Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MX2 Team’s Karlis Reisulis has narrowly missed the overall podium at round eight of the MX2 World Championship – his home Grand Prix in Latvia – by just two points, ending the weekend in fifth. Plus, with teammate Janis Reisulis placing seventh overall, it underlined a solid day for the talented brothers as the series nears the halfway point.
Spurred on by their native fans all weekend long, the Latvian teammates were focused on putting on a show and leaving the sandy Kegums circuit with solid results. With the sun shining throughout the Grand Prix, the atmosphere was electric as the MX2 class headed to the start line for the opening race of the day.
In race one, K. Reisulis didn’t enjoy the best of starts, and he was forced to work hard in order to move up the leaderboard. By the halfway stage of the race he was comfortably running in sixth and as he crossed the finish line, he trailed Simon Längenfelder by just under two seconds.
Encouraged by his excellent ride in the opening race of the day, K. Reisulis delivered his best performance of the season so far in Race Two. Starting second, the Yamaha YZ250FM rider kept the leader in sight for the duration, until he made a minor mistake on the final lap that allowed Camden McLellan through. This ultimately cost K. Reisulis a place on the overall podium, but it was nevertheless an exceptional performance to secure his season-best race result of third for fifth overall on the day. A result that moves him up to eighth in the series standings.
Following a series of impressive overall results in recent Grands Prix, including fourth last weekend in Germany, J. Reisulis was understandably focused on impressing at his first home Grand Prix. After being pushed wide in the tight first turn, the reigning EMX250 Champion was soon into 10th, and by mid-race he was up to seventh. J. Reisulis then lost one position as the laps wound down to finish eighth.
Race Two started with J. Reisulis running inside the top 10 until a mistake on lap six dropped him to 14th. From there, the 18-year-old worked his way through the field to secure 10th for seventh overall. After eight rounds, the MX2 rookie remains seventh in the championship.
With three consecutive Grands Prix now complete, the teammates will now enjoy a weekend off before returning to action in Montevarchi, Italy, for round nine of the MX2 World Championship on June 20-21.
Karlis Reisulis
5th MXGP of Latvia, 35-points
8th MX2 Championship Standings, 223-points
“Overall, it was a good day and I’m happy with the way I rode. In the second moto, I was pushing really hard and probably tried a little too much. I made a mistake that, looking back, didn’t really make much sense, but that’s part of racing and something to learn from. The positives definitely outweigh the negatives. My riding felt good all day and I was especially happy with my start in the second moto. The first race wasn’t ideal because the start let me down, but I was able to make up a lot of positions and come through the field. In the second moto, I ran second for almost the entire race and came really close to the podium. The atmosphere was incredible as well. I could hear the fans every lap, on every corner, and their support really pushed me on. It was amazing to experience that and definitely one of the highlights of the weekend.”
Janis Reisulis
7th MXGP of Latvia, 24-points
7th MX2 Championship Standings, 280-points
“Even though the result wasn’t as good as I wanted, I actually enjoyed this weekend a lot. I finished seventh overall, which isn’t my worst result of the season, but I struggled physically throughout the races. I felt like I was running low on energy very early on, which made it difficult to fight for positions, and on a track like this every mistake costs a lot of energy. Despite that, this has probably been my favourite weekend of the year so far because of the fans. The atmosphere was incredible and it made the whole weekend really enjoyable. I tried to stay calm and manage my emotions, but I think the occasion still got the better of me a little bit. It was a valuable learning experience and showed me there are still areas where I need to improve and gain more experience. We’ll take the positives from the weekend and keep working ahead of the next round in Italy.”
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