The current world champion showed his liking for the grassland venue already during qualification as he was narrowly defeated for the win, but he got stuck in the pack at the start of the first GP moto and had to charge hard to advance from an initial eighth to finish fifth. After a strong getaway in race two Jordi quickly closed down the two riders ahead of him but his hopes of victory faded as the track, in initially slippery after pre-race drizzle track, dried out. Nevertheless he secured third place overall and has advanced to sixth place in the series standings.
Max Anstie of the Monster Energy DRT Kawasaki Team had the huge crowd on its feet as he led the opening moto until the penultimate lap, his spectacular leaps over a massive uphill jump enthralling the fans. He eventually finished the race third after feeling the pressure and tightening up, and his charge from tenth to sixth in race two saw him miss the podium by just a single point. Max holds tenth in the series standings.
Thomas Covington enjoyed his most successful GP since the series returned to Europe as he charged to seventh and tenth places for ninth overall. The young American raced on the leaderboard throughout the first moto, and then showed resilience as he recovered from a missed gear shift at the start of race two to charge from the back of the field to tenth. He is now eleventh in the series standings.
Monster Energy Kawasaki MX2 Racing Team new signing Petar Petrov quickly acclimatised to his new bike to finish tenth overall from 11-9 moto finishes after just four days of riding on his Kawasaki.
Jordi Tixier: “It’s my fourth consecutive podium and I’m happy with that, even if the result is not what I was expecting as I could do better. In the first race my start was not so good and it took me a while to find a good rhythm; in the second I was in third, close to the leaders at the beginning of the race, but then the track became drier and both Jeffrey (Herlings) and Valentin (Guillod) were able to go faster. We still need to work for the win and next weekend it will be a pleasure for me to race in France with the number one plate on a track which is new for everybody.”
Max Anstie: “It was amazing to lead the first moto in front of my home crowd. I’ve never led before in England so that was impressive as there were so many fans attending this GP ! Maybe I was thinking too much when I was leading the race, and in the last fifteen minutes Guillod and Herlings joined me. I pushed as hard as I could in both races; my second start was not as good as the first one but I rode hard to recover to sixth. I missed the podium by just one point, and with two consistent results I'm now tenth in the standings and we’ll continue working hard.”
Thomas Covington: “It was a pretty good GP for me, I got a good start in the first moto and was fifth, then Tixier and later Seewer passed me so I finished seventh. In the second moto I hit neutral coming out of the gate; I was last but I came back through to tenth place. Not a bad weekend, and I was happy with my riding; the track is great, I really love it, and, with many jumps and different lines to pass, it’s a good track for me.”
Petar Petrov: “It was my first racing experience with the Monster Energy Kawasaki MX2 Racing Team, and I’m happy with the changes I made during the weekend, even if I don’t really like this track. I had only four days on the bike before coming here and I finished tenth overall with a eleventh and a ninth position. My second start was really bad; Thomas found a neutral and I hit him so I was nearly last but I made some good passes to finish ninth. This week we’ll do more testing; the bike is powerful and I got a top ten result already in the first race after just a few days testing, so I’m already looking forward to the next race. “