DR Test Rider Ricky Yorks Races Holland Hardenberg Supercross

_ Race Report
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It all started with a simple Facebook message Wednesday November 16th. My Friend Dennis wrote me asking if I was still interested in traveling out of the country to race dirt bikes. I answered quickly back, "heck yeah!" A rider had cancelled and was not going to be able to show up for the Holland Hardenberg Supercross. Luckily for me, Dennis had kept me in mind knowing that I was always interested in traveling to race. My Friend Dennis Stapleton is a current AMA pro, Motocross Action Magazine test rider and has been traveling the last decade racing all over the world.

After we chatted back in forth exchanging some details of the travel, it was roughly planned that this adventure was going to happen. Dennis put me in touch with Jarno Oldenijens. Jarno is the race promoter of the Hardenberg Supercross event, he is also a importer of all the major brands of motorcycles into Holland and is a retired pro motocross rider. Jarno had me set up to race a Beursfoon Rockstar Suzuki as the team mate of the defending 2010 Dutch Supercross Champion Mike Kras. Naturally I was a little nervous, not knowing what to expect. As I boarded my flight in route to Europe I couldn't help but have a huge smile the whole time. I was actually traveling to Holland to race supercross. When I landed in Amsterdam my smile quickly started to fade to panic. I now realized I was in a different country, had no money, I didn't speak the language, my cell phone didn't work and I had no idea what Jarno looked like or where he was going to pick me up. After walking around the international airport for about 20 minutes I found a guy wearing DC shoes and a Monster Energy Jacket. It was Jarno. We had about an hour drive home to Jarno's house. During that time we talked everything from motocross to the different lifestyles of America and Europe. The next day Dennis flew in to Amsterdam from the Middle East. He has been over in Kuwait for the last couple weeks helping build tracks and doing some motocross schools. From the airport we went straight to Hardenberg to see the track. As I walked the track I was shocked to see how easy the layout was, but looks can be deceiving. The dirt was stored outside all year and it was around 25 degrees outside, rainy and foggy. As I walked the track I couldn't help but notice how soft and spongy the dirt was. Apparently Dennis has raced in Holland the last 3 years and just laughed as I kept trying to pack the faces of the jumps as if they were not going to get ruts in 1 lap. I watched a few of the pros practice and tried to scope out the different jump combinations and pick out some lines. The next day I got to ride my teammate's practice bike. As soon as I threw a leg over the Suzuki 250F, I instantly noticed the difference in suspension from what we run in the states for supercross. The shock was stiff and had slow rebound similar to what we run but the forks were as soft as a blown out KX 80. I guess running stiff, almost rigid forks, is an American thing. In the U.S. we set up our suspension to work for big G-outs and big stadium whoops while in Europe they focus more on the bikes cornering and front end traction for ruts. I ended up going 4 clicks stiffer on compression on the forks. Within 4 laps, I jumped all the triple jumps and skimmed the whoops pretty good, but I couldn't help but feel like I had a flat front tire every lap. The dirt was so spongy that if you let off the gas going into the corners you almost went over the handle bars. It was one of the hardest tracks I have ever ridden. I ended up calling it a day. The next day Team Rabbit Kawasaki brought out a 450 for Dennis. He had a full blown race bike set up for the outdoor GP races in Europe. I think it was safe to say that his 60 horsepower 450 was too much bike for the sub 30 second lap time track. He crashed in the whoops and cart wheeled his bike, bending his sub frame, exhaust, and radiator. He then called it a day. Thursday, John Beijer, the Suzuki team owner showed up to watch me ride before the Friday, Saturday, Sunday race. I hopped on my teammate's practice bike again and took a few laps on the soft rutted up track. I rode like a complete squid and felt pretty bad. I guess the Euro riders make the crappy conditions look easy. We ended up going a tooth up on the rear sprocket and that helped out a little. Friday came fast and practice went by quick. The track had dried out a little more and I felt a little better. Dennis rode practice and said his bike was unrideable and decided not to race Friday and requested a stock bike, preferably a 250F. I ended up getting a upper mid pack start and making a few passes up to 4th place. I ran 4th for most of the race until I got really bad arm pump and could barely hold on, I got passed by 2 riders the last couple laps and finished 6th place. The second moto I had a similar start. I was running 5th place for most of the race until a few of the front runners went down handing me a 2nd place. I was pretty happy and ended up going 6-2 for 4th overall. Saturday, the racing was much different. It was called "Crazy Night" Instead of a two moto format, we had head to head racing to qualify for the main event. Crazy night also consist of a goon riding event. In my head to head race I got a holeshot and won pretty easy. I was glad to be going straight to the main event to save some energy. Dennis also raced Saturday as well. Although he was not comfortable on his bike, he decided to race and make a showing for his sponsors. He became a fan favorite after he block passed his head to head racer about 10 times to take the win and transfer to the main. After the head to head racing, they had the goon riding. In Europe they take goon riding very serious. The riders had retro gear, costumes, wigs, lingerie, and custom bikes, everything you can think of. They rode double, threw hay bales at each other and performed wild acts mid moto. It was definitely comedy and the crowd loved it.

The main event took place around midnight. I ended up getting a pretty bad start and finished 10th place. Following the main event, they had an afterparty with Holland's most popular radio station DJing till 2:30 am. It was a change of events from America, as we all got to hangout and party with everyone from the flaggers, track crew, riders and fans. Sunday morning came too soon. Practice started at 9am and for the final day of racing we had yet another form of qualifying to make the 16 rider field for the main. We had two heats that take top 7, and then a last chance qualifier that takes the final top 2 to the main. In my heat race, I ran 6th the whole race until the lap I made a mistake and got passed by 2 riders bumping me back to 8th. I missed the main by one spot and found Dennis and myself both going to the LCQ. Anyone who races knows you don't want to be going to the LCQ, people are out for blood, making a last ditch effort to get into the main. I was pretty nervous going into that one. I got first gate choice and lined up inside with a straight shot to the first turn. I knew I had to get a holeshot and try to check out the first lap and stay in front of all the chaos.

When the gate dropped, I did just that. I glanced back around lap 3 and saw Dennis in 2nd place as well. We both rode smart and made the main going 1-2. For the final race of the weekend, I really wanted to go out with a strong performance. I had a 2nd row gate choice, so that didn't make things easier. I got a back of the pack start but started passing people right away. I made a few really aggressive passes and actually worked my way into the top 9. I block passed a guy before the rhythm section and in the next corner he intentionally slammed me hard. His footpeg bent the brake disk and I lost my front brake and crashed pretty hard. My weekend was done. As I rode back to the Suzuki pit in disappointment I was happy to see all the fans and kids giving me thumbs up and high fives. No matter how good or bad I did throughout the weekend, kids kept coming up to me and saying good luck, and whatever other positive English words they could speak. It was a pretty awesome feeling. I ended up giving my Troy Lee Designs jersey, pants and gloves away to all the kids. The kids were so pumped that it made my whole trip. I can honestly say that every single person I met in Holland was so nice, and polite that they made my trip amazing. I would like to thank everyone at Beursfoon Rockstar Suzuki, my mechanic, the driver, Team manager John, rider Mike Kras. I would like thank Jarno and his wife Amanda for all the hospitality and letting us stay with them and treating Dennis and I like family. You guys are great, if you ever come to California, you guys are always welcome to stay. Last but not least, I would like to thank my friend Dennis Stapleton for invite to travel in the first place. I had a blast and made some life time memories. Thank you -Ricky Yorks #703