Third and sixth for Team HRC in qualifying at Assen
In today’s qualifying race for the MXGP of the Netherlands, at a sand-filled Assen TT circuit, Team HRC’s Gautier Paulin finished third and Evgeny Bobryshev sixth on their CRF450RWs.
The track has been specially constructed within the permanent road-racing circuit, and as such the ground is comprised of a soft and slippery sand that got increasingly rough as the race progressed.
From the start, both Gautier and Bobby were strong and soon settled into second and fourth respectively, with Bobby pushing for third. As the race progressed, a couple of mistakes saw him slip to sixth, where he elected to stay and conserve energy for tomorrow’s two races.
With no respite during a lap, the Assen track demands maximum focus and physical exertion, especially as it is so rough and because with the soft sand the line changes every lap. Still, with Gautier especially relishing the rough conditions, the team are confident ahead of tomorrow’s two races with both riders feeling strong and consistent.
Roger Harvey
“A positive day for the team today on difficult track conditions. Because the sand is so soft the line is always changing so the riders need to adapt a lot lap-by-lap, but the positions of both Gautier and Bobby are fine for tomorrow. We can see from the practice sessions too that the speed is there for both riders, so we’ll see what condition the track is in tomorrow morning and then take it from there. It’s very technical here, but I think both our guys can do well this weekend.”
Gautier Paulin 21
“The track is tough and really rough with some tricky bumps, but more it gets rough, the better it is for me. I don’t like it when sand tracks have not enough ruts because you can't really play the game with the technique. Right now at the end of the day it was better and the position is good for qualifying. I had a good feeling, so it was a positive day.”
Evgeny Bobryshev 777
“It was strange today as here the sand is really very tough, so when you shut off the throttle the bike brakes a lot and you almost go over the bars. You have to be always focused on this track as it’s really gnarly. For me it was ok. I didn’t have a good start, but then I was challenging for top three. I passed Gautier but then he passed me back, and then I made too many mistakes and I got passed. Then I was thinking I’m not going to lose my energy to fight back as I know I have the speed for tomorrow and sixth is ok for me for the start. My goal was just to save energy and hold sixth, and the day that really counts is tomorrow.”
Results Session
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
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Location Information
Assen, The Netherlands - View in Google Maps
