Mixed opening day for Team HRC in the USA
There were different fortunes for Gautier Paulin and Evgeny Bobryshev today at the MXGP of the USA.
Paulin started strongly on his CRF450RW to take an early third position, and with just a few small mistakes crossed the line in sixth position. Bobby however had a rougher start and then was collected by another rider’s accident in turn two, demoting him to the back of the pack.
Re-joining, he set about fighting back through the pack and reached as high as tenth before a stall in the closing laps demoted him to 15th.
The start position is not so important for tomorrow however, owing to the fast and banked turn one which means that from an outside position you can carry more corner speed.
The temperature today reached a high of 34 degrees Celsius today, but tomorrow it’s expected to top out at 37 degrees, so the field faces a test of physical endurance, and the bikes will be tested too.
Roger Harvey
“Today was reasonable. Gautier made a good gate jump whilst Bobby was a bit shoved out in the first corner, and then got caught up in a crash in turn two which put him to the back of the pack. He came back to 15th, but actually the start position doesn’t make so much difference here because of the banked corner, which means from the outside you can carry more speed through it. Gautier had a reasonable race to finish sixth, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
Gautier Paulin 21
“It was good race for me. The track was good and they prepared it really well. I had a great gate jump but then I lost a couple of places into the first corner to Cooper and Antonio. Then the riding was ok; I made a few mistakes but finished sixth. I need to improve for tomorrow but I enjoy the track so I’m looking forward to tomorrow. It was really warm but there’s also some air flow so I was alright physically. The track wasn’t too rough, but they say tomorrow will be rougher and hotter. The sun was a little tricky though as the uphills are really uphill so you can see the sky and you’re looking right into the light.”
Evgeny Bobryshev 777
“On the first lap somebody crashed in front of me and Wilson hit him, but I was just behind him so I couldn’t avoid it and got stuck on his back wheel. When I had my bike back up, everyone had gone. The track is fast but there was a big gap by the time I had restarted. I was coming back through but it wasn’t so easy at the back finding your way past. I came to tenth behind Millsaps and Coldenhoff and was catching them but then I stalled the bike in a corner. By the time I restarted again I was 15th. But we have to stay positive. I need to think about the starts for tomorrow because I have the speed – we just need to get away cleanly.”
Qualifying race
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
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Location Information
Glen Helen Raceway, Verdemont Ranch Road, San Bernardino, CA, United States, North America - View in Google Maps
