Persistence key for Team HRC at treacherous Lommel
LommelIt was a tough day at the office for Team HRC’s Ruben Fernandez and Tim Gajser as the duo finished seventh and 10th in the qualification race at the deep sand track of Lommel.
It was a tough day at the office for Team HRC’s Ruben Fernandez and Tim Gajser as the duo finished seventh and 10th in the qualification race at the deep sand track of Lommel. Knowing that this would be one of the hardest tests of the season, the pair acquitted themselves as much as possible, fighting until the very end to make sure they scored points at this MXGP of Flanders.
Fernandez favours a much loamier surface, similar to Portugal or where his won his GP this year in Argentina, while Gajser has been unable to practice too much sand-riding in his recovery from the broken femur he sustained in February. As a result, the pair were just slightly outside the top five in timed practice, making things a little harder off the starting gate but both riders were able to round the first bend in touch of the leaders.
Unfortunately, an early mistake from the #243 dropped him from sixth to 10th, and from there, it was just a case of putting his head down and minimising any more errors on a track that was causing problems throughout the field. Fernandez was just behind his teammate to begin with, and moved through into seventh by the third lap and then had a lonely race with big gaps in front and behind. That can sometimes be a difficult proposition, with no other riders to focus on, but the #70 kept plugging away and received the chequered flag in the same position.
The forecast for tomorrow has the potential for rain, which will make a difficult track even tougher, but both riders should be better prepared and a bit more comfortable each time they get on the track and will be hoping to be able to mix it up a bit further up the field in the two GP-scoring motos.
I won’t pretend that Lommel is my favourite track but I never gave up and I ended up seventh. I know there are still things to improve and we will sit down as a team and try to get that right for tomorrow, but I just want to ride two consistent motos and not make any big mistakes. If I can do that, I know that I will still get a decent number of points and it will just help build my confidence in these difficult conditions.
I knew this would be a difficult race, on my road to coming back to full recovery and that’s how it turned out. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to ride enough sand during my comeback so it’s been tough just to find settings that I’m happy with and when conditions are as tough as they are here, that is really important. It is still good that my fitness is holding up, but I’m still working on finding that speed for the races, however I think tomorrow will be better and that’s what I’m aiming for.
This race is always a real test for every rider and we knew that it would be difficult for Tim, having so little time practicing in the sand. We also know that these are Ruben’s best conditions, but both riders didn’t stop pushing and they both scored points, so that’s always a positive to take out of the day. We will now get to work and try and make things as good as possible for the two motos tomorrow, with our fingers crossed that the rain stays away.
