F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s Kevin Horgmo raced to a season-best second in the first moto of the Czech round of the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship at Loket on his way to fourth overall on the day.
The Norwegian confirmed his pace in the closing laps of Saturday Qualifying with third-fastest time in morning Warm-Up and, brimming with confidence, shot out of the gate in race one to round the first turn second and immediately break clear of the chasers. Maintaining his lap times despite the heat he closed in on the leader with ten minutes remaining to get alongside at one moment before his rival enjoyed a more fortunate run through the lapped riders and the Kawasaki rider had to settle for a close second. His realistic hopes of the podium were dented straight out of the start in race two as he got closed down entering turn one and had to come from outside the top-twenty. Twelfth by half-distance he continued to push to the end, taking over his eventual ninth on the penultimate lap. The brave effort was rewarded with fourth overall in the GP and he remains ninth in the series standings.
Kevin Horgmo: “I was really happy with my speed today. I got a good start in race one, could ride my own lines and found a good flow to stay with Geerts all moto. Unfortunately I got closed down off the start in race two and had to come a long way for ninth. But I only just missed the podium by one place and I have to hand it to the team for giving me such a great bike.”
F&H teammate David Braceras was most unfortunate on the opening lap of the first moto. Entering the uphill turn one another rider lost drive immediately in front of him and four turns later he was delayed further as a bunch of other riders collided. The two incidents cost twenty seconds but the young Spaniard showed great spirit to reach sixteenth on the eleventh of eighteen laps before further advances were out of the question as the next rider was too far away. He again showed excellent speed all moto in race two to take over eleventh place three laps from the end for fifteenth overall. Despite missing the four previous GPs through injury he is eighteenth in the championship points-chase.
David Braceras: “I didn’t make a good start in the first moto as many people fell around me in the first few corners; I just tried to survive and started way back. My riding was quite OK even though I missed a little intensity. I found a good flow in race two to come back to eleventh, close to the top ten; I was very pleased with my lap times, which were the same as the front-runners in the last ten minutes, and I’m motivated to keep that going. Lommel will be really heavy so I will rest tomorrow before we prepare with some sand training midweek.”