Qualifying at Matterley
FIM MX World Champs 2016
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MATTERLEY BASIN (Great Britain), 18 June 2016 – It’s all about finding the flow, which is apparently relatively easy around a track as awesome as Matterley Basin, the venue that has set the wheels in motion for the eleventh round of the FIM Motocross World Championship, the FULLBACK MXGP of Great Britain.
The racing was once again riveting as Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Anstie lit the candles for his first qualifying race win of the year here on home soil in MX2, while Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser was flawless in his performance, which has put him on pole in the premier class for the sixth time this season.
Meanwhile, GL12 Yamaha Racing’s Brad Anderson is looking good for a podium here at round four of theEuropean Championship EMX300 Presented by FMF Racing after winning Race 1, while the fifth round of the European Championship EMX125 presented by FMF Racing saw take his fourth race win of the season.
The cream of MXGP had their work cut out right from gate drop when the red plate holder, Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser, snuck up the inside of the holeshotters, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl andMarchetti Racing Team KTM’s Jose Butron, for the lead at turn two. From there, there was no looking back for the rookie who controlled the race from start to finish for his sixth Qualifying Race win of the season. “I really like the track,” Tim said, “the guys always do an amazing job with the track, it’s really tacky, grippy, it’s really enjoyable to ride.”
Meanwhile in the early stages of the race it was Butron who appeared to be feeling it as he knocked Nagl back to third and even managed to inch away on the first two laps. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli was also in the mix but got too hard on the gas on the second lap and slid out.
Team HRC’s Evgeny Bobryshev quite happily inherited fourth, hit turbo and caught Nagl who had reeled in Butron. Nagl felt the pressure and passed Butron with ease, which threw Butron off as he screwed up heading into the quad and could only triple it. Bobryshev launched the quad and took over third before making light work of Nagl for second.
As Butron dropped back, Kemea Yamaha Official MX Team’s Valentin Guillod chimed in and briefly challenged Nagl and Bobryshev.
Meanwhile, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jeremy Van Horebeek was happy chilling in fifth while the real carnage was occuring in the battle for sixth where the former British grand prix winners, Antonio Cairoli and Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Clement Desalle, bashed bars with Team Suzuki World MXGP’s Ben Townley, Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki’s Tommy Searle and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Glenn Coldenhoff.
Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Romain Febvre was also weaving through that group before he crashed out. Nagl then pulled the pin on his grenade and passed Bobryshev back, forcing Bobby to settle for third ahead of Guillod and Van Horebeek. Cairoli put in an epic ride to get back to sixth after passing Desalle with a few laps to go while the local Tommy Searle finished eighth.
Monster Energy Yamaha’s guest rider Chad Reed finished fifteenth but he was still smiling, “it was a lot of fun out there,” he said. As for Romain Febvre; he suffered from a concussion and was taken to hospital for further examination.
MXGP Qualifying Race Top Ten: 1. Tim Gajser (SLO, Honda), 25:49.192; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, Husqvarna), +0:06.439; 3. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:08.488; 4. Valentin Guillod (SUI, Yamaha), +0:12.935; 5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (BEL, Yamaha), +0:17.878; 6. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:21.487; 7. Clement Desalle (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:23.770; 8. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:29.229; 9. Ben Townley (NZL, Suzuki), +0:31.686; 10. Glenn Coldenhoff (NED, KTM), +0:31.927.
Great Britain’s own Max Anstie launched out of the gate on his Rockstar Energy Factory Husqvarna for a near holeshot but was pushed wide by Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Dylan Ferrandis who started on the inside and drove him wide. Less than half of a lap in, the kid who was fastest in Timed Practice, Team Suzuki World MX2’s Jeremy Seewer, was around sixth before dumping it after going into a 180 degree turn too hot and colliding with TM Racing Factory Team’s Samuele Bernardini.
Anstie had the crowd going mental as he pushed Ferrandis for the lead while Wilvo Standing Construct Yamaha’s Aleksandr Tonkov sat back in a distant third before being caught and passed by Seewer who had made a quick recovery from his spill on lap one.
At the half way mark, Anstie got on the gas and set the fastest lap time three laps in a row before making a pass on Ferrandis. The Frenchman tried to respond but couldn’t quite match the pace of the hometown hero, who managed to take his first qualifying race win of the season with an impressive 6 second margin.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings took a while to find his flow after a pretty cruddy first lap. The Bullet came around for lap one well outside of the top ten but eventually carved his way through the pack for fifth. Behind him, Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Petar Petrov, Kemea Yamaha MX Official Team’s Benoit Paturel and the remainder of the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing riders, Thomas Covington and Conrad Mewse, had a gnarly battle for sixth. It was tight at the end; in fact Paturel and Petrov were bar-to-bar over the finish line with Paturel being awarded sixth by the narrowest of margins. Credit also has to be given to the rookie Conrad Mewse who managed to steal eighth from his teammate Covington.
MX2 Qualifying Race Top Ten: 1. Max Anstie (GBR, Husqvarna), 25:55.733; 2. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:06.778; 3. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki), +0:11.697; 4. Aleksandr Tonkov (RUS, Yamaha), +0:21.954; 5. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:27.465; 6. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:28.298; 7. Petar Petrov (BUL, Kawasaki), +0:28.341; 8. Conrad Mewse (GBR, Husqvarna), +0:36.225; 9. Thomas Covington (USA, Husqvarna), +0:41.005; 10. Brian Bogers (NED, KTM), +0:41.487
Honda 150 European Championship
Today saw Emil Weckman take an emphatic win at the Matterley Basin track in the UK, which has moved him into the championship lead ahead of tomorrow’s second race.
Although Weckman (FIN) was first to the finish line, it was James Scott (NZL) who took the holeshot and set the pace on the first lap. Unfortunately the New Zealander crashed at the end of the first lap gifting Emil the lead going into the second lap.
Weckman was then able to open up a gap to the second placed Luis Outeiro and stay in front until the chequered flag. The Finn also took the honours of fastest lap aboard his #1 plated CRF150R. Luis Outeiro was also able to maintain his second place until the end of the moto.
Yago Martinez, who was quick around the Winchester track last year, proved that he’s one to keep an eye on with an impressive ride to third. The top five was rounded out by Hakon Fredriksen and Jorgen-Matthias Talviku, who finished fourth and fifth respectively.
It was also a good showing from the British riders, including the three wildcard riders for this round. Calum Mitchell rounded out the top ten after fending off the attacks of Henry Vesilind, while a battle of the Brits saw Ryan Mawhinney and Todd Leadbitter finish 14th and 15th respectively. Josh Peters finished 17th, Ethan Lane 20th and Tobias Sammut 22nd.
The action continues tomorrow at 11hr10 local time when the gates will drop for race two of the Honda 150 European Championship at the FULLBACK MXGP of Great Britain.
Emil Weckman: “I’m feeling really good with this win. I think Hakon [Fredriksen] had some bad luck but of course I could have some bad luck too in later races but all the points matter. The track here is really good and I like it a lot. I have ridden with 65cc here so I know the track really well and I like the jumps.”
Davy Dousselaere, Honda Europe Off-Road Manager: “Today we saw a very impressive ride from Emil who was able to lead the race from the start of the second lap until the end, but we saw some very strong rides from many riders today. Luis Outeiro has shown how much he has improved from last year and I am very pleased to see that he was second. We knew Yago Martinez would be one to watch as he was quick here last year and today proved that with a good third place. It is good to see a large number of British riders competing with us this weekend in front of their home crowd. I think tomorrow will be another good race as Hakon will be hoping to close the gap in the championship to Emil.”
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All the photos of the FULLBACK MXGP of Great Britain will be available HERE
FULLBACK MXGP OF GREAT BRITAIN – QUICK FACTS
Circuit length: 1640m
Type of ground: Hard pack
Temperature: 18°C
Weather conditions: cloudy
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MXGP
Tim Gajser destroyed the opposition with a victory in the MXGP qualification race, in a race that saw Gajser's biggest rival Romain Febvre go down hard and get assistance from the medical team at the track. Febvre didn’t finish the moto and its unknown of his condition.
“I am really happy, I was looking forward to coming here, big jumps, big speed and I enjoyed the race a lot. I took a holeshot and just did my own race. I am really looking forward to tomorrow.”
The race wasn’t so much about the winner, but the battles that went on behind him. In some cases as many as 10 riders pushed for a single place, and Febvre was involved in his crash while trying to pass Ben Townley. ( Febvre crashed hard and it seems he has suffered nerve damage. After being knocked out for some seconds it was reported that he had no feeling in his legs. Feeling returned as he was transported to hospital for more tests.)
Earlier in the moto Antonio Cairoli held a top five position, but made a mistake and dropped back into a battle between himself and a group of riders, eventually finishing in sixth place.
Gajser won from Nagl, Bobryshev, Guillod, Van Horebeek. Chad Reed finished in 15th place after starting around 10th.
MXGP – Qualifying Race – Classification
1 243 Gajser, Tim SLO AMZS Honda 25:49.192
2 12 Nagl, Maximilian GER DMSB Husqvarna 25:55.631
3 777 Bobryshev, Evgeny RUS MUL Honda 25:57.680
4 92 Guillod, Valentin SUI FMS Yamaha 26:02.127
5 89 Van Horebeek, Jeremy BEL FMB Yamaha 26:07.070
6 222 Cairoli, Antonio ITA FMI KTM 26:10.679
7 25 Desalle, Clement BEL FMB Kawasaki 26:12.962
8 100 Searle, Tommy GBR ACU Kawasaki 26:18.421
9 8 Townley, Ben NZL MNZ Suzuki 26:20.878
10 259 Coldenhoff, Glenn NED KNMV KTM 26:21.119
MX2
British rider Max Anstie has won the MX2 qualification race at the Matterley Basin circuit in England, after passing early leader Dylan Ferrandis. Anstie hounded the Frenchman for the first half of the moto, before making the pass on a small jump and sending the large Saturday crowd into a frenzy.
“It was awesome,” Anstie said. “I led here last year, and I found some good lines today, and I put myself in a good position. We have been working hard. It’s taken longer than we thought, but we are on the right track.”
Jeffrey Herlings had a terrible start in around about 12 position, and worked his way past a bunch of riders to to finish in fifth position. As he had mention during the week though, the start gate at Matterley Basin is good for the top ten riders for making a good start.
As expected Jeremy Seewer finished in third place after a solid performance, with Aleksandr Tonkov in fourth place.
MX2 – Qualifying Race
1 99 Anstie, Max GBR ACU Husqvarna 25:55.733
2 4 Ferrandis, Dylan FRA FFM Kawasaki 26:02.511
3 91 Seewer, Jeremy SUI FMS Suzuki 26:07.430
4 59 Tonkov, Aleksandr RUS KNMV Yamaha 26:17.687
5 84 Herlings, Jeffrey NED KNMV KTM 26:23.198
6 6 Paturel, Benoit FRA FFM Yamaha 26:24.031
7 152 Petrov, Petar BUL QMMF Kawasaki 26:24.074
8 426 Mewse, Conrad GBR ACU Husqvarna 26:31.958
9 64 Covington, Thomas USA AMA Husqvarna 26:36.738
10 189 Bogers, Brian NED KNMV KTM 26:37.220