In the MX-GP of The Netherlands to be held this weekend on 29th and 30th August on the extreme sand-circuit of Lierop, the crowd will be able again to enjoy some really nice two-stroke sound in the field of MX1 riders.
It will be Belgium rider Yentl Martens, son of former World Champion Jacky Martens, who will compete on his KTM-SX250. Ironically it was Yentl’s father who made the come-back of the four-strokes complete by winning the 1993 500cc World Championship on his Husqvarna.
One and a half decade later it is Jacky Martens against all odds again to achieve some fine results with two-strokes in the four-stroke world of today. As team manager he led in 2007 Belgium GP-rider Joel Roelants to winning the Dutch MX2-Championship on a 144cc KTM two-stroke and this year it’s his son who is currently still in the top of the Dutch MX1-Championship and in MX3-WorldChampionship on 250 and 300cc KTM’s.
Where just a couple of weeks ago Yentl choose to ride the 450 in the Belgian GP on the sand-circuit of Lommel, he is now confident in riding the 250: “Both Lommel and Lierop are very heavy tracks but this weekend will be the most demanding of the season so the lighter machine will give me the chance to keep on lifting the front wheel over the circuit longer. Also the corners in forest-located track of Lierop are more suitable for the two-stroke.”
Yentl Martens on his KTM 250SX preparing for Lierop.
It was Yentl’s friend Marc DeReuver who showed in the 2004 Motocross Of Nations what’s possible with a two-stroke in Lierop where in both his heats he showed aboard his stock-engined SX250 the fastest lap times, even faster than winner and ten time World Champion and sand-specialist Stefan Everts. Where Team Netherlands took a second place overall with two of the three team members on two-stroke’s…..
Good luck, Yentl
