The French youngster set second fastest lap time in the practice sessions, but his hopes of success in the qualifying race for start positions were ruined when he crashed on the opening lap of the race and faced a long hard ride through the pack to earn ninth choice of gate. When he awoke the following morning he discovered that his right shoulder had seized up overnight, but after treatment he was able to start the GP motos and once again showed good speed. He quickly moved up the leaderboard in the opening race but the leader had already made good his escape and he had to settle for second place. Dylan was soon embroiled in a three-way battle for second place in race two and was holding down third when a small mistake cost him more than ten seconds; recovering strongly he regained third position by the end of the race to secure his podium finish and consolidate his fourth place in the championship standings; with two GPs remaining in September he trails third in the series by 22 points.
Thomas Covington had rested since the previous weekend's Czech GP after medical diagnosis had established that his body was showing signs of fatigue from over-training. He showed the benefit of the rest by posting ninth fastest lap during practice, but racing was still more difficult and, after finishing sixteenth in qualification, he finished sixteenth and eighteenth in the two races and now holds down eighteenth place in the championship standings.
Tommy Searle, still handicapped by a thumb injury, decided not to compete in the Belgian GP after a test session at another sand track in the area.
Dylan Ferrandis: “Saturday was a mixed day for me, as I posted fast laps in the practice session but crashed after the start of the qualifying race when I was in second position. I hurt my shoulder, and on Sunday morning when I woke up I couldn’t move my right shoulder. We worked with Bruno Losito and the medical staff to find a solution so I could race the GP. My first start was not so bad, but when I recovered to second place the leader was out of sight. The second start was similar and I was fighting with Febvre and Anstie for second place until I lost time in a small crash; that put me back to fourth, but I could pass Febvre again to finish third and gain my third podium of the season.”
Thomas Covington: “I have been struggling a little bit with my health in recent weeks due to overtraining so this week I took some rest time and didn’t train on the bike. I came here and had a really good qualifying time but the races were different. My goal was to finish the races and that’s what I did, scoring points in both races; the track in Lommel didn’t surprise me so much it was just as tough as I expected it would be. Now I will go back home to prepare the last two GPs; I think that the tracks in South America will suits more my style.”