Team HRC searching for a podium in South America
This weekend sees Team HRC head to South America, after a three-week gap, for the third round of the MXGP Championship where another new track awaits them.
The Patagonia Race Track at Neuquen is situated near the Argentina-Chile border close to the Chilean Austral Motorway, one of the main routes through Chilean Patagonia. Surrounded by lakes, mountains and forest, the picturesque track should favour the European riders with the volcanic and sandy nature of the soil creating a soft surface that isn’t too deep.
Gautier Paulin, in particular, should benefit from these conditions, as he will be using the same Dunlop tyre combination that he used during his dominant performance in the 2014 Motocross of Nations. The Frenchman will be looking to build on the results from Thailand where unfortunate incidents masked the podium potential he again showed. Paulin has already stood on the podium in his first race for Team HRC at the season-opener in Qatar.
Evgeny Bobryshev is also looking forward to the challenge the new track will bring and not knowing exactly how the track surface will change in race conditions. The Russian rider has been training hard and will be looking for consistent and ever-improving results as he gets back into his rhythm after missing the second half of last season through injury.
Last time out the Team HRC riders had to contend with the humid heat of Thailand, this weekend the Patagonian conditions should be slightly cooler and less humid, although still in the high 20s Celsius.
MXGP track action starts with Free Practice on Saturday at 1115hrs local time with Sunday’s MXGP races at 1315hrs and 1610hrs local time.
Roger Harvey
“The track from previews looks nice. It’s a nice setting and it looks quite sandy so I imagine it could get quite rough. We've a lot of settings on sand, so we should be in pretty good shape right from the start. When we get there we just need to look at any particularly challenging parts of the track. The plan is to keep out of trouble there, get good starts and get quickly into a rhythm. Again, we go there targeting a podium from this Grand Prix.”
Gautier Paulin 21
“I’ve just seen a few photos and video of the track, but it’s always different when you see it for real so we’ll just see how it’s going to be when we walk it on Friday. The start line looks pretty big, and we don’t know exactly how the ground is going to be, but it’s different to what we’ve seen at the first two rounds so hopefully it will be an awesome track.”
Evgeny Bobryshev 777
“For sure I’ve looked at the video and photos of the track and it looks really nice and really enjoyable to ride. There are fast sections and some big jumps. It’s a sand surface, we can see that, but we don’t know the exact surface and how it’ll be in the race, but I hope to really enjoy the weekend. I’ve been training hard since Thailand and I feel like I’m just starting to come back. I need the time at racing to continue to come back fully in my speed in confidence. Until I come back to the level I know I can be, I’m just aiming to keep working hard and keep the consistency of results.”
Location Information
Neuquen, Argentina - View in Google Maps
