“The intention was that I would definitely keep my two companions behind me in the last sand strip,” Vanthourenhout explains. “That worked for a while, but on the long straight stretch Vandeputte and Sweeck came back again. For me, the best was completely gone. I had faded my last cartouche, but I still wanted to try something.”
With the corresponding thirteen points, the 31-year-old native of Bruges is still at the top of the rankings in the Superprestige. He totals 43 points after three heats. Niels Vandeputte follows second on four points.
“I finished a good cross,” Vanthourenhout continued. “At one point I made a slight mistake, so I had to chase. I lost some energy there. Maybe I gave a little too much. At the end I saw the two sprinting for the win. I didn’t think that Sweeck would get up and over Vandeputte, but he still succeeded. I am doing a good job in the rankings with this third place. In these fast races you can win points, but above all you can lose a lot of points. It is still very early, but there are already some three heats. I am looking at this Superprestige from cross to cross.”