The start of track action in Heerde would see Group A take to the circuit in chilly conditions, but it would not stop the fast lap times from being posted as Bryce Ford headed Karl Robin Rillo and Christopher Tvaraen, with the leading duo being nearly three seconds quicker than the Norwegian rider, formerly a vice-champion within the European series.
Group B hit the circuit, and it was to be Team USA topping the timesheets once more as Joel Hetrick lead home rider Mike Verboven, and Polish rider Roman Gwiazda completing the top three. It would not be a dominant session for Team USA, however, as Verboven only trailed by 0.3 seconds.
The third and final practice session would complete the Quad practice sessions, and it would conclude in favour of Team Estonia’s Kevin Saar, who has competed in the AMA Pro ATV Series over the last couple of seasons. His time of 1:44.747 would result in Manfred Zienecker and Mike van Grinsven completing the top three placings, and Chad Wienen in fourth position for Team USA.
The sandy nature of this Heerde circuit could prove to work in favour of the European countries, with Estonia and Netherlands all within a shout of the top positions. Could Team USA fend them off, in their hopes of claiming a 7th QXoN title?
Qualifying Group A
The gates slammed down and 15 quadcross machines came hurtling towards the first turn, and it would be Karl Robin Rillo who took the holeshot in fine style, to lead Christopher Tvaraen and Bryce Ford. Home-rider Julian Veldman held onto fourth position in the opening handful of laps. Team Great Britain’s Dafydd Davies made a great start and would complete the top-five at the end of the opening lap.
Bryrce Ford would soon make a pass on Tvaraen to put himself in second position, and he would play chase to Rillo throughout much of the event, applying an increasing amount of pressure on the young Estonian. Tvaraen would fall into the clutches of Veldman and they would fight hard for the final podium position. Frustratingly, for Davies, he would fall down the order as Jurgen Nouwen and Mark Mclernon would find their way through to relegate the British rider.
With clear track in-front, Bryce Ford set about closing the deficit between himself and Rillo, and they would be locked together in battle as the countdown fell below 5 minutes remaining. As the laps ticked by, it was clear to see that there was a favoured line that had been carved from the competitors which made overtaking difficult, regardless of the position being fought. No one knew this better than Julian Veldman as he struggled to find the opportunity to put his Beta ahead of Tvaraen’s Yamaha for third position and it would be the Norwegian rider who would come out on top, ahead of the tall Dutchman of Julian Veldman.
2 laps to go and Team Italy’s Nicolo Roagna would be forced to pull off to the side of the circuit with a puncture to his Yamaha, but this would not stop the frantic action at the front of the race with Bryce Ford trying his best to overcome Rillo, at one point making contact with the Team Estonia Yamaha. It would prove to be too much of an ask, as Rillo took the chequered flag ahead of the #1 Yamaha of Bryce Ford in the opening qualification race, with Tvaraen holding on to the final podium position ahead of Veldman.
Results
- Karl Robin Rillo (EST)
- Bryce Ford (USA)
- Christopher Tvaraen (NOR)
- Julian Veldman (NED)
- Jurgen Nouwen (BEL)
Qualifying Group B
Storming into the holeshot from the gate was Team Germany’s Jordi Niclas Gieler, with Joel Hetrick’s Yamaha tying itself into knots as he hit the gas on the approach to the first table-top, but he would take it into his stride to slot into third position behind Murray Graham, who had made a great launch from 13th gate-pick. Hetrick would quickly make his prescence felt as he swooped around the outside of Graham and blasted past Gieler with the superior momentum. Gieler would slip to fourth position as Mike Verboven and Murray Graham occupied the second and third positions, but the relentless, metronomic pace of Joel Hetrick would be tough to match.
Frustratingly for Team Great Britain, Graham would lose positions to Lars Holmen and Gieler, to complete the top five in the early stages, but new lines making their appearance around the circuit may prove advantageous for Gieler in his pursuit of third position.
At the front, Hetrick was putting in a superb, faultless ride to increase his lead to approximately 10 seconds, but Verboven was putting in a similar performance to increase the distance between himself and his nearest challenger, much to the delight of the home crowd watching on. Lars Holmen headed into the latter stages of this qualification race with just shy of five seconds lead over Gieler, but Gieler had seemingly caught a second wind and would be hot on the heels of the Norwegian rider to rekindle their fight for the final podium slot. In the meantime, Argentinian rider Santiago Caliendo swiftly made his way through on Murray Graham to place himself in fifth position and this would be as much as he could do, due to the 15 second gap between his position, and Gieler in fourth.
Into the final couple of laps and, barring an incident, the top two positions were set. The same coud not be said for Holman and Gieler as they were nose-to-tail for third place. Going into the final lap and Gieler seized the opportunity and would grab third position away from Holmen, who would have no answer to come home in fourth position.
Results
- Joel Hetrick
- Mike Verboven
- Jordi Niclas Gieler
- Lars Holmen
- Santiago Caliendo
Qualifying Group C
For the third and final time in qualification, the gates dropped and it would be Chad Wienen who led the pack after taking the holeshot ahead of 5x European Quadcross champion Kevin Saar, and Team Germany’s Manfred Zienecker. Vice-champion in the European championship, Patrick Turrini, would slot into fourth position with Mike van Grinsven completing the top five on the opening lap.
Zienecker dived to the inside of Wienen to take the lead of the race and then, surprisingly, extended the lead over Wienen who seemingly had no answer to his pace. The gap covering the top five positions would increase in the early stages of the event, however, smoke from Kevin Saar’s machine would force the Estonian to reduce his speed and, eventually, he would stop on circuit. Van Grinsven had found his way before this unforeseen stoppage to Saar’s Yamaha, and his laptimes would suggest he had the pace to take the fight to Wienen.
This would prove to be the case, as van Grinsven forced the issue and placed himself ahead of the American rider in the latter half of the race. Turrini would benefit from Saar stopping on the circuit to promote himself into the podium postions, but drama was not too far up the road.
Manfred Zienecker, on the penultimate lap and with an eight second lead, was slowing and was forced to pull off of the circuit due to a mechanical issue – a cruel piece of luck for the man who had done all of the work at the front of the field. This would hand the lead of the race to van Grinsven in front of the home crowd and would put them in good stead going into the point-scoring races on Sunday’s programme.
Greeted by the chequered flag and the cheers of the local crowd, Mike van Grinsven took victory by a brilliant margin of 11.8 seconds, over Chad Wienen, with Kevin Saar completing the podium. Frustratingly, a five-position penalty would be applied to Patrick Turrini, which would drop him to eighth position.
Results
- Mike van Grinsven
- Chad Wienen
- Kevin Saar
- Jan Vlaeymans
- Pablo Violet
A dramatic and brilliant qualifying day would see Team USA and Team Netherlands level on three points, with Estonia in third.
Catch up with all of the qualifying action and keep up to speed with the live racing action on fim-moto.tv, where we will be crowning the 2025 Quadcross of Nations champions.
By Bradley Hix
