October 12 2015.

Schwedt, Germany, Sunday October 11, 2015

Words: Rob McDonnell
Pictures: Paul Ervine

Holland retained its Quadcross of European Nations title in the deep sand at Schwedt in Germany on Sunday as an avalanche of bad luck put paid to the British and Irish challenge.


Double race winner Edgars Mengelis (47) holeshots from Luke Cooper (7)

With the track conditions ideal for the sand loving Dutch they were super consistent across the three races, with their riders scoring a win, second, third, two sevenths and an eighth. It was enough to give them a four-point winning margin over Latvia, who were led from the front in some style by the recently crowned European Champion, Edgars Mengelis, who won his qualifying heat and both his races with ease. Host nation Germany secured third after some inspired riding from its young team, which included two second places.

However, coming into Sunday’s action it was the Irish who were being tipped for their first-ever overall victory after Dean Colhoun had won the opening qualifying heat and Justin Reid the third. That, along with Leon Rogers’ fifth in heat two, meant they topped qualifying and got first gate pick in Sunday. GB had qualified ninth of the 15 teams competing.


Holland’s Mike van Grinsven (1) gets it wrong in the heat race and rams Luke Cooper (7)

When the first 25-minute, plus two-lap, race started it was Mengelis who set the pace while the GB and Irish challenge started to immediately unravel. First James Bevan struggled to get off the line with an engine that had gone sick on the sighting lap, and Colhoun got rammed in turn two.

Up front Mengelis was superb, stretching out a 20-second lead over the 14 laps and setting a fastest lap that was two seconds quicker than the field. However, behind him ex-European Champion, Mike van Grinsven from Holland, Cooper and Italy’s Andrea Cesari were involved a titanic battle for the minor placing. Van Grinsven eventually eased out a ten-second gap but, the Cooper/Cesari clash went down to the final corner with Cooper just holding out by less than a second. Ireland’s Rogers had quietly but efficiently worked his way to a fine seventh, while Colhoun could only recover to 13th after an additional pit stop to sort a quick fix for his overheating machine.


Ireland’s Justin Reid was the best scoring rider in the home countries

Mengelis was even more dominant in race two, winning by an astonishing 39-seconds from a fine three-way battle between Germany’s Stefan Schreiber, Holland’s Joe Maessen and Germany’s Manfried Zienecker, which ended in that order. Estonia’s Martin Filatov was fifth and Denmark’s Casper Holm was sixth, but until the very last lap they were split by Rogers, who could not help but show his frustration when a loose electrical connection halted his quad. It dropped him to 24th in the classification. His veteran teammate Reid had been upside down on lap one, but recovered well to eighth spot. Sixteen-year-old Bevan, now riding Cooper’s machine, rode a sterling race to finish 17th. GB’s Bailey Edwards was in the wars in his first ride and eventually finished 29th, three laps in arrears, after a heavy crash in the whoops damaged his hand and medical staff would not release him back into the race until they had checked him over.


Ireland’s Leon Rogers tracks down Lithuania’s Darius Luksa

Going into the final race, the title was looking likely to head to either Latvia or Germany, who had 11 points each, or Holland who had 12. With the stakes and tension high, the sharp uphill hairpin first turn, which had caused so many crashes during the day, caused its biggest of all. With van Grinsven determined to keep Holland in the fray, he refused to yield as the pack came across on him causing a chain reaction crash involving around ten riders – including Cooper! The Welshman got his machine back to the work area and he lost five laps while his team did wonders to replace a broken tie rod and straighten the front end. He ended the race 24th, an effort that dragged the team up from 11th to tenth in the final rankings. Meanwhile, van Grinsven was making full use of the chaos behind him, stretching out a 35-second lead on the pack, which was headed by Germany’s Julian Hass and Reid, who had started on row two but had got around the melee and worked his way up the field.

Poland’s Wiltold Natkaniec couldn’t believe his luck to hang onto the fourth, to the delight of the large Polish contingent that had crossed the nearby border to offer support, with Karlis Bole the first Latvian in fifth. Critically for the overall standings, veteran Dutchman Ingo ten Vregelaar was seventh, to secure the overall win. Edwards, riding on pain-killers, put in an excellent stint to take 15th place, while Colhoun went out with a broken chain.


James Bevan was a late call up to the GB team and did it proud

After the event, GB team manager Rob McDonnell, said: “I cannot commend the effort of all the team, both on and off the track, highly enough. Despite our tenth place finish the team clearly showed it had the potential to finish much higher, and for sure the bad luck we suffered doesn’t do justice to all their commitment.”

“Luke Cooper was fantastic. On the track he showed he is one of the best in Europe and off it, he was an excellent leader giving the younger riders a lot of really constructive support. Also Bailey Edwards and James Bevan, despite both only being 16, were never over-awed by the occasion and gave 100 per cent.”

“The support team behind the three boys was also superb. And having seen the Welsh crew in action up close, I also now know why their rugby team is so bloody hard to beat! Their team spirit and work ethic was brilliant – and special mention should go to Ed Davies. Without him we would have been well and truly stuffed at some crucial moments.”


Ireland’s Dean Colhoun in action

Results: 1 Holland - 20 points, 2 Latvia – 24, 3 Germany – 26, 4 Poland – 47, 5 Estonia – 47, 6 Denmark – 49, 7 Ireland 54, 8 Italy – 81, 9 Norway – 83, 10 Great Britain – 85, 11 Czech Republic – 88, 12 Austria – 90, 13 Lithuania – 91, 14 Germany B – 117, 15 Finland – 69 (only three point scoring rides)

Race one: 1 Edgars Mengelis, Latvia (Yam), 2 Mike van Grinsven, Holland (WSP), 3 Luke Cooper, GB (KTM), 4 Andrea Cesari, Italy (KTM), 5 Stefan Schreiber, Germany (KTM), 6 Kaspar Kangur, Estonia (Hon). British/Irish: 7 Leon Rogers, Ireland (Kawasaki), 13 Dean Colhoun, Ireland (Can-Am), 29 James Bevan, GB (KTM).


Bailey Edwards gets his Yamaha crossed up on the rough going

Race two: 1 Edgars Mengelis, Latvia (Yam), 2 Stefan Schreiber, Germany (KTM), 3 Joe Maessen, Holland (CRQF), 4 Manfred Zeinecker, Germany (Yamaha), 5 Martin Filatov, Estonia (Hon), 6 Casper Holm, Denmark (Yamaha). British/Irish: 8 Justin Reid, Ireland (Can-Am), 17 James Bevan, GB (KTM), 23 Leon Rogers, Ireland (Kawsaki), 26 Bailey Edwards, GB (Yam)

Race three: 1 Mike van Grinsven, Holland (WSP), 2 Julian Hass, Germany (KTM), 3 Justin Reid, Ireland (Can-Am), 4 Witold Natkaniec, Poland (Yamaha), 5 Karlis Bole, Latvia (Yamaha), 6 Casper Holm, Denmark (Yamaha). British/Irish: 15 Bailey Edwards, GB (Yam), 24 Luke Cooper, GB (KTM), 26 Dean Colhoun, Ireland (Can-Am)
Heats: (Colhoun, Mengelis, Reid)


The Cooper/Cesari battle was the highlight of GB's campaign in Schwedt


The team (from left) Luke Cooper, James Bevan, Bailey Edwards and Rob McDonnell