Press Release

Superb Seventh for Bobryshev in the Netherlands

25th April 2010 – Grand Prix of The Netherlands – World
MX1 Championship Round 3


CAS Honda’s Evgeny Bobryshev made
further progress at the Grand Prix of The Netherlands in Valkenswaard
today with ninth and fifth place finishes to take seventh overall, while
Gareth Swanepoel recovered from a tough qualifying yesterday to put in
two strong performances to earn tenth overall.

In yesterday’s
eventful qualifying race around the super tough sand circuit, Bobryshev,
who hadn’t been out of the top five during all of the earlier practice
sessions, gated into eighth place. Teammate Swanepoel had gated well,
but became involved in a tangle with a number of riders at the second
turn, leaving him dead last and out of contention with the rest of the
field.

In the opening stages Bobryshev rode hard up to fifth
position and just dropped back to sixth on lap six of the 20-minute plus
two lap moto where he settled to guarantee him a good gate pick for
today’s races, while Swanepoel dug deep in the hot conditions and with
only a short time available he managed to clamber his way through the
field to finish in 21st place.

In the opening race of today
Bobryshev fired off the start and took up second position in the opening
part of the 35-minute plus two lap moto. While Antonio Cairoli had
gotten away at the front, 22-year-old Bobryshev began to spectacularly
reel in the reining world champion aboard his CAS Honda CRF 450R, while
lapping quickly and consistently. The Russian racer remained in second
for 11 laps and set the fastest lap of the race in the process, although
he found going tough in the final stages and slipped back to cross the
finish line in a credible ninth place.

Swanepoel gated into 21st
place, but the South African certainly made a big impression today as
he raged through the field without any goggles from the start of the
moto. The 25-year-old CAS Honda pilot impressively fought his way into a
top twelve position, despite struggling with visibility, to earn more
valuable points for his assault on the MX1 world championship.

In
race two both riders gated similarly with Bobryshev in tenth and
Swanepoel close behind in 11th by the end of lap one. Bobryshev pushed
hard and was lying in sixth place by lap seven around the sandy
Valkenswaard track, which certainly became more rough and demanding as
the day progressed. The Russian racer maintained a strong rhythm and a
final last lap push to pass Ken DeDycker earned him fifth place as well
as another personal best at Grand Prix level with seventh overall.

Swanepoel
also found a good race rhythm in eleventh place, and battled his way
past fellow Honda rider Davide Guarneri in the final stages to finish in
tenth place as well as tenth overall; a creditable performance
considering his low gate pick.

Evgeny Bobryshev #777: 7th
Overall
“I am quite happy with the result today. In the first
race it was good at the start and my speed was good until the last part
of the race. I passed the clock by the finish line and it read '15
minute' and I really thought 'no way!' as I had been working so hard. I
had some pressure from behind and had to slow down because I pushed too
hard early on, so I lost positions to ninth. The second race was much
better, as I took it easy and built up my speed. I found some good
lines that were not too bumpy and maintained a good rhythm. On the last
lap I used all the energy I had left in my body for that extra place. I
twisted the throttle as much as it would go and passed De Dycker three
corners before the finish, which I am very happy about. Now we go to the
British Championship next weekend where I hope to extend my
championship lead."


Gareth Swanepoel #8: 10th Overall
“It
went really good today all things considered. Yesterday I got caught up
with a few riders in the second turn of the qualifying race, which left
me dead last. We just did the best we could for a gate for today.
Unfortunately I had a problem with my goggles in the first race and had
to ditch them on the first lap; to ride for forty minutes without any
goggles was tough! I still managed to come back to twelfth so I was
pretty happy with that. My eyes were pretty sore between races that's
for sure. In the second race I had a good start and tried to go with the
guys ahead, but I had a bit of arm-pump and missed that little bit of
extra speed. I lost the tow but still arrived to 10th and I was pleased
with that because I had a horrible day yesterday. Now we just need to
work on getting the whole weekend together and to make it easier for
myself from the start of the weekend. Everything is in place and the
bike is working good; I just want to improve the results from here.”

Neil
Prince: CAS Honda Team Manager
Today has been another
successful step forward for CAS Honda. Evgeny has been quick all
weekend, but we knew that coming into the race it would be a tough ask
for him to maintain that pace for an entire moto, as he is still
learning at this level. In the first moto he looked fast and strong, in
fact he was the only person to match Cairoli’s speed while setting the
fastest lap of the race and was closing the gap to first place towards
the middle of the race. It became a little hard for him in the final few
laps, so maybe he pushed a bit too hard to begin with, but it’s all
good experience that he can learn from and he’s been making huge
improvements every week. In race two he rode very consistently and
maintained his rhythm throughout. He certainly has the speed, and with
more time racing at this level I am sure there is even more to come.
Gareth was a different rider today than we’ve been seeing recently. His
low gate didn’t help him, and he rode the whole of the first moto
without goggles, but he came from the back of the field after being
caught up in a crash in the second corner through to twelfth. In the
second race he was also strong, and today we saw what the real Gareth
Swanepoel can do. He just needs to work on putting a whole weekend
together to get the results I am sure he is capable of. Now we head to
the next race in Duns, Scotland for the British Championship where we
will be looking for more performances like today from both of the CAS
Honda riders.”

www.cashonda.com
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