2019 Motocross Of Nations | THOR Kickstart

Belgium’s results at the MXON are stunning, especially considering the size of the country. Maybe it’s the fact that the region is basically Europe’s version of Central Florida, as it’s where many riders reside and they spend time at the region’s tracks. Or the fact that they manage to keep the same small roster of riders in the mix for years to come. Whatever it is, the Belgians should always be viewed as top-five contenders at the MXON, even better should it be at a sand track.

But that wasn’t the case in the weeks ahead of Assen. Injuries kept Clement Desalle and Julien Lieber from racing; since both factory Kawasaki riders were eliminated, the green team had little presence at the race. This put Jeremy Van Horebeek and Kevin Strijbos, two riders aboard mostly independent bikes at uncertain points in their career, into the prime spots alongside youngster Jago Geerts. It wasn’t exactly a factory-backed and star-studded group, but it was an experienced trio that would do everything they could in every race.

The way they rode on Saturday proved that. Strijbos hounded Pauls Jonass for the full duration of the Open Class Qualifying Moto and finished in second place, while Van Horebeek took second in the MXGP race and Geerts fourth in the MX2 race. With this, the Red Knights were the overall winners of Saturday’s event and had the prime gate picks on Sunday.

A sixth-place finish by Van Horebeek overrode the mechanical issue by Geerts in Moto One, so while the team was ranked ninth overall after one race, it wasn’t enough to write them off totally. Geerts made up for the first race mishap with a seventh place in Moto Two, which was the highest of an MX2 rider in that race, and Strijbos stayed in the action after two crashes for a 17th place result.

This put more importance on the last Moto, where Van Horebeek and Strijbos put in their collective best performance. Van Horebeek doubled down with another sixth-place result, Strijbos stayed clear of issues to finish 11th, and they eliminated Geert’s early DNF altogether. The 47-point total was far from the Dutch but well ahead of the rest, which confirmed Belgium’s place on the second step of the podium.