Hear from the riders following round nine of the FIM MXGP World Championship.
Tim Gajser: (1st in MXGP) “It’s been such an amazing weekend. I couldn’t believe that I could top the charts in every session, or that at halfway through the season we could have finished on the podium at every single race, with five wins too. It’s an amazing feeling. This weekend also shows that we’re working in the right way to keep strong, because in the last few races I’ve made some rookie mistakes, and we’ve worked on this area a lot since Trentino so a double victory here is the perfect way to come back after a week off and shows that our work pays off immediately. I want to say thank you especially to the team this weekend and to my mechanic Nico and engineer Roger because there was big work between the races, and it’s such a great feeling to be able to deliver them the results. They do such a good job and I trust them completely to give me the perfect bike, and we definitely had a perfect bike this weekend.”
Max Nagl: (2nd in MXGP) “It was a great weekend and a great reward for the hard work the team has been putting in. We did some more testing last week and we managed to make my bike even better. One of our goals was to further improve our starts and during the weekend our starts were great. I got the holeshot in both motos and lead the races for the first few laps. Gajser was a little bit quicker around the track so when he passed me in race one and in race two I tried to ride smart and stay behind him. Our lap times were a bit better than the rest of the field and I was happy to finish both races in a good second position. This GP is a big confidence booster for me and for the team. Going to France now I’m positive for another good result. I’m in good shape at the moment and the bike feels great, so I’ll do my best to keep my podium streak running.”
Gautier Paulin: (3rd in MXGP) “I’m really happy to be riding again after the injury and enjoying my time on the bike, having fun and to be on the podium again. I couldn’t believe I could have two good races like that because I was still feeling tired, and I think I pushed more mentally than physically because my condition is missing a little because I haven’t been able to train like I want during my recovery. Yesterday the track was more rough and I set the best lap time because I could make speed more with my technical side than physical. But we are getting stronger and stronger again with more time on the bike, so I’m really enjoying this moment.”
Clement Desalle: (4th in MXGP) “It’s great to be back in the first three! For sure I missed the overall podium by a few points but it’s been some time since I finished one race in the top three. It’s a good comeback; my feeling with the bike was better this weekend but we still need to work as I didn’t spent so much time on it since February due to my injuries. Today the start was so important that you couldn’t afford to miss it; the first one was good, but at the second one I lost a few positions through the first few corners. Since Latvia at the start of the month I’ve only been able to train four times but I felt ready to come here and to actually race is the best training you can have. Now we’ll continue to work with the team; I want to get more and more podium results.”
Evgeny Bobryshev: (5th in MXGP) “To finish fifth overall after a couple of consistent races is good, and we collected more points this weekend, but to be honest I’m a little frustrated and disappointed. I just didn’t gel with this track this weekend. In the second race I was following Gautier and trying to pass him, but it’s tight and twisty which I don’t like so much and I just couldn’t make it work. But I’m really happy for Gautier and want to congratulate him to come back strongly and stand on the podium today after missing some races this season. Honestly I didn’t have so much fun this weekend, but considering that fifth and another 31 points is good.”
Romain Febvre: (6th in MXGP) “Yesterday I didn’t know if I could ride, so today was almost like a victory. I had two good starts, and in the second moto I went from 30th to 5th. For sure I lost a few points in the championship, but I was able to save much more, and that makes me very happy before we go back to France next week.”
Antonio Cairoli: (7th in MXGP) “It was a terrible day, yesterday I already did not felt good in practice, on a track that I normally like, but it was really difficult with the mud during the practice and I wasn’t feeling 100% good but still I was able to come back to sixth place in the qualifying race so I was happy with the riding and the speed that was better in race than in practice. In the first moto I had a good jump out of the gate but then in the middle of the straight I find some mud and I lost traction, cornering around the eighth place, riding a little bit tight and ending in fifth position when it was possible to grab the third place. In second moto I had a terrible start, the gate dropped a bit late and I lost the concentration and I went to the first corner almost last. After some laps I was surprising myself making a lot of pass and I was happy with my speed but when I was going for the seventh position I put the front wheel in a slippery section of the track and I lost the front end, coming over the bar and crashing pretty hard. When I stand up, I was ninth but my opponents where too far to try to recover. It was a bad race, mostly for the Championship but we gonna move on like we did in past, try to be back on the top of the box and win as many race I can.”
Jeremy Van Horebeek: (8th in MXGP) “It’s really difficult here, because everybody is going fast and at this level you have to be 100 percent. I’m stoked with 27 points today, and I worked really hard for that. I had a lot of pain today and it was really difficult. The medics here found a 2mm crack in my wrist from Teutschenthal, so we will go back to the doctors this week for a check and see what we can do before we go to France.”
Valentin Guillod: (9th in MXGP) “I’m really happy about my riding this weekend. I had the fastest lap in the first race, and I think I could have done even better. My start in the second moto was better, and I think that we are going in the right direction.”
Glenn Coldenhoff: (10th in MXGP) “I was fired up for the second moto but then I had a bad start and I got stuck behind another rider. I tried for six laps to get past him and when I finally passed him I was completely finished. I just didn’t have the power. We’ll take the positive from the weekend away with us and I know there are some tracks coming up that I really like.”
Jeffrey Herlings: (1st in MX2) “I managed to overtake Ferrandis quite quickly and did what I had to do to win the moto. I pulled a pretty good start in the second moto and was top five and managed to come out on top again.” When asked if Ferrandis might give him some problems next weekend at the French races, Herlings said: “I know what to expect.”
Benoit Paturel: (2nd in MX2) “Each race gives me more confidence, race by race. This podium is really amazing, and in the second race I rode at my training level and took a really good start. Thanks to the team this is happening. Our trainer Jacky Vimond has changed my life, changed my training and changed me. If I am capable of racing a this level today, it’s because of Jacky.”
Pauls Jonass: (3rd in MX2) “I had good battles with Paturel in the first race and with Seewer in the second, right up to the first half of the last lap when he made a mistake. I really enjoyed the races and I’m looking forward to the next GP. We need to ride a bit more on hard pack this week and physically I am quite okay.”
Dylan Ferrandis: (4th in MX2) “It was a tough weekend on a track where I have some bad memories after my knee injury here last year. It was very difficult to find the best settings for the bike, as the weather and the track conditions were continually changing on both Saturday and Sunday. In the first race I had some difficulty with the front fork settings and couldn’t keep the lead; I didn’t want to take risks as I got some arm pump so I just concentrated on securing my second position. We made some changes for the second race and the feeling was better, but I got a bad start and in the first corner another rider hit me and damaged my front brake; I was back to sixth behind Tonkov when I lost the front wheel and crashed, and then recovered to fifth. I had a better feeling in the second race, but I’m frustrated that I just missed the podium.”
Aleksandr Tonkov: (5th in MX2) For me in the second moto the problem arises when my lungs are tight and I need more air. It’s tough because my back problem is also my neck and my ribs. In the last two races I got tired at the end but I didn’t slow down, and I ended up on the ground because I couldn’t get oxygen to my head. So this weekend I changed tactics and slowed down a little bit to not lose so many points. This track was really intense, and the gaps from front to back were really close. This doesn’t happen so often, and today it was just 20 seconds from first to sixth. It hasn’t been so easy for me, because of my injury I haven’t had that many hours on the bike in the last month. But next week we go home and train and stick to the plan, and it should get better.”
Jeremy Seewer: (7th in MX2) “My speed is really good and it is not something I have to worry about but the starts weren’t there today. Everything was working good but I didn’t have the best luck and that’s what happened in the first moto. When you are deep in the pack then there is always more risk than when you are upfront. I came up a bit short on the double jump and it kicked me sideways. I’m happy to finish the race and finish 11th and I needed some time to get my confidence back in the second moto. I did quite well. I was dropped to fourth but found quite a good rhythm by the end; I was really happy with my riding. I just need to put things together a bit more in the coming races.”
Max Anstie: (10th in MX2) “It was a challenging GP but we proved we had the speed to battle for the top. Overall, I felt good during the weekend, the track was pretty nice and everything was working well. In the opening moto I made a series of mistakes in the first few turns, so I ended up colliding with another rider and loosing time. I guess to come back from last to eighth showed my speed was good. In the second race I was right there after the start but then got a bit squeezed going into the first turn. I made a couple of wrong decisions in the first turns and dropped back so I had to work hard again to come through. Our results weren’t exactly what we wanted but we’ll take the positives and move on to the next GP in France.”
