Honda World Motocross riders Evgeny Bobryshev and Rui Gonçalves gave their all during a tough weekend with injury, which reaped only a fifth place in moto two for Bobryshev, while Gonçalves took a double points scoring finish with a broken rib for round eight of the MX1 World Championship in Bastogne, Belgium.
In the opening moto of the day Gonçalves made a good start into fifth position, while Bobryshev tangled with Ken de Dycker going into turn one with the pair then struggling to free their machines to rejoin the race at the back of the field.
Gonçalves was pushing hard around the Bastogne track, at which conditions had vastly improved thanks to sunshine this morning, although mid-race he was suffering with the painful broken rib sustained in yesterday’s timed session, and eventually slipped back to 15thplace. Bobryshev, who also fell yesterday and is having problems with pain when he breathes deeply, managed to get within reach of the top fifteen in a handful of laps when a problem with the front brake, which was damaged in the crash off the start, caused him to fall again and ultimately ruled him out of the race.
Moto two certainly saw great improvements over the opening stint with Bobryshev getting a superb start, taking the lead on the first lap and battling initially with Christophe Pourcel in the opening stages with great pace aboard his factory CRF 450R. The Russian-ace had some arm pump mid-race and rode sensibly with no risk while battling through the pain to take a strong fifth place at the chequered flag. Gonçalves made a steady start into 10thposition and rode through the pain barrier to take another points scoring finish in 15thplace.
Antonio Cairoli won both races and the MXGP circus now has one weekend off before heading to the next round in Uddevalla, Sweden.
Evgeny Bobryshev #777: 11thoverall
“The weather had improved a lot since yesterday, but this kind of track is almost like old school with the mud, stones and so on. I had a really bad night sleeping with the noise from the camping area, but anyway the first race went wrong straight from the gate. I crashed with de Dycker, who came across so fast as I was turning from the inside, and damaged my front brake. I crashed again because the front brake was damaged. The second race was much better, as I led a little bit, but I did struggle too. I haven’t really had good races with crashes and injury, so I got a bit pumped up in the middle of the race, just with not having many races being close to the front of the field where we should be. I am happy with fifth place, as it’s better than nothing and it is closer to the place I need to be. I had a lot of pain with the chest, and I don’t like taking painkillers because it affects my vision. It’s hard to breathe when riding, but now we’ve got a bit of time to recuperate and get healthy ready for Sweden.”
“The weather had improved a lot since yesterday, but this kind of track is almost like old school with the mud, stones and so on. I had a really bad night sleeping with the noise from the camping area, but anyway the first race went wrong straight from the gate. I crashed with de Dycker, who came across so fast as I was turning from the inside, and damaged my front brake. I crashed again because the front brake was damaged. The second race was much better, as I led a little bit, but I did struggle too. I haven’t really had good races with crashes and injury, so I got a bit pumped up in the middle of the race, just with not having many races being close to the front of the field where we should be. I am happy with fifth place, as it’s better than nothing and it is closer to the place I need to be. I had a lot of pain with the chest, and I don’t like taking painkillers because it affects my vision. It’s hard to breathe when riding, but now we’ve got a bit of time to recuperate and get healthy ready for Sweden.”
Rui Gonçalves #999: 15thoverall
“It was a really difficult day after the crash yesterday, where I fractured my rib and damaged the cartilage. I had a tough night with the pain, as I couldn’t breathe properly, or find any way of getting comfortable, then this morning it just felt like there was a knife inside with so much pain. I knew it would be tough, and I’ve never broken a rib in the past, but to be honest it’s not the best thing to have on a race day. I decided I could race with some painkillers and strapping from the doctor, but in some stages in both of the motos I couldn’t breathe. The pain was really intense, taking a lot of my energy, so I just had to try and battle to get to the end of each race. I really don’t know what’s going on, as I feel like I’m swimming against the current; every time I get nearly healthy something else happens. I won’t give up, and I just hope I can ride without pain to show my performance at 100%, as this has been the fourth injury of the season, which is definitely enough now. Thanks goes to the team for their support and now I’ll go home to get a more detailed look at the injury.”
Lorenzo Resta: Honda World Motocross Team Manager
“It was another tough day for us. We already knew with Rui it would be a very difficult day, and I am really proud of what he did. With a broken rib he was fighting right until the end for the points and never gave up, then to see him really crying out with the pain after he came back from the track showed how brave he was, so I want to say thanks to him for all of his effort. With Bobby in moto one the crash at the start affected the outcome of the race. He was coming back really strong, but the front brake disc was broken and this eventually ended his race. In the second moto he showed that he is not only fast, but he’s a clever guy as he reduced his speed a little bit to stay there and not to make any mistakes. Now we continue our work with this week’s rest and build up for the next round in Sweden.”
“It was another tough day for us. We already knew with Rui it would be a very difficult day, and I am really proud of what he did. With a broken rib he was fighting right until the end for the points and never gave up, then to see him really crying out with the pain after he came back from the track showed how brave he was, so I want to say thanks to him for all of his effort. With Bobby in moto one the crash at the start affected the outcome of the race. He was coming back really strong, but the front brake disc was broken and this eventually ended his race. In the second moto he showed that he is not only fast, but he’s a clever guy as he reduced his speed a little bit to stay there and not to make any mistakes. Now we continue our work with this week’s rest and build up for the next round in Sweden.”
6/17/2012 9:34pm
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