Monte Gordo Sand Experience kicks off with sunshine and great racing!

Thousands of fans attended the Monte Gordo Sand Experience. Yentel Martens and Keveen Rochereau were Saturday's winners.

As expected, the first day of the Monte Gordo Sand Experience demonstrated that when a race is well organized, in this case by Automóvel Club Portugal, the fans respond positively to the call and help make the whole motorcycle event a spectacle like no other! The Algarve woke up sunny this Saturday to host the first edition of the Monte Gordo Sand Experience, the last and decisive round of the debut season of the FIM Sand Racing World Cup.
“The Algarve woke up sunny this Saturday to host the first edition of the Monte Gordo Sand Experience, the last and decisive round of the debut season of the FIM Sand Racing World Cup,” said one of the organizers.

With a large crowd of spectators lining the sandy Monte Gordo beach, the race kicked off with the first moto at 11 a.m., where the focus was on the fight for the title between Todd Kellett (Yamaha) and Yentel Martens (Honda). The advantage went to the Belgian, who overtook Kellett in the early part of the race and never relinquished the lead. Kellett was second, and Daymond Martens (Honda) rounded off the podium.

Among the Portuguese competitors, who faced a new surface, the best was Ricardo Freire (KTM), who finished in 11th place, followed by Gonçalo Reis (GasGas), who had a good race here, still in recovery mode, and André Sérgio (Beta). Cooling problems on his Yamaha meant that the multiple cross-country champion António Maio didn’t finish the race, as did Paulo Alberto and Luís Outeiro, who were among the frontrunners in the early stages of the race.

Also noteworthy, among the competitors who had an hour and a half to race, was the victory among the ladies of Belgian Amandine Verstappen (finishing 16th overall on a Yamaha). In the Veterans class, the fastest rider was Frenchman Christophe Brucker (KTM), while in the MJ2 class the best rider was Belgian Tias Callens (Yamaha) and in the doubles class the first place went to Gilberto and Mário Jordão (KTM).

Among the younger riders in the MJ1 class, the fastest was Frenchman Matheo Gerat (KTM). Also among the classes that only completed 45 minutes of the race, the two classes in the Vintage category (for bikes built up to 1996), the fastest among the MV3s was Portuguese rider David Megre, on a Kawasaki KX, while in the MV1s the best was Frenchman Felix Faure (Honda).

At the end of the race, Yentel Martens, the winner, said that “It was good, I had a good start, even though Todd passed me. I was behind him for a few laps, but then I passed him, I kept calm, increased the pace and everything went well, including the pit stop, and I’m very happy to have finished first. The circuit is good, with good sand, I really liked the more technical part, because even as the race went on it wasn’t getting bumpy. I’m glad there are more sand races in Europe, I hope this competition continues, it’s a good area to stay in.”

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