Lars Van Berkel of the Husqvarna SKS Racing NL team made a strong start to his 2019 racing season at Hawkstone Park in England. Van Berkel improved throughout the day, finishing ninth in the second heat and 12th in a strongly contested superfinal.

This was Lars' first race of the season, and this was apparent during training. "I was actually quite nervous and was riding too tight, which meant a fairly disappointing 18th time. I was unhappy with this and wanted to improve in the race," Lars said.

Also in the first race Lars didn't click into a rhythm. He rode too tense and suffered from armpump. He eventually finished 16th.

In the second race, things went much better and Van Berkel recovered from 14th spot to finish ninth. This gained him entry into the superfinal, which pitches the best MX1 riders against the top of the MX2 class.

‘’The MX2 race was red-flagged, and this meant that there was very little rest between races. I only had a 30 minute break between the second race and the superfinal. I had 32nd gate, and this hampered my start. I pushed hard initially and then rode my own race. I finished 12th, which I was happy with. I've had worse season starts, that's for sure! "
The SKS Husqvarna Racing team wil participate in the Winter Cross at Groesbeek next weekend.

Overall international race Hawkstone Park:
1 Max Anstie 50 Pnt
2 Max Nagl 42 Pnt
3 Ivo Monticelli 38 Pnt
4 Harri Kullas 33 Pnt
5 Petar Petrov 28 Pnt