We take a look back at a memorable weekend racing at Heerde for the Junior World Championship.
Dutch domination
They were on home soil and in the deep sand. Perhaps it gives them an advantage but it also adds extra pressure but the Dutch dealt with it incredibly well. The two Dutch stand outs on the day were Kash van Hamond who won the 65cc title and Dex van den Broek who finished third in the 85cc class after having to come from last to tenth in the first moto! Impressive. The rest of the Dutch talents did their job and they dominated the event scoring eight points – France were the next best scoring 24 points so it wasn’t even close!
The event is much better in central Europe
The last three JWC events have been in Australia, Finland and more recently in Romania but the event is so much better located in central Europe. It makes the event a lot more accessible which meant a big crowd on Sunday too. There were nearly 300 riders entered for Saturday and a shout out to Uganda that made the big trip.
With no MXGP on either it was nice to see plenty of GP riders in attendance. The likes of Kay de Wolf, Kay Karssemakers, David Braceras, Stefan Everts, Ivano van Erp, Lotte van Drunen and Courtney Duncan were all there roaming the pits. Even on a weekend off they couldn’t resist seeing some Motocross racing. All the organisers need to do now is live stream the event for people that can’t make it!

GB on the box
It was a strong weekend for team GB and it’s clear to see they have some talented riders breaking through. Jamie Keith was very impressive and especially in the first moto, he following Gyan Doensen the whole race and was the same pace. Impressive considering his lack of EMX experience. Hayden Statt didn’t have the day he wanted but clearly has speed and Cohen Jagielski is impressive. When we add Harry Dale who was to young to race the event, the future could be bright.
French strong in deep sand
Despite the track being very rough and deep, the French excelled in tough conditions. Twenty years ago there might have been some reluctance from the French to ride sand that much but the new generation breaking through seem to get it. Sleny Goyer was very impressive on the 85cc just missing the podium but finished second in race one.
New Zealand promising for the future
Two races into the event and it was all about the Kiwi’s! Nico Verhoeven on the 65cc won the first moto but crashed twice in race two to ruin any chance he had of the overall but he is very fast. Levi Townley had the dream day winning the 85cc world title and his younger brother, Jagger is one to keep an eye on.

A deep 85cc class
We all know the 125cc class will be deep because we see the EMX125 class and how impressive it is but it’s not often we get to see all the best 85cc talents race together. The only opportunity is the EMX85 finals at Loket and the Junior World Championship but from watching the class is packed with talent. The Townley’s, Lucas Leok is an incredible talent – he was too young to race the event last year! Dex van den Broek, Sleny Goyer, Viktor Leppälä and Moritz Ernecker who was having the perfect weekend until crashing out of the lead of moto one and then didn’t seem to recover but he’s very fast. The future is in good hands if they can all stay injury free and continue to develop.
New generation following in their fathers footsteps
There were Leok’s, Townley’s, a Bervoets, a McCullough and a van Drunen all racing the event and no you haven’t gone back in time twenty years! All these talented youngsters are all trying to follow in their Dad’s footsteps and it is so cool to see the next generation have some big names emerging.
Nice to see Ireland in the paddock
It was Ireland’s debut at the Junior World Championship and it was fantastic to see them in the paddock. Two riders qualified directly for the main races – Cole McCullough and Caleb Ross. Congratulations to both and the rest of the riders who debuted the event. Continue to work hard and next year could be your year. Let’s hope even more riders get to go for Ireland next year, it would be nice to see 5 riders in each class so the most can be made from the event. Kudos also to team manager, Richard McKeown who was back at his local track when he was living in the Netherlands in the past.
