.
Moto two saw history made with Glenn Coldenhoff taking GASGAS’ maiden international motocross race win. Charging to the moto two holeshot, a small mistake on the opening lap relegated Coldenhoff to second position before he formed part of a four-rider battle for the win. Able to take control of the race at the halfway stage and withstand pressure from many of his MXGP rivals, Glenn took the race victory and with it the overall win.
Glenn Coldenhoff: “It felt great to be back racing. I’ve worked really hard and put in a lot of time training and riding and it showed today. Ahead of this weekend I picked up a small foot injury and I was unable to ride for five days but it’s fully healed and I’m 100%. Qualifying was good, third place. My reaction on the start wasn’t great in race one and I had to push hard to move forwards. I was riding a little tense as I’ve not raced for such a long time so second place was a great way to return to racing. In race two I pulled a huge holeshot. I then made a little mistake and dropped back to second. I was able to regain the lead at the halfway point and then it was a charge to the end, we were all pushing so hard for the win and I’m really happy to have taken the race and overall win for myself and the team.”
Ivo Monticelli underwent shoulder surgery in April and after just four weeks on his bike lined up for the Dutch International. Race one was quickly over as a crash and subsequent bike damage forced the Italian out of the moto. Moving into seventh place on lap seven of the second race, Monticelli displayed impeccable fitness and challenged for sixth place in the closing stages of the 30-minute race.
Ivo Monticelli: “It was great to be back racing on my GASGAS. I had shoulder surgery in April and three months off of my bike. I’ve been riding for one month now so today was the first race for me and also the team. Unfortunately, in the first race I crashed and then crashed with another rider and his bike damaged mine, so I was unable to continue, which was disappointing. Race two was really good for me, seventh place and closing in on sixth at the end so I know my fitness is good, especially as the track was really rough.”
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photos (c) B. Swijgers