Honda HRC’s Ruben Fernandez finished fourth at Ernee, continuing his good run of recent form here at the French GP qualification race and setting himself up nicely for tomorrow’s GP-scoring motos.
The Spaniard finished on the podium in Portugal and Spain, in what were two GPs hit by torrential rain, so it was nice for the Honda CRF450R rider to show that he has speed in dry conditions as well. He didn’t find easy in the practice sessions, but an excellent start saw him rounding the first bend inside the top five and from there he just rode a nice consistent pace to move himself closer to third place in the championship and also give himself a good chance at a third podium in a row in tomorrow’s races.
Valerio Lata got back to his early-season form, with a fifth place in the MX2 qualification race after showing speed throughout the day. The Italian has struggled in recent weeks with the weather, but the dry circuit allowed the youngster to show off his skills and it should give him a big boost of confidence for this round and the upcoming rounds as we head towards the halfway point of the season.
Luck certainly didn’t favour fellow Honda CRF250R rider Ferruccio Zanchi after a good start was ruined by a rider falling in front of him, in one of the long-rutted corners and dropping the #73 outside the top 20. When he did get going again, he put on quite a charge and made his way all the way up to 11th, which is one place outside of the points in the Saturday qualification races. Despite this misfortune, the fact he was able to move through the field should give him some confidence, and if he is able to get another good start, he’ll be hoping to follow up his good results from Lugo last time out.
There is a little bit of rain forecast tomorrow morning, but certainly not on the level that we had the last two GPs so the magnificent Ernee circuit should be prime for when the riders hit the track for their races in the afternoon.
MX2 Qualification Race
- Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 24:13.701; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:02.770; 3. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:08.891; 4. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:18.553; 5. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:26.877; 6. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:29.008; 7. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), +0:39.169; 8. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:46.295; 9. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:47.402; 10. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:47.804; 11. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Honda), +0:58.717;
Ruben Fernandez 70
Not a spectacular day and it took me a couple of sessions to get to grips with this Ernee track, but to end it in fourth is a decent way to set myself up for tomorrow. I would have liked to be nearer to the leader but I am happy with the start and I think we can work on some things for tomorrow and I believe I can challenge for the podium spots, like the previous two GPs.
Ferruccio Zanchi 73
Last season I had a lot of problems on the first lap, and it was tough to deal with because it just makes life so much harder. Unfortunately this happened again today and although I came back from 19th to 11th, it still isn’t what I’m after and in these qualification races, I don’t get any points for 11th. At least I feel like I can get a good start I can do better, but this isn’t what I wanted heading into this weekend.
Valerio Lata 18
I felt pretty good today and much more comfortable than I have at previous rounds. Fifth in timed practice and then fifth in the qualification race shows that I capable of riding with the top guys so if I can get another good start, I am hopeful I can be up there and start scoring some good points once again.
Marcus Pereira de Freitas
HRC General Manager – MXGP
It was nice to have a dry day for everyone, but that still didn’t mean it was easy as Ernee is always a challenging circuit to prepare for. Ruben got better throughout the day and it is good that he isn’t happy with fourth place. We want him to want to finish higher and I think he is realising that he should be battling at the front now and get used to fighting with the leaders. Valerio fought well for his fifth place, and it was nice to see him get a good start again and mix it up, so we hope he can do more tomorrow. Unfortunately Ferro didn’t have a good first lap, getting caught up in another rider’s mistake, but he did make a lot of passes, which on this track wasn’t easy.
Qualifying Race
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Time/Gap
1 Coenen Lucas 96 BEL 10 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 24:13.119
2 Horgmo Kevin 24 NOR 9 Honda SR Motoblouz 0:06.069
3 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 8 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP 0:07.582
4 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 7 Honda HRC – MXGP 0:19.680
5 Renaux Maxime 959 FRA 6 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 0:20.061
6 Pancar Jan 253 SLO 5 TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team 0:25.160
7 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 4 Ducati Factory MX Team 0:28.319
8 Gifting Isak 517 SWE 3 JK Racing Yamaha Active 0:29.712
9 Coldenhoff Glenn 259 NDL 2 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 0:30.931
10 Herlings Jeffrey 84 NDL 1 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 0:31.562
11 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 0 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 0:32.486
12 Bonacorsi Andrea 132 ITA 0 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 0:38.446
13 Bogers Brian 189 NDL 0 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 0:43.527
14 Guadagnini Mattia 101 ITA 0 Ducati Factory MX Team 0:45.180
15 Sterry Adam 811 GBR 0 KTM Kozak Team 1:00.035
16 Guyon Tom 49 FRA 0 Wildcard Rider 1:02.498
17 Jonass Pauls 41 LAT 0 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP 1:03.756
18 van Doninck Brent BEL 0 1:06.628
19 Watson Ben 919 GBR 0 MRT Racing Team Beta 1:08.417
20 Alonso Victor 196 SPA 0 Wildcard Rider 1:12.661
Rider Standings
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team
1 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 394 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP
2 Coenen Lucas 96 BEL 347 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
3 Gajser Tim 243 SLO 305 Honda HRC – MXGP
4 Coldenhoff Glenn 259 NDL 279 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP
5 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 268 Honda HRC – MXGP
6 Renaux Maxime 959 FRA 265 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
7 Bonacorsi Andrea 132 ITA 223 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP
8 Horgmo Kevin 24 NOR 204 Honda SR Motoblouz
9 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 202 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
10 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 183 Ducati Factory MX Team
11 Jonass Pauls 41 LAT 142 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP
12 Watson Ben 919 GBR 131 MRT Racing Team Beta
13 Herlings Jeffrey NDL 128
14 Geerts Jago 93 BEL 126 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
15 Guadagnini Mattia 101 ITA 122 Ducati Factory MX Team
16 Pancar Jan 253 SLO 119 TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team
17 Gifting Isak 517 SWE 81 JK Racing Yamaha Active
18 Bogers Brian 189 NDL 80 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP
19 Guillod Valentin 92 SWI 72 Wildcard Rider
20 van de Moosdijk Roan NDL 71
21 Brumann Kevin 87 SWI 50 Wildcard Rider
22 Sterry Adam GBR 49
23 Koch Tom 226 GER 35 MRT Racing Team Beta
24 Stauffer Marcel 411 AUT 23 Wildcard Rider
25 van Doninck Brent BEL 22
26 Gilbert Josh GBR 21
27 Ludwig Noah GER 19
28 Spies Maximillian GER 13
29 Cairoli Antonio 222 ITA 10 Ducati Factory MX Team
30 Lupino Alessandro 177 ITA 9 Ducati Factory MX Team
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