Dortmund Supercross Report
As we approached the Westfalenhallen in Dortmund on Saturday at about 6.30 p.m. you could already feel the tension within the 10000 spectators inside and outside the hall. And you could feel the tension in the paddock as well as the fight for the Toyota Auris and the crown of the 'King of Dortmund' was heading into its next round on this hot evening, even with outside temperatures around -8 C.
As all three qualifying races were won by Americans (Heath Voss, Mike Brown and Robbie Reynard) the impression came up that USA wanted to have the win back this night. But very quickly another hot rider showed his intention to go for it as well. It was Portuguese rider Joaquim Rodriguez (also a well-known name in the US), who won his heat race beside Heath Voss who got the win in his.
As the gate dropped for the final, Friday-Night-Winner Matt Moss rushed out first and stalled his bike in the first turn. Luckily all riders could pass without touching him, but he had to go back into action on very last place, while Mike Brown was in the lead. The 18-lap race was very demanding for the 12 riders, but also gave young Australian Matt Moss the chance to fight his way through the pack. Arriving in 7th position half-way through the race Moss set to attack the French Adrien Lopes in the turn before the finish line, but both collided and crashed. Lopes was back on the bike in seconds, but Moss couldn't restart his bike even after trying a 100 times. Out front there was Mike Brown still in the lead as with 5 laps to go all of a sudden three riders approached dramatically. French giant Alexandre Rouis, Joaquim Rodrigues and Heath Voss were on the run and offered spectacular racing to the boiling crowd. After Rodrigues arrived in 2nd position he focussed on Mike Brown that much that it was only a matter of time until he was on his back wheel and passed just a few corners later. Rouis and Voss passed Brown as well and rounded out the podium with another mix of three nations: Portugal, France, USA.
After Saturday Voss leads the fight for the 'Crown' with 36 points in front of Rodrigues with 34 and Rouis with 30. So everything is still possible and we are really looking forward to exciting supercross racing on Sunday.
SX 2 class saw another win of the German 14-year old Ken Roczen who leads the fight for the crown 'Prince of Dortmund' now with 14 points of the Czech Filip Neugebauer and Ashley Greedy.
SX Dortmund Night 3
And well the answer is "YES" - Another American name could be added to the list, as Mr. Heath Voss took the win in a spectacular final on Sunday afternoon and took the crown of 'King of Dortmund 2009'.
Voss, whose roots go back to Northern Germany, was so happy and celebrated his victory together with his team on the podium. "I thank all these people who made this success possible. The last three days have been really tough for me, as I've slept less than 15 hours, therefore I'm even more happy about my victory. On Friday I finished second behind Matt Moss, on Saturday again second behind Joaquim Rodrigues, when I found out that the points in Dortmund are different. They go 25, 20, 16... and on Saturday I was only 2 points in the lead. I had no other chance than to win."
Voss dominated his qualification race and his semi final race on Sunday. But in the final it was the Italian Davide Degli Esposti who took the holeshot and the lead until he crashed in the second lap. Voss took over the lead, but young Matt Moss started chasing. While Voss almost went down in the whoop section, Matt Moss also started to make little mistakes which ended him up being stuck in the haybales. Rodrigues who had to fight back after a bad start came up to second position, but Voss was on the run and nobody could catch him anymore. So he left Rodrigues in second position in front of the French Fabien Izoird.
"I had a fantastic time this winter in Europe with the race in Zürich (Switzerland), Stuttgart, Chemnitz and now Dortmund. It's amazing, three days of hard work and I won this Toyota car - I still can't believe it," commented Heath Voss.
On Sunday the SX 2 class was won by the young Czech Filip Neugebauer in front of the German Ken Roczen and Jack Brunell. Sunday was very unfortunate for the young British rider Ashley Greedy who threw away his victory when he went down in the first race after leading almost to the end of the race. At the end of the day the title 'Prince of Dortmund' went to 14-year-old Ken Roczen on Suzuki.
