Honda World Motocross rider Evgeny Bobryshev enjoyed two strong motos at his first ever home Grand Prix in front of a bumper crowd to earn fifth overall with teammate Gonçalves one place behind in sixth for round 11 of the MX1 World Championship in Semigorje, Russia.
After yesterday’s wet races, conditions couldn’t have been more different for today’s event with baking hot sunshine and a dry track greeting the riders this morning. In the opening moto of the day Gonçalves made a good jump from the start, although he was punted off the track in the second turn, while Bobryshev made a poor start and gave himself a lot of work to do.
With a hard charge, Gonçalves recovered to 10th place by the end of lap one, while Bobryshev settled into eighth before making some good passes in the proceeding laps. While the Russian-ace was unable to make enough of an impression on fifth placed Kevin Strijbos, he managed to maintain a strong sixth position. Gonçalves also made good progress to go on and take eighth place with some consistent riding in the Russian heat.
In the second moto Gonçalves got another good start into fourth position by the end of lap one around the hard but sandy Semigorje track. Despite some good, strong riding from the Portuguese racer, he slipped back a few places and had to fend off some hard attacks from Gautier Paulin to finish in sixth place for sixth overall. Bobryshev again had to recover from a bad start, and with more energy for the second heat the Honda pilot steered his factory CRF 450R from seventh up-to fifth place with good lap times in the closing stages to take fifth overall.
Antonio Cairoli won both races to take the GP win and the Honda World Motocross team now has one weekend off after the long trip back to Europe before heading to the Czech Republic for round 12 of the series.
Evgeny Bobryshev #777: 5th overall
“Today went okay for me. In both races I had two pretty bad starts, but I made a lot of places up on the first few laps. In the first race I found it a lot harder than the second one, I’m not sure why, but by the end I was really tired. I managed to keep the sixth place, so I had to be happy with that. The second race felt easier; after recovering from a bad start I tried to ride my own race to go faster with no mistakes. It’s been an amazing experience having a home race, as the fans were cheering me like I was leading, which was really fun. I want to thank the Moscow Region, all my team, the fans and of course Investment Trade Bank who organised the race. It’s been an interesting weekend, as I’ve been trying to give all my fans a lot of attention, and it was nice to have that support from them. I am excited already for my home GP next year, but I hope I come here without having had injury and in turn meaning I will be more fit so I can give them even more to cheer about.”
Rui Gonçalves #999: 6th overall
“It was a pretty good weekend. Coming into the race I was a bit scared with the problems in my arm, but I didn’t want to make a big issue with it, as I just had to deal with what I had. Yesterday was okay, and today I had a pretty good start in the first moto but in the second corner I tangled with Christophe (Pourcel) and Shaun (Simpson), which pushed me right off the track. I got into the top ten quite quickly, and finished eighth. I was pretty happy with that, as although it’s not the result I aim for, the track was quite one speed and it was difficult to make the time up. In the second moto I had another pretty good start, but I made some mistakes in the opening parts and wasn’t riding smoothly or at my best. Once I settled down I got going halfway through, and even though I was pushing really hard, I could stay focused, I found good lines and managed to keep my position to the end. I had some positives from this weekend and I am happy, as we have some momentum coming from Latvia and I can do a good job in the week. I’d like to thank the team, my mechanic, and my girlfriend for being behind me.”
Lorenzo Resta: Honda World Motocross
“For sure it’s been a good day, as we’ve had sunshine at the track, a smile on our face and most importantly smiles with both Bobby and Rui. Both riders had great races while battling really hard, but I hope people understand how far we are from a good condition, good riding, and confidence with the bike after all of the issues we’ve had recently. If they take everything into account, today we made a little bit more of a miracle with our results and strong motos. I am also proud of how Bobby dealt with the pressure of this massive crowd screaming his name, and he’s been followed by an army of fans everywhere he has gone during the weekend. I’d also like to offer our thanks to our sponsors and for all of the support we received from everyone.”
(Image credit Sarah Gutierrez)
