Lotte van Drunen of the Beurspro KTM team narrowly missed victory during the Open Dutch Championship 85cc event at Westerbork. In the first race, she recovered from eighth to second, and in the second second race she led until the last corner, again finishing second.
Lotte showed her intent from early on, and posted the fastest time during free training. She went even better during qualifying, claiming pole position with a 1.2 second margin. That made her also the fastest rider on the track of all classes participating.
Lotte got off the gate well in the first race, but tangled with the rider next to her, which spoiled her charge to the first corner. She was eighth out of the first bend, and immediately went on the offensive. After the first lap, she was already in fourth, and together with the third-placed rider, they went on the hunt for the second. Lotte claimed third position a lap later, and four laps from the end, she moved into second. By then the leader had too much of a gap, but she very nearly pipped him at the post, coming just 0.7 seconds short.
Lotte chose a different start gate for the second race. She again launched well and claimed the holeshot. She led the entire race, but a wrong line choice with a lapped rider in the very last corner cost her dearly. She again missed victory by a margin of less than a second.
With two second place finishes, Lotte was second overall for the day.