Dylan Ferrandis of the Monster Energy Kawasaki MX2 Racing Team just missed the overall podium in the Spanish round of the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship after finishing second in the first moto.
After two consecutive podiums in Germany and Italy Dylan scored an impressive victory in qualification, but he never felt completely comfortable at the hillside Talavera de la Reina track where he had suffered a season-ending knee injury last year. Constantly changing track conditions as heavy showers rolled across the region on Saturday and Sunday was blessed with sunshine made it difficult to find optimal bike settings and Dylan settled for a secure second place in the opening moto after taking another great start. The front brake was damaged at the start of race two when he was hit by another rider and, after quickly advancing from tenth to sixth, he had to battle his way up the leaderboard a second time after a crash. He eventually finished the moto fifth to narrowly miss the overall GP podium but has now advanced to ninth in the series points standings before the French Grand Prix next weekend in St Jean d’Angely.
Dylan Ferrandis: “It was a tough weekend on a track where I have some bad memories after my knee injury here last year. It was very difficult to find the best settings for the bike, as the weather and the track conditions were continually changing on both Saturday and Sunday. In the first race I had some difficulty with the front fork settings and couldn’t keep the lead; I didn’t want to take risks as I got some arm pump so I just concentrated on securing my second position. We made some changes for the second race and the feeling was better, but I got a bad start and in the first corner another rider hit me and damaged my front brake; I was back to sixth behind Tonkov when I lost the front wheel and crashed, and then recovered to fifth. I had a better feeling in the second race, but I’m frustrated that I just missed the podium.”
Photos – P.Haudiquert / Mediacross