This weekend saw Chambers Racing Husqvarna riders Tom Grimshaw and the returning Ben Franklin make the trip to Holland for the MXGP of Oss. After heavy rain across parts of Europe the venue was in surprisingly good condition for the racing.
After scoring points at the opening round Tom was once again competing in the EMX250 class, while Ben was making his competitive return to action in the EMX Open class on a 350 machine. The Saturday started with Free Practice and followed by Time Qualifying, which for the EMX250 class saw 80 riders battling for 40 spaces on the gate.
In the EMX Open class Ben started the day with 30th fastest in the Free Practice before improving his time in the Timed Qualifying session to the move up to 27th position, ready for the two races.
In the EMX250 class, Tom went 16th fastest in the Free Practice sessions, but an issue with the electric starter on the bike after been run into by another rider, caused the bike to misfire and restrict Tom to 21st fastest in his Timed Qualifying session. Unfortunately, this meant Tom missed out on a top 40 position and was 1st reserve for the races later.
The first EMX Open race saw Ben finish the opening lap in 19th place and settle into a strong rhythm at the beginning of the race. During the middle of the race Ben dropped to 20th position but soon recovered to finish 19th at the finish for a point scoring ride.
When the gate dropped for the second EMX Open race Ben made a good start and was inside the top 20 and quickly moved into 19th position. During the race Ben dropped to 20th place but during the final laps Ben moved up to 16th but a small mistake saw him drop back to 18th place at the flag. The two-point scoring rides gave Ben 20th overall on the day.
Unfortunately, Tom was not able to line up for the opening race but got a race in the second moto. Sadly, for Tom he was involved in a crash at the start of the race and when he restarted, he was in 37th at the end of the opening lap. Tom then charged forward as hard as he could during the moto and managed to recover to 29th but was outside of the points.
Following his point scoring rides Ben Franklin said, ‘Saturday was good, I qualified in 27th and then in the first race I made a good jump but was out dragged by the 450’s and got 19th at the finish. In the second race I got another good start and worked my way up to 16th and was about to pass for 15th when I tucked the front and went down but I recovered for 18th. Overall I’m happy with the weekend as I’ve not been on the bike too long’
After a tough day Tom Grimshaw commented, ‘it’s been a very difficult day for me in the EMX250 at Oss. I put in a lap at the start that I thought would be good enough, but it was not my best. I went back out for another lap and got a tow from one of the front runners but unfortunately, I got taken out by a fallen rider. This meant I finished 21st in my group and was 1st reserve. I missed the opening race but got a space for the final race. It was hard to adjust back into the track from one sighting lap. In the race I was then involved in a first corner crash and had to come back from last to finish in 29th. Overall, I’m disappointed to have not made cut but I still got one race and now will work on my fast laps before the next round’
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