The Honda World Motocross team is looking forward to round nine of the MX1 World Championship in Uddevalla, Sweden this weekend with riders Evgeny Bobryshev and Rui Gonçalves hoping to replicate the form they found at the picturesque sand track last season.
Following a well-earned weekend off after three consecutive races Bobryshev, who is recovering from a chest injury along with teammate Gonçalves, who sustained a fractured rib at the Belgian Grand Prix in practice just over a week ago, is aiming for improved results during this weekend’s event at the Swedish track.
Last season following a big crash in qualifying, where Bobryshev fought back to take eighth on the gate, the Russian ace tussled with Steven Frossard to take an impressive second place in the opening moto. In the second race the Honda pilot had a first corner slide, which meant he was in only 19thplace at the end of lap one, but the Honda star powered back to finish fourth while taking an impressive second place overall. Gonçalves did start the opening moto up front with his teammate, but eventually finished with consistent ninth and eighth places for ninth in the overall classification.
Prior to taking part in the weekend’s Grand Prix proceedings, on Friday both racers will take a few hours out of their schedule to work with Xtreme Academy coach Brian Jorgensen with the Swedish CRF 150R riders who are taking part in Honda Europe’s programme to help develop young talent. This initiative, which has proven highly popular in the Nordic countries amongst young fourstroke competitors, offers the chance for the youngsters to take part in a separate Honda championship with peer mentoring, an exciting prize pool, training from pro riders, recognition as a Honda rider and much more.
In addition to that this weekend is certainly an exciting one as the all-new CRF 250L, which is a new addition to Honda’s line of machinery, will be on display in the World Championship motocross paddock. This machine is a full dual-purpose motorcycle boasting on-road usability and impressive off-road performance. With its sharp good looks, multi-purpose uses and affordability, it’s definitely worth coming down to the Honda World Motocross team area for a glimpse of this new machine.
We would like to offer you a video preview of the event. The video contains an interview with Team Manager Lorenzo Resta, who offers a technical perspective, while riders Evgeny Bobryshev and Rui Gonçalves give their own personal views of the track:please click here
Rui Gonçalves #999
“After the Grand Prix in Bastogne I had no choice but to rest and try to get comfortable with the rib. I just can’t believe my luck at the moment, and the disappointment of having to go through another recovery process has been tough. Anyway, the doctor has said it is healing up well even after just over a week, but it takes a long time and I have to be patient. I rode on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, which went well, although it was painful on the hard landings or where I was trying to breathe deeply. Putting that aside I like the track in Sweden, and we’ve had some good practice this week, so I’m hoping for a positive weekend.”
Evgeny Bobryshev #777
“I am really looking forward to the weekend. I like the track a lot, but then anything can happen, as we’ve seen so many times already this year. But anyway, I’m a racer and I am excited to go there to get my head down for some good racing. I still have some pain with the chest, and I rode a race in muddy conditions at the weekend, but really we just need some good luck on our side, as I really want a podium now. Last year was good, especially with the weather being stable and it’s also a good atmosphere there. The track is really nice to ride, as it flows together and is a lot of fun. With the chest I’ve seen a specialist and there is nothing seriously wrong, but the pain is just the chest area recovering from the big impact I had a few weeks ago. I’ve ridden a little bit this week, which was fine and then on Friday we’ll go to do some more teaching with the young Xtreme Academy riders to help them. I enjoy doing that and it will be a relaxed start to the weekend.”
6/28/2012 8:47pm
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