South African Camden McLellan finished fourth overall at the GP of The Netherlands, securing impressive 5-3 results across the two races on the Triumph factory’s debut season.
Meanwhile, his Monster Energy Triumph Racing team-mate, Denmark’s Mikkel Haarup, also performed consistently, placing eighth in the opening race and ninth in race two for eighth overall.
One week on from the rugged Uddevalla circuit in Sweden, the team travelled south to The Netherlands and the challenging race track of Arnhem.
A classic sand circuit with its deep holes, huge bumps, and multiple lines choices, it was a completely different challenge for both McLellan and Haarup, with both riders adapting well to the soft and unpredictable conditions.
McLellan was certainly back to his best in The Netherlands. Having landed on the overall podium in third at the heavy sand track of Riola Sardo in Sardinia earlier in the year, the South African is clearly capable on soft terrain and kicked off the weekend with sixth in the MX2 qualifying race.
That result gave Camden a favourable gate pick, which he capitalised on in race one to start in fifth. Briefly moving into fourth on lap two, he dropped back one spot to fifth and maintained his strong position to the finish.
An even better start in the second moto saw McLellan emerge from the frantic opening turns in fourth.
Despite being shuffled back to sixth early on, the TF 250-X racer regrouped, charged hard, and worked his way up to third by the end of the moto.
His performance equalled his best race result of the season as he narrowly missed out on a trip to the overall podium.
In placing fourth in Arnhem, Camden maintains ninth in the MX2 World Championship.
It was a mixed weekend for Haarup in The Netherlands.
Fifth in the MX2 qualifying race was a strong start but small crashes in both motos prevented the Dane from running up front. With an eighth and a ninth, Haarup placed eighth overall but slips to sixth in the series standings.
Camden McLellan: “That’s another GP done and it was definitely a tough one with deep sand and lots of bumps out there, but it’s been a really good one for me.
“By going 5-3, I just missed the podium with fourth but I’m getting back to where I should be, so that’s encouraging for myself and the team. For next weekend, the goal is to be on the box and I’m excited to go racing in Switzerland.”
This weekend, the racers will all complete the third of three back-to-back races on the calendar with a trip to Fraunfeld for the MXGP of Switzerland on August 24-25.
Photo courtesy Triumph
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MX2 STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 16 of 20:
MX2 – World Championship Classification:
1. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 777 points; 2. Lucas Coenen (BEL, HUS), 733 p.; 3. Simon Laengenfelder (GER, GAS), 676 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, KTM), 636 p.; 5. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 545 p.; 6. Mikkel Haarup (DEN, TRI), 542 p.; 7. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 492 p.; 8. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 444 p.; 9. Camden McLellan (RSA, TRI), 315 p.; 10. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, HON), 290 p.