Disappointment for Leok at Latvian GP

DISAPPOINTMENT FOR LEOK AT LATVIAN GP 28 June 2009 It never ceases to amaze us. For a country of less than 1.5 million people, Estonia makes a far more than proportional contribution to top level motocross, both on the track and on the sidelines. At international races in every far flung corner of the world, the sinimustvalge, otherwise known as the Estonian tricolour, is always very much in evidence, usually at the end of a pole long enough to bring down fighter planes, and equally usually in the firm grip of a burly, no-nonsense motocross fan. In fact, the blue-white-black flags, caps, scarves, jester hats and whatever else else you can think of is usually present in such abundance that one might be tempted to think that fully 40% of the Estonian Gross National Product is focused on the manufacture of patriotic paraphernalia. If the fans from the Baltic country make their presence felt in races as far away as England and Spain, one can well imagine the fever pitch of excitement of a motocross Grand Prix were to come to the back garden of Estonia, as it were. And so it came to pass, in the words of the classic storyteller, that on 28 June 2009, the first ever motocross solo Grand Prix touched down at Kegums, Latvia. From Friday afternoon, the Estonian fans started arriving in droves, all bearing their national insignia, and armed mentally and spiritually (and we use the term in the broadest sense of the word), to support their heroes on the track. Naturally, the greatest percentage of the support was directed at Tanel Leok, Estonia's best-ever motocross export. The Estonian Express, with two GP victories to his credit and a seventh ranking in the current world championships, carried the hopes and dreams of his countrymen on his shoulders, and a (near) home GP victory would surely be the stuff of fairytales. We mentioned before though, that Estonia as a nation can stand its ground in top level racing, and also Aigar Leok, Rannar Uusna and Indrek Magi could bask in the cheers of their countrymen. Tanel, being his inscrutable self, gave nothing away of the pressure that he may have felt with such a weight of expectation hovering over him, but on Saturday, he came out with guns blazing. He posted the third fastest time in the qualifying practice, and now the tension was high for the qualifying race, the first opportunity that many of his fans would have of seeing him race in a world championship qualifier. He charged into third position off the start on his bright blue Red Bull De Carli Yamaha, and after neatly disposing of reigning world champion David Philippaerts, he rode to an easy second place behind the monstrous Ken De Dycker, who had a bullet start. Whereas earlier in the season, Tanel on occasion appeared to have left his starts packed away in the camper, the mental boost of seeing a sea of Estonian flags fired him up properly on this occasion, and he was in the thick of the action in race 1. He started off fourth, but soon bullied his way into third. A few laps later, he lost a spot again as teammate and runaway championship leader Tony Cairoli snuck past, but things were still looking distinctly positive. Then a gasp rose round the track as the front wheel of his bike pushed in a corner and he went down. The crash was not heavy, and he was up like a rubber ball, but it was just one of those occasions on which the bike resolutely refused to restart. Tanel cut a very forlorn picture as he kicked and kicked, all the while seeing the minutes tick by. The heat of the exertions was getting to him, and eventually he removed his helmet to catch a breather. The bike finally fired up, but by then he had lost far too much time, and the disappointment was carved out on his face. After having regrouped between races. Tanel was fit and rearing to go again as the starter called the riders to attention for the second race. A somewhat lesser start this time, but still he was in the top 10. Initially he seemed stuck in an awkward rhythm, but with waves of sound from frenzied spectators following him around the track, he seemed to gather courage in the second half of the race. He passed Philippaerts again, and put a number of riders t the sword to move up to fourth position at the end of a tough race. Naturally, Tanel was not all that pleased with how the day turned out. He had definitely envisioned a far different result at his first "home" GP. Nevertheless, you play the cards that you are dealt with, and the positive part of his outing is that he had done enough to maintain seventh position in the world standings. Needless to say, after the race Tanel scampered off to his home village of Somerpalu where the family will host the annual SOmerpalu motocrcross this Tuesday. After that, it is off to the beautifully spectacular track of Uddevalla in Sweden for the Swedish GP. BY NOW, HE HAD ALFREADY BEEN TRYING OT RESTART FOR A GOOD FEW MINUTES Pic - Reinis Olins This report is available online. RESULTS All GP results are available on the official website of the motocross world championships.

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