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Tough outing for Honda in Swedish mud

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Sunday, 01 July 2012 17:56
An overcast and slushy Uddevalla circuit was the setting for the Grand Prix of Sweden and Honda World Motocross’ Rui Goncalves steered his factory CRF450R to thirteenth position overall at what was the ninth round of sixteen in the 2012 FIM Motocross World Championship. Twenty-two thousand spectators flocked to one of the staple fixtures in the series - having hosted a Grand Prix every year this century – and saw Clement Desalle take victory in the premier MX1 class for the second time this season. Honda were best represented by Honda France HDI MX Team’s Cedric Soubeyras in eleventh place.

Uddevalla provided its usual test of fast and tight turns with a number of undulating jumps and sections. The shallow, loose top soil was slippery in places and rough and rutted in others. With the rain the dirt was watery and muddy in the first moto, but afternoon sunshine helped dry the course to an extent. The rocky hillside adjacent to the layout provided the majority of fans with a superb birds eye view of the action.

Honda World Motocross team were desperately unlucky at the event where Honda unveiled the brand new 2013 CRF450R to the press and European eyes for the first time and Evgeny Bobryshev signed a contract extension for a further two years to remain in red.

Goncalves was hampered with problems in Saturday’s qualification when he was hit by another rider and suffered machine damage. The Portuguese barely finished the qualifying heat with twenty-third position. Still nursing a painful rib, Rui started badly in the flooded first race on Sunday and plotted a course back to the fringes of the top ten until his bike stopped and hesitated to restart only corners from the flag. Goncalves did end the weekend on a positive note by battling his way to seventh in the second outing.

Bobryshev began the meeting in strong form with a confident run to second place in Saturday’s qualification heat. The Russian therefore earned second pick of slots in the gate for Sunday, but after three laps of the first race crashed on one of the steepest and fastest sections of the track and badly gashed his right elbow. ‘Bobby’ needed four stiches in a painful wound and elected against worsening the injury in the second sprint.

LS Honda’s Jonathan Barragan crashed in both motos, but recovered composure and ground to finish in twelfth and thirteenth positions for twelfth overall.

Honda’s leading trio inhabit positions in the top fourteen of the MX1 standings. Goncalves is tenth, Bobryshev thirteenth with Barragan just behind. In the MX2 class Max Anstie suffered two crashes with his CRF250R in the qualification outing on Saturday, but fared slightly better in Sunday’s races. The Briton picked up points for a thirteenth place finish in the second moto and now holds seventh in the points table.

Round ten of the FIM Motocross World Championship will take place at Kegums in two weeks for the Grand Prix of Latvia.

HONDA RIDER COMMENTS:

Rui Goncalves:
Race Result: DNF / 7th Championship position: 10th “The first moto was tough to take. I didn’t have such a great start, but I tried to make my way past some guys on the first lap and unfortunately I went down and lost all the ground I had won. I needed to work hard to catch back up to eleventh and just two corners before the flag the bike stopped so I could not finish. This is a mechanical sport and there is not much we can do in this case. For the second moto the team worked really hard to get the bike ready for the start.
I didn’t get away so well again, but pushed to make some passes and it was a good race. The track was really slick so you needed to stay focussed all the way and that’s what I did. It has been a tough beginning to the season and things haven’t gone my way yet with all the injuries and bad luck, but I want to thank the team for all their work and support. I hope things will turn my way soon because this has been the toughest start to a racing year ever.”

Evgeny Bobryshev:
Race Result: DNF / DNS Championship position: 13th
“What can I say? I feel pain in the arm, but also
in the heart because I had a good race yesterday
and was hoping for a good Grand Prix. The weather
was crazy and turned the track into something
pretty dangerous. Anyway I went out and made some
passes in the first moto to reach fourth. I had a
crash on the steep hill because the landing was
so muddy the front wheel washed out. I landed on
my right side and I think when I was sliding I
went across some rocks. The cut was pretty bad
and deep. The medical team cleaned it and gave me
an injection and some stitches. They said I could
ride, but I thought it was impossible because I
had no strength in the arm; the area was swollen
and didn’t want to risk another crash and opening
the cut even more. My goal now is to use the time
before Latvia and get healthy and hopefully ride
and train next week before we go to Kegums.”

Jonathan Barragan:
Race Result: 12th / 13th Championship position: 14th
“It wasn’t a good day. In the second race I
crashed and in the first the opening few laps
were terrible. I feel that it was a big shame to
go down so early in the second moto because the
result could have been better than thirteenth. My
rhythm was consistent, but not enough. I couldn’t
do more today. Both the team and I are working
very hard and the results haven’t been what we
hoped so far. It is taking a lot to find our way
into that top eight but it is not through a lack of effort or desire.”



RESULTS

MX1 RACE 1 (18 laps = 27.23 Km)
POS / RIDER / NAT. / MOTORCYCLE / TIME
1 / DESALLE, CLEMENT / BEL / SUZUKI / 40:52.302
2 / POURCEL, CHRISTOPHE / FRA / KAWASAKI / 41:13.172
3 / POURCEL, SEBASTIEN / FRA / KAWASAKI / 41:20.690
4 / SIMPSON, SHAUN / GBR / YAMAHA / 41:24.064
5 / STRIJBOS, KEVIN / BEL / KTM / 41:31.282
6 / LEOK, TANEL / EST / SUZUKI / 42:06.023
7 / PAULIN, GAUTIER / FRA / KAWASAKI / 42:09.497
8 / SOUBEYRAS, CEDRIC / FRA / HONDA / 42:15.038
9 / BOOG, XAVIER / FRA / KAWASAKI / 42:16.387
10 / DE REUVER, MARK / NED / KAWASAKI / 42:27.963
11 / DE DYCKER, KEN / BEL / KTM / 42:36.015
12 / BARRAGAN, JONATHAN / ESP / HONDA / 40:54.532
13 / BONINI, MATTEO / ITA / KTM / 40:58.812
14 / LINDSTROM, KIM / SWE / KAWASAKI / 41:29.328
15 / JUSTS, AUGUSTS / LAT / HONDA / 41:29.917

Fastest Lap: DESALLE, Clement; 2:05.506 in lap 1 with 43.40Km/h


MX1 RACE 2 (19 laps = 28.74 Km)
POS / RIDER / NAT. / MOTORCYCLE / TIME
1 / DESALLE, CLEMENT / BEL / SUZUKI / 39:05.450
2 / POURCEL, CHRISTOPHE / FRA / KAWASAKI / 39:09.895
3 / STRIJBOS, KEVIN / BEL / KTM / 39:12.514
4 / LEOK, TANEL / EST / SUZUKI / 39:29.386
5 / SIMPSON, SHAUN / GBR / YAMAHA / 39:42.461
6 / POURCEL, SEBASTIEN / FRA / KAWASAKI / 39:46.343
7 / GONCALVES, RUI / POR / HONDA / 39:57.961
8 / BOOG, XAVIER / FRA / KAWASAKI / 39:58.484
9 / PAULIN, GAUTIER / FRA / KAWASAKI / 40:21.548
10 / GUARNERI, DAVIDE / ITA / KTM / 40:27.274
11 / DE DYCKER, KEN / BEL / KTM / 40:28.503
12 / DE REUVER, MARK / NED / KAWASAKI / 41:00.826
13 / BARRAGAN, JONATHAN / ESP / HONDA / 39:08.307
14 / SOUBEYRAS, CEDRIC / FRA / HONDA / 39:18.800
15 / BOISSIERE, ANTHONY / FRA / TM / 39:18.997

Fastest Lap: STRIJBOS, Kevin; 1:55.073 in lap 13 with 47.33Km/h

MX1 CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS TO DATE:
1 DESALLE 348, 2 CAIROLI 345, 3 POURCEL 336, 4 PAULIN 315,
5 DE DYCKER 257, 6 STRIJBOS 243, 7 BOOG 236, 8 PHILIPPAERT 212,
9 LEOK 201, 10 GONCALVESI 183, 11 SIMPSON 159, 12 POURCEL 143,
13 BOBRYSHEV 137, 14 BARRAGAN 135, 15 KARRO 112.


MX2 RACE 1 (18 laps = 27.23 Km)
POS / RIDER / NAT. / MOTORCYCLE / TIME
1 / HERLINGS, JEFFREY / NED / KTM / 39:51.669
2 / SEARLE, TOMMY / GBR / KAWASAKI / 39:54.686
3 / ROELANTS, JOEL / BEL / KAWASAKI / 40:45.047
4 / FERRANDIS, DYLAN / FRA / KAWASAKI / 40:56.958
5 / OSBORNE, ZACHARY / USA / YAMAHA / 41:09.226
6 / NICHOLLS, JAKE / GBR / KTM / 41:13.874
7 / TONKOV, ALEXANDER / RUS / HONDA / 41:32.085
8 / TIXIER, JORDI / FRA / KTM / 41:32.807
9 / COLDENHOFF, GLENN / NED / KTM / 40:00.818
10 / PATUREL, BENOIT / FRA / KAWASAKI / 40:02.225
11 / PETROV, PETAR / BUL / SUZUKI / 40:10.294
12 / GUILLOD, VALENTIN / SUI / KTM / 40:11.861
13 / FEBVRE, ROMAIN / FRA / KTM / 40:12.260
14 / TONUS, ARNAUD / SUI / YAMAHA / 40:21.049
15 / BUTRON, JOSE / ESP / KTM / 40:25.513

Fastest Lap: SEARLE, Tommy; 2:01.951 in lap 4 with 44.66Km/h


MX2 RACE 2 (19 laps = 28.74 Km)
POS / RIDER / NAT. / MOTORCYCLE / TIME
1 / SEARLE, TOMMY / GBR / KAWASAKI / 40:12.526
2 / VAN HOREBEEK, JEREMY / BEL / KTM / 40:31.100
3 / FERRANDIS, DYLAN / FRA / KAWASAKI / 40:39.792
4 / NICHOLLS, JAKE / GBR / KTM / 40:42.451
5 / OSBORNE, ZACHARY / USA / YAMAHA / 41:03.845
6 / CHARLIER, CHRISTOPHE / FRA / YAMAHA / 41:17.960
7 / HERLINGS, JEFFREY / NED / KTM / 41:32.457
8 / TIXIER, JORDI / FRA / KTM / 41:35.763
9 / BUTRON, JOSE / ESP / KTM / 41:36.790
10 / LUPINO, ALESSANDRO / ITA / HUSQVARNA / 41:47.261
11 / FEBVRE, ROMAIN / FRA / KTM / 41:50.314
12 / COLDENHOFF, GLENN / NED / KTM / 41:52.308
13 / ANSTIE, MAX / GBR / HONDA / 42:21.772
14 / LIEBER, JULIEN / BEL / KTM / 42:48.617
15 / GUILLOD, VALENTIN / SUI / KTM / 40:13.403

Fastest Lap: ROELANTS, Joel; 1:57.450 in lap 16 with 46.38Km/h

MX2 CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS TO DATE:
1 HERLINGS 403, 2 SEARLE 387, 3 VAN HOREBEEK 330, 4 ROELANTS 263,
5 TIXIER 243, 6 NICHOLLS 237, 7 ANSTIE 199, 8 FERRANDIS 177,
9 BUTRON 168, 10 LUPINO 163, 11 KULLAS 132, 12 PETROV 131,
13 COLDENHOFF 124, 14 CHARLIER 123, 15 LARSEN 92.


NEXT EVENT: ROUND10 JULY 15 KEGGUMS, LATVIA

Article source: Honda Pro Images 
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