EMX250: Difficult weekend for Miro Sihvonen
The long road of the European Motocross Championships with all its surprising twists and turns
KTM Diga Junior Racing team to Ernée, France. The 4th round of the EMX250 championship and the third round of the EMX125 championship were held there. Although not everything was pure misery, 'La Douce France' also turned out not to be kind to the experienced Belgian team...
Miro Sihvonen came second in the EMX250 standings to Ernée. Due to a dislocated shoulder, Sihvonen had to miss the previous round in Latvia. There was also uncertainty among driver and team about his participation in France. And if Miro could ride, the next question was how competitive would he be on the hilly, challenging course?
The talented Finn still performed well in the free practice. However, things went wrong during the timed training. Miro Sihvonen went off spectacularly hard at the end of his first flying lap. Fortunately, he suffered no additional injuries, but driving was no longer an option. If the recovery of his shoulder continues as expected, we will see the winner of Valkenswaard again in action in Russia for the fifth round of the EMX250 championship. Sihvonen has now dropped to 7th place in the standings. He follows leader Morgan Lesiardo on 50 points. Home rider Mathys Boisrame (Assomotor Honda) won the EMX250 class ahead of the Belgian Jago Geerts and the Italian Alberto Ferato.
Miro's compatriot and EMX250 colleague Roni Kytonen reached a personal milestone in Ernée. In a field of 59 participants, he achieved a respectable 10th fastest time in his group. Roni therefore managed to qualify directly. In the hectic first rounds of each series, he still had difficulty asserting himself. Kytonen finished 30th and 36th respectively in the heats.
EMX125 rookie Matias Vesterinen also qualified again. After a strong start in the Last Chance Qualifying Race, Matias had a consistent race in which he finished sixth. In the first moto he finished 34th. Vesterinen was determined to do better in the revival. He started off strong with a 13th place, but halfway through the first lap he was involved in a crash. The young Finn came in and could no longer continue due to the pain. After medical examination, a fracture in his forearm was discovered.
The KTM Diga Junior Racing Team continues its EMX250 campaign on June 9 and 10 in Russia Eagles.
Miro Sihvonen: “I mainly came to France to see if I could drive there and qualify. During the timed training I crashed quite hard. I couldn't drive anymore but it could have been much worse! My shoulder is getting better and better. Not only is the feeling better, the muscles around the shoulder also become stronger. Now the strength in the shoulder itself still has to come back, that is still the problem at the moment. Still, I am confident that Russia will be there again for the next round.”
Dirk Saelen, team manager: “We didn't know in advance what to expect from Miro, especially because Ernée is a demanding course for the shoulders. On the one hand it was disappointing that he fell and still lacked strength. On the other hand, we are relieved that he suffered virtually nothing from that serious crash! There were positive elements for both Roni (Kytonen) and Matias (Vesterinen) last weekend, but they were somewhat overshadowed by bad luck. It is encouraging that Roni is now reaping the benefits of his hard work in training. He has already taken a step forward in terms of speed and that became clear in the time training. Now he has to be able to continue that speed in the matches. Unfortunately, Matias suffered an injury, but he is also making progress every match. Normally he should be back in Ottobiano at the end of next month.”
Photos: Eric Laurijssen
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