F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s Kevin Horgmo ended his FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship career with eighth overall at Matterley Basin in England to seal seventh in the series final standings.

A fall on the second lap of race one put the Norwegian back to eleventh after his sixth-placed start. By lap seven he made a neat pass for tenth and by the finish had closed down the riders ahead but was unable to make a further pass on the ultra-fast raceway. In the final race of his MX2 career – the championship has an age-cap of twenty-three years of age – the F&H Kawasaki again railed the outside of turn one to race past pit-lane sixth before an unfortunate choice of lines during the ever-hectic opening lap saw him relegated to tenth. Digging deep he jumped to eighth on the ninth of fourteen laps and continued to push, nearly catching seventh. However his efforts were already sufficient to secure eighth on the day and seventh in the final championship standings.

Kevin Horgmo: “I made a good start around the outside of turn one in the first race to hold sixth but I made a small crash on the second lap when the front wheel slipped away. It took me a few laps to find my rhythm again after that; I was strong again at the end with eighth and ninth just ahead of me but it was difficult to pass and I couldn’t get by. I made another good start around the outside in race two but I was making too many mistakes on the first lap as the surface was so slippery after they watered the track and I lost my confidence for a few laps. I eventually got into my rhythm again to finish eighth but I felt my speed was good enough for better. That was the last race of my MX2 career; we had some up-and-downs during the year but we never gave up and a huge thanks to the team; the highlight was definitely Turkey with the moto win. It was also my last GP with F&H so a big thanks for the last two years to everyone; we had some fun times together so let’s end it strong now at the Motocross des Nations.”

F&H Kawasaki’s David Braceras did not race; the Spaniard was suffering pain in his left elbow after crashing on the opening lap of Qualifying on Saturday and it was considered wiser not to risk further injury. Despite only contesting fourteen of the nineteen-race series he was ranked seventeenth in his rookie GP season.

F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s Kevin Horgmo raced to a career-first GP moto victory on his way to second overall in the Turkish round of the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship at Afyonkarahisar.

It was a deserved success for the Norwegian who has been desperately close to the podium so many times this season and it could have been even more but for a single slip in the early stages of race one. A hectic start in the first moto left him eleventh on the opening lap but he was through to seventh, and closing down fast on the leaders, by lap three when a single slip as the front wheel lost grip entering a turn pushed him back to twelfth. Undaunted by the setback he charged to the end to finish sixth and was even more motivated for race two. A third-placed start was an excellent springboard and by lap four he was through to second and pushing the leader. Five laps from the end the pressure paid off as the man in front slipped off and the Kawasaki was through in a flash. Once in front he really put the hammer down to move four seconds clear before throttling back slightly through the final half-lap to take the chequered flag two-and-a-half seconds in front. The second moto maximum score also lifted the F&H teamster to second overall, his first podium of the year, and has seen him jump to seventh in the series standings with every opportunity to advance even further during the final two rounds as he is now just three points from sixth and fifteen from fifth.

Kevin Horgmo: “We have been working hard for this moment all season. It should have come much earlier; little things always seemed to go against us, but we have kept working and turned it around. My only regret is that my mom and dad were not here this weekend, like they usually are, to enjoy this moment. It’s a pity for that one small mistake in the first moto but I had the best times all through the last few laps of that race and I still believed in the podium. That career-first GP moto victory was special; I rode smooth and consistent, stayed second and kept pushing so I was able capitalise on Liam’s mistake.”

David Braceras rode a solid race to eighth in the first moto, taking the chequered flag just thirty-six seconds after the winner, and he joined his teammate near the head of the field in race two as he made a decisive pass for fourth on the opening lap. He surrendered a couple of places to regular podium runners but was still running a comfortable seventh until a mistake in sector four cost more than ten seconds and five places but he regrouped to pull back to eleventh at the finish for ninth overall on the day. He remains seventeenth in the series standings in his rookie GP season.

David Braceras: “We keep improving every weekend, but of course I am just a little disappointed about my mistake in the second moto. My start was not so good in the first race but I passed a lot of riders already on the first lap to finish eighth; my distance to the winner was the closest of all season so I knew I could improve even more in race two and I was comfortable in seventh until that one stupid mistake cost me a lot of places. But we will keep working for Maggiora and England.”