The De Baets AIT Racing Team experienced a weekend of mixed emotions during the EMX125 round in Águeda, Portugal. Dex Kooiker demonstrated the pace to challenge at the front of the field, while Torre van Mechgelen was forced to cut his weekend short after aggravating a back injury.
Dex Kooiker began the weekend by qualifying 15th fastest before immediately showing his potential in the opening moto. The Dutch rider completed the first lap in sixth place and remained inside the top ten for much of the race, eventually crossing the finish line in seventh.
However, Kooiker was later handed a five-position penalty after missing the mandatory sound check before the race. As a result, he was classified 12th in the final results.
The second moto started unfortunately when Kooiker crashed on the opening lap and was forced to fight his way back through the field. Despite the setback, he produced a determined recovery ride to finish 15th.
For Torre van Mechgelen, the weekend initially showed plenty of promise. He felt comfortable on the bike during free practice and displayed strong pace. However, qualifying took a turn for the worse when he came up short on the finish jump and landed heavily, injuring his back. Despite the crash, he still qualified 28th.
Van Mechgelen endured a difficult start to the opening moto, and as the race progressed, the pain in his back steadily increased. Although he gave everything to reach the finish, he could do no better than 36th place.
On Sunday, he decided to give it another try despite the injury. The opening ten minutes went reasonably well, but the pain soon became too severe to continue safely. To avoid making the injury worse, Van Mechgelen made the decision to retire from the race.
Torre van Mechgelen:
“Free practice went well and I felt comfortable on the bike with good speed. Unfortunately, during qualifying I came up short on the finish jump and landed heavily on my back. In the first moto I had a poor start, and the pain became worse as the race went on. I tried everything I could, but in the end I had to settle for 36th place. Despite the injury, we decided to give the second moto another try. The first ten minutes went reasonably well, but after that the pain became too intense and I could no longer continue safely. It was a disappointing weekend after such a positive start in free practice, but now the focus is on recovering well and coming back stronger for the next race.”
The De Baets AIT Racing Team returns to action next weekend when the FIM 125cc Motocross World Championship heads to Jinín, Czech Republic.
Photocredits – Full Spectrum Media
