Adamo triumphs on day one at Teutschenthal

A new season is upon us, as the 2017 Honda 150 European Championship fired into life at the historic circuit of Teutschenthal earlier today. The timed qualifying session and first moto were held beneath blue skies, despite the fact that horrendous storms on the day prior threatened to derail proceedings.

That rainfall certainly had an impact on the hard-pack soil, however, as the riders faced a technical surface that put the various skills that they developed at a recent training camp to the test. Andrea Adamo, from Italy, was not to be deterred though, as he romped to the fastest time during qualifying.

A deep field of CRF150R riders rocketed down the start straight when the gates dropped on the first moto of the new season. Adamo put his pole position to good use, as he claimed the early lead and immediately established an advantage at the head of the field. Luis Outeiro was quick to make progress, however, and pulled onto his rear-wheel at the end of the first official lap. A small error cost him dearly though, as he dropped to seventh and was faced with a mountain to climb.

The mistake that Outeiro made allowed Adamo to take advantage of some breathing room at the front and, from that point on, he controlled the race. A chaotic battle for second raged on behind him, as Rasmus Moen and Anton Nordström-Graaf duked it out for a majority of the lengthy moto. Outeiro eventually crept up on their dynamic fight, however, and slid past both competitors in a single lap to reclaim the runner-up spot. Following a valiant fight, Nordström-Graaf crossed the finish line in a respectable third.

The various riders in the class showed a considerable amount of grit and determination, as rain started to fall with around ten minutes left on the clock. Moen completed a consistent ride to cross the finish line in fourth, just ahead of Lynn Valk.

The second Honda 150 European Championship moto at the Grand Prix of Germany will take place at 11:10am tomorrow morning on what should be a significantly easier track.

Andrea Adamo, #10

“The track was very, very difficult. I’m very happy with my results though. I had a perfect start! Thanks to my sponsors, my team, my family and everyone involved. I’m very happy!”

Gordon Crockard, Honda Motor Europe Off-Road Manager

“We were faced with very challenging weather conditions yesterday evening, but the FIM and Youthstream kindly altered the schedule today with our riders in mind. We had a track surface that was very much a bog, very deep and almost impossible for some of our riders to actually get around. For the race it was much more rideable, all riders finished and there were not any problems.

“The race result was fantastic! We had the Italian rider, Andrea Adamo, who has returned to the series from last season, lead from start to finish with no stress. What was wonderful was watching Luis Outeiro come through the field from around seventh position, as at one point he was three seconds a lap faster than everyone! It was really great to see Lynn Valk finish fifth, show great skill and be on the pace. That was wonderful! It has been a good day. I looked forward to tomorrow and the track being much easier to ride. There have been a lot of nerves, so I think that will improve for tomorrow.”