Honda HRC duo Ruben Fernandez and Valerio Lata both had difficult weekends at the sandy KymiRing circuit in Finland, costing points in their championship battles, but providing them with plenty of motivation when the series resumes in two weeks in the Czech Republic.
After a fourth in the qualification race yesterday, Fernandez had hopes for a podium heading into today and he was looking good early on in race one. He utilised his gate-pick well, powering out the gate on his Honda CRF450R inside the top five. He kept that position for the majority of the moto, only relinquishing it as the circuit got rough at the end of the moto. Race two started off in a similar vein, with the #70 even closer the pack round the first bend. Unfortunately a couple of corners later, he suffered a big impact from a rider behind him and was forced to remount at the back of the field. Showing his determination, he was scything his way through the field and had made it inside the top 10 in only a few laps, however unbeknownst to him initially, the earlier collision had caused severe damage to his bike, and he was forced to pull off the track. It was a big shame for the Spaniard as another top five result was within his grasp, along with a closing of the gap to third place in the championship standings.
It didn’t go much better for Lata in the MX2 class, as he couldn’t find any rhythm in the sand, on a track that was running a GP for the very first time. Throughout the weekend, he seemed to be fighting the track, rather than flowing with it and as a result, he wasn’t able to break into the top 10 in either race. His 13th overall is not the level he expects from himself and he knows he has to work hard to get better when we head to Loket, Czech Republic on July 26-27.
MX2 Race 1
- Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), 35:13.030; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:03.703; 3. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:10.113; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:25.788; 5. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:34.540; 6. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:48.976; 7. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +1:00.675; 8. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:04.121; 9. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +1:19.338; 10. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +1:21.535;… 13. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), -1 lap(s);
MX2 Race 2
- Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), 34:45.532; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:08.740; 3. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:17.805; 4. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:29.246; 5. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:38.586; 6. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:50.955; 7. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:01.829; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +1:05.479; 9. Rick Elzinga (NED, Yamaha), +1:21.447; 10. Jens Walvoort (NED, KTM), +1:36.573; … 13. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), -1 lap(s);
MX2 GP Overall
- Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 50 points; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 42 p.; 3. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 38 p.; 5. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 31 p.; 6. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 31 p.; 7. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 27 p.; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 25 p.; 9. Rick Elzinga (NED, YAM), 23 p.; 10. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 23 p.;… 13. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 16 p.;
MX2 Championship
- Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 613 points; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 570 p.; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 565 p.; 4. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 482 p.; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 464 p.; 6. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 458 p.; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 393 p.; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 297 p.; 9. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 289 p.; 10. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 272 p.;
Ruben Fernandez 70
A very disappointing way to end the GP, which ended up being a real challenge due to the track and the weather. In the first race I got a good start and was inside the top five for most of the race before I lost my rhythm and dropped down to sixth. Then in race two I got another good start and was in second place, when another rider hit my bike and we went down. I remounted as quickly as possible and was working my way back through the field when it became apparent that the bike was damaged and I pulled into pitlane. Obviously this isn’t what I wanted and isn’t a fair reflection of how I was riding, but I’ll just have to regroup for Loket next time out.
Valerio Lata 18
Definitely not my best weekend, and one that I really need to make sure doesn’t happen again. I never got to grips with the track and despite trying everything with the team, we couldn’t make it easier to ride and I just struggled in every session. This has really made it clear that I need to work on riding in the sand and make sure I do better when we visit Lommel and Arnhem.
Marcus Pereira de Freitas
HRC General Manager – MXGP
Sometimes you just have weekends like this and there isn’t so much that you can do. The collision for Ruben could easily have left no damage, but instead it was serious enough for him to have to pull out of the race. He was moving forward and showing speed in the sand, so we couldn’t have asked for more from him. Valerio knows that this isn’t the level we expect from him, and we will do everything we can to help him improve so that he back nearer the front.
Race 1
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Time/Gap
1 Coenen Lucas 96 BEL 25 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 35:16.114
2 Coldenhoff Glenn 259 NDL 22 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 0:13.879
3 Bonacorsi Andrea 132 ITA 20 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 0:20.853
4 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 18 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 0:34.179
5 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 16 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP 0:43.453
6 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 15 Honda HRC – MXGP 0:43.700
7 Forato Alberto 303 ITA 14 Honda SR Motoblouz 1:01.324
8 Bogers Brian 189 NDL 13 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 1:10.359
9 van Doninck Brent BEL 12 1:19.544
10 Horgmo Kevin 24 NOR 11 Honda SR Motoblouz 1:24.184
11 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 10 Ducati Factory MX Team 1:28.426
12 Watson Ben 919 GBR 9 MRT Racing Team Beta 1:37.327
13 Guadagnini Mattia 101 ITA 8 Ducati Factory MX Team 1 lap
14 Sterry Adam 811 GBR 7 KTM Kozak Team 1 lap
15 Geerts Jago 93 BEL 6 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 1 lap
16 Koch Tom 226 GER 5 MRT Racing Team Beta 1 lap
17 Pumpurs Mairis 610 LAT 4 Wildcard Rider 1 lap
18 Nissinen Pekka 29 FIN 3 Wildcard Rider 2 laps
19 Kangasniemi Kasper 40 FIN 2 Wildcard Rider 2 laps
20 Pancar Jan 253 SLO 1 TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team 15 laps
Race 2
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Time/Gap
1 Coenen Lucas 96 BEL 25 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 35:03.807
2 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 22 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP 0:08.850
3 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 20 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 0:24.134
4 van Doninck Brent BEL 18 0:36.186
5 Coldenhoff Glenn 259 NDL 16 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 0:46.826
6 Geerts Jago 93 BEL 15 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 0:51.295
7 Forato Alberto 303 ITA 14 Honda SR Motoblouz 1:01.767
8 Bonacorsi Andrea 132 ITA 13 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 1:03.424
9 Bogers Brian 189 NDL 12 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP 1:04.076
10 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 11 Ducati Factory MX Team 1:05.353
11 Watson Ben 919 GBR 10 MRT Racing Team Beta 1:21.785
12 Guadagnini Mattia 101 ITA 9 Ducati Factory MX Team 1:44.879
13 Pancar Jan 253 SLO 8 TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team 1:50.731
14 Koch Tom 226 GER 7 MRT Racing Team Beta 1 lap
15 Pumpurs Mairis 610 LAT 6 Wildcard Rider 1 lap
16 Sterry Adam 811 GBR 5 KTM Kozak Team 1 lap
17 Nissinen Pekka 29 FIN 4 Wildcard Rider 2 laps
18 Horgmo Kevin 24 NOR 3 Honda SR Motoblouz 11 laps
19 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 2 Honda HRC – MXGP 12 laps
20 Varjonen Miro 248 FIN 1 Wildcard Rider 17 laps
Rider Standings
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team
1 Febvre Romain 3 FRA 627 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP
2 Coenen Lucas 96 BEL 612 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
3 Coldenhoff Glenn 259 NDL 449 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP
4 Fernandez Ruben 70 SPA 407 Honda HRC – MXGP
5 Vlaanderen Calvin 10 NDL 366 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
6 Bonacorsi Andrea 132 ITA 353 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP
7 Renaux Maxime 959 FRA 347 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
8 Herlings Jeffrey 84 NDL 325 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
9 Gajser Tim 243 SLO 305 Honda HRC – MXGP
10 Seewer Jeremy 91 SWI 296 Ducati Factory MX Team
11 Horgmo Kevin 24 NOR 243 Honda SR Motoblouz
12 Watson Ben 919 GBR 218 MRT Racing Team Beta
13 Geerts Jago 93 BEL 211 Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
14 Pancar Jan 253 SLO 201 TEM JP253 KTM Racing Team
15 Bogers Brian 189 NDL 198 Fantic Factory Racing MXGP
16 Jonass Pauls 41 LAT 162 Kawasaki Racing Team MXGP
17 Guadagnini Mattia 101 ITA 159 Ducati Factory MX Team
18 Gifting Isak 517 SWE 149 JK Racing Yamaha Active
19 van de Moosdijk Roan 34 NDL 113 KTM Kozak Team
20 van Doninck Brent BEL 107
21 Sterry Adam 811 GBR 83 KTM Kozak Team
22 Guillod Valentin 92 SWI 72 Wildcard Rider
23 Forato Alberto 303 ITA 72 Honda SR Motoblouz
24 Koch Tom 226 GER 69 MRT Racing Team Beta
25 Brumann Kevin 87 SWI 50 Wildcard Rider
26 Stauffer Marcel 411 AUT 38 Wildcard Rider
27 Cairoli Antonio 222 ITA 37 Ducati Factory MX Team
28 Spies Maximillian GER 36
29 Gilbert Josh GBR 27
30 Tondel Cornelius 17 NOR 20 JWR Honda Racing
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