Team HRC Calvin Vlaanderen’s qualifying performance at Imola’s Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari was cut short after a handful of laps as the 22-year-old from Cape Town was forced into an early retirement due to a technical issue.

Calvin was running in ninth position as the MX2 field swept past the first few turns of the moto and, after moving up to eighth place, he set his sight on Henry Jacobi in seventh.At the end of lap five, however, Vlaanderen made his way back to the pit-lane and did not get back into the race.

MX2 action will resume tomorrow morning at 10:45 local time (GMT +2) for the warm-up session, which will be followed by the final two races of the season at 13:15 and 16:10.

Calvin Vlaanderen 10

I’m obviously very disappointed for not finishing this race as it was very important to get a good gate-pick for tomorrow. It’s not easy to pass at this track and the first turn is very narrow. Having said that it is what it is: we know we have the speed so we’ll try to do our best in order to be as high as we can at the finish line.

Marcus Pereira de Freitas

HRC General Manager - MXGP

It’s a shame that Calvin’s performance drew to a close so early: he was building up a good speed and it looked like he could have made up a few places before the chequered flag. That’s racing and we know it, but surely his job will be much harder now. I’m sure he’ll be fired up for tomorrow!

MX2 2018
Qualifying Round 20   Italy

Qualifying race

Sunny & Dry
Track Cond
hard-pack
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
Location Information

Moto club Imola, Italy - View in Google Maps