Salaerts and Pyrhonen win Wuustwezel.

Just as in last year's race at Wuustwezel, the organisers again had bad luck with the weather conditions - the rain began to fall heavily before the second motos - but the riders ensured that the massed crowds were not disappointed.

In the 125cc class, victory went to Kristof Salaerts, with two second places in each of the motos, while Open Class success went to Finn Antti Pyrhonen, who took the overall honours with a win in the first moto win and a third in the second.

Dutchman Oscar Vromans took the first 125cc holeshot, followed by fellow countrymen Hans Laurense and Nick Tuin together with Belgium's Tom de Belder and Salaerts. Vromans looked extremely fast on his YZ250F and was able to open up a nine-second lead after just three laps of racing. Salaerts, however, was stuck behind team-mates Laurense and de Belder and, once free, was able to make rapid progress. On the fourth lap, Salaerts took Laurense and started closing on Vromans who, by now, was enjoying a lead of ten seconds.

Salaerts was racing smoothly, however, and easily closed down Vromans' advantage on the last of the 13 laps. Vromans, who has been racing for many years, held onto his lead despite being pushed hard by Salaerts in every corner. Vromans took the win from Salaerts and Dutch Open sensation from 2002, Patrick Roos, who took fifth in the Dutch Open series. Last week's sensation in Leopoldsburg, Marvin van Daele, took fourth after he finished the first lap in 20th. Laurense was fifth.

The second moto saw Wyatt Avis get the holeshot followed by Tuin and Roos. In the fourth corner, Tuin took the lead from his former Bonenberg Racing team-mate but the South African came back very fast. Nobody was able to follow Avis on his Kawasaki in the slippery conditions, however, and he duly took the race win. Salaerts was again second and Jarrett de Jager, Avis' team-mate, took the final podium place.

Vromans got fourth just in front of his former Vd Laar Yamaha team-mate Jan van Hastenberg, who is KTM-mounted in 2003. van Hastenberg got stuck in a first corner crash with de Belder and Joan Barreda from Spain, but recovered spectacularly to take fifth.

Home rider Christof Godrie took the first Open moto lead, but went down and damaged his bike soon after forcing him to stop. German Dennis Schroter then took the lead, followed by Belgium's Marc Fraikin and former Dutch Champion Marcel van Drunen. Pyrhonen, the 2002 Dutch champion, started in fourth place behind his new team-mate, but soon began recording very good lap times, and took the lead on lap four.

Manuel Priem (MTM Grand Prix Team) rapidly moved up from tenth to second after eight laps, but a mistake then took him out. Schroter was again in second place, eleven seconds behind the leader. van Drunen took third place in front of Boyd Karsmakers, the son of five-time 500cc Dutch champion Toon Karsmakers. Fraikin finished fifth.

The second moto was again headed by Godrie but, this time, no-one was able to follow him on his home track. He won the heat comfortably, well ahead of Peter Nijs, who had scored a DNF in the first moto. Pyrhonen took a calculated third place to win the overall. Schroter was fourth and KTM rider Brik Schelfaut fifth.

Results - International Motocross Wuustwezel

125cc

Moto one:

1. Oscar Vromans Yamaha
2. Kristof Salaerts KTM
3. Patrick Roos KTM
4. Marvin van Daele KTM
5. Hans Laurense KTM
6. Tom de Belder KTM
7. George Strik KTM
8. Wyatt Avis Kawasaki
9. Nick Tuin KTM
10. Aaron Bernandez TM

Moto two:

1. Wyatt Avis Kawasaki
2. Kristof Salaerts KTM
3. Jarrett de Jager Kawasaki
4. Oscar Vromans Yamaha
5. Jan van Hastenberg KTM
6. Aaron Bernandez TM
7. Marvin van Daele KTM
8. Gilles Dejonge KTM
9. Hans Laurense KTM
10. George Strik KTM

250cc/500cc

Moto one:

1. Antti Pyrhonen Yamaha
2. Dennis Schroter Yamaha
3. Marcel van Drunen Yamaha
4. Boyd Karsmakers Suzuki
5. Marc Fraikin KTM
6. Marcel Hartman KTM
7. Martijn Romviel Honda
8. Nico Godrie KTM
9. Juus Laansoo Yamaha
10. Ken de Dijcker KTM

Moto two:

1. Kristof Godrie KTM
2. Peter Nijs Yamaha
3. Antti Pyrhonen Yamaha
4. Dennis Schroter Yamaha
5. Brik Schelfaut KTM
6. David Segers KTM
7. Manuel Priem KTM
8. Jukka Pirrinen Honda
9. Tim Godrie KTM
10. Johnny Karst Yamaha