FIM-E Pro Stock Bike

Gert Jan Laseur (Ivan Sansom photo)

If Super Twin was comparatively straightforward, Pro Stock Bike had a few curves along the way, starting with qualifying where a number of the entries appeared to be caught out by the bite on the startline and a number bogging down just after launch (the limited number of sessions reducing the qualified field to an eight-bike rather than sixteen-bike ladder that the number of entries merited). One of the biggest upsets happened in the first round of eliminations as incoming points leader Alex Hope’s Suzuki quit before the burnout, putting a big dent to the Brit’s championship aspirations and more curious as the bike fired up immediately on return to the pits with Hope having the solace of it not being a camchain failure.

Fredrik Fredlund (Rose Hughe photo)

The ladder boiled down to a match-up between Gert-Jan Laseur (the Eurol/Zodiac G2 Buell recording a 7.252 to head qualification) and Fredrick Fredlund on his PAF Suzuki (a 7.285 giving him second spot on the qualifying sheet). Both had improved into the 7.1s at the semifinal stage, Laseur’s 7.155 defeating a 7.290 from Martin Newbury and Fredlund’s 7.102 taking out Len Paget’s 7.388. Despite getting the startline advantage, Fredlund picked the wrong time to fall back from his final four pace, carding a 7.197 with the Dutch rider in the opposite lane riding around him to post a 7.067/187.85 (a new PB) and push ahead in the title chase with one round remaining.