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MX2, MXGP OF CHARENTE MARITIME - ST JEAN D'ANGELY, France, 21 August 2022

Kevin Horgmo consolidates fourth in the MX2 standings

F&H Kawasaki Racing Team’s Kevin Horgmo moved closer to clinching fourth in his first full-season of FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship racing with two spirited rides at St-Jean D’Angely in France.

The Norwegian gave himself space at the gate with an outside pick in race one and looked good heading into the first turn but he was dramatically stood up by the riders inside and flew through the fence on the outside of the track. Rejoining the race absolutely last he relentlessly pushed to make a strong pass into the top ten with ten minutes remaining, only to fall immediately as the rider he had just passed clipped his footrest. Undaunted he responded with his personal fastest laps to secure a top-ten ranking for good four laps from the end but with no chance remaining to advance even further as the gap to ninth was now too great. A switch of gate-choice for race two did not bring dividends as he was outside the top-ten at the start but he had battled to seventh within just six minutes and kept charging, making a dramatic pass for fifth two laps from the end and almost catching fourth. His speed deserved more than seventh overall on the day but more importantly he has consolidated his fourth place in the series standings and is twenty-two point clear of fifth headed to the final round in Turkey on 3rd/4th September.
 
Kevin Horgmo: “It was just me that was off yesterday but we made some changes to the settings this morning and I turned it around today. I was just unfortunate in race one when I collided with another rider at turn one and went straight into the fence. A start crash can always happen and was out of my control. I had good rhythm after a few laps and was strong at the end so I was confident for race two but my start was not so good and I had to work my way through the field again. I was riding some solid laps and even got close to van de Moosdijk for fourth until I made a small crash on the last lap. “
 
Big Van World MTX Kawasaki’s Mikkel Haarup immediately put a frustrating Saturday behind him by gating seventh in race one and moved through to fifth with aggressive moves on each of the opening two laps. But with all of the leading contenders up front there was no opportunity to advance further in a fast-moving leaderboard and he was forced to drop off the podium pace without losing positions as he started to feel ill. Nevertheless the Dane appeared to be a podium candidate as he gated fifth in race two but those hopes were dashed already on the opening lap as he fell and spent the remainder of the race defying sickness as he recovered from last to twelfth for tenth overall. He remains sixth in the series point standings.
 
Mikkel Haarup: “We battled really well in the first moto but in the middle of the race I started to feel tired and had to slow the pace and settle for fifth. We weren’t even sure if I would be able to start the second moto as I felt very ill with fever and stomach ache but I managed to finish the race and score some more points. It’s annoying because I had good speed but we can’t change it; I guess my body needs some rest after a heavy schedule before we bounce back in Turkey. “