F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s Kevin Horgmo bounced back from a fall to snatch a dramatic fifth in the second round of the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship at Mantova in northern Italy.
The Norwegian gated superbly in the first GP moto to eventually take the chequered flag sixth after a titanic struggle throughout the entire thirty-minute-plus-two-lap race with a continual exchange of positions, his final lunge for fifth coming up just inches short. Initially ninth in race two after his line was closed down entering turn one the enthusiastic youngster quickly advanced to seventh with a series of dramatic moves before a single error on the tortuous track cost seven seconds and six positions. He regrouped quickly to push back forward to eighth, the combined score from the two motos earning fifth overall on the day and seventh, just ten points shy of fourth, in the series standings.
Kevin Horgmo: “I made a really good start in the first race but I rode a little too careful through the first few laps and that cost me a few places. I felt I had the speed to be top three; I just need to concentrate on those early laps. I was on my way up the field in race two until I made mistake and crashed but I fought back to clinch fifth overall. It was easy to make mistakes today; there were a lot of square-edged bumps and they caught out a lot of us at some time of the day. But I’m really happy with how we are progressing; I feel really comfortable on my Kawasaki and we have a good set-up on the suspension from Technical Touch; I just need to avoid making those mistakes. I’m really looking forward to Argentina; I’ve never been overseas before so it will be a new experience for me.“
After his superb performance one week earlier in England F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jed Beaton started race day impressively as he quickly moved forward from ninth to seventh in the first moto but his relative inexperience on a 450 in this, his first season of MXGP racing, became evident as he was eventually restricted to eleventh at the finish of the moto and never recovered after being sandwiched at the first corner of race two. The Australian is now eleventh in the series points chase but is only eight behind seventh as the series heads to Argentina in two weeks’ time.
Overall Grand Prix Italy:
1 Jago Geerts 50 Pnt
2 Andrea Adamo 38 Pnt
3 Kay de Wolf 38 Pnt
4 Simon Laengenfelder 36 Put
5 Kevin Horgmo 28 Pnt
World Championship Standings MX2:
1 Jago Geerts 90 Pnt
2 Simon Laengenfelder 86 Put
3 Kay de Wolf 74 Pnt
4 Tom Vialle 64 Pnt
5 Andrea Adamo 60 Pnt
7 Kevin Horgmo 54 Pnt
Overall MXGP Italy:
1 Tim Gajser 47 Pnt
2 Maxime Renaux 42 Pnt
3 Jorge Prado 39 Pnt
4 Jorge Prado 34 Pnt
5 Jeremy Seewer 34 Int
19 Jed Beaton 11 Pnt
World Championship Standings MXGP:
1 Tim Gajser 94 Pnt
2 Jorge Prado 82 Pnt
3 Maxime Renaux 77 Pnt
4 Jeremy Seewer 74 Int
5 Brian Bogers 57 Int
11 Jed Beaton 40 Pnt
