Bobryshev and Paulin Fight Through the Field at the MXGP of Belgium

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@Bobryshev and @Paulin Fight Through the Field at the $MXGP of #Belgium



Both Evgeny Bobryshev and Gautier Paulin were forced into recovery mode for today’s two races in Lommel, each time having to come through the field from towards the back of the pack.

Evgeny Bobryshev zoomEvgeny Bobryshev Evgeny BobryshevzoomEvgeny Bobryshev
Bobryshev started with the disadvantage of the very widest gate pick, but made the best of the situation by immediately jumping to tenth. As the field ebbed and flowed, Bobby shuffled up and down the order by a few positions, but ultimately took the flag in tenth. Gautier Paulin also had a mountain to climb today after a crash in the second corner demoted the Frenchman to 23rd on the opening lap. Clawing his way through the field, he also made good progress to come home 13th.
As if the conditions on track weren’t difficult enough with the deep ruts, holes and bumps, heavy rain during the preceding MX2 race made visibility very tricky with many riders electing to lose their goggles after they ran out of tear-offs.

In race two, Bobryshev made stronger progress still to climb to a high of fifth before a battle in the last laps left the Russian to collect sixth at the flag. Paulin also was stronger to fight back from a lowly 24th after the first corner to ninth, but unfortunately a crash towards the end of the second race sent him over the bars and, compounding an illness this weekend that’s been sapping his strength, he was unable to continue.

Gautier PaulinzoomGautier Paulin Gautier PaulinzoomGautier Paulin
Honda Comments
Evgeny Bobryshev:
Race Result: 10th, 6th Championship position: 9th“To be honest I’m disappointed with my first race today, but the second was better. We knew it would be tough starting from the outside gate, and in the first race I made a pretty good start into just outside the top ten but then couldn't make much more progress. In race two we made a small change and it was a lot better – we could climb as high as fifth from the back of the grid and finished sixth in the end. It’s not my level or where I want to be, but we knew things would be hard today starting both races from the back.”Gautier Paulin:
Race Result: 13th, 24th Championship position: 17th“Actually all weekend I’ve been feeling sick and only really today did I start to feel better. I missed speed yesterday, but we could start making progress in the second race to come back into the top ten from 24th, but then with two laps to go I crashed on the landing of the finish jump and went over the bars, and after that I just couldn’t continue.”Roger Harvey:
HRC General Manager - MXGP“It’s certainly been a tough weekend with Gautier sick and off-form, and with Bobby starting on the back foot from the last gate. We could see both of them though making good progress this afternoon, coming from the very back of the field to sixth and ninth, but unfortunately then Gautier had his crash. It was also a bit of an up-and-down weekend on the other side of the tent with Tim, as the crash in the first race cost him the overall victory, but he showed just how quickly he can learn by bouncing back and riding an incredibly strong race two to take another moto victory.”

Tim GajserzoomTim Gajser Tim GajserzoomTim Gajser

Tim Gajser Continues Winning Run in Belgium


Tim Gajser’s MXGP of Belgium wasn’t exactly plain sailing today, but the Slovenian did ensure that he kept his winning streak intact with a hard-fought victory in the second race, giving him fifth overall in the GP.

Race one was a challenging affair for Tim Gajser as he fell foul of the incredibly testing conditions twice. Having been boxed in at the start into eighth position, the Slovenian was on form, fighting back through the pack to fourth in a close three-way battle for third with Febvre and Strijbos.

Fighting in the pack, he was forced to abandon his goggles which made the closing laps, still in the hunt for third, very difficult. With seven minutes remaining a small slip in sector one cost him two positions, but then a crash with five laps to go cost him a lot more time, demoting the Slovenian to an eventual 15th.

Regrouping, GT243 came out fighting for the second race, and again dominated the field in another gate-to-flag victory. Resisting huge pressure from Antonio Cairoli, Gajser kept his cool, dominated the incredibly rutted and rough sand of Lommel, and brought home his 14th moto win of his rookie season, adding to his eighth qualifying race win yesterday.

Honda Comments
Tim Gajser:
Race Result: 15th, 1st Championship position: 1st“On one side I’m really happy with today and on the other side I’m really disappointed with the two races today. The first race and the second race were completely opposite for me, but on a track like this is can happen so fast. You make just a little mistake and you’re on the ground, and then you’re not focused and it’s very easy to make another mistake again. Race one was tough, but I’m glad that we made the second moto like we did, leading from the beginning to the end. Overall I think the win in the second race saved the GP for us, and again I learned something new, so overall I am happy enough with the weekend.”Giacomo Gariboldi: Team Principal
“We saw how difficult the track was today and how easy it was to make a mistake, and unfortunately Tim found this out in the first race. Mistakes happen, but the important thing is though how fast he learned from it, and he could bounce back almost immediately to ride a fantastic second race and take another moto win to still keep a very healthy lead of the World Championship and show once again just how rounded a rider he is, able to master all conditions however tough like today.”

2016 FIM MXGP / MX2 World Motocross Championship
Round 01: Lommel – Belgium

MXGP - Race 1 Result


Rank

Rider (Machine)

1 Nagl, Maximilian(Husqvarna)
2 Simpson, Shaun(KTM)
3 Strijbos, Kevin(Suzuki)
4 Desalle, Clement(Kawasaki)
5 Febvre, Romain(Yamaha)
6 Cairoli, Antonio(KTM)
10 Bobryshev, Evgeny(Honda)
13 Paulin, Gautier(Honda)
15 Gajser, Tim(Honda)
24 Lupino, Alessandro(Honda)
27 Ratsep, Priit(Honda)
30 Krestinov, Gert(Honda)
31 Graulus, Damon(Honda)

MXGP - Race 2 Result


Rank

Rider (Machine)

1 Gajser, Tim(Honda)
2 Cairoli, Antonio(KTM)
3 Strijbos, Kevin(Suzuki)
4 Van Horebeek, Jeremy(Yamaha)
5 Coldenhoff, Glenn(KTM)
6 Bobryshev, Evgeny(Honda)
16 Krestinov, Gert(Honda)
21 De Waal, Micha-Boy(Honda)
23 Graulus, Damon(Honda)
24 Paulin, Gautier(Honda)
28 Ratsep, Priit(Honda)
34 Lupino, Alessandro(Honda)

MX2 - Race 1 Result


Rank

Rider (Machine)

1 Anstie, Max(Husqvarna)
2 Petrov, Petar(Kawasaki)
3 Paturel, Benoit(Yamaha)
4 Seewer, Jeremy(Suzuki)
5 Bogers, Brian(KTM)
6 Pootjes, Davy(KTM)
9 Cervellin, Michele(Honda)
20 Jacobi, Henry(Honda)
27 Boulard, Bryan(Honda)
32 Tropepe, Giuseppe(Honda)

MX2 - Race 2 Result


Rank

Rider (Machine)

1 Anstie, Max(Husqvarna)
2 Seewer, Jeremy(Suzuki)
3 Ferrandis, Dylan(Kawasaki)
4 Bogers, Brian(KTM)
5 Vlaanderen, Calvin(KTM)
6 Petrov, Petar(Kawasaki)
10 Cervellin, Michele(Honda)
16 Jacobi, Henry(Honda)
21 Tropepe, Giuseppe(Honda)
33 Boulard, Bryan(Honda)