Bobryshev takes first ever Qualifying Race victory in Team HRC 1-3
It was a positive day for Team HRC in Italy today as Evgeny Bobryshev took his first premier class qualifying race victory a clean sweep of the timesheets, going fastest in all sessions.
Both he and Gautier Paulin spent the entirety of the qualifying race in the top four, for most of it separated by just metres. After an action-packed last few laps in which the lead changed three times, Bobryshev emerged to take his first and Team HRC’s fifth premier class qualifying victory.
Paulin, who had been running second and chasing down World Champion Antonio Cairoli for the lead, made a small mistake with five minutes to go, losing the front on the slippery track. On the same lap, Cairoli made a similar mistake and also went down, promoting Ryan Villopoto to the lead, which he too crashed out of soon after.
Whilst Bobryshev remained consistent to take the flag in the lead, Paulin recovered to third to make it the first time that Team HRC has had both riders on the podium in MXGP qualifying.
Roger Harvey
“It’s been a very good day today. For Bobby, it’s a great result, especially as he was fastest in all sessions today. Gautier is also very fast, and had just as much chance of winning today but just made one small mistake and slipped off it. It’s good to see both guys strong out of the start, and up there at the front which is where we should be. The team and the engineers from HRC have done a fantastic job, especially over this week. It’s been a pretty intensive working week up to here, so the dividends of that testing are really showing now.”
Evgeny Bobryshev 777
“First of all, today is my first ever qualifying win so I’m really happy. At the end of the race it was a funny one because I was following and one after the other crashed, but I was consistent and could come through to the lead. Once I got out front I just tried to control the gap because the track was very slippery and I’d already seen the other three crash.
“I was really feeling good, the bike is good, and I really feel like it fits me exactly the way I want after the testing and work we’ve done this week. After my injury my confidence is coming back race by race and now we’re continuing to grow step by step and so I’m really happy.”
Gautier Paulin 21
“It was a cool race. I was having a really good feeling on the bike so I had a good ride, and when you feel good on the bike like this it’s great. I had the speed to get the lead but I had a surprise on a left corner when I just missed the front and crashed. Anyway, my goal was to make the bike ready for tomorrow with the crew so we’ll keep working in this direction. I feel confident going into tomorrow We’ve been working hard this week on many things and it’s starting to pay off so we’re feeling good.”
Results Session
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|
Location Information
Pietramurata, Trentino, Italy - View in Google Maps
