Tough Battle For Suzuki MX2 In Belgium

Some 18,000 spectators trusted a better weather forecast for race day as Saturday's qualification programme was cut short to due relentless rainfall that created swampy conditions in the paddock. Thankfully the naturally-set course drained well and by the time sunshine started to dry the black mud on Sunday morning, the dirt permitted a choice of racing lines and a bumpy, technical and fast terrain.

Poor getaways restricted the possibilities of both Petrov and Kullas on Sunday: The Bulgarian slipped off the RM-Z250 twice in the first moto and collected some points for 18th. In the second, he swapped track space and defied a bit of discomfort from a sore left ankle to cross the line in 14th. Kullas struggled with arm-pump and was also trying to plot a course from the second half of the field. The Fin managed 16th and 17th. Circulating with his team-mates in what was his first stab of action at this level was Seewer, who showed resilient speed and grasped the occasion to shine in front of the cameras to bag points for 14th and 19th.

Elsewhere in Europe - the tough sand of Schwedt in Germany to be exact - Brian Hsu guided his RM85 to fourth position overall in the final round of the north-western phase of the UEM European 85 series.

With Kullas 11th and Petrov 12th in the MX2 World Standings, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe can now reflect on a busy period of three races in three weeks and then begin to prepare for the Grand Prix of Sweden at Uddevalla at the end of the month.

Petar Petrov:

"Not a great weekend. Yesterday wasn't too bad actually and I qualified 10th in the wet. I could do better but made some small mistakes. Today I had trouble with my starts. I was right at the back in the first one and came back to 18th but then had a crash, battled to 17th and went down again. It was a horrible race! In the second I pushed to 14th and was having a close fight out there with the others. The track was really nice and they did a good job. There were a lot of lines. Not a good weekend finally and I need to work a lot on my starts but we'll hope for more and better in Sweden."

Harri Kullas:

"Really bad starts today; getting out of the gate was OK in the first moto but I messed up the first corner. In the second race I couldn't get off the line with the group. I lost lots of positions at the start of the first heat and it was so hard to come back because I had so much arm-pump. I could barely feel my fingers and it wasn't nice to ride just cruising around. I just tried to finish the race and get some points. I found myself having to come from behind again in the second. I couldn't believe it was so dusty on the first lap, especially after yesterday! My riding was OK until the last 10 minutes when I suffered with the arms again and couldn't pass the guys in front of me. A bad day; we have to move on from this."


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MX2 Moto1:1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 39:30.417; 2. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:11.415; 3. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), +0:16.442; 4. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:20.759; 5. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +1:05.664; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +1:10.608; 7. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +1:21.703; 8. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +1:25.784; 9. Mel Pocock (GBR, Yamaha), +1:33.831; 10. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Husqvarna), +1:42.311.14. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), +1:59.077.16. Harri Kullas (FIN, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), -1 lap(s).18. Petar Petrov (BUL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), -1 lap(s).

MX2 Moto2:1. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 39:20.529; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:13.020; 3. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), +0:44.315; 4. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:50.890; 5. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), +0:51.762; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +1:21.534; 7. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:28.099; 8. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +1:41.428; 9. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Husqvarna), +1:45.612; 10. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), +1:46.020.14. Petar Petrov (BUL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), -1 lap(s).17. Harri Kullas (FIN, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), -1 lap(s).19. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), -1 lap(s).

MX2 Overall result:1. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 47 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 47 p.; 3. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 40 p.; 4. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), 34 p.; 5. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), 32 p.; 6. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 30 p.; 7. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 29 p.; 8. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 24 p.; 9. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Husqvarna), 23 p.; 10. Mel Pocock (GBR, Yamaha), 21 p.16. Petar Petrov (BUL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), 10 p.17. Harri Kullas (FIN, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), 9 p.18. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), 9 p.

MX2 World Championship Standings(after 8 of 16 rounds): 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 364 points; 2. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), 340 p.; 3. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 308 p.; 4. Joel Roelants (BEL, Kawasaki), 238 p.; 5. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), 217 p.; 6. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 204 p.; 7. Max Anstie (GBR, Honda), 191 p.; 8. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Husqvarna), 152 p.; 9. Jose Butron (ESP, KTM), 150 p.; 10. Dylan Ferrandis (FRA, Kawasaki), 139 p.11. Harri Kullas (FIN, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), 132 p.12. Petar Petrov (BUL, Rockstar Energy Suzuki Europe), 118 p.