MXGP Weltmeisterschaft

Mitch Evans ready for MXoN after positive MXGP season

Aussie MXGP star ready for RedBud

Published

1 year ago

September 14, 2022

Having been forced to miss the entire 2021 MXGP season due to complications with his troublesome wrist injury, it was great to see Mitch Evans back on the grid in 2022 and completing the entire campaign.

While he returned refreshed, ready for action and with a positive outlook, he was adamant it would take him roughly 10 rounds before he got back to a level where he could battle inside the top 10. Inherently needing time to not only feel confident on the bike again and get his fitness up to speed in grueling race conditions but also to feel comfortable riding as his arm regained strength, his assessment proved spot on.

“It’s been a really tough 15 months for me, not being able to race and not being able to ride for such a long time. It’s been hard, both physically and mentally to try and stay positive and to keep the motivation high to come back to what is an extremely high level of motocross in the MXGP class now,” he recalled on his enforced layoff.

“However, I am feeling better and better every day now and my fitness and strength is ahead of the schedule I’d set out for myself. I know that it won’t be easy to race these guys right away because they are going so fast, but I’m not putting pressure on myself and I truly believe I can get back to that level. You never lose your ability to ride, so it’s just a case of getting my left-side strong enough and that is happening day by day. I’m really thankful to have had the support of Team HRC throughout this period and I’m really looking forward to paying that back by putting in the results on the track.”

After getting off to a slow start at the season opener at Matterley Basin, where he went 17-22 for 20th overall and importantly got through unscathed, this was an encouraging entrance back into the elite level.

The next four rounds saw him continue to find his rhythm, as he went 13-15 at Mantova, 10-8 in Argentina, 15-12 in Portugal and 10-9 at Trentino. Mixing some highs with some lows, but crucially taking promising steps with every passing weekend of action, the signs were ominous that he wasn’t far away, with his third in the qualifying race at Trentino offering tangible evidence of his uptick in fortunes.

Despite him facing many challenges in the next handful of rounds due to a combination of the sweltering conditions across Europe, unfortunate mistakes, issues getting out of the gate cleanly and the deep field in MXGP, much upside could be extracted from his sixth in a moto at Maggiora, eighth in race two in Spain and how he held his own near the front in the brutal sand in Sardegna before succumbing to the heat.

Getting faster all the time and subsequently having to constantly adjust the bike accordingly, there was still much to admire about his first half of the campaign, where his results didn’t always match his pace.

Heading into the eleventh stop of the series at Teutschenthal in Germany and having reached his deadline of finding his feet, Evans’ early prediction proved accurate. Turning in an exceptional effort in the rutted, rough conditions, the Australian produced his best day yet by going 8-6 for seventh overall. Stamping his mark and instilling himself with the belief that he has what it takes to battle with the frontrunners for the remaining rounds, this served as the catalyst for him to keep progressing.

The next two rounds in Indonesia and the Czech Republic saw him vitally carry his momentum, for he registered four consecutive top seven moto finishes to claim sixth and seventh overall respectively.

Notching his first top five finish in the process at Indonesia and further underlining his skills in a range of terrain, the 23-year-old could have done even better had he not suffered from blisters at Loket that caused him to relinquish his top five place.

Next up was the renowned sandy confines of Lommel, where Evans’ weekend started wonderfully, as he was charging hard in third during the qualifying race before a sickening crash on the face of the triple ejected him. Even though he suffered no major injuries, a battered and bruised Evans valiantly attempted to race on Sunday, but only lasted half of the opening moto, wisely opting to retire in order to focus on Sweden.

This decision paid dividends, for the #43 produced a fantastic ride to claim victory in the qualifying race to kick off the meeting in style. Recording the fastest lap time and one of only three men to drop a 1:51, the smooth, effortless Evans was imperious.

He then backed up this statement effort with a top display on Sunday. Fighting through the pack after an early misstep to come all the way back to 10th in the trying conditions, Evans then showcased his speed in the final race of the day by putting in his best moto of the crusade to secure fourth.

Following his memorable exploits in Sweden that gave him the boost he needed that a podium was in reach, he sadly just fell short in the final three rounds of achieving this goal. But he still deserves credit for giving it his all in Finland, France and Turkiye, where he demonstrated his speed but frustratingly couldn’t put all the pieces together on race day.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas, HRC MXGP General Manager, summed up his year aptly, insisting: “For Mitch, we really thought he could achieve his goal of a podium, and for the first part of race one it looked really likely.

“However, we are still proud of his efforts because he never gave up and put in all the work necessary to get back to the front of the field. The results might not always show it, but he is one of the best motocross riders on the planet and we really hope he can put it all together at the Motocross of Nations.”

When speaking to Lewis Phillips in his Fly Racing post race podcast from Turkiye, Evans offered some fascinating insight on his season as well. “I feel like we’ve been building and especially since Loket when we made some changes to the bike. We kept going in that direction and getting better and better,” he explained.

“I’ve been enjoying going riding, because I’m really happy with the bike now and I want to ride it. I’m happy when I go and do motos during the week. It’s not not just from the bike, it’s also having my brother here and being in a good space off the bike in my personal life.

“I got 10th in the championship, which is not too bad, as I didn’t know what to expect coming back from my wrist injury. I was barely doing 30 minute motos before the season started. Really once I got the injection in my wrist after round one that’s when my wrist really started to improve and I feel like that’s when my proper training started. So all the training that I did during the winter was nothing. I felt like I was playing catch up all year.

“From then on it was just about building throughout the year. It was good, although I feel like I didn’t quite reach my goal of battling for wins and podiums. But at least we got a qualifying race win. I’d grade my season as a B+.”

Turning his attention to the MXoN, where he’ll join forces with the gifted Lawrence brothers to form a formidable all Honda HRC Team Australia, it’ll be fascinating to see how he fares. Seeing as the Aussies are one of the favourites and have never previously won the prestigious event, history beckons for the men from down under.

Still just 23 and with the world at his feet, Evans, who should be fully rested and ready to shine, will be looking to end his largely positive 2022 on a high at RedBud, where anything’s possible for him if he can ride to his immense potential.

MXGP Weltmeisterschaft

Insight into Cairoli’s decision to join Ducati from Lorenzo Resta

Listen now.

Published

2 days ago

December 7, 2023

Edward Stratmann

Fascinating insight into Antonio Cairoli’s decision to join Ducati from the great Lorenzo Resta.

Lead Image: Antonio Cairoli / Ducati

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MXGP Weltmeisterschaft

JK Racing Yamaha signs Isak Gifting for the 2024 MXGP season

See here.

Published

3 days ago

December 6, 2023

Edward Stratmann

JK Racing Yamaha will head into the 2024 season with a full line-up to compete in the MXGP World Championship as well as the EMX125 class with a combination of experienced riders and promising newcomers.

Words: Press Release | Lead Image: JK Racing

Isak Gifting will lead the way as he’ll compete the whole FIM Motocross World Championship making his debut in MXGP class, alongside Gifting will be Anton Nagy with YZ bLU cRU Masterclass winner Giorgio Orlando and Manuel Iacopi.

JK Racing Yamaha, managed by Riccardo and Giuliano Boschi, is committed to success for the 2024 season.

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Australian Motocross

Stat Attack: Top Threes of 2023

Read now.

Published

3 days ago

December 6, 2023

Edward Stratmann

As we look towards the 2024 season, MX Vice and Paul Pearcy have joined forces again to deliver some quality statistics, as we’ll be running through the top 10 in each championship across 2023 (MXGP, MX2, 450, 250 – AMA Supercross, SMX and Outdoors and Australian Supercross). Here are all the riders that secured 3rd in their respective title races.

MX2

3) Simon Laengenfelder

1st in Timed Practice: 5; Trentino, Agueda, Lommel, Uddevalla, Afyonkarahisar
Qualifying Race Wins: 5; Trentino, Vantaa, Afyonkarahisar, Maggiora, Matterley Basin (2nd most wins in class)
Qualifying Race Podiums: 13; out of 16 attempts (81% podium rate in qualifying races, best percentage in class)
Qualifying Race Laps Led: 57; (2nd best in class)
Race Podiums: 18; 3rd most in class
Race Wins: 8; 2nd most in class
GP Podiums: 9; 3rd most in class
GP Wins: 2; 1-1 at Intu Xanadu, Uddevalla
Race Laps Led: 141; (21% of total laps, 2nd most in class)

Averages

Timed Practice: 3.187; Best in class
Qualifying Race Finishes: 2.875; Best in Class
Qualifying Race First Lap Position: 3.562; Best in Class
Qualifying Race Points: 131; Most in Class
Race Finishes: 3.375 in Race 1(Best in Class), 3.875 in Race 2(3rd best in class)
GP Overalls: 3.5; 2nd best in class
Race First Lap Position: 4.968; 3rd best in class
Race Points: 321 from Race 1(2nd most in class), 303 from Race 2(4th best in class), Total of 624

Series Points: 755

MXGP

3) Jeremy Seewer

1st in Timed Practice: 1; Frauenfeld
Qualifying Race Podiums: 6; Intu Xanadu, Villars Sous Ecot, Teutschenthal, Sumbawa, Loket, Uddevalla
Qualifying Race Laps Led: 2
Race Podiums: 15
Race Wins: 2; Race 1 at Villars Sous Ecot, Race 2 at Uddevalla
GP Podiums: 7
GP Wins: 3; Villars Sous Ecot, Uddevalla, Maggiora
Race Laps Led: 62; (9% of total laps)

Averages

Timed Practice: 4.421; 4th best in class
Qualifying Race Finishes: 6.778
Qualifying Race First Lap Position: 5.222; 4th best in class
Qualifying Race Points: 105; 4th best in class
Race Finishes: 6.157 in Race 1, 4.157 in Race 2(3rd best in class)
GP Overalls: 4.684; 3rd best in class
Race First Lap Position: 6.842
Race Points: 310 from Race 1, 344 from Race 2, Total of 654 (3rd most in class)

Series Points: 759

250 West Coast Supercross

3) Levi Kitchen

Heat Race Podiums: 4
Heat Race Wins: 3; Seattle, Denver, Salt lake City
Heat Race Laps Led: 26
Main Event Podiums: 4; Anaheim 2, Glendale, Denver, Salt Lake City
Main Event Win: 1; Anaheim 2
Main Event Laps Led: 20; (11% of total laps)

Averages

Qualifying: 5th
Heat Race Finishes: 2.857; 3rd best in class
Heat Race First Lap Position: 5th
Main Event Finishes: 6.556
Main Event First Lap Position: 7.253

Series Points: 156

250 East Supercross

3) Max Anstie

1st in Qualifying: 1; Houston
Heat Race Podiums: 3; Houston, Indy, Nashville
Heat Race Laps Led: 3
Main Event Podiums: 4; Houston, Tampa, Daytona, East Rutherford
Main Event Win: 1; East Rutherford
Main Event Laps Led: 14; (8% of total laps)

Averages

Qualifying: 4.7
Heat Race Finishes: 4.667
Heat Race First Lap Position: 5.333
Main Event Finishes: 5.7; 4th best in class
Main Event First Lap Position: 4.741; 2nd best in class

Series Points: 182

450 Supercross

3) Cooper Webb

Heat Race Podiums: 7
Heat Race Wins: 2; Seattle, Atlanta
Heat Race Laps Led: 19
Main Event Podiums: 9
Main Event Wins: 2; Tampa, Arlington
Main Event Laps Led: 17; (3% of total laps)

Averages

Qualifying: 6.133
Heat Race Finishes: 4.5
Heat Race First Lap Position: 4.181
Main Event Finishes: 2.785; 2nd best in class
Main Event First Lap Position: 4.307; 3rd best in class

Series Points: 304

250 American Outdoors

3) Jo Shimoda

Moto Podiums: 10
Moto Wins: 3; Moto 2 at Southwick, 1-1 at Ironman
Overall Podiums: 4; Southwick, Millville, Budds Creek, Ironman
Overall Wins: 1; Ironman
Moto Laps Led: 53

Averages

Qualifying: 6.363
Moto Finishes: 4.636 in Moto 1, 4.545 in Moto 2(2nd best in class)
Overall Finishes: 4.454 (3rd best in class)
Moto First Lap Position: 6.545

Series Points: 393

450 American Outdoors

3) Aaron Plessinger

Moto Podiums: 5; Moto 1 at Hangtown, Moto 2 at Thunder Valley, Moto 2 at Washougal, Moto 2 at Budds Creek, Moto 2 at Ironman
Overall Podiums: 3; Thunder Valley, Budds Creek, Ironman
Moto Laps Led: 7; 3rd most in class

Averages