Excellent Fernandez narrowly misses out on British podium
Matterley BasinRuben Fernandez fourth overall and moves to fourth in the World Motocross Championship standings
A joint-best moto result from Honda HRC’s Ruben Fernandez wasn’t quite enough for the Spaniard to step-up onto the podium, but it was still an excellent MXGP of Great Britain for the Honda CRF450R rider with his five-two results giving him fourth overall and moving him up to fourth in the World Motocross Championship standings.
A fourth place yesterday in the qualification race gave him a good base to attack these two GP-scoring motos and he definitely gave everything he had to try and get on the box. In both races, he got utilised his gate-pick with two brilliant starts inside the top three, but whereas the tricky Matterley Basin conditions caused a couple of small errors in race one, in race two he was fully in control and came really close to his first race-win of the season. It was a big boost for the #70, who now has a couple of weekends to prepare for a new GP at the Kymi-Ring in Finland.
MX2 teammate Valerio Lata will also being happy to have a small break in the action, as he recovers from a tumultuous GP. Yesterday a rider crashed right in front of him on the landing of a jump, giving the #18 nowhere to go and ejecting him from his Honda CRF250R. Banged up from that, and with last gate-pick, the young Italian tried his utmost to score as many points as he could today, to maintain his eighth place in the series and showing a real fighting attitude, he was able to finish 12th overall. It certainly wasn’t what he was hoping for, before the weekend, but the 14-12 results showed everyone he can battle hard and now with 19 days before he must head to Finland, he’ll be using the time to recuperate as much as possible.
MX2 Race 1
1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 35:30.890; 2. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:05.401; 3. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +0:10.850; 4. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:24.946; 5. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:26.515; 6. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:26.761; 7. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:28.999; 8. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:30.821; 9. David Braceras (ESP, Honda), +0:41.392; 10. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:42.153; … 14. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +1:10.437;
MX2 Race 2
1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 34:13.385; 2. Liam Everts (BEL, Husqvarna), +0:06.362; 3. Thibault Benistant (FRA, Yamaha), +0:11.721; 4. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), +0:14.077; 5. Guillem Farres (ESP, Triumph), +0:22.929; 6. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), +0:29.891; 7. Mathis Valin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:36.397; 8. Kay de Wolf (NED, Husqvarna), +0:43.038; 9. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, Triumph), +0:58.225; 10. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), +1:14.771; 11. David Braceras (ESP, Honda), +1:23.123; 12. Valerio Lata (ITA, Honda), +1:24.585;
MX2 GP Overall
1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 50 points; 2. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 37 p.; 3. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 37 p.; 4. Guillem Farres (ESP, TRI), 32 p.; 5. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), 31 p.; 6. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 30 p.; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 30 p.; 8. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 29 p.; 9. Mathis Valin (FRA, KAW), 27 p.; 10. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 27 p.; 11. David Braceras (ESP, HON), 22 p.; 12. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 16 p.;
MX2 Championship
1. Simon Längenfelder (GER, KTM), 575 points; 2. Andrea Adamo (ITA, KTM), 523 p.; 3. Kay de Wolf (NED, HUS), 505 p.; 4. Liam Everts (BEL, HUS), 464 p.; 5. Sacha Coenen (BEL, KTM), 433 p.; 6. Thibault Benistant (FRA, YAM), 417 p.; 7. Camden Mc Lellan (RSA, TRI), 358 p.; 8. Valerio Lata (ITA, HON), 281 p.; 9. Cas Valk (NED, KTM), 267 p.; 10. Oriol Oliver (ESP, KTM), 246 p.;
I have to admit I’m a little disappointed not to get on the podium, considering how well I rode, especially in that second moto. Still, I am really pleased with that race and it has given me a lot of confidence that I can start with those guys and run the entire moto at a really fast pace. I closed up to the leader a lot in those last few laps and if I’d passed him, I’d have got on the podium. Now I have a couple of weekends off to get stronger for this next run of races.
I have to admit I’m a little disappointed not to get on the podium, considering how well I rode, especially in that second moto. Still, I am really pleased with that race and it has given me a lot of confidence that I can start with those guys and run the entire moto at a really fast pace. I closed up to the leader a lot in those last few laps and if I’d passed him, I’d have got on the podium. Now I have a couple of weekends off to get stronger for this next run of races.
After yesterday it was always going to be tough to get any decent results. Having last gate-pick and just feeling how I was feeling made things difficult and although I fought as much as I could, 12th overall was the best I could do. I know I had higher hopes coming into the weekend, but sometimes these things happen and now I just have to make the most of these next two weekends off and recover in time for Finland.
After yesterday it was always going to be tough to get any decent results. Having last gate-pick and just feeling how I was feeling made things difficult and although I fought as much as I could, 12th overall was the best I could do. I know I had higher hopes coming into the weekend, but sometimes these things happen and now I just have to make the most of these next two weekends off and recover in time for Finland.
A great ride from Ruben in that second moto really showed the quality that he has. He was under pressure the entire time and then at the end made it really close to the leader, with perhaps a couple more laps and he could have taken the lead. It is a nice boost heading into this break and I’m sure he’ll use it wisely and come out swinging in Finland. We didn’t really have any expectations for Valerio after yesterday’s incident, but it was good to see him fighting in both races and showing a strong spirit. It’s good he has a break to recover and we’re sure he’ll continue the progress he had shown before this event, when we get to Finland, which will be a new circuit for everyone.
A great ride from Ruben in that second moto really showed the quality that he has. He was under pressure the entire time and then at the end made it really close to the leader, with perhaps a couple more laps and he could have taken the lead. It is a nice boost heading into this break and I’m sure he’ll use it wisely and come out swinging in Finland. We didn’t really have any expectations for Valerio after yesterday’s incident, but it was good to see him fighting in both races and showing a strong spirit. It’s good he has a break to recover and we’re sure he’ll continue the progress he had shown before this event, when we get to Finland, which will be a new circuit for everyone.
