Martin Michek Masters the Ukranian round

2013-Motokros-MX3-Orehova-vas_0467CHERNIVTSI (Ukraine), 21 July 2013 – With all the riders ready to rumble, race day of round six of the FIM MX3 World Championship took place today in the humble town of Chernivtsi, Ukraine, where Czech Martin Michek was the master of the Ukrainian clay taking home his first overall victory this year ahead of the red plate holder Klemen Gercar and fellow Czech Frantisek Smola.The day started off with a hiss and a roar when two Ukrainian riders Voloshyn Volodymyr and Eduard Rybynec collided causing race one to be restarted. Volodymyr was knocked unconscious and taken to hospital with suspected back injuries while Rybynec was lucky to escape injury and remained fit enough to line up again after the restart.

Meanwhile, Martin Michek is proving to be a big fan of the Ukranian soil, after winning a race at round three of the MX3 world championship which was also held in Ukraine (Belgorod-Dnestrovskiy). Michek went on to win the overall here in Chernivtsi with a solid second place in race one followed by an outstanding win in race two to take home his first overall victory of the season.

The red plate holder Klemen Gercar had a bit of trouble on his hands in race one when Estonian Gert Krestinov proved to be a tough challenger for third. Despite the pressure from Krestinov, Gercar managed to keep a level head and hold off Krestinov to secure the third place. In race two, the super Slovanian was back on the attack passing a charging Peter Michalec around mid race to take home second place in the race and the overall.

Frantisek Smola was back on form this weekend; after dominating race one, all bets were on the Czech to win again in race two. Unfortunately for Smola a first corner crash saw his chances of an overall victory slip through his fingers. Despite the bad luck the determined young Czech rode a strong race, making good passes to finish ninth in race two. The combination of an amazing race win and a ninth place was enough to secure third overall for the Ukrainian round.

Gert Krestinov was fired up in race one pressuring the red plate holder Klemen Gercar all the way to the finish line but unfortunately he wasn’t able to make a pass stick resulting in a fourth place finish. In race two the Estonian was up against the current world champion Matthias Walkner for fifth, but again he couldn’t make a solid pass meaning he had to settle for sixth place.

Rounding out the top five was another Czech in the form of Peter Michalec, despite only managing to finish ninth in race one the Czech responded in race two with a holeshot and solid performance to secure his best race finish (third) and overall finish of the year.

The current MX3 world champion and yesterdays top qualifier Matthias Walkner had bad starts in both races, but ever determined the Austrian fought his way back to a well deserved fifth place in both races to take home sixth overall.

Summing up round six of the FIM MX3 World Championship, Klemen Gercar will receive for the fourth time this year the red plate while the round winner Martin Michek will move up in the championship standings to second place twelve points behind Gercar.

MX3 Race one top 10: 1. Frantisek Smola (CZE, KTM), 33:47.327; 2. Martin Michek (CZE, KTM), +0:05.811; 3. Klemen Gercar (SLO, Honda), +0:16.332; 4. Gert Krestinov (EST, Kawasaki), +0:27.195; 5. Matthias Walkner (AUT, KTM), +0:34.434; 6. Pier Filippo Bertuzzo (ITA, Yamaha), +0:47.645; 7. Petr Bartos (CZE, KTM), +1:05.811; 8. Roman Morozov (UKR, Yamaha), +1:09.580; 9. Petr Michalec (CZE, Honda), +1:11.196; 10. Ludvig Söderberg (FIN, Honda), +1:27.144

MX3 Race two top 10: 1. Martin Michek (CZE, KTM), 34:24.213; 2. Klemen Gercar (SLO, Honda), +0:15.723; 3. Petr Michalec (CZE, Honda), +0:19.597; 4. Petr Bartos (CZE, KTM), +0:21.924; 5. Matthias Walkner (AUT, KTM), +0:22.518; 6. Gert Krestinov (EST, Kawasaki), +0:28.523; 7. Hrvoje Karas (CRO, Yamaha), +0:49.992; 8. Evgeni Tyletski (BLR, KTM), +0:51.763; 9. Frantisek Smola (CZE, KTM), +0:57.114; 10. Pier Filippo Bertuzzo (ITA, Yamaha), +1:12.597

MX3 round of Ukraine Overall: 1. Martin Michek (CZE, KTM), 47 points; 2. Klemen Gercar (SLO, Honda), 42 p.; 3. Frantisek Smola (CZE, KTM), 37 p.; 4. Gert Krestinov (EST, Kawasaki), 33 p.; 5. Petr Michalec (CZE, Honda), 32 p.; 6. Petr Bartos (CZE, KTM), 32 p.; 7. Matthias Walkner (AUT, KTM), 32 p.; 8. Pier Filippo Bertuzzo (ITA, Yamaha), 26 p.; 9. Hrvoje Karas (CRO, Yamaha), 23 p.; 10. Evgeni Tyletski (BLR, KTM), 23 p

MX3 Championship Standings: 1. Klemen Gercar (SLO, Honda), 241 points; 2. Martin Michek (CZE, KTM), 229 p.; 3. Matthias Walkner (AUT, KTM), 223 p.; 4. Gert Krestinov (EST, Kawasaki), 205 p.; 5. Frantisek Smola (CZE, KTM), 144 p.; 6. Pier Filippo Bertuzzo (ITA, Yamaha), 120 p.; 7. Ludvig Söderberg (FIN, Honda), 119 p.; 8. Christian Brockel (GER, KTM), 118 p.; 9. Petr Michalec (CZE, Honda), 109 p.; 10. Timur Muratov (RUS, KTM), 95 p

Click here to obtain the complete results

MX3 Round of Ukraine – QUICK FACTS
Circuit length: 1750m
Type of ground: hard pack
Temperature: 25° C
Weather conditions: sunny, windy
Crowd attendance: 7 000

NEXT ROUND
The seventh round of the FIM MX3 World Championship will take place in Matterley Basin, UK, during the MXGP Festival scheduled for the 25th August weekend.