Dean Ferris raced his factory backed Monster Energy Yamaha YZ250F to a superb second position overall at Hyvinkää today for the Grand Prix of Finland and the twelfth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship attended by 23,000 spectators (weekend figure). The first visit of the MX series to Finland in thirteen years took place on a carved and bump-laden sandy track with a decent technical level.
Hyvinkää was a physical test for the riders and an ample challenge for the set-up of the MX2 motorcycles with the flat and relatively short layout heavy on the engines and pounding on the suspension systems. Sunshine and warm temperatures added a pleasant sheen to the event that entered the calendar at a late stage to replace the cancelled fixture in Russia.
Ferris returned to the winner’s circle after two punchy starts on the YZ and a mean pace that cast him as one of the main protagonists on the day. The Australian was able to spray champagne for the third time this season and on the first occasion since capturing second in Portugal for round six. ‘111’ started third and held his speed and nerve to cross the line in the same position in the first moto. Later in the day he needed to recover from outside the top five to catch and pass Jose Butron for the same rank and confirm his silverware.
In tenth position overall was Christophe Charlier. The Corsican, who recently inked another deal to stay a Yamaha factory rider for 2014, was unlucky with his starts. In the first he was buried mid-pack and needed to work for the whole of the first 35 and 2 minute duration to rise from 15th to 8th. Charlier was in the wrong place at the wrong time in the second moto when he couldn’t avoid a fallen rider in the first corner and was also sent tumbling to the dirt. ‘23’ was unhurt but after again fighting his way through the hoards was ‘spent’ after reaching 13th.
Maxime Desprey was twelfth across the board with two race finishes in that slot delivering the same overall result. The French youngster made an impressive getaway in Moto1 and nestled into a race rhythm that saw him circulating on the fringes of the top ten. Some fatigue in the later stages of Moto2 saw him drop from tenth another two ranks but the points-haul equalled his highest of 2013 so far. It was a hard day for Mel Pocock who struggled with the rough nature of the track. The Briton registered a best finish of 14th in the second outing.
Ferris was able to gain some good ground on Glen Coldenhoff in the MX2 World Championship standings and is now just 13 points behind the Dutchman and 5th place. Charlier is 4th and needs to find 40 points over Jose Butron to reach his season goal of a top three championship finish. Pocock holds twelfth while Desprey is 16th. Monster Energy Yamaha are next in action in two weeks time with the new Lausitzring circuit hosting the Grand Prix of Germany.
Dean Ferris: “I feel good. It has been a few tough races recently and I think it was the track that helped me out today because it was quite technical. I got some good starts and my bike was fast all weekend; I was able to put it on the podium again so it’s all-good. We’ve done some testing during the week and found a better set-up. The engine has been really strong and overall we’ve been sticking to the programme; I was just able to keep moving forward today and brought it home in the second moto after Tixier was too far ahead.”
Christophe Charlier: “The track was very difficult today with many bump and big lines. I crashed in the second race and tried to come back but it was tough physically and I have to take what I can. I was in fourth or fifth at the start but somebody slid out in front of me. It happened so suddenly that I couldn’t move left or right and just smashed into the bike. I then lost time to restart but afterwards followed Coldenhoff through. For this race I have to accept these results and try to push a lot for the next GP.”
Mel Pocock: “I’m not enjoying it at the moment and I can’t work out why. I’m struggling and it is not through a lack of training or effort. We will have to talk about this and go back to the drawing board for some solutions. We have two weeks to get back on the good path now.”
Maxime Desprey: “It was pretty good today. In the first moto I started in second place but I couldn’t ‘go’ at the beginning and lost some places. Afterwards I picked up my rhythm and finished in twelfth; which wasn’t too bad. In the second moto my start was not the same. It was worse. I pushed to pass many guys on the second lap and it was going pretty well but I think I paid for that at the end of the race. Physically it was hard but to finish twelfth again feels like an improvement over the last couple of GPs.”
