Resultat

ONK CHANPIONSHIP

It's on Hengelo circuit in Nederlands on 11 / 12nd of May 2013 that starts the 2013 ICGP Championship.

General ranking is available here

The photograph Gert de Weerd followed the ICGP race, wonderful pictures available here

A wonderful first race for 2013 ICGP season

Race report by Mandy Jordan

The 2013 ICGP Championship got under way in mixed weather conditions at the picturesque road circuit at Hengelo in Holland some 130kms south east of Amsterdam.
The paddock formed on Friday afternoon with technical inspections Friday evening before some partying got the 2013 season underway.
The first qualifying session held in dry windy conditions had a truly international flavour with Frenchman Guy Bertin leading the way on Jean Paul Mestre’s Kawasaki, from England Mike Hose, Swiss Ives Glauser, Frenchman Bernard Fau, England’s Andy Muggleton and German Walter Hoffman rounding out the top six all on 350cc machines.

Eric Saul led the 250cc charge from Werner Reuberger and Stefan Tennstadt.
The second qualifying saw the rain lash down on the circuit making the times academic and the grid would be formed from QP1.

The circuit is very narrow in places and only 3 riders make the front and this was Bertin, Hose and Glauser. Guy Bertin led the initial charge from Hose and Glauser but on the 5th red flagged when Ives Glauser high sided coming out of the last turn leaving the bike and oil in the middle of the track. Ives hurt his hand sidelining him from the rest of the meeting. Eric Saul had already departed from the race following a seizure to his 250cc Chevallier.
The riders returned to the pit lane for a 4 lap re-run, any more would have meant riders having to re-fuel.

It was the same duo of Bertin and Hose leading the re-run with Andy Muggleton making up 3rd place only to have the bike sieze on him starting the second lap. This left local rider Johan Ten Napel and England’s Richard Peers-Jones having a very close fight for 3rd place.

At the end of the short 4 laps Guy Bertin led over the line by 3 seconds from Mike Hose and Johan Ten Napel squeezed out Richard Peers-Jones by 0.018 seconds to take the last spot on the 350cc podium. The 250cc section was a clear victory for Werner Reuberger from Stefan Tennstadt and Colin Sleigh.
The Masters section for riders over 55 years old was headed by Guy Bertin from Richard Peers-Jones and Bernard Fau.

The nature of this circuit with its fast straights and three heavy braking points from high speed took its toll with Andy Muggleton, Chris Knight, Leif Nielson, Bob Keller, Walter Hoffman, Robert Hall, Luke Notton, Jean Dondaine, Peter Howarth, Dave Cooper and Michael Wild all failing to make the finish.
Saturday night saw much activity in the paddock as these wonderful 30 year old Grand Prix machines were fettled back into life for race 2 on Sunday.
Sadly, series organiser Eric Saul was unable to repair his Chevalier for Sunday and took no further part, also missing from Race 2 were Robert Hall, Chris Knight, Leif Nielson, William Gougy, Michael Wild and Bernard Tabarly.

The same grid formed in dull windy conditions on Sunday lunchtime and just when it looked like normal position forming for Guy Bertin he suddenly slowed on lap one with no water in his Kawasaki. This allowed Mike Hose to take charge but he was being chased down by a rapid moving Luke Notton.
The pair swapping positions many times, before Luke Notton stamped his authority for a well deserved win from Mike Hose.

Meanwhile Andy Muggleton had got the better of Bernard Fau and Richard PeersJones and pulled clear leaving them to fight their own battle with Peers-Jones making a calculated move on the last lap for 4th Mark George went out on lap 5 with brake problems as did Dave Cooper on lap 1 with a clutch on fire.

The 250cc class was an exact repeat of race 1 with Reuberger taking a commanding win from Tennstadt and Sleigh.
The masters saw a new winner in Richard Peers-Jones, returning to the series after a year off in 2012, from Walter Hoffman also making a very welcome return after illness forced him out in 2012 and Bernard Fau on his Morena.

Sunday afternoon saw most of the riders gather in the ICGP tent for some late food and wine and discuss the weekends racing.
The next round is on the Adriatic coast at Rijeka in one month’s time when the circus will resume at this famous track hoping for three days of sunshine.

Next round with ICGP on Grobnik circuit in Croatia on June 15/16th.