Gariboldi Honda is pleased to announce a brilliant comeback to racing for Finnish star Harri Kullas at the first Round of the Internazionali d’Italia in Riola, Sardinia this weekend. Kullas impressively won the MX2 race by beating French racer Christophe Charlier with a fantastic ride in the heavy sand of the new Sardinian track.
Kullas got a great start to the MX2 heat race and was leading from the first turn aboard his Gariboldi Honda CRF250R and despite his best efforts, Charlier was unable to catch him. This has been a welcome return to form for Kullas following injury last season.
Teammate Vsevolod Brylakov from Russia, who crashed on the first turn of the MX2 race to remount in last place, had a great ride while showing very good speed, as he came through the field to finish in a brilliant eighth position.
In the MX1 race David Philippaerts made his return after many months of absence from racing due to injury, and the Italian warrior certainly did not disappoint. Making his Honda debut, the former World Champion finished the MX1 heat in fourth behind Antonio Cairoli, Ken De Dycker and Evgeny Bobryshev aboard his CRF450R.
The day ended with a Super-final that saw an MX1 and MX2 combined race. Philippaerts got a brilliant start into second place behind Cairoli and went on to finish sixth after a careful race, in which the objective was to increase his mileage before the start of the Grand Prix season. Kullas had another strong race finishing 10th overall with his CRF250R behind the more powerful 450 machines.
Harri Kullas: MX2
“It was a very good day. I’m delighted with my race with the incredible bike I have this year, as the CRF makes everything easy for me. I wish to thank Honda and my team whom have prepared such an amazing bike, which I have only ridden once since returning from training in the USA.”
David Philippaerts: MX1
“Everything went well for my return and this was a good training exercise for me after many months without a race. We need to adjust some areas of the set-up on the bike and then we’ll be ready for the beginning of the World Championship in Qatar.”
Giacomo Gariboldi: Gariboldi Honda Team Owner:
“A good start to the season is healthy for everybody in the team. I was really impressed by Harri, as he has spent one month in California and just arrived back this week to ride the bike only once after only training on the CRF450 in January, so he did a very good job to win this race. David rode a very good race in the MX1 class, and he will improve race by race to be ready in Qatar; from my side he is a former Champion and doesn’t need any comment. I wish to say that I was also really impressed by the young Russian Brylyakov, as he has a a lot of talent, and I believe he may be a surprise for everybody in the next two seasons.”