Honda HRC PETRONAS endured a tough day of racing at the MXGP of Latvia, on a weekend that offered so much promise at various stages. All three riders suffered incidents that robbed them of major points, and will now utilise the weekend off to try and rebound strongly at their home GP in Montevarchi, Italy on June 20-21.
After a third-place finish in race one, Jeffrey Herlings was poised to go for victory in race two, applying maximum pressure to the leader at the sandy Kegums circuit. Unfortunately a technical issue meant he instead had to withdraw from the race, leaving him to finish just 10th overall. It was a similar story in the MX2 class when Valerio Lata had to pull off the track after a crash, while racing in fifth place in race one. If he had been able to keep going, this would have given him his best points tally since Switzerland, because in race two he rode excellently to finish fifth. Both motos included great starts on his Honda CRF250RW and he is highly motivated to put the whole package together at Montevarchi, which is a track he’s won at previously in the Italian Championship.
Ruben Fernandez also rode excellently in his first moto, to move forward and finish sixth, however when he was in the process of doing the same in race two, another rider caused a dangerous collision which left the Spaniard picking his bike up from the ground. He did put on a strong charge to come back to 11th place, but after a podium in Germany, this wasn’t the result he was after, as he looked to put himself consistently near the front of the field.
With eight rounds now completed, and the first back-to-back-to-back under their belts, the team now have a weekend off to regroup, and come in with fresh impetus in Montevarchi, where they’ll hopefully be joined by Tom Vialle.
MX2 Race 1
- Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 35:04.768; 2. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:23.324; 3. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:25.321; 4. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:27.137; 5. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), +0:29.842; 6. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:31.608; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:33.146; 8. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:48.526; 9. Jens Walvoort (NED, KTM), +0:56.432; 10. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Kawasaki), +0:57.565; … 19. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), -8 lap(s);
MX2 Race 2
- Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 35:10.618; 2. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:06.484; 3. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +0:08.987; 4. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:15.292; 5. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +0:15.761; 6. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:16.471; 7. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:43.354; 8. Ferruccio Zanchi (ITA, Ducati), +0:54.660; 9. Kay Karssemakers (NED, Kawasaki), +1:09.447; 10. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, Yamaha), +1:14.865;
MX2 GP Overall
- Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 50 points; 2. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 42 p.; 3. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 37 p.; 4. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 36 p.; 5. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 35 p.; 6. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 28 p.; 7. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 24 p.; 8. Kay Karssemakers (NED, KAW), 23 p.; 9. Jens Walvoort (NED, KTM), 21 p.; 10. Maxime Grau (FRA, HON), 20 p.; 11. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 18 p.;
MX2 Championship
- Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 380 points; 2. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 343 p.; 3. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 340 p.; 4. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 326 p.; 5. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 314 p.; 6. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 308 p.; 7. Janis Martins Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 280 p.; 8. Karlis Alberts Reisulis (LAT, YAM), 223 p.; 9. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 216 p.; 10. Kay Karssemakers (NED, KAW), 161 p.;
Rubén Fernández 70
Honda HRC PETRONAS
I was really good about things after the first race, I fought hard on the first lap to get into the top 10 and worked my way to sixth by the finish. I know it wasn’t easy to pass here, so the first lap was very important and I tried to do the same in race two. Things were going well but then I had a dangerous collision with another rider. Thankfully I’m okay and I was able to come back to 11th place, but disappointing to miss out on a good points tally.
Jeffrey Herlings 84
Honda HRC PETRONAS
Not much to say really. Hard to take when this happens but at least my riding was good and I was challenging for the win. Just got to try and do the best we can from here on in.
Valerio Lata 18
Honda HRC PETRONAS
Frustrating day because my riding was good, but the results don’t really show it. I was in the top five in the first race when I had a crash which meant I couldn’t finish the moto and then in race two I had a good race, riding in third for most of the time, before finishing fifth. It was still a good weekend with a lot of positives, but I know there is more to come and that will be the goal at the next GP, which is a home GP for me in Italy.
Marcus Pereira de Freitas –
Honda HRC PETRONAS
Motocross is full of ups and downs, and unfortunately this weekend had quite a few downs. Never easy to see our guys off the track, but the team will work extremely hard in this weekend off to try and make sure this never happens again. I think all three riders had good speed and looked good on the track, but the results really don’t show that. Italy is a home GP for us as a team and we’re hoping for better fortune there.
📸 @shotbybavo
