Hear from the riders following round 13 of the MXGP World Championship.
Max Nagl: (1st in MXGP) “It was a great GP for us. Despite only having the 14th gate pick, I managed to get two great starts in the final motos. In the first race I quickly passed Gautier Paulin for the lead and started pushing hard as I knew Tim Gajser was following me. I wanted to avoid being passed by any means, so I gave it all to remain out front until the end. In the second race Tim got the lead right after the start and I was third behind Butron. I quickly passed him and started putting in fast laps to close the gap to Tim. My plan was to put pressure on him and that’s exactly what happened. He made a mistake a few laps before the end and when I got the lead I just went for it. Getting two race wins for my first overall victory this season is just great. It’s so good for the team and a great confidence booster for me as well. I want to enjoy the moment and this victory and I’m looking forward to the next GP in Lommel.”
Tim Gajser: (2nd in MXGP) “It has not been a bad weekend here. I am a bit disappointed not to take the win because until the end of the second race we had done enough to have taken the overall, but still we take a lot of important points which is good. In the second race I took the holeshot which was great so I’m really happy with the starts this weekend, and also the riding, but just five minutes to go I made a small mistake and was on the ground. Max passed me and I was trying to catch him back but started making more mistakes so I decided to settle for second place. The track today was really bumpy and sketchy, and the rain in the second race made it even harder. It really didn’t allow you to make a mistake and you had to respect it a lot, and maybe I was pushing too hard. But still I’m happy enough because we stood on the podium again.”
Romain Febvre: (3rd in MXGP) “For sure I am happy to be back on my YZ450FM and racing again. I was out for nearly one month to recover from my crash in England, and in that time I missed some training because it was not possible to get on the bike until I recovered completely. I was fine physically, but the reaction time between my vision and my brain needed rest and attention in order to come back. Now I am 100 percent and it’s very good to get this result today. The conditions here were very slippery, because this is hardpack and there was a little bit of rain today. Next week we go back to the heavy sand at Lommel and it will be a very differenty GP in Belgium.”
Clement Desalle: (4th in MXGP) “It is easy to explain how my weekend went; I had some bad starts, and then made many passes to come back in the top five with a third in the qualifying race, then a fifth and a fourth position in the GP motos. In the first race I made some good moves in the first corners to come back into the top ten, and never stop pushing to get a fifth at the end of the race. My start was a little bit better in the second race and I recovered to fourth to finish just off the podium. The final result is not so bad considering my position in the first corner. We did some testing during the summer break and I feel some improvements in the settings; I also know that I can continue to make more progress. Next weekend will be my home GP; it will be nice to see the fans, although it would be nice to go to some other place, even if I like riding in the sand.”
Jeremy Van Horebeek: (5th in MXGP) “I had one of my best starts of the season in the first moto. But in the second race I was 14th in the first lap, and with the humidity after three laps my goggles were fogged, so I rode in fifth and limited the risk. It’s a pity, but we are going in a good direction and it’s a good solid top five for the team.”
Jordi Tixier: (6th in MXGP) ” I am happy to get this good result; it shows that we’re doing a good job. I had a very good result in the timed practice period with a second position, so the speed is there even if I made some mistakes in the qualifying race. I never started in the top fifteen today and we need to work on that point, but then I was able to come back to eighth and sixth. In the first moto I couldn’t keep the rhythm in the last ten minutes and lost one position, but in the second race I was stronger; for sure the track was slippery after the rain, but here it’s not such a problem when it’s raining. Now we’ll move to Belgium; we’ve already been working with the team to prepare the bike for the sand.”
Antonio Cairoli: (7th in MXGP) “I was back on the KTM 350 SX-F after almost a year. The race didn’t go how I wanted for sure but we had a good feeling with the bike in the time practice. I was able to improve my speed from before and I felt better on the bike overall. But we messed up the starts because it was almost a year since I started on the 350. On this track if you have a bad start you don’t go anywhere. You could see that with Nagl. He wasn’t the fastest in practice but in the races he had two good starts and he won.” Cairoli also confirmed he is looking forward to racing at Lommel next weekend. Because he lives part of the time in Belgium, it is like a home race for him.”
Tommy Searle: (8th in MXGP) “We had no real break in the past month with the British championship races, and it’s been a long season as we’re now moving to Belgium. This weekend was a solid one for me with two top ten results, ninth in both races and qualification after a sixth position in the timed practice period. The starts were not too bad; I got good jumps out of the gate but in the first corner it was not easy to find the way. We all did the best we could and it’s been a while since I had such a consistent weekend. I made some good passes, and that’s never easy on this track; sometimes for sure I could pass sooner but the racing was very close and overall it was a good weekend.”
Kevin Strijbos: (10th in MXGP) “A decent day even if the result is not perhaps what we wanted. The motos were pretty much the same; my starts were not great and then it was hard to take positions up until the point where my arms started to get a bit tired. In the second moto someone hit me and bent the rear brake lever and I had to get used to that but it was OK once I adjusted. It is always hard to come back in the middle of the season and after injury but we made a step today and now have to look towards Lommel.”
Glenn Coldenhoff: (13th in MXGP) “I already had a good day yesterday. I pulled the holeshot in qualifying and was in second place for quite a while, then I started to come off my lines and I still finished fifth for a good starting position today. The first moto was okay. I rode well and I finished sixth so it was one of my better motos. I was seventh at the start of the second moto but then I crashed and hit the ground pretty hard. I had to fight back from dead last. This could have been a good GP but I’m looking forward to the sand next weekend at Lommel and I think we are well prepared.”
Dylan Ferrandis: (1st in MX2) “In the first moto I was second behind Jonass but he crashed, and I was able to make the gap with my rivals to win this moto; I just tried to save some energy for the second moto and that was necessary as my start was not as good as the first one. I had to fight with the guys to come back to the front of the pack; it was a nice battle even if this race was tough with the rain as we lost some traction. At the end of the moto Max Anstie was pushing really hard; he tried to make a move but finally crashed. That’s racing ! Of course it was a good weekend with two moto wins. Everyone in the team is happy and we are all rewarded for the hard work we have put in since the beginning of the season. But there is no time to celebrate this win; next weekend we have the most difficult race in the world with the GP at Lommel, and we’ll move to Belgium on Monday to prepare for this race.”
Jeremy Seewer: (2nd in MX2) “I’m pretty happy. I had a little bit of fear of pushing too hard today; Loket is a special track and you can very easily get things wrong and make a big mistake. The weather changed quite a bit and it was tricky out there. Anstie and Ferrandis just had that extra half a second a lap today but I’m quite pleased to make the podium again and take some good points. Anyway, onto the sand now!”
Max Anstie: (3rd in MX2) “It was a solid weekend for sure and we can be happy with it. All of my practise sessions and races were good and I felt pretty good on my bike. It was nice to get a podium result in this track, even though I know we could have done even better. In moto one I didn’t get a good start and had to battle through the pack for second. Then in moto two, Ferrandis and I had almost the same speed and it was really hard to make a pass on the track. I tried really hard to pass him for the overall win, but it didn’t end up so well. I’d used a lot of my energy trying to come forward in moto one so there was not much left in the tank. It’s just one of those things. We just have to make the best of it and go again next week. We’re now heading to Lommel. I really like the track and I won there the last two years, so It should be good.”
Benoit Paturel: (4th in MX2) “I spent a lot of energy in the first moto because I had a bad start. For sure I am happy with the result today, because after three weeks it’s easy to lose fitness and technique. With the team we are working very hard every week on the bike and the starts, and I think that next week in Lommel will be a hard race for everybody.”
Petar Petrov: (5th in MX2) “It’ been a while since I had a consistent weekend and that’s good to get a fifth overall here in Loket. During the summer break we did a lot of good work on the bike, and I also had time to recover from my injuries so we came here in better condition. We’re building up, injuries and everything are coming better and I felt good this weekend; when you have a few rounds without the results you expect it’s never easy to find back the confidence again but we did just that and we are top five again, where we were at the beginning of the season. It’s a positive weekend; we’ll continue to work and I know that Lommel could be a good opportunity for me to do even better.”
Thomas Covington: (8th in MX2) “It was a pretty difficult weekend, but I finally managed to figure things out in the second moto. In the first moto I got my bike spinning too much behind the gate so I ended up getting a really bad start. I started from the back of the pack and battled my way to 15th. Then in the second race I was second off the start and run up front with the top for most of the race before ending up fourth. I’m really happy with the second moto, as I showed that the speed is there to battle for the podium. Conditions were tough, the track was slippery and full of hard bumps. But we got things figured out in the second moto and hopefully we can keep the momentum going to Belgium.”
Conrad Mewse: (9th in MX2) “Overall, I’m satisfied with my performance. The times were pretty close at this track and there weren’t many places where you could make passes. I had a very good qualifying race on Saturday. I got a great start and battled with the top MX2 guys for fifth at the chequered flag. Then on Sunday my starts weren’t bad, but I felt a bit tired. I struggled with line choices and ended up getting two ninth places. I feel that I’m learning a lot every time out and it’s also very positive that I’m consistently getting top ten results now. It’s definitely a step forward compared to the start of the season and I’ll keep working hard to get even better. I’m really looking forward to the next round in Belgium and hopefully I can battle for two top five finishes.”
Brian Hsu: (12th in MX2) “I’m still struggling a little bit for the full motos so my goal was to come here and have fun and see where we could end up. The track was nice to ride; quite technical because you had to mix throttle control and technique.”
