Hughes, Dodd and Williams land top tens in Germany! 2023 IMBA European Motocross Championship Round 2 – Race Report & Results

Wisskirchen in Germany was the venue for round 2 of the IMBA European Open class championship on Sunday. And, once again there was to be a great showing by the riders representing AMCA Great Britain.

Race Report and Feature Image by Mike Wood

Following his 3rd place in the first round held in France recently, James Dodd (FUS Marsh Geartec Husqvarna) was on the podium again, this time going one better and taking the silver medal position. Just missing out on a place on the box this time around was young Henry Williams (Apex GasGas UK) who had to settle for 4th overall despite winning the second moto at Wisskirchen. Also having a super meeting, Will Hughes (SRH Racing) took a strong 6th spot, unfortunately though a big opening race crash for Jake Preston (FUS Marsh Geartec Husqvarna) was to ruin the two -stroke riders meeting. The final Brit on IMBA duty was Aaron Collins who worked hard for his eventual 20th overall.

The day had looked to be starting very well for the Brits as James Dodd led the opening moto until three laps from home before being passed by Belgian Matteo Puffet. In determined fashion, Doddy quickly returned the compliment only for the contest to be then red-flagged on the final circuit with finishing positions reverting to a rider’s placing on the previous lap. So, it was 2nd for James and that incident also cost Will Hughes the chance of a 3rd place. In this one with Jake Preston crashing out as mentioned, Aron Collins was to record his best finish of the day in a fine 14th spot.

Following that race one incident, there was then worse news to come for James with the German officials deciding that along with his IMBA title rival Puffet, he would have the last gate peg pick for moto two after being accused of not slowing down and riding with caution when yellow flags were shown! Typically taking it in his stride though, the FUS pilot then produced a tremendous charge to get right back to 3rd as Henry Williams took the win in style. Having another impressive ride, Hughes got home in 7th with Preston a very brave 15th and Collins 23rd.

In the last moto, James was quickest away but fast Puffet was right on it and coming through to take the win and thus extend his IMBA Championship lead. Despite giving it his all, James was also then relegated by Belgian Jonas Salaets with Williams in 4th, Preston 16th and Collins 21st. On completion, Dodd said “I am very happy with my riding but just need a little more pace to get the win”.

Meanwhile Hughes commented, “The track was nice in qualifying but I struggled to get a complete clean lap in and finished 12th. In race one I was feeling good and got up to 3rd only for it to be red-flagged which dropped me to 4th but I was still very happy with the result. In race 2 the track was getting a little bit dusty and I didn’t feel comfortable early on but then found a rhythm to finish 7th. Race 3 was tough as the track was choppy and the weather hot but I took a solid 6th place. I am loving the experience of doing the IMBA and it wouldn’t be possible without the help from AD Modular, SRH Racing and all of the team sponsors.”

Following the German trip, there’s now very little time for the AMCA riders to rest on their laurels as they go into IMBA Championship action yet again this coming weekend in Holland!!

IMBA Round 2 (Top ten overall) 1 Matteo Puffed (Belgium) 174 points 2 James Dodd (GB) 154 3 Jonas Salaets (Belgium) 146 4 Henry Williams (GB) 142 5 Kristof van Vaerenbergh (Belgium) 132 6 Will Hughes (GB) 131 7 Ben Gosepath (Germany) 123 8 Daniel Wewers (Germany) 109 9 Pascal Proenen (Germany) 109 10 Robin Goldammer (Germany) 109. Other British placings 20th Aaron Collins 63 23 Jake Preston 62.