Hakon Osterhagen of the JM Honda Racing team has left a strong impression in the fifth round of the MX2 World Championship in Agueda, Portugal. Osterhagen was in the running for a podium position for a long time but then ran into problems and saw his chances go up in smoke.
Osterhagen had a good feeling on the track right from the start. The circuit became more and more difficult due to the heavy rainfall and Osterhagen did this well. He qualified on Saturday in a strong third place.
In both motos on Sunday he got a very good start. In the first moto he managed to finish a strong seventh. In the second moto he was in even better shape. In the early stages he was in second place and later in third position. At that moment he had a podium place in his hands but unfortunately he slipped in the muddy conditions and crashed. Later in the moto he crashed again, which meant that a top ten place was lost and he was classified nineteenth. Due to the setback in the second moto, he had to settle for fourteenth place in the day’s classification and in the world championship standings he sits in eighteenth place.
Delvintor Alfarizi struggled in the tough conditions in Portugal. In the first moto he couldn’t get into his rhythm and the riding didn’t go according to plan. In the second moto he started strong and came out of the start in twentieth place. He then worked his way up to the top fifteen. Unfortunately, Alfarizi also crashed once and couldn’t get back into his rhythm after that. Unfortunately, Alfarizi didn’t score in Portugal, but he is motivated to do better in Spain.
Tim Edberg managed to take seven points in the first moto of the MXGP class with a fourteenth place. This did not go without a struggle. In the moto he came back from eighteenth place to fourteenth position but then he got a stone on his eye. Edberg came home in fourteenth and scored seven points. With less visibility and dizzy in his head, Edberg started in the second moto. By riding in a controlled manner and making as few mistakes as possible, Edberg managed to finish seventeenth.
Max Werner showed good speed in the EMX250 class. At the start of the first moto he had wheelspin but by gaining many places in the first few corners, he moved up to seventh place. He then worked his way up to third place and almost took over second place. However, shortly afterwards, a back marker lost control when entering a jump, forcing Werner to change lines and crashing hard.
A lot of time was lost and I crossed the finish line in seventh place.
In the second moto his start was better and he was able to start the race in the top five. Unfortunately, after a few laps, he got a block pass from another rider that caused him to crash on a hill. From sixteenth place, he came back to thirteenth position, but unfortunately he then suffered mechanical problems that forced him to retire the race.
This weekend, the next Grand Prix will be held in Lugo, Spain.
Photocredits – Fullspectrum Media
