Benoit Paturel and Julien Lieber look back on Axel
The second international training race in Axel once again attracted a strong field of participants in the 500cc class. After Arnhem and a win in Switzerland, Benoit Paturel showed that he is ready for the big work next weekend during the MXGP of Latvia. The Frenchman finished eighth in Axel - shared seventh with Calvin Vlaanderen - teammate Julien Lieber had an unlucky day.
Just like in Arnhem, the public was not allowed in Axel. The organizing club, RES Axel and the KNMV, closely monitored compliance with the corona measures. JM Honda Racing traveled to Zeeland with the same duo as Artem Guryev opted to have his knee injury further repaired.
In the short training in the morning, Paturel and Lieber scored a 9 respectivelyde in 14. de time on the tables. Benoit then got off to an excellent start in the first moto. Unfortunately, race one was quickly canceled due to an unfortunate fall of Freek van der Vlist at the start. However, Paturel also responded like a devil from a box during the restart.
The #6 JM Honda Racing was in fifth position for almost the entire race, but had to give up a place on the final lap when Glenn Coldenhoff passed him. Lieber also had a good start. The talented Belgian rounded the first left in fourth but had to abandon his race early on due to a stone blocking the clutch.
Bad luck continued to haunt Julien as he crashed at the start during the restart. After a pit stop during which the clutch lever was quickly replaced, Lieber returned to the track. There was nothing more for the JM Honda Racing rider to do than finish, but he did set regular top-10 times. Paturel again started the race in the top five. This time, however, he was a little less in his rhythm and had to settle for a 9de place, 54 seconds behind winner Febvre.
Benoit Paturel: “In general I am satisfied. I always had a good start and I ran smoothly in the first heat. The feeling was good and I was no longer bothered by sore arms. The second race was a little less than the first, but we know what we've done. Regularity is everything, we have to keep working and improving. In any case, the engine was excellent and the team also did a great job. On to Latvia!”
Julien Lieber: “My starts were quite good and I felt okay on the bike, but it's a pity that I had so much bad luck in the last two races! At the beginning of the second moto Seewer fell just in front of me and I couldn't avoid him anymore. Then I took the rest of the series as training with a new clutch lever. It's a shame that I had those problems now because I mainly need competition rhythm. However, I am sure that things will continue to improve and that I will also become stronger conditionally in the coming weeks.”
Photos: CDS
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