Bas Vaessen interview

19-year-old Dutchman Bas Vaessen of the Suzuki MX2 factory effort has really shown signs of potential in this year’s MX2 world championship and while he might be down in 18^th place in the MX2 series points, his performance in Italy last weekend was worth a mention.

Going 7-4 Vaessen finished with 32pts and fifth overall, his best result so far in his career and his improvement continues. An eighth-place finish in the Saturday qualification race gave him a lot of confidence for the Sunday races.

“The whole day started a little bit average really,” Vaessen said. “Free and timed practice didn’t go well, I couldn’t find any rhythm or anything but I recovered for the qualifying race which actually went well. I got a good start and then made a couple of passes on the first lap and stayed there. Towards the end of the race I was just trying to focus on myself and my lap times and some people in front of me crashed and I really didn’t want to do that so I came home in eighth place.”

The Sunday was more than a little impressive, and the Dutch rider used his sand skills to place well in both races.

“I had a decent start in the first moto, started maintaining my lap-times and keeping my speed and it seemed like every lap I made a pass. I felt good, I felt under control and I ended up seventh which was a nice result. In the second moto, I had another really good start on my RM-Z250. I made a few passes early on to get into fourth and then I was just trying to keep up with Thomas Covington ahead of me. I kept his speed for quite a long time and near the end I slowed down a little, just to make sure I finished the moto as it was so hot. I finished the race in fourth, which is a career best for me and then that also gave me a fifth overall, another career best.”

A week earlier in the Russian mud the Suzuki rider really started getting to grips with the speed of the MX2 class, holding down a top five in the opening moto early, and claimed his best result of the season (before Italy). A DNF in the second moto though brought him back to ground.

“The first race was amazing; I had a really good start and was running in third position for quite a while, but made a mistake and lost a couple of positions near the end. I still came fifth though, so I was really happy with how I rode on my RM-Z250. Unfortunately, the second race when the conditions were worse was a completely different story. I didn’t have a great start, then I had a couple of crashes on the first two laps, before eventually getting in the mud and having to DNF. The track was a bit of a lottery at that stage and unfortunately, I was out but I was happy with my first race performance. My speed seemed good, I made some good passes and it was nice to fighting at the front of the field.”

Now the youngster heads to Agueda, a circuit that should suit his style and with a little more confidence from the last two weekends, you can be sure he will be looking to once again be amongst the major points.