Alessandro Lupino of Team CLS Kawasaki Monster Energy Pro Circuit narrowly missed the podium in the Czech round of the FIM MX2 Motocross World Championship at the tortuous Loket circuit.
The Italian rode a superb first moto on a dry track to quickly take over third place and then catch and pass the rider in second halfway through the race for an excellent second place, headed only by the series champion. He was less fortunate at the start of race two, run in tricky conditions as a rain shower mid-moto made the slick surface treacherous. Another rider forced Alessandro to crash when running ninth on the third lap, but he battled relentlessly to battle back from twenty-first place to finish eighth. This was not quite sufficient to earn the Italian his third overall GP podium of the year but he has moved up the championship standings to eighth place.
Dylan Ferrandis faced a difficult GP after earning a poor starting position during qualification, but the French teenager used the power of his Rockstar Bud Racing Kawasaki to nevertheless make two excellent starts and was rewarded with a seventh place finish in both GP motos to earn sixth overall in the GP classification. He has also moved to within 13 points of tenth position in the championship standings.
Teammate Jason Clermont also earn a poor choice of gate after a crash during qualification, but quickly settled down on the difficult track on race day to charge up the lower leaderboard from seventeenth place on lap one to finish eleventh. He was again making moves through the pack in race two, quickly advancing from eighteenth to sixteenth before a short rain shower hindered his progress as he got water in his goggles.
Alessandro Lupino: “I should have been on the podium again but a stupid move by another rider in the second race cost me the chance. My first race was very good, I had a great start and was initially in third behind Tonkov; I didn’t want to take risks, and waited a few laps to pass him and move away. My second start was not as good but at least I was in the top ten until Pocock took me out of the track. I came back from twenty-first to eighth, so I was happy with my riding but disappointed to miss the podium by just a couple of points because of another rider. I hope to confirm this result in Belgium and Great Britain.”
Dylan Ferrandis: “I started my weekend with a holeshot in the qualifying race, but unfortunately I broke my rear wheel and had to stop in the pits to change it so my place on the grid was very bad. Today I made two good starts; I had a nice battle in the first race to score a seventh place, and in the second race I got another seventh position. This track is not my favourite, but I have very good memories of Bastogne and Matterley Basin so I hope I will get some more good starts there and be able to race for the podium.”
Jason Clermont: “ I was only twenty-second on the grid, but I had a good start in the first heat and was able to make further advances from seventeenth on lap one to finish eleventh. My second start was not so good and I couldn’t find good lines during the first part of the race and then I got water in my goggles when there was a rain shower. I finished fifteenth so I scored points in both races, but I lost all my chances of a better result when I had a big crash in a downhill during the qualifying race on Saturday.”