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Photo - Andrew McFarlane heads the MX2 field at Namur:
A great pic taken by NZ's top MX scribe who travelled to Namur.
Email Andy: He may have a photo of you in his extensive files?
Riders from Downunder are storming Europe and perhaps none more so than Australian hero Andrew McFarlane. This season’s winner of the most famous motocross event in the world, the Belgian Grand Prix at Namur, McFarlane made it look easy on his Yamaha YZF250.
The fast-starting Aussie legend holeshot both his qualifying heat race and the second of his two MX2 championship points races in the shadow of the ancient Citadelle castle overlooking the southern Belgian town of Namur.
With air-horns blaring and screams of the fans deafening the riders as they flew from the open air of the esplanade and into the dark of the woodlands, McFarlane was already pulling a gap. He eventually finished third and second in the two muddy motos, good enough to win the GP and consolidate his position at fifth in the overall standings after four of 16 rounds.
To prove that was no fluke, McFarlane backed that up by winning the next GP too, the German Grand Prix at Teutschenthal the following weekend, shooting himself up to third overall in the standings, close behind fellow Yamaha riders Antonio Cairoli and Alessio Chiodi as Yamaha continues to dominate the class.
The 27-year-old McFarlane, now is his fourth year in Europe, says he still hankers for home but is much too busy to get seriously homesick.
“During the season, you don’t really think about home. After the Portugal GP I went to Italy for the Italian championships, so you don’t have time to think about home really. Sometimes we don’t even have time to scratch our head you know. We go from the motorhome to the house in Belgium (just 40 minutes from Namur) and then away again. It’s really hectic.
“My wife Natalie and I accept it for what it is. We knew this was the plan when we came to Europe. We knew what it was going to be like. We put our heads down and backside up and work harder.
“I always like to think it would be nice to have a GP in Aussie again. I look back at my first year racing the world champs and the event at Broadford (near Melbourne) and I finished third there on the day. The next year when we went back I finished second. So I’d like to go back there again and think I could win a home GP.
“I think that’s something everyone would aim to do. I think it would be possible.”
