The 12th round of the FIM Motocross World Championship will stop by Lommel for the popular Grand Prix of Belgium on August 2. The event enjoys a solid support from the local authorities, including the municipality of Lommel and the governments of Limburg and Flanders.
An official presentation was made last Wednesday at the Lommel race track, the venue of the eagerly awaited GP. Organizers Eric Geboers and Stefan Everts, the Mayor of Lommel Peter Vanvelthoven and Hilde Claes, Deputy of Sports of Province Limburg, spoke about the importance of the GP series passing by Belgium, the region of Limburg and Lommel. Furthermore, the different authorities would like to expand their cooperation with the organizing committee by improving the already permanent facility into a Motocross Arena by 2012-the year when the organizing committee would like to host the Red Bull Motocross of Nations.
The municipality of Lommel and the governments of Limburg and Flanders actively contribute in the organisation of the 2009 Grand Prix of Belgium which will again include the MX Rookie meeting (from the Tuesday to the Friday) dedicated to amateur youngsters willing to take their first steps in professional Motocross Racing.
In order to spread awareness on the Grand Prix of Belgium the organizing committee arranged a special day of activities on the Thursday following the presentation. The programme included the following activities.
Visit at the Tilkins WorkshopThe Tilkins story is one about a technological innovation/invention that changed the world of motorsports and motorcycles forever.
Lucien Tilkins, born and raised in Limburg, was a technical genius, a gifted craftsmen and above all, a motorsports passionate. Around 1970 he became an icon to the insiders of the Limburgian Motocross industry due to his ability to deliver the finest welds a frame or a suspension linkage would need, be it in steel or aluminium.
At that time the Japanese motorcycle industry came into Motocross, giving a burst to the development of the bikes. The twin shock suspension systems were a point of concern, since the evolving Motocross tracks and the increasing power of the machines were putting extra stress on linkages, more than often resulting in breakages. Tilkins, always willing to think out of the box, developed a preliminary system with just one shock and tried it on a CZ bike.
However the first real steps in the right direction came out of the cooperation with Sylvain Geboers and Suzuki in 1971. The principle of distributing the mechanical stress to the front of the frame with a single shock immediately showed a lot of potential. The way of thinking was not actually followed by the Japanese engineers of Suzuki at the time, which eventually resulted in Yamaha buying the license from Mr. Tilkins.
They developed the system in 1972 and tested it in the 1973 World Championship – immediately bringing home the title with Hakan Andersson in the 250cc class.
The happening enchained a revolution in Motocross, road racing and the consumer motorcycle market. Yamaha named its licensed suspension system “Cantilever”, Honda had a different take on the same principle with “Pro-Link”, Suzuki came with “Full Floater” and Kawasaki had developed its Uni-Track system.
Over the years, Tilkins kept working as a technical consultant for Yamaha, optimizing technical issues for the Japanese company from the base in Limburg.
The mono-shock development of Tilkins was one of the most remarkable things that happened in the region but was only possible due to the extensive concentration of the Motocross industry in Limburg. The deep sand, the central location in Europe’s geography and the general interest in Motocross are all reasons for this strong concentration in Limburg.
JenevermuseumNext to this insight of the Motocross history in Limburg, some points of touristic interest were highlighted during the day.
First of all is the perfectly restored and organized “Jenevermuseum”, in Hasselt.
Jenever – a local version of Gin made from the Juniper berry - was produced in and around the city of Hasselt by small local breweries. A landmark for the region, the museum shows how the jenever was made in all its flavours during the Florissant times in the beginning of 1900.
HaspengouwrouteThe afternoon programme included an excursion by Vespa through the magnificent blooming fruit-trees of the Haspengouw Region. With its dreamlike flowing hills and atmosphere, it was the setting for the popular Belgian TV-series “Katarakt”.
The riders who participated in this tour (Antonio Cairoli/Yamaha Red Bull De Carli/MX1, Ken de Dycker/Teka Suzuki World MX1, Joel Roelants/KTM Factory Junior MX2, Rui Goncalves/Red Bull KTM Factory Racing/MX2) did enjoy this fantastic spot of Limburg and all of them look forward to the forthcoming Grand Prix at Lommel.
The latest two activities show the amount of touristic possibilities available in the region, which is an ideal destination for a long stay. Furthermore, Limburg has a passionate heart for motorsports and motorcycles in general, not only with the champions and GP riders it has within the region (Harry Everts, Stefan Everts, Sylvain Geboers, Eric Geboers, Jaak Vanvelthoven just to name a few), but also by being a pioneer for regulations of permanent race tracks in Belgium.
LINKSYouthstreamFIMMore info on the Grand Prix of Belgium can be found on the event’s official webpage:
www.gplimburg.com.
