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MX2, MXGP OF SPAIN - intu Xanadú - Arroyomolinos, SPAIN, 17 Říjen 2021

Wilson Todd closes in on world top ten

Bike It MTX Kawasaki’s Wilson Todd has closed to within three points of a top-ten series ranking in the FIM World MX2 Motocross Championship after another single-digit GP result in Spain.
 

The Australian earnt more than twenty points in a GP for the seventh time this season with a dramatic final lap which has lifted him to eleventh in the championship standings, just three points shy of the top ten with five rounds remaining. Faced with learning new tracks during one relatively short training session each week has made it difficult to earn a prominent placing in Qualifying all season and the Spanish track overlooking the intu-Xanadu shopping complex in the Madrid suburb of Arroyomolinos was no exception. From eighteenth gate-choice he rounded turn one twentieth in race one but made immediate moves to advance into the top fifteen within three laps and keep charging for eleventh at the finish. Race two followed a similar pattern as he progressed to hold twelfth entering the closing stages; with his direct championship rival in his sights the Bike It MTX Kawasaki rider showed his strength and determination, setting his fastest laps of the race at the end, making two passes on the very last lap to take the chequered flag tenth for ninth overall on the day.
 
Wilson Todd: “I was just a bit off the pace in Quali and two bad starts from an outside gate didn’t help. I just got stuck behind other riders at their pace but could pick it up after I got around them; I finally came alive the last five laps. I’m looking forward to the next three rounds at Arco; I rode there last year so I already know the track for once. “
 
Mikkel Haarup of the F&H Kawasaki MX2 Racing Team continued his run of top-six Qualifying laps but found himself in the wrong places at the wrong time through the first few corners of the opening moto to complete the first short lap a lowly twenty-third. After riding in attack mode throughout the remainder of the thirty-five minute moto he had advanced to fifteenth at the chequered flag. A more effective opening lap in race two saw him immediately inside the top ten and he moved forward to seventh by mid-moto before falling victim to a couple of hard-charging rivals in the closing stages to finish ninth in moto and miss the top ten overall by just one position. The young Dane remains thirteenth in the series standings.
 
Mikkel Haarup:  “Timed practice was good; I’ve been really consistent the last few rounds. I made some bad choices through the first few corners in race one and paid the penalty; I showed good speed after that and made some good passes even if the result didn’t show it. I learnt from those first moto mistakes for race two, made some changes on the first lap which got me into the top ten and even made some more passes to get to seventh at one stage but I was riding too defensive towards the end.“
 
Roan van de Moosdijk withdrew from the first race in pain from the wrist he damaged earlier in the year; the Dutch youngster will return home for further medical scans to determine the extent of the remaining damage.