Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP’s Jeremy Seewer and Romain Febvre qualified fourth and sixth for the thirteenth round of the FIM World MXGP Motocross Championship at Loket in the Czech Republic.
Neither KRT runner got a clean run through the tricky uphill left-hand first-turn but Seewer, sixth-fastest in practice, emerged ninth and was quickly on the move with a spectacular pass for sixth on lap three. The leaderboard then settled into a high-speed chase around the hillside switchback course until ten minutes from the end when the Swiss made two decisive passes within a lap of each other to finish fourth.
Jeremy Seewer: “The start wasn’t quite up to my usual standards as I had a small kick coming out of the gate but my pace was good, I had good lines and I was happy with my passes. This is a demanding track with strange traction and small bumps everywhere but I could make a plan where to pass and they each worked. For sure the podium is possible tomorrow with a better start.”
Febvre, sidelined for seven weeks by a thumb injury, showed impressive pace on his return to race action. The Frenchman posted fourth-fastest time in Timed Practice, on the same second as the first-three, and chased his teammate up the leaderboard from thirteenth at the first time-split after being pushed wide at turn one. With four laps remaining he moved into sixth and pressurised the rider in fifth, a podium-finisher at each of the last two GPs, to the chequered flag.
Romain Febvre: “I could show already in Timed Practice that the speed is there with fourth time, less than one second from the fastest. Just the start wasn’t perfect for the race and in the first turn I braked a little too early and was pushed outside but I could come back to sixth at the finish. I don’t know if I could have run with the top-three but I was OK physically and hope for a better start tomorrow.”
Bike It Kawasaki MX2 Racing Team’s Jack Chambers finished fourteenth in Qualifying for the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship. The American gated twelfth but was pushed wide at turn two and had to spend the remainder of the race recovering from seventeenth to fourteenth with solid laps to the end.
Jack Chambers: “This is a full track, very scenic but really tricky with the hardpack base and gravel dirt on top; I’m still trying to learn the different angles to put the traction down.”
Making a return to action from injury Bike It teammate Bobby Bruce decided, together with the team, to step up to the MXGP class. KX450 power saw the Englishman make a top-ten start before gradually losing positions to series regulars to finish twenty-sixth on his class debut.
Bobby Bruce: “The year hasn’t really gone to plan with injuries so we decided to try something different and switch to a 450. I felt comfortable straight away and every session has been getting better and better. It’s hot today so it was important just to get used to racing MXGP.”
