Xavier Boog from the Kawasaki Racing Team’s,showed that it can only be a matter of time before he records his first MX1 GP podium as he set the fastest lap of the day in the Saint Jean D’Angely.Fastest lap for Boog in France After a stunning second place in Saturday’s qualifying race the 22 year old justifiably had high expectations from his home GP, but a mysterious technical problem forced Xavier to withdraw from the first race and his starting skills deserted him in race two before he surged back through the pack at a fantastic pace to record the fastest lap of the day on the 12th lap; he continued to push to the finish, snatching 7th place on the final lap before running out of time to haul back those riders still ahead of him.
Sebastien Pourcel, who had won both motos in the last GP at the track two years ago, was another to move forward in both races but, after moving quickly from 13th position to battle for top six in race one, he caught his foot in one of the deep ruts caused by overnight rain and lost a lot of time restarting as he came to a halt at an awkward place. After struggling to settle down in the early laps of race two Sebastien found his rhythm as the race wore on and advanced strongly into the top in the closing stages of the race.
Nicolas Aubin of Kawasaki Bud Racing continues to rediscover his known pace after an unfortunate start to the season. Despite an incident-packed day he recorded his best result of the campaign and it can only be a matter of time before he is able to again show the same pace in racing conditions which he has already rediscovered during the timed sessions, in each of which he was second on Saturday.
Out of action through injury in recent weeks ago, Jonathan Barragan – who has a two years deal with KRT – was able to practice this week in Belgium and will contest a round of the Spanish national series next week before returning to the GP scene in Germany in two weeks time.
Xavier Boog : “Yesterday was too good to be true, compared to today. I got my best qualifying result so far with a second position on Saturday, and was expecting good results in the races for points. My first start was pretty good, but halfway round the first lap I had a technical problem with the throttle; I had no alternative but to retire. I didn’t get a good start in the second race but I fought through to fourteenth after one lap and continued to make passes for the rest of the race even though it was difficult to pass on this track. I was happy with my riding this weekend, but not with my results; I set the fastest lap of the race on the 12th lap in that second race as I moved through to seventh place and I could see the three riders head of me at the finish. My speed proves that I can start thinking about a podium result now; luck was against me here, but I will come back even stronger in Germany.”
Sébastien Pourcel: “A tenth and a fifteenth place are not exactly what I wanted here, but at least it’s much better than two DNFs. The first moto could have been so much better; I had a good rhythm and was battling with Leok for sixth place, but I crashed when my foot got dragged back in a rut. I was a muddy section of the track and it was a long time before I could restart the bike and salvage a few points. It took me a long time to find my rhythm in the second race after an average start; once I settled down and stopped making so many mistakes I was able to find better lines and pull back to tenth.”
Nicolas Aubin: ”I finished both timed practice sessions in the top two on Saturday, but the qualifying race was not as good with an eleventh place. I was in the top ten at the start of the first race on Sunday but I struggled for the first fifteen minutes and lost several places; I got going later in the race when I found my rhythm and fought back to finish tenth. In the second race I collided with another rider at the second corner and damage my rear brake. Just a few metres after that incident I stalled the engine and that left me dead last. But I was enjoying the track, found good lines and came back to fifteenth at the finish. Today was my best result so far this season; I am feeling better each weekend and I am confident that I can continue to improve my results during the second half of the season”
No comments:
Post a Comment