Mixed fortunes for Dave Versluis in UEM 125 races in Sweden and Germany

Dave Versluis of the Frentec Champ Team had two European Championship races in Sweden and Germany the last two weeks. In Sweden he set the seventh fastest time in time practice. With this position he had a good starting position in his qualifying heat. When the gate dropped he went into the first corner in fourth position. He managed to held on to this position till the last lap. Then he collided with another rider and crashed. Luckily he lost only one position and crossed the finish line in fifth position.

By the crash in the qualifying heat he damaged his clutch. Dave noticed this during the warm up lap before the first moto. Unfortunately he couldn’t repair it and had to ride without a clutch. This was very difficult on a track like Uddevalla and because of this he finished the race in 31^st position.

In the second moto he started the race in the middle of the pack. During the first lap he had worked himself up to 16^th position. In the following laps he passed several riders and moved up to 11^th position. Because of a crash he dropped back to 15^th position again. In the rest of the race he gave everything he had and managed to pass one rider back to finish the race in 14^th position. Overall he finished in 18^th position.

Round three of the series was held in Teutschenthal in Germany last weekend. The weekend started really positive on Saturday because in the time practice session he was on pole position for a long time. At the end of the session two riders were faster than Dave and so he ended the session in third position. 

In the qualifying heat he took a really good start and went into the first corner in second position. In the first lap he lost a position and dropped back to third. In the rest of the race Dave was riding consistent and managed to held on to third position till the chequered flag waved.

When the gate dropped in the first moto he took a good start again but unfortunately he hit the brakes to fast and lost some positions. Despite this he started the race in fifth position. Because of a few mistakes during the first lap he dropped back to seventh position. Things started to go better for Dave till he made a crash and because of this he dropped back to 11^th position. Unfortunately he crashed again one lap later and dropped back to 12^th position. In the rest of the race he gave everything he had and finished the race in 11^th position.

In the second moto he took a not so good start but during the first lap he passed several riders and came by start/finish in 8^th position. Because he made several mistakes he lost the riders in front of him out of his sights. After several laps things started to go better and Dave started to close down the gap on the group of riders from the fifth till the seventh place rider. When he had closed down the gap he made a mistake and went of the track. He lost two positions and came back on the track in tenth position. He kept fighting and closed down the gap on the eight and ninth place riders. Unfortunately he got a mechanical problem and was forced to retire from the race.

Overall he finished in 18^th position and after three rounds he sits in 13^th position in the championship standings. This weekend Dave will participate in the Zwarte Cross in Lichtenvoorde.

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