Shaun Simpson claims Belgian crown, De Dycker wins

Nineteen years after Billy Liles from Georgia (USA) captured the Open Belgian Motocross title LS Honda Racing's Shaun 'Braveheart' Simpson (23) became the second ever non-Belgian rider to win the highly regarded series!

Simpson is originally from Gauldry, Fife in Scotland but lives in Overpelt, Belgium during the motocross season. Simpson ended his day in Mont-Saint Guibert -situated 40 kilometers south-east of Brussels- fifth overall while team mate Ken De Dycker made a stunning comeback to racing.

De Dycker posted a near perfect scorecard with two wins and a third. The spectacular Belgian ultimately grabbed the runner-up position in final standings as well, he was joined on the day's podium by Rui Goncalves (Honda World Motocross) and Anthony Boissi̬re (Monster Energy Yamaha).

Under sunny skies the day's racing kicked off with a holeshot for Goncalves ahead of Guarneri. De Dycker had a decent start and quickly made his way up to pass Guarneri with over 12 minutes to go. The LS Honda Racing rider with the number 9 crossed the finish line almost 6 seconds ahead of his Italian adversary. Shaun Simpson finished sixth behind Estonia's Tanel Leok.

Both Simpson and De Dycker suffered extremely bad starts in the second moto. It was Tanel Leok who grabbed the holeshot in front, but Davide Guarneri continued to display his great MX of Nations form to take control of the 25 minute plus one lap sprint. De Dycker tackled the scenic sand quarry track with typical enthusiasm and made his way through the pack. From 23st at the start he surprisingly managed to catch up with the leading riders in the final stages. After an entertaining race coming from behind he passed Anthony Boissiere, Martin Van Daele and Leok on the last two laps to finish third. Guarneri won, Portugal's Rui Goncalves was second. Simpson managed to fight back to eighth, sufficient to wrap up the Belgian title with one moto to go! After the British MX2 title in 2008, it's a second major championship title on the Scott's career tally.

Goncalves was first out of the tight lefhander, but De Dycker had a good start in the final moto. De Dycker quickly moved ahead of the pack and would lead from start to finish. Facing an empty track he steered his CRF450R to an amazing 1:45.218 in the second lap, more than four seconds faster than his nearest rivals. No one could recover from De Dycker's dominant opening and he recorded his fifth moto triumph in this season's Belgian championship. Goncalves was now second after the unfortunate Guarneri had made a big crash. Frenchman Boissiere crossed the line in third. Simpson put in a solid performance for fifth place, his best result of the day.