Second moto fourth for Bobryshev in Britain

Honda World Motocross team riders Evgeny Bobryshev and Rui Gonçalves recovered from a disastrous first race to finish fourth and sixth in the second moto in the intense heat at a spectacular Matterley Basin, Great Britain for round 13 of the MX1 World Championship.

After both riders picked up injuries yesterday with Bobryshev tweaking a knee ligament and Gonçalves having a partial shoulder dislocation, today was expected to be difficult with the addition of the hot and humid conditions that made the racing super tough.

The opening moto of the day was certainly one to forget as both riders fell on lap one with Gonçalves being hit by another rider in the third turn, while Bobryshev lost the front and crashed at the highest point of the track. The Honda World Motocross riders mounted dead last, and put on a strong showing around the gnarly Winchester circuit, although Bobryshev was forced to retire from the top 15 due to an unusual problem with his seat. Gonçalves came back through to 14th place.

The second race brought better luck for the Honda pilots, with Gonçalves gating into the top three and Bobryshev taking up sixth place. Gonçalves was attacking hard early in the moto, but the shoulder injury from yesterday began to make it tough halfway through the 35-minute plus two lap moto and the Portuguese star went on to finish in an eventual sixth place.

Teammate Bobryshev put on a fighting display with some of the fastest lap times on track during the mid-part of the moto, which elevated the 24-year-old Russian star to finish in a strong fourth position.

Both races were won by Antonio Cairoli and the world motocross championship circus now has one weekend off before the next event in Lierop, The Netherlands.

Rui Gonçalves #999: 9th overall

“In the first moto I didn’t have such a bad start, but in the second turn I got taken out and went down pretty hard with the bike landing on me. Everything was quite bent and it took me some time before I got going, so everyone was well over half a lap ahead of me. I put my head down, as I had to push really hard to close the gap, and I managed to get to 14th. It’s not the result I work for, but considering the circumstances it wasn’t so bad. I’ve also been struggling with the shoulder I damaged yesterday morning, as it was bad luck again and I had to go through the pain again. I had no power sometimes with the hand, which was coming off the bars. I got a good start to the second one, but halfway through the moto I started to get cramps in my back because of the shoulder. Hopefully time will heal it over the next few weeks and by Lierop I hope it will be fine. I was fast all weekend, so I was looking for something better, but at least we took sixth. We have a lot of positives to take away and we will keep the focus for the next race, so thanks to the team, my mechanic and all that have supported me.”

Evgeny Bobryshev #777: 13th overall

“I had a bad start in the first race and I got squeezed up in the corners. I made a mistake, as there was quite a lot of water on the track and I lost my front wheel. So Rui and I were last, but I fought through to come back to 14th. It was difficult in the middle of the race because everyone was going the same speed, and I had a technical problem in the end so I had to pull out. The second race went really well. I had a good start into third, but I found it difficult to get the rhythm and keep the pace of the front guys. I got going mid-race and found my lines with good speed and I started to make progress. I was trying to catch (Gautier) Paulin but the heat really started to get to me, so I had to settle for fourth. I am happy with that result, the atmosphere has been awesome with the crowd supporting the riders. The track was quite gnarly, slippery and bumpy but the overall day for me is better than Loket, so I am happy.”

Lorenzo Resta: Honda World Motocross Team Manager

“This event is a fantastic place to be and the motocross festival held here has been so nice to be part of, especially the parade we had this morning with so many bikes on track. There’s a great crowd here and so we were motivated for a good result, but in the first race we had some bad luck with both riders crashing on the first lap. Rui and Bobby gave all they had around this track, which is fast and difficult to make up time, but unfortunately Bobby had a problem with the seat and had to retire. It’s never happened before, and it’s something from after the crash, which was really unlucky, but Rui managed to get back to 14th. In the second race it was much better with both riders at the front, although Rui had some problems with the shoulder. The luck certainly hasn’t been on our side but we will keep fighting.”