Dylan Ferrandis of the Monster Energy Kawasaki MX2 Racing Team scored the first GP win of his career in the Argentine round of the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship at Villa La Angostura.
After several days of testing since the last round of the series the French youngster was on the pace throughout qualification and stepped up the pace when it counted in the two GP motos to score an emphatic victory after two tough races. Dylan quickly moved to the front in the opening moto and, secure in the knowledge that his own fitness and the speed of his KX250F-SR would prevail over the full race distance, he remained calm when a rival charged past for three laps and eventually won the race by more than seven seconds. A slip on lap two of the second race after he had moved quickly to third pushed the Frenchman temporarily back to sixth place but he displayed great resolve to cross the line in second place and secure the overall victory on the combined score of the two races. His 47 point haul has also pulled Dylan into a tie for the series points lead, though his title rival Jeffrey Herlings retains the red plate as he has secured the greater number of moto wins.
Teammate Thomas Covington narrowly missed joining Ferrandis on the podium as he finished fourth highest points scorer on the day after crossing the line seventh in each race. The American teenager advanced from an initial tenth in the first moto, and raced as high as fourth in race two before the effects of recent sickness took their toll and he had to surrender a couple of places in the closing laps. He has now advanced from seventh to fifth in the series standings.
Max Anstie, returning from injury, scored an excellent third place in the opening moto aboard his Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki and was optimistic of an overall podium finish but unfortunately he hit the gate at the start of race two and, unable to rejoin the race quickly, finished outside the points in twenty-second position. The English rider is now fourteenth in the series standings.
David Herbreteau, the French youngster standing in for Jordi Tixier for the weekend, showed good speed to be classified amongst the top sixteen throughout the qualification programme and he continued to show this form during the first half of the opening moto as he ran fourteenth until the heavy track and long race inevitably took their toll and he sensibly settled for a nineteenth placed finish on the same lap as winner Ferrandis. Despite hitting the gate at the start of race two David persevered strongly to advance from last position to finish seventeenth.
Dylan Ferrandis:
“Before coming here in Argentina we did a lot of testing on the suspension, and on Saturday we continued working on the bike. I was not worried with my fifth position in qualification; I knew that Sunday would be different. I got a great start in the first race and took the lead in the opening lap, then Jonass passed me but I knew that I was faster and passed him back to win pretty easily. My second start was not as good but I was soon third behind Jonass and Herlings until I crashed and lost a couple of positions; I was sixth but felt comfortable on the bike and recovered to second place in the moto to secure my first overall Grand Prix overall victory. The track was pretty nice; I enjoyed racing here and I want to thanks all the team members who worked hard to get these results.”
Thomas Covington:
“It was a pretty good weekend for me; I got a couple of great starts and just missed the podium by a few points. I’ve been sick for the past two weeks and I think that affected me a little bit; I didn’t have the strength to keep pushing in the second moto and maybe that cost me a podium. My starts were great this weekend; the bike is working really well and we need to keep pushing to get some podiums. The track was awesome; got pretty rough in the second moto with a lot of lines but I enjoyed racing here.”
Max Anstie:
“I was happy with my first moto as it was only my second race of the season so it was good to score a third position. It was nice to get back to racing; I felt good, I was learning each lap and I was ready to go for it in the second moto as the track got bumpier. But I hit the gate at the start ! I’ve never hit the gate before and it is what it is, it took me nearly two laps to start. I didn’t really think about my physical condition after the crash in Qatar, and I think I took the right decision to give some time for my body to recover. I was not yet 100% this weekend, but I will be in three weeks for Italy.”
David Herbreteau:
“I’m happy with this first GP experience, even if the result is not as good as it could be. I qualified in sixteenth position on Saturday with good lap times and I had a great start in the first race even if I wheelied before the first corner; I was in the top fourteen during the first half of the race, but after twenty minutes it was tough physically as this was my first race of the season. I scored my first points, and added some more in the second moto. I made a mistake at the gate and stalled the engine, so I was last but I recovered to finish seventeenth. I never rode on such a rough and difficult track; that’s a great experience and after this positive weekend we’ll continue to work hard with my coach Bruno to prepare the European series.”