Pietramurata podiums again for Tim Gajser and Ruben Fernandez

Pietramurata

Round 15 of the FIM World Motocross Championship took place today at the Crossodrome Ciclamino Circuit, close to the north shore of the beautiful Lake Garda in Northern Italy.

In the MXGP class it was once again Team HRC’s Tim Gajser who took his Honda CRF450RW to a fantastic podium result and closed in on the championship lead. Now just three points separate the top three in the standings with Gajser in third.

In race one Tim very soon took over the lead and led 18 of the race’s 20 laps, but arm-pump and small mistakes cost him in the latter stages of the moto and rather than risk further mistakes he settled for second place and 22 race points.

Race two and ‘Tiga’ hit lap one in sixth position, but very soon moved up to fourth place and slowly worked away and pushed forward. Eventually, time ran out for Team HRC’s four-time World Champion and he settled for third in the race, 42 Grand Prix points and second overall.

Gajser was followed home by JM Honda Racing’s Henry Jacobi on his CRF450R, going 9-11 and the first privateer in the points today in Italy.

Honda 114 Motorsports’ Ruben Fernandez once again had a great day in the Dolomites.

The fast Spaniard qualified in pole position for today’s race and in moto one settled into third position where he remained for the whole moto.

Then in race two an average start gave Fernandez some work to do. He started the race in 11th position, but by lap two he’d moved up to eighth and then sixth on lap four, eventfully finishing the race in fifth place to take a well-earned third overall, just one point away from second.

A race one first turn crash caught out Stephen Rubini which resulted in a fractured shoulder-blade. The likeable Frenchman now starts a recovery period and will try to bounce back before the season end.

Tim Gajser ²⁴³

Team HRC

It was a consistent day with my racing.

I’m a little disappointed that I wasn’t able to win the first race after leading so many laps but I just got a bit of arm-pump and while I was able to battle, I couldn’t quite make it until the end. Still it was nice to have a good start and lead and it definitely gave me confidence for race two and while I didn’t get the best start I was able to come through the pack and ended up third giving me second place on the podium.

It was also a good day for the championship standings and I’m now only three points off the lead, so every moto is extremely important but I’m excited for the rest of the season and I will give it everything I have!

Henry Jacobi ²⁹

JM Honda Racing

After the first race here in Arco we made a few small changes to the bike to suit the track conditions and the results were very good.

Sadly, I didn’t get a holeshot today but I did have two consistent races. Ninth and 11th for ninth overall. I think we were the first of the non-factory teams so this is a good achievement.

I have been struggling with a back injury that I picked up in training, but slowly this is improving, so I’m looking forward to the rest of the season and hope to get some more consistent top-ten results this year.

Rubén Fernández ⁷⁰

Honda 114 Motorsports

It was a good day for me. It started well and I qualified in pole position which I was very pleased with.

In the first moto I had a good start in fourth place and then I pushed into third place. I was struggling a little with arm-pump but still I had a large gap to the guys behind, so it was a good race.

Then in the second moto I had started from more-or-less dead-last after tangling with another rider in the first few meters. I pushed all the way up to fifth place and I had a good race and a good rhythm.

I’m happy that I finished on the podium again, but I do feel that I could have taken second place today with a little more luck in the sound moto.

Stephen Rubini ¹¹⁸

Honda Racing Assomotor

I had a crash in the first turn of race one and two other riders hit me when I was on the ground.

I couldn’t move and I had pain all the way down my arm to my wrist. I also had a lot of pain in my knee.

We did an X-ray and an MRI scan and it shows that the shoulder blade is broken. I am very disappointed with the injury, but I will try to come back strong as soon as possible.

Gordon Crockard

Honda Motor Co. Ltd

Here in Trentino the EMX250 resumed with Emil Weckman back to demonstrating his potential. After injury and pain earlier this year today his comeback reached a super second place in race two. A collision crash whilst passing for eighth in race one destroyed a better result that surely would have put Emil on the podium overall.

Pole position for Ruben Fernandez in MX2 shows the combination performance of Ruben and his CRF250R is one of the best in the world.

Race one turn one claimed Stephen Rubini in a multiple rider crash that injured Stephen with a fractured shoulder blade. We wish him the best of recovery and will miss him at the races. Ruben Fernandez put his great speed to use and delivered a fine third place.

Race two was a fight through to fifth position for Ruben putting himself third on the podium for the second time this week's racing.

MXGP race one saw Tim Gajser lead for almost every lap. In the end after battle and passes Tim finished second.

I was sad to see Benoit Paturel go out of the race from sixth position with a detached electrical connection. Henry Jacobi rode to a fine ninth and our guest rider from Canada Dylan Wright scored a superb 12th learning MXGP every lap.

Race two, Tim fought through to third and now sits just three points off the championship lead boosted by his second overall podium today.

Jacobi, Paturel and Wright showed the CRF450R can mix it with the factory bikes well. It's been a great day for us and we carry positive energy into the third and final run of races at this venue in a few days time. Ciao for now!