Hamilton teenager Josiah Natzke’s latest performance in the European motocross championships has him right in the mix for the European junior title.
Racing on a sandy surface at Belgium’s Lommel track, Natzke finished sixth and third in motos for a fourth overall finish in the seventh round of the series on Sunday.
Considering his earlier efforts on sand in Europe Natzke’s performance was superb, leaving him a solitary point behind series leader Jorge Prado Garcia heading into the final round in Assen, the Netherlands on August 30.
Clawing back that point won’t be easy. Assen is another sand track and given Spaniard Prado Garcia’s proficiency on those tracks, edging his KTM Factory Juniors team-mate won’t be easy for the 16-year-old.
With the next round at the end of August, Natzke has plenty of time to practise on sand tracks in Belgium.
A month of hard toil on sand before the world championships in Spain obviously paid off for Natzke, putting him in the title hunt.
“I’ve been getting in some really good training on the sand, and I’m feeling much faster on sand than I was at the start of the season,” Natzke said before the world championships in July.
“It’s not about quantity, it’s quality really. I’m riding four days a week and trying to get the best training I can. If I want to win the European champs I’ve got to do well on sand. I’m feeling pretty good about it now.”
Natzke sits on 270 points after seven rounds, one point behind Prado Garcia on 271. Frenchman Maxime Renaux is third on 245 points, but he did not race in Belgium due to a broken collar bone.
Renaux will also be out for Assen.
That leaves the two KTM Factory Juniors riders in a race for the European title at the end of August.
Great rides by Josiah, hope he has a good run in the final races at the end of the month.