Press Release

Gonçalves Seventh Overall While Bobryshev Battles Pain for Top 12 Moto Finish At Valkenswaard Grand Prix


It
has certainly been a weekend of mixed fortunes for the Honda World
Motocross team riders at round one of the World MX1 Championship in
Valkenswaard, The Netherlands with Rui Gonçalves posting a 10th place
in the first moto followed by a really strong performance for fourth in
the second. Teammate Evgeny Bobryshev, who injured his hand yesterday,
crashed out of moto one and went on to bravely battle through the pain
for 12th in race two.

In
the opening race of the day Gonçalves didn’t get the best of starts but
rode a consistent moto, while struggling to find a strong rhythm around
the Valkenswaard circuit, and concluded the race in 10th place at the chequered flag.

 

Teammate
Bobryshev, who crashed heavily in yesterday’s first practice injuring
his right thumb, followed by retiring from the qualifying race after
damaging his machine, made the best of his outside gate for 15th at the end of lap one. The Russian-ace was certainly flying as he settled into the race and was up-to 11th position
when he went over the bars after hitting a bump awkwardly and went down
hard, ending his race as he was struggling to breathe.

 

In
race two Gonçalves got a good start into eighth place at the end of the
first lap of the 40-minute plus two lap moto. The Portuguese rider put
the hammer down mid-race in the wet conditions to put on an impressive
performance, which earned him fourth place in the race and a positive
seventh overall aboard his Dunlop-shod factory CRF 450R.

 

With
some concussion to the head as well as a bruised hip and chest, it was
looking unlikely that Bobryshev would compete in race two, but with
medical checks showing no broken bones, the tough Russian racer decided
he wanted to go for as many points as possible. It paid off, as a brave
battle through the pain from 25th at the end of lap one to an unbelievable 12th place finish, earned him some important championship points.

 

Both riders will now recover and prepare for the next Grand Prix race in Sevlievo, Bulgaria in just under two weeks’ time.

 

Rui Gonçalves #999: 7th Overall
“In
the first race I didn’t get such a good start and I didn’t feel myself;
I was riding a bit tight and making a lot of mistakes. Also when coming
through the lappers I was losing a lot of time, so I only managed to
finish 10th, although I knew for the second race I needed to
change something. So that’s what I did, I approached it differently and
tried to go straight away even if I didn’t get such a good start. Then
halfway through the moto I just got better and better with consistent
lap times to finish fourth. I am really happy, as the team has worked
really hard to achieve this and I want to thank them all for the effort
that everyone has put in. I’ll now go home to keep working hard and
prepare for the next Grand Prix.”

 

Evgeny Bobryshev #777: 17th Overall
“In
the first race it was a really big crash. I couldn’t see in front of me
and although I wasn’t pushing too much because I knew the race was
long, it all happened so quickly when the back wheel slid out and I hit a
bump, which sent me sideways then over the bars. I hit my chest and
couldn’t breathe, then my hip, head and shoulder were also hurting;
inside I had so much pain. In the second race I decided to go and I took
nine points, so I did the best I could and I hope these points will
help me later on in the championship. It was so hard; sometimes I really
wanted to cry because I had so much pain, especially landing on the
hard areas of the track and the bumps.This hasn’t been a good weekend at
all, but thanks to all the team and hopefully my body will recover
quickly for the next race.”

 

Lorenzo Resta: Honda World Motocross Team Manager
“The
first race wasn’t so good. Yesterday we had some problems with Bobby,
which made things tough for him today and Rui didn’t ride his best. We
had more bad luck for Bobby as he had a big crash and Rui was 10th,
but while he rode consistently, this was less than his capabilities. We
took Bobby for medical checks and although there are no broken bones he
has a taken a big hit to the head and chest with his body giving him a
lot of pain to add to the hand injury he has from yesterday. We didn’t
know until 15 minutes before the start whether he would ride, but it
definitely paid off that he did. I can just say that he has a brave
heart and again he confirmed how big his heart is because he chose to
ride and did a really good job with so much pain. Rui had a good start
and went stronger throughout the moto to take fourth place, with one of
the fastest lap times for the last three or four laps, which shows his
physical condition is really good, so we are very happy with this
result. Now Bobby will have a week of rest and Rui will continue with us
so we look forward to the next round in Bulgaria.”
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