The 2021 motocross season in Europe has opened with the Internazionali d’Italia on the Riola Sardo track, Oristano, in Italy.
Many of the top MXGP stars were there, all taking the opportunity to warm up ahead of the new world championship season.
The BETA SDM MX TEAM team, at its first official appearance with the new riders Jeremy Van Horebeek (pictured here) and Jimmy Clochet, attending the race with the brand-new BETA RX 450 in the MX1 class.
The event that opened the racing season before the MXGP was the ideal testing ground to assess the riders’ preparation and the development of their bikes.
In qualifying, experienced Belgian rider Van Horebeek managed to find a good feeling with the Riola Sardo track with a good eighth place, young Frenchman Clochet finished 12th.
At the start of the MX1 race, Van Horebeek tried to pace himself for not making mistakes and to gain confidence, but after a couple of laps he began to attack his competitors by making several overtakes up to 4th position. Thanks to a race without mistakes, Clochet got the 12th place.
In the Supercampione heat – that combines 20 best riders of MX1 with 20 best riders of MX2 – Van Horebeek and Clochet lined up at the gate in a poor position, the first 20 gates are in fact dedicated to promote 250cc riders. Despite this, Van Horeebek got off to a good start – eighth on the first lap – and managed to find the right pace and confirmed himself fourth in the second race too.
French Kawasaki rider Romain Febvre won the event overall in the Supercampione battle, with Danish Husqvarna rider Thomas Olsen runner-up and Dutch Yamaha rider Glenn Coldenhoff third. Van Horebeek was fourth and Italian Kawasaki rider Ivo Montecelli rounded out the top five.
Next meeting is in Alghero on March 7 for the second round of the Internazionali d’Italia.
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