ASSEN (The Netherlands), 30 August 2015 – The sixteenth round of the FIM Motocross World Championshipwill be one that is remembered for many years to come. Before racing had commenced there was a lot of speculation as to how the super soft white sand would hold up and also as to how the crowd would respond to the MXGP of The Netherlands taking place on a man-made circuit rather than at one of their beloved and historic sand tracks. But in the end, the event exceeded all expectations with 37,000 super enthusiastic fans coming out to witness the brand new and spectacular track shape up just as a true sand circuit would. It was a memorable day for Hitachi Construction Machinery Revo KTM’s Shaun Simpson and Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser who stood top of the box in their respective classes, but even more so for Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Romain Febvre who clinched the MXGP world title in his rookie season with two rounds to go.

It has been his best season yet and it is only getting better for Hitachi Construction Machinery Revo KTM’s Shaun Simpson who has just moved to fourth in the MXGP championship standings after landing on top of the box here in Assen. In regards to the uniqueness of this event the Scot said “on a whole, this weekend has been a great experience, the track developed quite well and it had one of the best starts of the year. I enjoyed it and I would definitely like to come back here again.”

It was spine tingling end to the weekend for Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Romain Febvre who eventually warmed up to the beach-like sand of Assen to win the final moto and be crowned FIM Motocross World Champion.

The super charged crowd were right in behind their Dutch motocross sensation Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Glenn Coldenhoff who stood on the third step on the podium here at his home grand prix.

Team HRC’s Evgeny Bobryshev had good speed all weekend but faded in both races while his teammateGautier Paulin made a few too many errors. The Honda duo went fourth and fifth respectively.

The looming question as to whether Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser can simultaneously up his game in the sand and keep his head calm enough to take the red plate was answered this weekend with the Slovenian taking a win and a second place for the overall and the red plate. Gajser now leads Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pauls Jonass in the MX2 championship by thirteen points.

“It was a difficult day today, we had a few issues in the first race and I crashed and even in this one I struggled in the last 10 minutes,” Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki’s heavy hitter Max Anstie said right after winning the final race. The Brit only managed to finish ninth in race one after he binned it and struggled to get his bike re-started. Nevertheless, the ‘99’ overcame the adversity he faced today with his convincing moto win in race two for second overall.

It was an emotionally charged day for Kemea Yamaha Yamalube’s Brent Van Doninck, who uncorked his first bottle of bubbles. “I am so happy. It’s really special for me, normally I wasn’t meant to be racing GP’s this year so I didn’t think this would happen in my first year,” the young Belgian said after stepping down from the third step of the podium.

Standing Construct Yamaha Yamalube’s Julien Lieber looked at home on the whooped out sand of Assen today where he missed the podium by one point while Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe’s Jeremy Seewer rode smooth for fifth.

It was another rough round of motocross for the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing squad with Pauls Jonass going down in race two and smashing off his front brake. Jonass pulled into pitlane for repairs and re-joined the race almost a lap down. Impressively, the young Latvian managed to charge his way all the way back to thirteenth while his team mate Davy Pootjes pulled out of the race due to the pain of a tendon injury on his wrist.

HSF Logistic Motorsport Team’s Brian Bogers finished up in tenth overall.

MXGP OF THE NETHERLANDS – QUICK FACTS

Circuit length: 1520 m

Type of ground: Sand

Temperature: 25°C

Weather conditions: Sunny

Crowd Attendance: 37,000