Mopfest Endurance Race 2024

Saturday, November 2nd marked the grand finale of the racing season: the 4-hour Mopfest Endurance Race 2024! After the rainy madness of 2023, the weather gods were kinder this time at Kartcircuit De Landsard in Eindhoven. The practice sessions were still wet, but by the time the race started, the track had dried — and it stayed that way.

25 teams lined up for a Le Mans-style start. 13 teams entered the 70cc Puch automatic class, 7 competed in the 50cc class, and 5 more in the >70cc Tomos automatic category — plus one Endurance Legends team. Qualifying already hinted at high speeds, which made sense with many top riders from the Puchshop Racing Cup on the grid. Former racers, sprinters, and motorcycle pros joined hobbyists, rookies, and even friends and family of the racers. At exactly 12:30, the flag dropped and the race was on.

HMRacing, led by the Minnen family, qualified first. Henk Minnen sprinted to his Puch and launched off the line ahead of Sander Mulder from Racingteam Staphorst. Sprint Performance — made up of drag race specialists — impressively qualified third. They had tips from the Dijkhof family, who raced in two teams: De Kromme Krukas and HBR Racing. The newly crowned champions of the Puchshop Racing Cup were in those teams: Hugo Satter for De Kromme Krukas and Robert van Steenis for HBR Racing. But it was Rik van de Steeg, returning after a long break, who proved he still had it — emerging third after the start.

But four hours is a long time, and a strong start doesn’t guarantee a win. Crashes and mechanical failures can turn things upside down. This year’s battle was fierce between HMRacing and Racingteam Staphorst. Both teams pushed hard, with fast pit stops and rider swaps. Still, there were hiccups: Andre Koster of Staphorst crashed early, and Henk Minnen had three unscheduled dismounts — luckily without damage. There was trouble during a pit stop for HMRacing when their pull starter failed. Yet they still managed to keep Staphorst just behind.

De Kromme Krukas had a few tumbles, and Sprint Performance even had to bust out the angle grinder for mid-race repairs. It wasn’t just tough on the bikes — the riders suffered too. Henk Minnen completed 60 laps in one go and had no feeling in his legs afterward. After recovering, he went back out for the final stint, tasked with holding off a charging Pascal Mussche from Staphorst. Mussche was on fire, but Minnen didn’t crack — and after 254 laps, HMRacing took the win by less than 10 seconds! Third place went to HBR Racing with Bart Dijkhof, Robert van Steenis, and Henry Satter, who completed 248 laps — two more than De Kromme Krukas.

The 50cc Puchs looked slower on the straights, but they made up for it in the corners. Rafael Racing Team, with Rafael Sinke and Wim Boekestijn, stole the show. Sinke raced Puchs in the 90s, and Boekestijn normally races superbikes. Their competition: BTTS Racing (Rens Straver, Jean-Paul van de Heijning, Kees-Jan Stoffelen) and Ibu Racing (Jan van Ipenburg, Justin de Bruin, Sem Bijman). Bijman knew the track, but not the Puch. Both teams had mechanical issues, which Rafael Racing capitalized on. Despite an early kill switch mishap, they completed 219 laps to win the 50cc class!

In the >70cc Tomos category, 2Stroke Performance dominated with their Tomos A35, taking the win over Franken-Saive Speed Race (Endurance Legends) and DEMP Racing.

Right after the checkered flag, the top three teams in each class were honored — and the epic challenge trophy was handed out.

Results Endurance Race 2024

70cc class

Position	Team	Rounds	Best time
1	Racingteam Staphorst / HMRacing	255	52.799 / 51.780
2
3	HBR Racing	248	52.858
4	De Kromme Krukas	246	53.968
5	van Zante	235	53.979
6	Puchshop Racing Team	232	54.166
7	Sprint performance	228	52.900
8	RiDoMaWi	223	56.812
9	Tosti van satan	213	58.215
10	USA mopeds	206	59.588
11	Kooistra racing	193	56.832
12	Snelle vogels	138	1:03.561
13	De Deemters	115	1:04.441

50cc class

Position	Team	Rounds	Best time
1	Rafael Racing Team	219	58.942
2	BTTS Racing	215	56.251
3	Ibu racing	210	55.084
4	TCW Racing	199	57.222
5	Westland Racing Team	199	1:01.627
6	De snelle Tapen	142	1:03.371
7	SVK racing	109	1:07.173

Tomos / Legends class

Position	Team	Rounds	Best time
1	2Stroke Performance	178	1:03.510
2	DEMP RACING	140	1:02.118
3	Franken-Saive speed Race	140	58.276